Revealing facts behind spray dried solid dispersion technology used for solubility enhancement.

Poor solubility and bioavailability of an existing or newly synthesized drug always pose challenge in the development of efficient pharmaceutical formulation. Numerous technologies can be used to improve the solubility and among them amorphous solid dispersion based spray drying technology can be successfully useful for development of product from lab scale to commercial scale with a wide range of powder characteristics. Current review deals with the importance of spray drying technology in drug delivery, basically for solubility and bioavailability enhancement.

Evaluation of in vivo behavior of controlled and pulsatile release pastilles using pharmacokinetic and γ-scintigraphic techniques.

Objective: To evaluate the in vivo behavior of controlled and pulsatile release pastilles for chronic treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for the chronotherapeutic management of nocturnal asthma, respectively.

Research Design & Methods: The prepared immediate release and controlled release pastilles were subjected to in vivo pharmacokinetic studies in rats. Whereas, pulsatile release formulation was subjected to γ-scintigraphic study in rats to study the gastrointestinal transit of the formulations and its results were correlated with the previous pharmacokinetic data.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of multilayered pastilles for chronotherapeutic management of nocturnal asthma.

Objective: The present work was undertaken with an objective to design a multilayered dosage form of doxofylline, using pastillation technology, for the chronotherapeutic management of nocturnal asthma.

Research Design & Methods: Pastilles consisting of the drug, polyethylene glycol and colloidal silicon dioxide, were generated using an in-house laboratory-scale pastillation device. The pastilles were further coated with enteric polymers and a floating layer, using conventional coater.

Effective in-vivo utilization of lipid-based nanoparticles as drug carrier for carvedilol phosphate.

Objectives: Lipid nanoparticles as carrier for oral drug administration improve gastrointestinal solubility of poorly soluble drugs and thus enhance bioavailability. However, basic drugs may undergo rapid dissolution from such solid dispersions in the stomach and precipitate in the intestine due to their higher solubility in acidic medium. Therefore, the objective of this work was to study the enhancement in bioavailability of carvedilol phosphate (basic drug) by providing an alkaline gastric environment to drug-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles.

Lipid-based oral multiparticulate formulations - advantages, technological advances and industrial applications.

Introduction: Lipid-based formulations have emerged as potential dosage forms to harvest effectively the therapeutic benefits of existing lipophilic molecules and new chemical entities. Compared with existing excipients, lipids by virtue of their unique physicochemical properties and resemblance to in vivo components demonstrate the extra advantage of improving the bioavailability of lipophilic and highly metabolizable drugs. Moreover, if used as the major excipient, lipids can reduce the required dose and even the toxicity of drugs with poor aqueous solubility.

Utilization of adsorption technique in the development of oral delivery system of lipid based nanoparticles.

The objective of the present study was to employ suitable adsorbent with free flowing characteristics for improving the stability and physical properties of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) for oral administration. Stearic acid based nanoparticles of carvedilol phosphate were fabricated by solvent emulsification evaporation technique in sodium taurocholate solution prepared in pH 7.2 buffers (I-KH2PO4/NaOH or II-NaH2PO4/Na2HPO4) with 1% polyvinyl alcohol.

Clinical updates on carvedilol: a first choice beta-blocker in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Importance Of The Field: Carvedilol, a non-selective beta-blocker, has recently drawn attention because of its therapeutic benefits over other prescribed analogues for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

Areas Covered In This Review: The present review attempts to present the clinical efficacy of carvedilol in comparison to other available beta-blockers. The literature search was carried out in three electronic databases (Unbound Medline, Pubmed and Sciencedirect) and internet search engines (Scirus and Google Scholar) without time constraints to ensure maximum literature coverage.

Investigation of organoleptic characteristics in the development of soft chews of calcium carbonate as mineral supplement.

The present study was aimed at developing a soft chewable dosage form for calcium carbonate for nutraceutical application. Two different types of the formulations viz., sugar based and sugar free soft chews were prepared.

Doxofylline: a promising methylxanthine derivative for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Doxofylline, a methylxanthine derivative, has recently drawn attention because of its better safety profile and similar efficacy over the most widely prescribed analogue, theophylline, indicated for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: This article attempts to discuss the pharmacodynamics/pharmacokinetics and clinical efficacy of doxofylline.

Method: An extensive search in three electronic databases (Unbound Medline, Pubmed and Sciencedirect) and internet search engines (Scirus and Google Scholar) were used to identify the clinical studies on doxofylline.

Lipid--an emerging platform for oral delivery of drugs with poor bioavailability.

The sole objective of pharmaceutical science is to design successful dosage forms which fulfill the therapeutic needs of the patients effectively. Development of new drug entities is posing real challenge to formulators, particularly due to their poor aqueous solubility which in turn is also a major factor responsible for their poor oral bioavailability. Lipids as carriers, in their various forms, have the potential of providing endless opportunities in the area of drug delivery due to their ability to enhance gastrointestinal solubilization and absorption via selective lymphatic uptake of poorly bioavailable drugs.

Assessment of solubilization characteristics of different surfactants for carvedilol phosphate as a function of pH.

The effect of surfactants on the solubility of a new phosphate salt of carvedilol was investigated at different biorelevent pH to evaluate their solubilization capacity. Solutions of different classes of surfactants viz., anionic-sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and sodium taurocholate (STC), cationic-cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and non-ionic-Tween 80 (T80) were prepared in the concentration range of 5-35 mmol dm(-3) in buffer solutions of pH 1.

Fabrication and evaluation of taste masked resinate of risperidone and its orally disintegrating tablets.

The present investigation was undertaken to design a simple, rapid, cost effective and highly efficient process to fabricate a tasteless complex of risperidone using ion exchange resin (IER), evaluate the molecular properties of the resinate and finally incorporate it into orally disintegrating tablets (ODT). The resinate formation using Amberlite IRP64, was confirmed using the characterization methods: Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The maximum loading efficiency achieved was 99.