Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International

Aim: This study aimed to assess the effect of polysaccharides from fruit body of Microporous vernicipes (Polyporales) on immunological activities of macrophages and neutrophils.

Methodology: Polysaccharides were extracted using hot water (PHW) and cool water (PCW) and tested on the activities of peritoneal macrophage and neutrophil in response of lipopolysaccharides. The effect of the polysaccharides was examined In vitro to assess the phagocytic activities by evaluating the vacuole formation, nitroblue tetrazolium dye reduction, lysosomal enzyme activity, nitric oxide, myeloperoxidase in neutrophil and on neutrophil adherence assay.

Results: The cool and hot water polysaccharides of Microporus vernicipes significantly improved the activities of macrophages and neutrophils as demonstrated by an elevated the formation of vacuole following by a high production of nitric oxide, lysosomal enzyme and superoxide. Those polysaccharides extracts of Microporous vernicipes also caused an increase in release of myeloperoxidase by neutrophils. Results also showed that neutrophils treated with polysaccharides extracts of Microporous vernicipes adhered more on a plastic surface than those untreated. It has been also found that polysaccharides of Microporous vernicipes may have cytotoxic effect at high concentration with IC₅₀ of 2.28 and 8.15 mg/mL for PHW and PCW respectively.

Conclusion: The result of this study indicates the immunostimulatory activity of polysaccharides of Microporus vernicipes by stimulating activities of macrophages and neutrophils.

Aim: The curriculum of pharmacy needs continuing revision and assessment to effectively equip the students with the required skills and with the human values that are needed to become effective and responsible professionals. The aim of the present study was to investigate pharmacy undergraduate students' views regarding the effectiveness of theoretical and practical courses in the pharmacy program in Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: This study included a survey that was developed based on a literature review related to effectiveness of theoretical and practical courses. The data was collected using Google form and the descriptive data were represented as a numbers and percentages.

Results: Over 71% students agreed that the courses with practical were comparatively more interesting than the courses that include only theoretical part. Additionally, more than 73% of the students agreed that the practical part helped them to understand the concepts of the course in better way. Only 26.53% of the students agreed that if the course containing theoretical only, it will be difficult to understand effectively and only 22.45% agreed that the courses containing practical only were difficult to understand effectively.

Conclusion: The study showed that pharmacy students had more interest in the practical learning as compared to theoretical learning. Pharmacy schools should ensure that their undergraduate pharmacy programs include enough credit hours of practical courses.

In this study, the pK_a value of vemurafenib was determined by the dependence of the retention factor on the pH of the mobile phase. The change of pK_a in the different acetonitrile fraction ranging between 57.5 and 62.5% (v/v) was studied by using an LC-UV method. Additionally, a simple, reliable, and rapid UPLC method has been developed for the determination of vemurafenib in human urine. Efavirenz was used as an internal standart. For vemurafenib and efavirenz, selectivity factors were found as 1.204. The asymmetry and capacity factors were obtained as 1.100 and 7.532 for vemurafenib.

Vemurafenib was exposed to thermal, photolytic, hydrolytic, and oxidative stress conditions, and the stressed samples were detected by LC/MS/MS method.

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the perception of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) among future healthcare providers in a university in Malaysia.

Methods: A cross-sectional and observational study was conducted among the students of three different healthcare provider faculties in a university in Malaysia with the help of pre-validated research tool. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 24.0 was used to enter and analyze the data.

Results: Overall, 252 respondents from three different health care faculties participated in the current study. The dental faculty students had better perception as compared to the other two faculties. The female students had a better perception of JE as compared to the students who were living in hostels.

Conclusion: Overall appropriate perception was observed in the three health care provider faculty students. The present study concluded that dental and pharmacy students had a better perception of JE than medical students.

Objective: Determine effects of berberine (BBR) on bloog glucose, glycated hemoglobin A1, serum insulin, C – peptide, insulin resistance and β– cell physiology.

Study Design: Experimental study

Place and Duration: Department of Physiology Isra University and Animal house of Sindh Agriculture University, Tando Jam from August 2019 to February 2020.

Methodology: A sample of 100 adult Wistar male rats was selected according to criteria of study and divided into 5 groups through random technique. Group A – negative controls (N/S 0.9%), Group B – positive control (diabetic rats – Alloxan 120 mg/kg) (i.p), Group C – E; Diabetic rat + BBR (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) respectively. Blood samples were collected from retro-orbital venous plexus by capillary tube. Sera were separated at 3000 rpm (15 minutes). Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and β – cell secretory activity (HOMA-β) were calculated by mathematical formula. Statistical analysis was performed on SPSS version 21.0 (IBM, incorporation, USA) at 95% CI (P≤ 0.05).

Results: The present study noted significant improvement of fasting and random blood glucose, glycated HbA1, serum insulin and C –peptide, insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and β – cell physiology.

Conclusion: Berberine (BBR) ameliorates the bloog glucose, glycated hemoglobin A₁, serum insulin, c – peptide, insulin resistance and β– cell physiology.

Pain has always been a cause of concern to humans. People often searched for remedy from plants because of the many documented side effects of commercial medicines. This study was conducted to determine the analgesic efficacy of the root decoction of Salacia korthalsiana Miq (Polipog) found in Mondragon Northern Samar. Acetic acid-induced writhing method was used to test the analgesic activity of polipog. Writhing test is a chemical method used to induce pain of peripheral origin by injection of irritant (ex. acetic acid). The manifestations of abdominal writhing in mice were described as an arching of back, extension of hind limbs and contraction of abdominal musculature. Analgesic activity of the test compound is inferred from decrease in the frequency of writhing.  From the results obtained, polipog is comparable to the commercially available drugs in terms of analgesic efficacy.

A dental infection, Gingivitis is a common and mild form of gum disease (periodontal disease) that causes irritation, redness and swelling (inflammation) of your gums. Gingivitis is able to escort to much more grave gum disease (periodontitis) and eventual tooth loss. To treat dental problems painkillers along with antibiotics and some dental paints are the commonly prescribed But the common side effects of most of the painkillers are hyperacidity and gastric irritation most antibiotics due to slow onset of action and hepatic “first-pass” effect fail to produce prompt and prolong actions. Moreover, most of the dental formulations are washed out by saliva within a few hours of application. Hypothesis of the study is that if a soft moldable gummy material containing analgesic as well as antibiotic drugs is attached to an offending tooth and sustained drug release occurs from it, a extended local action of the drugs is achieved. Ethyl cellulose, gum tragacanth, hydroxyl propyl cellulose, PEG-400 and carbopol 934 were used to prepare denticap containing Doxycycline hydrate and lidocaine.

Delphinidin is a known dye and food colorant along with many medicinal properties for instance anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity and anti-cancer. The present research has been designed to formulate bi-layered tablets using delphinidin which inherits these medicinal properties. The extrusion of tablets is done by using 3D printing techniques involving a table-top 3D printer which extrudes delphinidin tablets along with the required excipients. The characteristics of the whole tablets have been analyzed separately including hardness, friability, and weight. Adapted method for tablet formulation results in tablets which are appropriate for the immediate release and sustained release. The present research provides a method to make the effective tablets with reduced cost which can be used as drug formulation method in pharmaceutical industries.

Nosocomial infection has been recognized as a crucial issue in the outcome of hospital care, with significant morbidity and mortality results. The primary routes of infection transmission to patients are the hands of health-care workers. This also evokes utilization of antiseptics for hand-washing purposes. Many of the antiseptics commercially available are sanitizers dependent on alcohol that have certain shortcomings or harmful effects. The regular use can cause dermal irritation. The aim of the present study was to formulate an herbal hand-wash using leave extracts of Terminalia catappa, fruits of Curcuma longa, and rinds of Garcinia indica. Using the Disc diffusion process, the antibiotic activity against skin pathogens was evaluated, and results were compared with commercial antimicrobial hand-wash. The results showed that the herbal hand-wash was more effective against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli than the commercially available antiseptic hand-wash. The effectiveness of herbal hand-wash was analysed using the Glove Juice method, which revealed that herbal hand-wash is effective in reducing pathogenic microbes present on the hands better than commercial hand-wash. These plant extracts can therefore be used for formulating herbal hand-wash to prevent hand borne microbial infections.

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the attitude of university students towards Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in a medical university.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed among the students of three different faculties (Medical, Pharmacy and Dental) in a medical university in Malaysia using a self-prepared and pre-validated research tool. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 24.0 was used to analyze and present the data.

Results: A total of 268 students from three faculties participated in the present study. The faculty of pharmacy students and male students had more positive attitude towards ALS. The positive attitude was more among the non-hostellers than the hostellers.

Conclusion: Overall positive attitude was observed among the three health care provider faculty students. The present study concluded that pharmacy students had a more positive attitude towards ALS than the other two faculty students.

Breast cancer is the most common and progressively increased form of cancer mostly among women. Various therapies have been tried to cure this cancer but none of them is without side effect. These might be attributed to the indiscriminate destruction of normal cells along with cancer cells or other systemic effects of the chemotherapeutic agent. These difficulties initiate the urge to develop targeted drug delivery systems. Nanotechnology deals with formulation of nanostructures for innovative drug delivery. Nanodrug delivery systems are being used for targeting in the treatment of various diseases, hence this concept is also applicable to the treatment of breast cancer. Nanoparticles have an additional effect of improvement in the solubility of drugs such as paclitaxel, reduction in dose and toxicity, increased cellular uptake etc. Owing to smaller size these are easily taken by tumor cells and effectively encapsulate the hydrophobic drugs. This review is aimed to summarize the various management therapies majorly focusing on the recent nanodrug delivery systems to target chemotherapeutic agents in the breast cancer cells. Various nanodrug systems are in clinical trials and few of them are already in the market. These are promising tools for future cancer treatment and research.