Orally disintegrating tablet (ODT) is a friendly dosage form that requires no access to water and serves as a solution to non-compliance. There are many co-processed adjuvants available in the market. However, there is no single product possesses all the ideal characteristics such as good compressibility, fast disintegration and good palatability for ODT application. The aim of this research was to produce a xylitol-starch base co-processed adjuvant which is suitable for ODT application. Two processing methods namely wet granulation and freeze drying were used to compare the characteristics of co-processed adjuvant comprising of xylitol, starch and crospovidone XL-10 mixed at various ratios. The co-processed excipients were compressed into ODT and physically characterized for powder flow, particle size, hardness, thickness, weight, friability, in-vitro disintegration time and in-situ disintegration time, lubricant sensitivity, dilution potential, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electronic microscopy and x-ray diffraction analysis. Formulation F6 was selected as the optimum formulation due to the fastest in-vitro (135.33±11.52 s) and in-situ disintegration time (88.67±13.56s) among all the formulations (p<0.05). Increase in starch component decreases disintegration time of ODT. The powder flow fell under the category of fair flow. Generally, it was observed that freeze drying method produced smaller particle size granules compared to wet granulation method. ODT produced from freeze drying method had shorter disintegration time compared to ODT from wet granulation batch. In conclusion, a novel co-processed excipient comprised of xylitol, starch and crospovidone XL-10, produced using freeze drying method with fast disintegration time, good compressibility and palatability was developed and characterized. The co-processed excipient is suitable for ODT application.
The drug resistance phenomenon in microbes is resulting in the ineffectiveness of available drugs to treat the infections. Thus, there is a continued need to discover new molecules to combat the drug resistance phenomenon. Norfloxacin is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic that is used for the treatment of urinary tract infections. In this research work, norfloxacin is structurally modified by hybridizing with a range of substituted acetohydrazidic moieties through a multistep reaction. The first step involves the coupling of norfloxacin 1 with methyl chloroacetate followed by the treatment with hydrazine hydrate to result in corresponding acetohydrazide 3. A range of substituted benzaldehydes were reacted with the acetohydrazide to form the targeted series of norfloxacin derivatives 4a-i. The final compounds were screened for antimicrobial activity. Among the tested compounds, 4c, 4d, 4e and 4f displayed better antifungal activity against F.avenaceum, while compound 4c and 4e were active against F. bubigeum.
A novel series of 5-(3-Chlorophenyl)-2-((N-(substituted)-2-acetamoyl)sulfanyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives was efficiently synthesized and screened for antibacterial, hemolytic and thrombolytic activities. The molecule 7c remained the best inhibitor of all selected bacterial strains and furthermore possessed very low toxicity, 8.52±0.31. Compound 7a 7b and 7f showed very good thrombolytic activity relative to Streptokinase employed as reference drug. In addition to low toxicity and moderately good thrombolytic activity, the synthesized compounds possessed excellent to moderate antibacterial activity, relative to ciprofloxacin. All compounds especially 7b and 7f can be consider for further clinical studies and might be helpful in synthesis of new drugs for treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Pyrazoline and benzimidazoles derivatives have been widely studied due to their potential applications in the medicinal field. In this research project, we have hybridized these two heterocyclic systems in the same molecule. A new series of compounds, 2-((3,5-diaryl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole (5a-i) were synthesized through a multistep reaction. In the first step, chalcones 3a-i were prepared by coupling of various acetophenones and benzaldehydes under alkaline conditions. These chalcones were cyclized with hydrazine hydrate to form a series of pyrazolines which were finally coupled with 2-chloromethyl-1H-benzimidazole to get a new series of titled hybrid molecules. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectral (1H NMR and 13C NMR) analysis. The anti-diabetic potential of these compounds was studied by screening them for their α-glucosidase inhibition activity. The SAR was established through molecular docking analysis. Compound 5d appeared as effective inhibitor with IC50 = 50.06μM as compared to reference drug (acarbose) having IC50 = 58.8μM.
The main objective of the present study was to explore the potential of matrix tablets as extended release dosage form of tianeptine, using HMPC K100 as a polymer. HPMC K100 extended the release of the drug from formulation due to the gel-like structure. Direct compression method was adopted to compress the tablets using different concentrations of polymer. Tablets were evaluated for pre-compression and post-compression parameters. Drug release study showed that tablet extends the release of drug with the increasing concentration of polymer. Drug, polymers and tablets were analyzed and/or characterized for compatibility, degradation, thermal stability, amorphous or crystalline nature via FTIR, DSC, TGA, XRD studies. SEM study predicted that tablets had a uniform structure. HPMC K100 based tablets were similar to that of the reference product. Acute toxicity study conducted on Swiss albino mice showed that matrix tablets were safe and non-toxic, as no changes in physical activity and functions of organs were observed. Biochemical and histopathological study revealed lack of any kind of abnormality in liver and renal function. Moreover, necrotic changes were absent at organ level.
A series of new compounds (5a-q), derived from 5-(1-(4-nitrophenylsulfonyl) piperidin-4-yl)-4-phenyl-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol (3) were proficiently synthesized to evaluate their biological activities. 1-(4-Nitrophenylsulfonyl) piperidine-4-carbohydrazide (2) was refluxed with phenylisothiocyanate to yield an adduct which was cyclized to compound 3 by reflux reaction with 10 % potassium hydroxide. The targeted compounds 5a-q, were synthesized by stirring alkyl/aralkyl halides (4a-q) and compound 3 in a polar aprotic solvent. 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, EI-MS and IR spectral techniques were employed to confirm the structures of all the synthesized compounds. The compounds were biologically evaluated for BSA binding studies followed by anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities. The active sites responsible for the best AChE inhibition were identified through molecular docking studies. Compound 5e bearing 4-chlorobenzyl moiety found most active antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agent among the synthesized compounds. The whole library of synthesized compounds except compounds 5d and 5f was found highly active for AChE inhibition and recommended for in vivo studies so that their therapeutic applications may come in utilization.
The current research was commenced by reaction of 1,4-benzodioxane-6-amine (1) with 4-nitrobenzenesulfonyl chloride (2) in the presence of aqueous base under dynamic pH control at 9 to yield N-(2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-6-yl)-4-nitrobenzenesulfonamide (3) which was further reacted with a series of alkyl/aralkyl halides (4a-i) in polar aprotic solvent using catalytic amount of lithium hydride which acts as base to afford some new N-alkyl/aralkyl-N-(2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-6-yl)-4-nitrobenzenesulfonamides (5a-i). The projected structures of all the synthesized derivatives were characterized by contemporary techniques i.e., IR, 1H-NMR and EIMS. The biofilm Inhibitory action of all synthesized molecules was carried out against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. It was inferred from their results that 5f and 5e exhibited suitable inhibitory action against the biofilms of these bacterial strains. Moreover, their cytotoxicity was also checked and it was concluded that these synthesized molecules displayed docile cytotoxicity.
Avian influenza or bird flu is a common problem of domestic and wild birds. Some of its strains are able to cross the species barrier and cause infection in various members of class Mammalia. In view of relatively lesser efficacy of vaccines, antiviral therapies remain the only choice for the sustenance of mammals acquiring this highly devastating infection. This study is based on the evaluation of antiviral potential of methanol extracts of eleven selected Cholistani plants. The methanol extracts were prepared by using dried plants material followed by concentrating in a rotary evaporator and finally air dried before dissolving in nanopure water. The suspension was filter sterilized and subjected to in ovo antiviral assays. The allantoic fluids were harvested and haemagglutinin (HA) titers were determined. Among the eleven plants evaluated all methanol extracts were found effective against AIV H9N2 except S. baryosma extract. The medicinal plants O. compressa, N. procumbens, and S. surattense were found to be more effective than others and they retained HA titers at 0 after challenge. The next in order were extracts of O. esculentum, H. salicornicum and S. fruticosa which kept HA titers at 4, 8 and 16 respectively. The extracts of H. recurvum, P. antidotale, S. icolados and A. aspera were found less effective than above mentioned plant extracts and they kept the HA titers at 32, 64, 128 and 256 respectively. These results led us to conclude that the medicinal plants of Cholistan region are a rich source of antiviral agent(s) against AIV H9N2 and could be a source of cost effective alternate therapeutics.
A series of 1, 2, 4-triazole derivatives bearing piperidine moiety has been introduced as new anti-diabetic drug candidates with least cytotoxicity. p-Chlorophenylsulfonyl chloride (1) and ethyl nipecotate (2) were the starting reagents that resulted into corresponding 3,4,5-trisubstituted-1,2,4-triazole (6) through a series of steps. A series of electrophiles, 9a-e, were synthesized by reacting 4-bromobutyryl chloride (7) with differently substituted aromatic amines (8a-e) under basic aqueous medium. Target derivatives, 10a-e, were synthesized by the reaction of compound 6 with N-aryl-4-bromobutanamides (9a-e) in an aprotic solvent. Structures of all the derivatives were verified by spectroscopic analysis using IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and EIMS. Most of the derivatives revealed moderate to good α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with reference to acarbose. The moderate hemolytic potential demonstrated least toxicity.
In the study presented here, the nucleophilic substitution reaction of 5-[3-(1H-indol-3-yl)propyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-ylhydrosulfide was carried out with different alkyl/aralkyl halides (5a-r) to form its different S-substituted derivatives (6a-r), as depicted in scheme 1. The structural confirmation of all the synthesized compounds was done by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and CHN analysis data. Bacterial biofilm inhibitory activity of all the synthesized compounds was carried out against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. The anticancer activity of these molecules was ascertained using anti-proliferation (SRB) assay on HCT 116 Colon Cancer Cell lines while the cytotoxicity of these molecules was profiled for their haemolytic potential. From this investigation it was rational that most of the compounds exhibited suitable antibacterial and anticancer potential along with a temperate cytotoxicity.
Phytochemical investigation on the dichloromethane stem bark extract of Calophyllum castaneum resulted in the isolation of five compounds, namely isoblancoic acid (1), blancoic acid (2), euxanthone (3), friedelin (4) and friedelinol (5). All these compounds were isolated for the first time from this plant. Their chemical structures were elucidated based on the spectroscopic analyses. The cytotoxicity of compounds 1-5 was assessed on a panel of cancer cell lines including bone (Saos-2, mg63), colorectal (HT29, Caco-2, HCC2998, SW48, HCT116, KM12), liver (HepG2), lung (H1299, Calu-3), and brain (C6), using 5-fluorouracil as positive control. Pronounced antiproliferative activities were observed for compound 1 which exhibited a comparable activity with the positive control, against brain (C6) and colorectal (SW48, KM12, HCT116) cancer cell lines showing IC50 values in the range of 14 to 65μM. Meanwhile, compound 5 displayed a greater cytotoxic effect showing at least 2-fold more strongly than the positive control, against C6 brain cancer cells. The assay findings have unveiled the therapeutic value of phytochemicals from Calophyllum castaneum as anti-cancer agents.
The "noni" species of Morinda citrifolia L., is using in traditional medicine in the tropical country for over 2000 years. Noni fruit has come from the Morinda citrifolia tree which is called Rubiaceae, and it is from the coffee family. It is a perennial herb whose ripe fruit has a robust butyric acid smell and flavor. Recently scientists have proven that this fruit has antioxidant and antibiotic properties in vitro. An anthraquinone, damnacanthal, is one of the constituents of Morinda citrifolia. It has been demonstrated to have anti-cancer properties. Damnacanthal has low water solubility and low bioavailability. Formulating of damnacanthal into the biodegradable nanocapsule drug delivery system may increase its bioavailability. Various formulations of damnacanthal would be developed to enable the selection of a dosage form that could offer the provision of the anti-cancer bioactive substance with suitable sustained- or controlled release properties. The efficiency of extraction of damnacanthal will be compared using both conventional and traditional method. Both the damnacanthal and an anthraquinone active compounds extracted from noni roots, are currently being studied in the context of anti-cancer study. Soon, the medical values, bioactivities and nutritional of this fruit can be assessed, especially its anti-cancer activity, this fruit extract could play an outstanding economic role in Malaysia and other tropical countries.
The present study comprises the synthesis of a new series of benzenesulfonamides derived from N-sulfonation of 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-ethanamine (1). The synthesis was initiated by the reaction of 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-ethanamine (1) with benzenesulfonyl chloride (2), to yield N-(4-methoxyphenethyl)benzenesulfonamide (3). This parent molecule 3 was subsequently treated with various alkyl/aralkyl halides (4a-j) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and in the presence of a weak base lithium hydride (LiH) to obtain various N-(alkyl/aralkyl)-N-(4-methoxyphenethyl) benzenesulfonamides (5a-j). The characterization of these derivatives was carried out by spectroscopic techniques like IR, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. Elemental analysis also supported this data. The biofilm inhibitory action of all the synthesized compounds was carried out on Escherichia coli and some of the compounds were identified to be very suitable inhibitors of this bacterial strain. Furthermore, the molecules were also tested for their cytotoxicity behavior to assess their utility as less cytotoxic therapeutic agents.
Chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) have proven their excellent drug delivery potential through various routes of administration and therefore, the need for large scale production of CSNPs for the commercialization is paramount. Their particle size and surface charge, drug loading capacity, and morphology were characterized in this study. Finally, drug release studies of both continuous and scalable modes were undertaken to ascertain suitability of CSNPs as a carrier for HC. The particle size of the large and small scale of HC-CSNPs was 253.3±16.4 nm and 225.4 ±9.6 nm, respectively. Besides, the surface charge of the large and small scale of HC-CSNPs was +35.3±0.3 mV and +32.6±2.5 mV, respectively. The size and surface charge of both HC-CSNPs were not proven to be statistically different. Drug loading capacity of large and small scale production of HC-CSNPs was high with 89%, and 83% of HC was loaded into CSNPs, respectively. Moreover, the morphology of both large and small scale production of HC-CSNPs had a similar shape and particle size. The drug release profile of CSNPs prepared by both methods showed a significantly (p<0.05) higher percentage release as compared to the free form. It is expected that positively charged nano-sized HC-CSNPs with high drug loading capacity could enhance the efficiency of drug delivery system to carry and diffuse into the target cells. The results obtained also suggested that the modified method applied could be further developed for large scale production of HC-CSNPs.
Seasonal influenza is a highly contagious viral respiratory disorder. Prior knowledge of flu among general community is of paramount importance in order to mitigate its growing burden. In a pandemic, young adults are more likely to be infected increasing the potential for universities to be explosive disease outbreak centers. In this context, current study aims to assess the knowledge and perception of flu among university students from health sciences (HS) and non-HS background. Questionnaire-based cross sectional (August-December 2015) study was conducted among students of 65 universities across Pakistan. The students willing to participate were requested to fill out the self-administered questionnaire and responses were recorded and descriptively analyzed by SPSS. A total of 1694 students (age: 21.12 ± 2.13 years), 95% which belonged to age group 18-25 years, participated in the current study. Most of the participants (91.7%) had suffered from influenza during their life but only 55.7% correctly answered virus as causative agent of flu, while majority of participants, primarily from non-HS disciplines were not aware of flu cause. Very few participants (8.1%) believed that flu can cause death. About 20% students, mainly from non-HS disciplines reported that antibiotic can kill viruses. Similarly, 47.1% respondents agreed on the effectiveness of antibiotic in flu. A large proportion of study population preferred self-medication for influenza. Only 20.1% students were aware of influenza vaccine while majority of students (79.9%) from both disciplines reported that there is no such vaccine. Awareness and health literacy regarding seasonal influenza is poor among university students, especially from non-HS disciplines. These findings necessitate dire need to appropriately structured awareness programs in educational institutes to curb the growing burden of influenza.
Leukemia is a type of blood cancer where abnormal and immature leucocytes are produced in the bone marrow. Methadone hydrochloride is a man-made drug that is commonly used in the maintenance treatment for drug addiction. The objective of this research was to determine the cytotoxic activity and apoptotic effects of methadone hydrochloride treatment towards two leukemia cell lines which are CCRF-CEM and HL-60. CCRF-CEM and HL-60 cells were treated with methadone hydrochloride for 24 and 48 hours to determine the cytotoxic activity. IC50 at 24 hours obtained for CCRF-CEM was 121.6μmol/L while IC50 for HL-60 cells was 97.18μmol/L. Result obtained from DNA fragmentation assay showed no characteristic DNA ladder pattern in CCRF-CEM leukemia cells treated with methadone hydrochloride. Characteristics DNA ladder pattern was observed in methadone hydrochloride treated HL-60 cells. Formation of comets was seen in methadone hydrochloride treated CCRF-CEM and HL-60 cells with varying degree of DNA damage. The comets formed by methadone hydrochloride treated HL-60 cells were more prominent as compared to methadone-treated CCRF-CEM cells. The expression of apoptotic-related proteins in methadone-treated CCRF-CEM and HL-60 cells were checked by incubating the cell lysate with Raybio® Human Apoptosis Antibody Array. Significant alterations in expression level of apoptosis-related proteins in methadone hydrochloride treated CCRF-CEM cells were found involving upregulation of caspase-8 expression and downregulation of survivin expression. Methadone hydrochloride induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells involved upregulation of Bid and caspase-8 expression and downregulation of Bcl-2, p21 and survivin expression.
The aim of the study is to assess and compare the impact of antiviral drug alone and in combination with antibiotic for prevention of Influenza-A H1N1 induced acute kidney injury (AKI) in hospitalized patients. Hospitalized admitted patients with confirmed diagnosis of Influenza-A H1N1 infection were divided into two groups: group 1, which received antiviral (oseltamivir) drug alone and group 2, which received antiviral (oseltamivir) in combination with empirically prescribed antibiotic. Patients of both groups were assessed for incidences of AKI by two criteria i.e Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) and RIFLE. A total of 329 patients (176 for group 1 and 153 for group 2) were enrolled. According to RIFLE criteria, 23(13%) of group 1 and 9(6%) patients of groups 2 were suffered from AKI with statistically significant difference (P<0.05). Also as per AKIN criteria, the incidence of AKI is statistically significantly difference (P<0.05) between both groups with 18(10%) patients and 6(4%) patients of group 1 and 2 respectively. Length of hospitalization was statistically less (P<0.05) in group 2 patients. The incidences of AKI in Influenza-A H1N1 treated with antiviral and antibiotic combination was statistically less as compared to patients who were given antiviral alone for treatment of influenza infection.
Numerous cancer studies have combined different datasets for the prognosis of patients. This study incorporated four networks for significant directed random walk (sDRW) to predict cancerous genes and risk pathways. The study investigated the feasibility of cancer prediction via different networks. In this study, multiple micro array data were analysed and used in the experiment. Six gene expression datasets were applied in four networks to study the effectiveness of the networks in sDRW in terms of cancer prediction. The experimental results showed that one of the proposed networks is outstanding compared to other networks. The network is then proposed to be implemented in sDRW as a walker network. This study provides a foundation for further studies and research on other networks. We hope these finding will improve the prognostic methods of cancer patients.
Heterocyclic chemistry is an important field of organic chemistry due to therapeutic potential. The minor modification in the structure of poly-functional compounds has great effect on therapeutic ability. In the presented research work, substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives, 8a-p, have been synthesized by the reaction of 1-(4-bromomethylbenzenesulfonyl)-3-methylpiperidine (7) and 5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol (4a-p). The 5-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol were synthesized by converting carboxylic acids correspondingly into esters, hydrazides and oxadiazoles. Secondly the electrophile, 1-(4-Bromomethylbenzenesulfonyl)-3-methylpiperidine (7), was prepared by the reaction of 3-methylpiperidine with 4-bromomethylbenzenesulfonyl chloride in the presence of water and Na2CO3 under pH of 9-10. The compounds were structurally corroborated through spectroscopic data analysis of IR, EI-MS and 1H-NMR. The screening for antibacterial activity revealed the compounds to be moderate to excellent inhibitors against bacteria under study. Anti-enzymatic activity was assessed against urease enzyme and 1-{[4-({[5-(3-nitrophenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]sulfanyl}methyl)phenyl]sulfonyl}-3-methylpiperidine (8d) was the most active one.
There has been a number of studies looking into an alternative mode of therapy for the treament of breast cancer via 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT) transdermal administration.This systematic review aims to compare the safety and efficacy of a transdermal 4-OHT local therapy and oral tamoxifen (oral-T) on the treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ breast cancer. Through a systematic search of health science databases, eligible trials were located and the end points assessed were Ki-67 labeling index, concentration of 4-OHT in breast adipose tissue (ng/g) and plasma (ng/ml). Revman 5.3 version was used to perfom the meta-analysis. Three trials were identified (n=103), while only two were included for meta analysis. The mean difference between the two studies included were 0.40 and -10.58. Overall the I2 value was 89.0%, (Tau2 =53.86) and the differences between the two trials were statistically significant p=0.002. The meta analysis of the randomized controlled trials showed that the use of local transdermal therapy of 4-OHT gel is more safer than oral-T. However, due to the limited number of studies, the potential use of 4-OHT topical transdermal therapy for the treatment of breast cancer could not be concluded for healthcare professionals.