ABSTRACT
A biomarker or biological marker is in general a substance used as an indicator of biological state. Biomarkers are characteristic biological properties that can be detected and measured in parts of the body like the blood or tissue. They may indicate either normal or diseased processes in the body. Biomarkers can be specific cells, molecules, or genes, gene products, enzymes, or hormones. As an important biological indicator of cancer status and progression for the physiological state of the cell at a specific time, biomarkers represent powerful tools for monitoring the course of cancer and gauging efficacy and safety of novel therapeutic agents. The recent progress of proteomics has opened new avenues for cancerrelated biomarker discovery. Advances in proteomics are contributing to the understanding of pathophysiology of neoplasia, cancer diagnosis, and anticancer drug discovery. One of the major contributions proteomics has made to the medical and pharmaceutical communities is the identification of potential drug targets.
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
Novel drug delivery attempts to either sustain drug action at a predetermined rate, or by maintaining a relatively constant, effective drug level in the body with concomitant minimization of undesirable side effects. The vesicular systems are highly ordered assemblies of one or several concentric lipid bilayer formed, when certain amphiphillic building blocks are confronted with water. The vesicular system such as liposomes, niosomes, sphingosomes, ethosomes, transferosomes and pharmacosomes are used to improve the therapeutic index of both existing and new drug molecules by encapsulating an active medicament inside vesicular structure in one such system. It prolongs the existence of the drug in systemic circulation and finally reduces the toxicity. Such different systems are widely used in gene delivery, tumor targeting, oral formulations, in stability and permeability problems of drugs. Now a days vesicle as a carrier system have become the vehicle of choice in drug delivery and lipid vesicles were found to be of value in immunology, membrane biology and diagnostic technique and most recently in genetic engineering.
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.