ABSTRACT
Orally disintegrating systems have an edge amongst the oral drug delivery systems due to the highest component of compliance they enjoy in patients especially the geriatrics and pediatrics. In addition, patients suffering from dysphagia, motion sickness, repeated emesis and mental disorders prefer these medications because they cannot swallow large quantity of water. Further, drugs exhibiting satisfactory absorption from the oral mucosa or intended for immediate pharmacological action can be advantageously formulated in these dosage forms. However, the requirements of formulating these dosage forms with mechanical strength sufficient to withstand the rigors of handling and capable of disintegrating within a few seconds on contact with saliva are inextricable. Therefore, research in developing orally disintegrating systems has been aimed at investigating different excipients as well as techniques to meet these challenges. Acyclovir is an antiviral drug used for the treatment of herpes simplex virus (HSV), mainly HSV-1 and HSV-2 and varicella zoster virus. It is a BCS class III drug. Hence an orally disintegrating tablet formulation of acyclovir was prepared by direct compression and wet granulation techniques after incorporating superdisintegrants croscarmellose sodium and sodium starch glycolate. Seven formulations were prepared. Tablet containing sodium starch glycolate showed excellent in vitro dispersion time and drug release as compared to other formulation. After study of seven formulations DT3 showed short dispersion time with maximum drug release in 10 min. It is concluded that fast disintegrating acyclovir tablets could be prepared by direct compression using superdisintegrants.
ABSTRACT
Drug addiction is a chronic disease with a potential for fatality if not treated. The drugs with potential for abuse are mostly psychoactive drugs. Serious widespread medical and health consequences associated with drug abuse involve neurotoxicity, cardiovascular complications, impairment of the immune system function, and many other physiological effects. Illicit drug use remains the second most common mode of HIV infection. Various analytical techniques and number of biological matrices has been used for the detection of drug of abuse in cases such as drug addiction, driving under influence of drugs, neonatal drug exposure in case of drug abuse by pregnant women etc. Urine and blood sample remain the most widely used conventional biosample for the detection of drug of abuse. Various other alternative biological matrices such as saliva, hair, nails, tears and meconium have also been used for the same purpose. Number of analytical techniques such as liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and LC with tandem MS (LC-MS2), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), radioimmunoassay (RIA), electrospray ionization Time-of- Flight mass spectrometry (ESI-TOF), combination of ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and TOF, fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) and enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) have been used for the detection of drugs of abuse in above mentioned biosamples. This review summarizes the conventional as well as alternative biological matrices and various analytical techniques used for the determination of drugs of abuse.