Lubricating effects of cocoa butter and coconut oil in conventional paracetamol tablets

Background: Due to chemical instability of some Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients often caused by magnesium stearate and its impurities, it is expedient to research into some other materials especially of natural origin, which would probably exhibit better lubricating activity, chemically inactive, less bioactive and less prohibitive.Objective: This work is designed to examine the lubricating properties of cocoa butter and coconut oil as alternative lubricants in comparison with conventional lubricant - magnesium stearate at different concentrations in paracetamol tablets. Materials and Methods: Cocoa butter was extracted from the seeds of Theobroma cacao and coconut oil from the meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconuts palm (Cocos nucifera).Physicochemical evaluation was carried out on the extracted oils. Thirteen different formulations were prepared using different lubricants; magnesium stearate, cocoa butter and coconut oil at 0 ­ 4 %w/w concentrations. The prepared granules were evaluated for various pre-compression characteristics (bulk density, tapped density, angle of repose, Hausner's quotient and Carr's index) and post-compression characteristics (weight variation, friability, hardness, disintegration and dissolution times).Results: Most of the values obtained from the evaluation of pre- and post- compression characteristics correlate with the pharmacopoeial limits. The values of disintegration time were observed to increase as the lubricant concentration increased but no direct relationship with dissolution time. Tablet hardness values decreased while friability increased as the lubricant concentration increased for all the batches. From the study, cocoa butter and coconut oil at 2 ­ 4 % exhibited effective lubricating effect in the formulation of paracetamol tablet with respect to their values of weight variation, friability, hardness, disintegration and dissolution times.Conclusion: Cocoa butter and coconut oil could be employed as good alternative lubricants to the conventional ones in pharmaceutical tablet formulation

The disposal pattern of domestic medical and pharmaceutical waste in Uyo Metropolis, Southern Nigeria

Abstract: The evaluation of waste treatment practices is an important step in the design interventions to improve the health status of municipalities. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate national practices in the treatment (disposal) of medical and pharmaceutical waste by households in the Uyo metropolis in Nigeria; and to provide a Informal education on appropriate practices for the community. Methods: The city was delimited into three zones A, B and C equivalent respectively to residential districts High income, middle income and low income. In total, 140 households were selected at random in the zones (40 households each of zones A and B and 60 of zone C). The sampling unit was the head or the representative of each household. A self-administered self-administered questionnaire was used to assess practices for the disposal of domestic medical and pharmaceutical wastes. The chi-square test was assessed differences in disposal practices between the three zones. A p value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The majority of households disposed of medical and pharmaceutical waste with garbage. The rates of households involved in this practice ranged from 85% to 96.67% for medical waste and 73.34% to 82.5% for pharmaceutical waste. Only a small proportion eliminated medical waste by burning or burying them. Disposal by incineration was not practiced at all in the population studied. There was no significant difference in waste disposal practices between the three areas. Conclusion: The waste was not sorted before disposal. The recommended methods were not followed for the disposal of medical and pharmaceutical waste. Disposal of medical waste domestic products, especially sharps, does not meet the international standard

Surface activity as basis for pharmaceutical applications of hydrocolloids: A review.

Hydrocolloids are polymeric substances with mild to moderate surface activity. They are widely used as excipients in drug delivery systems where they serve various purposes such as suspending, emulsifying, wetting, foaming, solubilizing, stabilizing and bioadhesive agents as well as permeation enhancers. The surface activity and pharmaceutical applications of some hydrocolloids were reviewed in this study. The review showed that most natural hydrocolloids are characterized by higher critical micelle concentrations (CMC) compared to semisynthetic and synthetic ones. Cashew and khaya gums (exudates gums) with hydrophile – lipophile balance (HLB) values in the range of 15 - 18 possess solubilizing property. Dispersions of afzelia and prosopis gums (seed gums) have higher viscosity compared to acacia gum and may produce more stable disperse systems. Semisynthetic and synthetic hydrocolloids like sodium carboxyl methylcellulose and polyvinylpyrrolidone are characterized by low CMC and exhibit very high surface elasticity at concentrations above CMC thus exhibiting high bioadhesive strength. Therefore, surface activity is the basis for most pharmaceutical applications of hydrocolloids and the application of individual hydrocolloid depends on its adsorption power, CMC, HLB value and bioadhesive strength.