Microbial spoilage, instability risk of antacid suspension in the presence of commonly used preservative system

Manifestation of microbial spoilage of any product by bacteria and to assess the effectiveness of the antimicrobial preservatives [parabens] used for the prevention and stability purpose. The aim of the present work is to study the effectiveness of preservatives used in the antacid suspensions and to analyze the effect of microbial growth on the quality of respective antacid suspensions. Samples of various antacid suspensions were randomly collected from local market and Government hospital pharmacies. Three different antacid formulations were prepared in the laboratory. All the formulations were preliminarily evaluated on the basis of organoleptic characteristics, pH, viscosity and assay. Efficacy of the preservative system in suspension formulation was determined by inoculating the samples in its final container, with specific strains of bacteria i.e. Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, taking samples from the inoculated preparation at specified intervals of time i.e. 0 time, 07 days, 14 days and 28 days, growing it on nutrient agar medium and colony forming units [CPUs] were scored by plate count. At the same time the samples were also subjected to qualitative and quantitative testing. The decrease in CPU and alteration in assay, pH and viscosity was observed in all the formulations except formulation M2 and F3 that showed stability throughout the study period

Metal analysis, phytotoxic, insecticidal and cytotoxic activities of selected medicinal plants of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

In the present study four medicinal plants traditionally used in Pakistan for treatment of various ailments were evaluated for their heavy metals content, insecticidal, cytotoxic and phytotoxic actions. The metals like Cr, Cu, Zn, Mn, Ni, Pb, Fe and Co were determined in crude extract and various fractions. Soil samples were also tested for heavy metals to determine assimilation of any metal by the plant. Lead, chromium, copper, nickel and cobalt exceeded the permissible limit in most of the tested samples while the concentration of zinc, manganese and iron was within the permissible limit. Chloroform fraction from Achyranthes aspera and ethyl acetate fraction from Duchesnea indica showed significant phytotoxic activities. Crude extract and chloroform fraction from Xanthium strumarium showed insecticidal activity comparable to that of permethrin and thus could be a significant source of natural insecticide. The butanol fraction from X. strumarium showed significant cytotoxicity with LC[50] 1.9306 microg/ml, having mortality rate 93% at highest dose, while the crude extract from Valeriana wallichii showed 90% mortality rate [LC[50] 4.9730 microg/ml] at highest dose. However, the extracts from other plants were not effective against the brine shrimps tested

Preparation and in-vitro in-vivo evaluation of sustained release matrix diclofenac sodium tablets using PVP-k90 and natural gums

Conventional dosage form is nowadays mostly replaced by sustained release formulation in order to increase drug efficacy and patient compliance. The sustained release properties of the PVP K90 alone and in combination with guar gum, xanthan gum and gum tragacanth were evaluated using diclofenac sodium [100 mg/tablet] as a model drug. Tablets were processed using wet granulation method and evaluated for sustained drug release properties. The drug release from the formulations was studied in relationship with Commercially available Diclofenac Sodium SR, used as a reference tablets and results were expressed as similarity [f1] and differential factor [f2]. The tablets prepared using PVP K90 160 mg/tablet sustained the release of diclofenac sodium for 12 hours. Formulations where the PVP K90 was partially replaced with different gums also sustained the release of drug for 12 hours. The release of the drug from these formulations mainly followed Higuchi model and super case-II and Non-Fickian diffusion. The in-vivo drug release was studied in healthy human volunteers using non-blinded cross over, two period design using Diclofenac Sodium SR Tablets as a reference drug. The relative bioavailability of the formulation containing PVP K90 and gum tragacanth was 0.91. The studies showed that the use of the PVP K90 in combination with gum tragacanth both in-vitro and in-vivo sustained the release of the drug

Prevalence and B-lactamase producing bacterial isolates in a teaching hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan: a four year study

Prevalence of microorganisms was studies in clinical samples of various body fluids [n=12259], collected from patients at Post graduate Medical Institute Hayatabad Medical Complex [PGMI, HMC] Peshawar. Only 34.90% of samples exhibited growth, 36.25% of these isolates were Gram positive and 63.75% were Gram negative bacteria. E. coli was the most prevalent organism [39.45%] followed by S. aureus [32.23%], Proteus spp. [9.23%], Pseudomonas spp. [6.54%], Streptococuss spp. [3.51%], Acinetobacter spp. [2.66%], Citrobacter spp. [2.8%], Providencia spp. [2.2%] and miscellaneous bacteria [1.38%]. The growth of bacteria was high in pus samples [44.03%] followed by urine [38.21%], high vaginal swab [HVS] [8.58%], cerebrospinal fluid [CSF] [1.96%], blood [3.39%] and miscellaneous samples [3.83%]. E. coli and S. aureus were the most prevalent organism in urine [56.57%] and pus samples [44.02%], respectively. The frequency of E. coli [61.76%] was high in samples collected from female patients and percentage of the infections caused by the S. aureus in male and female patients was 47.9 and 52.1, respectively. During the study period, frequency of the E. coli was high during April to October and the prevalence of S. aureus was very common during March to October. Consistent but insignificant increase in the beta-lactamase producing S. aureus and E. coli was observed throughout the period of the study. However, increase in the beta-lactamase producing S. aureus and E. coli was above 80%. The prevalence of extended spectrum beta- lactamase [ESBL] in E. coli was increased from 13.85% in year 2000 to 22.66% in year 2003. The increasing in prevalence of microorganism, particularly of beta-lactamase producing E. coli and S. aureus and ESLB is alarming situation. Various measured like prescribing and patient compliance are required to control the increase in the prevalence of microorganism

Nasal carriage of staphylococci in health care workers: antimicrobial susceptibility profile

One year prospective study was evaluated to ascertain the prevalence of nasal carriage of potentially pathogenic bacteria in health care workers and the antibiotic susceptibility profile. The bacterial strains were identified by conventional method and the antibiotic resistance was carried out by disc diffusion method. The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase negative staphylococci and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus were 48%, 46% and 14% respectively. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of these isolates revealed that Staphylococcus aureus were more resistant towards antibiotics than coagulase negative staphylococci. The most effective antibiotic for S. aureus was found to be vancomycin with 100% efficacy, then cephalothin 92%, ciprofloxacin 91%, amikacin 77% and erythromycin 55%, ampicillin 11% and penicillin 3%. Coagulase negative staphylococci were 100% sensitive to vancomycin and cephalothin. Oxacillin showed 78% effectiveness; while ampicillin and penicillin, demonstrated 64% a nd 59% respectively. Doxycycline [93%], amikacin [93%], fusidic acid [90%] and erythromycin [92%] were effective antimicrobials

Prevalence and resistance pattern of Pseudomonas aeruginosa against various antibiotics

A prospective study on various clinical isolates from patients admitted from various parts of NWFP and Afghanistan at Post Graduate Medical Institute [PGMI] Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar was conducted from January 2000 to December 2004 to ascertain the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Among 4709 positive isolates, 314 [6.67%] were Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The highest rate of infection due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa was observed in orthopedic ward [24.61%] and OPD [20%], in other wards the infection was between 13% to 1.5%. Gender-wise prevalence showed 61.78% male and 38.22% females were infected by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The highest percentage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were observed in pus [57.64%] and urine [24.2%] samples. Maximum Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were found between March to August and the highest percentage 13.846% was observed in June. Using the disc diffusion method, the resistance patterns of 314 isolates against 14 antimicrobial agents were determined. The highest resistance was observed against ampicillin [>/= 98.4%], ampicillin/ sulbactam [85.3%], co-amoxiclave [83.8%] and ofloxacin [68.4%] and least resistance was observed against amikacin [24%]. Similarly the MIC for ampicillin [4 to >2048 micro g/ml], ampicillin/sulbactam [1 to 2048 micro g/ml] and co-amoxiclave [1 to > 2048 micro g/ml] against clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also high. High resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa against various commonly used antibiotics showed the alarming situation. The control of drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa required rational prescribing and proper use of antibiotics

Effect of partial replacement of different defatted oil seed cakes as substrate in biosynthesis of bacitracin in solid-state fermentation by bacillus licheniformis

The present study was conducted to ascertain the effect of partial replacement of different defatted oil seed cakes as substrate i.e. sunflower meal, rice hulls and soybean meal, in biosynthesis of Bacitracin in Solid-State fermentation by Bacillus licheniformis on laboratory scale. In solid-state fermentation, wheat bran, soybean meal, sunflower meal, rice hulls and their different combinations were used. The antibiotic activity was determined at various intervals and recorded 48 hours gave maximum yield, 4375 i.u/gm when only soybean was used. However, maximum titre 4820 i.u/gm of antibiotic were obtained when wheat bran and soybean meal was in ratio of 1:3. The raw material for its production is readily available and cheap such as soybean meal, sunflower meal and wheat bran. Thus development of this technology in our country would result in utilizing our own resources in Pakistan