Study of Binary and Ternary Solid Dispersion of Spironolactone Prepared By Co-Precipitation Method for the Enhancement of Oral Bioavailability.

The study was designed to formulate novel spironolactone, a BCS class II drug loaded solid dispersion system (SDs) with improved dissolution rate. For this purpose binary and ternary solid dispersion were prepared by co-precipitation method using Poloxamer-407 only and mixture of poloxamer-407 with a second polymer such as HPMC 6cps, HPC, Kollicoat IR, Kollidon VA 64 respectively. To prepare binary SDs poloxamer 407 was used in three concentrations: 33%, 50% and 66.67% wt/wt of total SDs, whereas in case of ternary SDs, poloxamer 407 was used at 15%, 25% 35% wt/wt of the total SDs content and the concentration of the second polymer is maintained at fixed amount (1gm). In vitro dissolution study was carried out in a USP type II dissolution apparatus in 0.1 N hydrochloric acid solution for 1 hour. Release property of spironolactone from two different SDs was examined. Both the systems showed improved release profile compared with pure spironolactone powder. Enhanced release of spironolactone from the optimized SDs was characterized in light of cumulative percent release, % release after 5 min of dissolution and release rate of the drug from different SDs. When the amount of carriers increased with a decrease in drug content, the release of spironolactone was elevated. And it was found that almost two fold increase in the release of spironolactone while 66.67% poloxamer was used.

Proteomics in drug discovery.

Drug discovery is a lengthy and highly expensive process that uses a variety of tools from diverse fields. To facilitate the process, several biotechnologies, including genomics, proteomics, cellular and organismic methodologies have been developed. The present review aims to provide a basic understanding of proteomics research by discussing the methods used to study large numbers of proteins and by reviewing the application of proteomics methods to identify biomarkers, to identify drug target and to conduct drug’s mode of action and toxicology studies. It is expected that this will lead to important new insights into disease mechanisms and improved drug discovery strategies to produce novel therapeutics.

Development and validation of UV spectrophotometric method for quantitative estimation of nitroglycerin in pharmaceutical dosage form.

A new, simple, specific, sensitive, rapid and economical procedure has been developed for determination of Nitroglycerin in its dosage form. The objective of this validation of an analytical procedure is to demonstrate that the drug Nitroglycerin is suitable for its intended purpose. The analytical method development recommends the quality, purity and specificity of the drug Nitroglycerin tablet form during the manufacturing process and hence the standard of the drug may not vary, which produce the desirable therapeutic effect. The method is based on the ultraviolet absorbance maxima of the above drug at 210nm. The drug obeyed Beer's law in the concentration range of 15μg/ml in methanol. The proposed methods were successfully applied for the determination of drug in commercial tablet preparations. The results of the analysis have been validated statistically and by recovery studies.

First step in the assessment of mechanical properties of pure API: production of tablet with minimum addition of excipient.

There are a number of challenges during tablet dosage form development like excipient selection, poor powder flow, poor tableting, lack of hardness, high friability, elevated disintegration time, low dissolution rate etc. Most of them are significantly influenced by the mechanical properties (like elasticity, plasticity, brittleness, powder compressibility, tensile strength, etc.) of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). Assessment of these properties of the pure actives is not always easy. Absence of lubrication may induce a lot of friction, causing capping, lamination or sticking or in many cases, combination of them, damaging the test tablet when taken out. Different approaches were studied to overcome this problem and a solution was found by compaction of a tablet of Sodium Starch Glycolate-Magnesium Stearate in a ratio of 2.75:1 before compressing each tablet of pure API.