Vivek Sharma

Men spend about one-third of their lives asleep and sleep is responsible for memory, emotion, perception, thought, judgement and even consciousness. Sleep is not only responsible for maintenance of healthy life but also for establishment of homeostasis in biological system. Sleep deprivation is a stressor affecting the brain as well as many body systems and researchers are continuously working to understand the sleep architecture and various substances which affect sleep. Wakefulness and sleep-wake-regulation are complex states, a lot of different components and regulatory mechanisms contribute to these functions. One of the factors involved in sleep wake regulation is the immune system particularly cytokines. Interleukin-1 is a pleotrophic cytokine, serving both physiological and pathological functions including modulation of memory, mood, inflammation, appetite, brain development and sleep. This article reviews and try to elaborate various downstream pathways and mediators involved in influence of cytokines on sleep architecture.

A continued need to develop safe and effective analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs fuels the ongoing investigations of cyclooxygenase (COX). Since the early 1990s, it has been appreciated that there are two cyclooxygenase enzymes, cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2, responsible for the production of prostaglandin H2, the first step in prostanoid biosynthesis. Cyclooxygenase-1 was responsible for the physiological production of prostanoids and cyclooxygenase- 2 was responsible for the elevated production of prostanoids that occurred in sites of disease and inflammation COX-3 is an enzyme that is encoded by the PTGS1 (COX1) gene and is the third and most recently discovered cyclooxygenase (COX) isozyme. The COX-3 isozyme is encoded by the same gene as COX-1, with the difference that COX-3 retains an intron that is not retained in COX-1. In dogs the resulting protein resembles the other two COX enzymes, but in mice and humans it does not, owing to a frame-shift mechanism. Key words: Cyclooxygenase, COX-3, Prostaglandins, Inflammation, NSAIDs  

Domperidone is a water insoluble drug exhibiting poor dissolution pattern. Domperidone is an antiemetic and shows gastroprokinetic properties. It is a weak base and shows poor solubility in alkaline pH. Several methods are being employed to enhance the solubility of domperidone irrespective of its pH dependent solubility. The present protocol aim to design Polyethylene glycol (PEG) based solid dispersions of Domperidone to enhance its solubility. PEG 8000 based solid dispersions containing the drug in different mass ratio i.e. 1:1, 1:3, 1:5 and 1:7 were prepared using fusion method. The prepared solid dispersions were characterized for their drug content, phase solubility studies, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), x-ray diffraction, and in-vitro dissolution studies. All the formulations showed marked improvement in the solubility and dissolution rate of drug which may be due to decrease in crystallinity of drug and additives. It was concluded that prepared solid dispersion of the Domperidone with PEG can improve the solubility and dissolution rate of the drug.