Bharat Parashar

The present study deals with the formulation of multiple type floating beads of Ofloxacin to prolong gastric residence time (upto 24 hours) for slow and complete release in stomach and to provide sustained release action. Since, its solubility and absorption is better in the upper part of GI tract, so it was proposed to prepare floating beads of Ofloxacin to localize the drug at its maximum absorption site. Floating beads were prepared by drop wise addition of 3%, 4%, or 5% w/v Sodium Alginate solution containing drug and different gas forming agents or oils, into Calcium chloride solution 1% w/v in glacial acetic acid (10%) using 21 G needle.  The solution containing suspended beads were stirred with magnetic stirrer for 10 minutes to improve the mechanical strength of beads and allowed to complete the reaction to produce gas.  The fully formed beads were collected, washed with ethanol and distilled water and subsequently dried. Different oils such as Peppermint oil and Light liquid paraffin were used in the ratio of 3:5, 3:10, 3:15, and 3:20 respectively. The beads were evaluated for average diameter of beads, lag time, duration of floating drug entrapment efficiency, percent drug loading, floating time and in-vitro drug release in fasted and fed state. As we increased the concentration of polymer and oils, the diameter of beads increases taking all the parameters such as drug ratio, curing agent, curing time, needle nozzle size, dropping rate and height of needle from calcium chloride solution to be constant. The gastric retention of sodium alginate floating beads was best found to be using 20% light liquid paraffin. Also the lag time at this concentration was found to be zero thus leading to float into stomach for upto 24 hours. The drug release profile was best observed in using 4% of sodium alginate polymer and it was 92.719% in 20 hours. Keywords-floating beads, ionotropic gelation, beads size, effervescent system, sodium alginate

The present study was to evaluate antioxidant activity of ethanolic and aqueous extract of Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn. fruit for their therapeutic potential. In vitro antioxidant activity was performed by 1, 1- diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). For aqueous extract the scavenging activity of DPPH is 59.7% at the concentration of 200 µg/ml and the activity of H2O2 is 20.5% at concentration of 1000 µg/ml. For ethanolic extract The scavenging activity of DPPH is 77.4% at the concentration of 250 µg/ml and the activity of H2O2 is 21.3% at concentration of 1000 µg/ml. The method is compared to standard (ascorbic acid). Presence of phytochemicals like carbohydrates, proteins and amino acids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds might contribute to observed antioxidant activity. Benincasa hispida fruits are potential source of natural antioxidant compounds to replace synthetic antioxidants.

Cucumis melo subsp. agrestis var. agrestis Naudin; belonging to Cucurbitaceae family is commonly known as Wild Melon (English), Kachari (Hindi), is an annual climber, probably indigenous to North India. In present study standardization of C. melo subsp. agrestis was performed as per WHO guidelines including macroscopy and microscopy, ash values, extractive values, loss on drying, fluorescence analysis, swelling index, foaming index, determination of volatile oil content. To complete the study methanol and water extract of powdered seeds was screened for various phytoconstituents. The qualitative chemical analysis of extracts was found positive for alkaloids, proteins, carbohydrates, flavonoids and sterols. These studies provide valuable information for the identification and standardization of this plant material. 

The love affair of Asian’s with Ling zhi, the Chinese name for Ganoderma lucidum and related species can be traced back over two thousand years. Ganoderma lucidum has been used for a broad spectrum of health benefits from preventive measures and maintenance of health to the regulation or treatment of chronic as well as acute life threatening illness. The present study was done to compare the Aqueous and methanolic extract of Ganoderma lucidum for anthelmintic activity and to compare the methanolic and chloroform-acetone extract of Ganoderma lucidum for antibacterial activity. Aqueous extract of mushroom did not show any result for anthelmintic activity, while the methanolic extract (60 mg/ml) was equally effective as standard (Albendazole 20 mg/ml). For antibacterial activity both the methanolic (350 mg/ml) and chloroform-acetone (350 mg/ml) extracts showed effective results, but the results of choloroform-acetone extract were more effective than methanolic extract and standard (Gentamycin 40 mg/ml). Key words: anthelmintic, antibacterial, methanolic extract, aqueous extract.

  Nothing in this world is stable and ever accepted. Change is the requirement of nature for the sake of adaptability. However, the pharmaceutical world is also not far off from this change. Technical advancement in pharma world also leads to the development of new dosages forms. This leads to the replacement of the older dosages forms with the newer once. But for the tablet dosages forms this replacement is substituted with modifications. On the top of it the availability of numerous evaluation parameters provides these new modifications in tablets a clear cut demonstration idea.

  In the present research paper, anticonvulsant Sodium valproate tablets were prepared using two different disintegrating agents in different ratio. Acrycoat-L-100 polymer was used as an enteric coating material. The tablets were formulated using direct compression method. Further post formulation parameters like hardness, friability, weight variations and content uniformity were studied. The results suggested, that the prepared enteric coated tablets specifics all the criteria of the standard formulation as per specified in monographs.