Preparation and evaluation of sublingual tablets of zolmitriptan.

AIM: Zolmitriptan is a 5-HT receptor agonist (1B/1D). It is used in the acute treatment of migraine having low bioavailability about 40% orally due to hepatic first pass metabolism. The purpose of the present research was to formulate fast acting sublingual tablets of zolmitriptan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sublingual tablets were prepared using ispaghula husk powder, gellan gum, sodium alginate as super disintegrating polymers and citric acid, tartaric acid and camphor as permeation enhancers by direct compressible technique and evaluated for weight variation, thickness, friability, content uniformity, hardness, disintegration time, wetting time, in-vitro drug release, in-vitro and ex-vivo permeation study. Stability study of optimized formulation was performed as per ICH (International Conference on Harmonisation) guideline. RESULTS: The in-vitro disintegration time of the optimized formulation (D5) was 9 ± 2 s and all formulations showed 100% of dissolution within 6 ± 2 min. Formulation containing 4% of gellan gum (D5) showed highest disintegration and 2% of citric acid formulation (P3) showed highest permeation 88% within 30 min and ex-vivo permeation was 52% within 30 min. Optimized formulation was stable for 1 month during stability study as per ICH guideline. CONCLUSION: The sublingual tablet formulation gives better results using natural super disintegrant for fast onset of action.

Synthesis, antifungal activity, and QSAR studies of 1,6-dihydropyrimidine derivatives.

INTRODUCTION: A practical synthesis of pyrimidinone would be very helpful for chemists because pyrimidinone is found in many bioactive natural products and exhibits a wide range of biological properties. The biological significance of pyrimidine derivatives has led us to the synthesis of substituted pyrimidine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: With the aim of developing potential antimicrobials, new series of 5-cyano-6-oxo-1,6-dihydro-pyrimidine derivatives namely 2-(5-cyano-6-oxo-4-substituted (aryl)-1,6-dihydropyrimidin-2-ylthio)-N-substituted (phenyl) acetamide (C1-C41) were synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), mass analysis, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR). All the compounds were screened for their antifungal activity against Candida albicans (MTCC, 227). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) studies of a series of 1,6-dihydro-pyrimidine were carried out to study various structural requirements for fungal inhibition. Various lipophilic, electronic, geometric, and spatial descriptors were correlated with antifungal activity using genetic function approximation. Developed models were found predictive as indicated by their square of predictive regression values (r(2pred)) and their internal and external cross-validation. Study reveals that CHI_3_C, Molecular_SurfaceArea, and Jurs_DPSA_1 contributed significantly to the activity along with some electronic, geometric, and quantum mechanical descriptors. CONCLUSION: A careful analysis of the antifungal activity data of synthesized compounds revealed that electron withdrawing substitution on N-phenyl acetamide ring of 1,6-dihydropyrimidine moiety possess good activity.

Determination of galantamine hydrobromide in bulk drug and pharmaceutical dosage form by spectrofluorimetry.

AIM: To develop a simple, accurate, sensitive, rapid and precise method for the determination of galantamine hydrobromide in bulk drug and pharmaceutical dosage form. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The method employs wavelength detection and determination of galantamine hydrobromide at excitation wavelength 282 nm and emission wavelength 607 nm in a solution of simple distilled water. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: The method was found to be linear in the range of 2-14 µg/ml having r (2) = 0.9999. The mean accuracy was found to be 98.12% to 99.67%. The intraday and interday precision was found to be 0.18-0.35% and 0.13-0.46%, respectively. The limit of detection was found to be 0.29 µg/ml. The limit of quantification was found to be 0.89 µg/ml. The method was successfully applied for the determination of galantamine hydrobromide in bulk drug as well as pharmaceutical dosage form.

Formulation and evaluation of liquisolid compacts for olmesartan medoxomil.

Olmesartan medoxomil is an angiotensin type II receptor blocker, antihypertensive agent, administered orally. It is highly lipophilic (log P 5.5) and a poorly water-soluble drug with absolute bioavailability of 26%. The poor dissolution rate of water-insoluble drugs is still a major problem confronting the pharmaceutical industry. The objective of the present investigation was to develop liquisolid compacts for olmesartan medoxomil to improve the dissolution rate. Liquisolid compacts were prepared using Acrysol El 135 as a solvent, Avicel PH 102, Fujicalin and Neusilin as carrier materials, and Aerosil as coating material in different ratios. The interaction between drug and excipients was characterized by DSC and FT-IR studies, which showed that there is no interaction between drug and excipients. The powder characteristics were evaluated by different flow parameters to comply with pharmacopoeial limits. The dissolution studies for liquisolid compacts and conventional formulations were carried out, and it was found that liquisolid compacts with 80% w/w of Acrysol EL 135 to the drug showed significant higher drug release rates than conventional tablets. Amongst carriers used Fujicalin and Neusilin were found to be more effective carrier materials for liquid adsorption.

Preparation and Characterization of Self-Microemulsifying Drug Delivery System of Olmesartan Medoxomil for Bioavailability Improvement.

Olmesartan medoxomil (OLM) is an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) antihypertensive agent administered orally that has absolute bioavailability of only 26% due to the poor aqueous solubility (7.75 µg/ml). The aim of the present investigation was to develop a self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) to enhance the oral absorption of OLM. The solubility of OLM in various oils, surfactants, and cosurfactants was determined. Pseudoternary phase diagrams were constructed using Acrysol EL 135, Tween 80, Transcutol P, and distilled water to identify the efficient self-microemulsification region. Prepared SMEDDS was further evaluated for its emulsification time, drug content, optical clarity, droplet size, zeta potential, in vitro dissolution, and in vitro and ex vivo drug diffusion study. The optimized formulation S2 contained OLM (20 mg), Tween 80 (33%v/v), Transcutol P (33%v/v), and Acrysol EL 135 (34%v/v) had shown the smallest particle size, maximum solubility, less emulsification time, good optical clarity, and in vitro release. The in vitro and ex vivo diffusion rate of the drug from the SMEDDS was significantly higher than that of the plain drug suspension. It was concluded that SMEDDS would be a promising drug delivery system for poorly water-soluble drugs by the oral route.

Synthesis and screening of antibacterial and antifungal activity of 5-chloro-1,3-benzoxazol-2(3 h)-one derivatives.

BACKGROUND: An antibacterial is a substance that either kills bacteria or slows their growth. Antifungal are the agents that use drugs for treatment of fungal infections. 5-Chloro-1,3-benzoxazol-2(3 H)-one (5-Chloro Benzoxazolinone) contains an azole ring structure. Numbers of azole compounds are reported as antibacterial and antifungal agents. Benzoxazolinones naturally occur in plants. They play a role as defense compounds against bacteria, fungi, and insects. RESULTS: In this article, synthesis of six Benzoxazolinone derivatives with various substituents is presented. Benzoxazolinone substituted with p-aminobenzoic acids and sulphanilamide derivatives. The above both substituents are reported as potent antimicrobial agents. Attachment with azole leads to increase its potency. The other substituents are 2,4-dichlorobezylchloride. The same rings are found in miconazole and this may lead to increase its antifungal activity. Fluconazole also contains triazole moiety and triazole is having other numbers of activity like antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, local anesthetic, antiviral, anticancer, antimalarial, etc. Here, there is a substitution for azole ring at 5-Chloro position which might increase antibacterial and antifungal activity. The synthesis and interpretation of six final compounds and three intermediates are presented in this article. Synthesis of 5-Chloro Benzoxazolinone derivatives substituted with Halogenated rings, sulfonated and benzylated derivatives and azole derivatives. There is a synthesis of P2A, P2B, P4A, P4B, P5A, and P6A compounds and their structures were characterized by UV-Visible, IR, MASS spectroscopy, and NMR spectroscopy. CONCLUSIONS: The antibacterial activity of all six compounds is measured against various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and against fungi. Compounds P4A and P4B have good antibacterial and antifungal activity, half of the Ampicillin and Cephalexin. P4A, P4B, P6A have good activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Compound P2B has good antifungal activity, half of the Miconazole against Candida albicans. P2A, P2B, P5A, P6A have almost equal antibacterial activity.

RP-HPLC method for simultaneous estimation of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine, and efavirenz in combined tablet dosage form.

BACKGROUND: A simple, precise, accurate, and rapid reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method with UV-Visible detector has been developed and subsequently validated for the simultaneous determination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), lamivudine (LAMI), and efavirenz (EFV) in their combined tablet dosage form. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The separation was based on the use of a Kromasil C18 analytical column (150 × 4.6 mm, i.d., 5 µm). The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of 70 volumes of methanol and 30 volumes of 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 5.0). The separation was carried out at 40°C temperature with a flow rate of 1 ml/min. RESULTS: Quantitation was achieved with UV detection at 254 nm, with linear calibration curves at concentration ranges of 1-6 µg/ml for TDF and LAMI and 2-12 µg/ml for EFV. The recoveries obtained were 99.46-101.36% for LAMI, 99.57-101.42% for TDF, and 99.96-100.87 for EFV. CONCLUSION: The method was validated according to International conference of harmonisation guidelines in terms of accuracy, precision, specificity, robustness, limits of detection and quantitation, and other aspects of analytical validation.

Development and validation of the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for quantitative estimation of candesartan from human plasma.

INTRODUCTION: A simple and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for estimation of candesartan in human plasma using the protein precipitation technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The chromatographic separation was performed on reverse phase using a Betasil C8 (100 × 2.1 mm) 5-µm column, mobile phase of methanol:ammonium tri-floro acetate buffer with formic acid (60:40 v/v) and flow rate of 0.45 ml/min. The protonated analyte was quantitated in positive ionization by multiple reaction monitoring with a mass spectrometer. The mass transitions m/z 441.2 → 263.2 and 260.2 → 116.1 were used to measure candesartan by using propranolol as an internal standard. RESULTS: The linearity of the developed method was achieved in the range of 1.2-1030 ng/ml (r(2) ≥ 0.9996) for candesartan. CONCLUSION: The developed method is simple, rapid, accurate, cost-effective and specific; hence, it can be applied for routine analysis in pharmaceutical industries.

Simultaneous analysis of eprosartan and hydrochlorothiazide in tablets by high-performance liquid chromatography.

OBJECTIVE: A simple, precise and accurate isocratic reversed phase (RP) column high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method has been developed for simultaneous analysis of eprosartan (EPR) and hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) in tablet formulations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Isocratic RP-HPLC separation was achieved on phenomenex C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm particle size) using mobile phase composed of 0.5% formic acid-methanol-acetonitrile [(80 : 25 : 20 v/v/v) pH, 2.80 ± 0.04] at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. The retention time for EPR and HCT was 7.69 ± 0.10 and 4.24 ± 0.09 minutes, respectively. The detection was performed at 272 nm. RESULTS: The method was linear in the concentration range of 60-600 µg/ml for EPR and 2.5-25 µg/ml for HCT with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992 and 0.9997, respectively. The repeatability for six samples was 0.53 and 0.61 % RSD for EPR and HCT, respectively. The accuracy (recovery) was found to be in the range of 99.46 to 100.61% for EPR and 99.06 to 100.93% for HCT, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The method was validated and successfully used for determination of the drugs in tablets.

Development and validation of a high-performance liquid chromatographic method for determination of eprosartan in bulk drug and tablets.

A simple, precise, and accurate isocratic RP-HPLC method was developed and validated for determination of eprosartan in bulk drug and tablets. Isocratic RP-HPLC separation was achieved on a Phenomenex C18 column (250 x 4.6 mm id, 5 microm particle size) using the mobile phase 0.5% formic acid-methanol-acetonitrile (80 + 25 + 20, v/v/v, pH 2.80) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The retention time of eprosartan was 7.64 +/- 0.05 min. The detection was performed at 232 nm. The method was validated for linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness, solution stability, and specificity. The method was linear in the concentration range of 10-400 microg/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.9999. The repeatability for six samples was 0.253% RSD; the intraday and interday precision were 0.21-0.57 and 0.33-0.71% RSD, respectively. The accuracy (recovery) was found to be in the range of 99.86-100.92%. The drug was subjected to the stress conditions hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis, and heat. Degradation products produced as a result of the stress conditions did not interfere with detection of eprosartan; therefore, the proposed method can be considered stability-indicating.

In vitro evaluation of marketed antimalarial chloroquine phosphate tablets.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study is to investigate the physicochemical equivalence of seven brands of tablets containing chloroquine phosphate, an antimalarial purchased from different retail pharmacy outlets. METHODS: The quality and physicochemical equivalence of seven different brands of chloroquine phosphate tablets were assessed. The assessment included the evaluation of uniformity of weight, friability, crushing strength, disintegration and dissolution tests as well as chemical assay of the tablets. RESULTS: All the seven brands of the tablets passed the British Pharmacopoeia (BP) standards for uniformity of weight, disintegration and crushing strength. One of seven brands failed the friability test. One of the brands did not comply with the standard assay of content of active ingredients. Dissolution test passes the pharmacopoeial standards for chloroquine phosphate tablets. There were no significant differences in the amounts of chloroquine phosphate released from the different brands. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Out of the seven brands of anti-malarial chloroquine phosphate tablets only one brand fails to meet BP quality specifications which shows constant market monitoring of new products to ascertain their equivalency to pharmacopoeial standards.