Cajanus cajan (L) Millsp. (Sanskrit: Adhaki, Hindi: Arhar, English: Pigeon pea, Bengali: Tur) (family: Fabaceae) is the most important grain legume crop of rain-fed agriculture in semi-arid tropics. It is both a food crop and a cover/forage crop with high levels of proteins and important amino acids like methionine, lysine and tryptophan. During the last few decades extensive studies have been carried out regarding the chemistry of C. cajan and considerable progress has been achieved regarding its biological activities and medicinal applications. This review article gives an overview on the biological activities of the compounds isolated, pharmacological actions and clinical studies of C. cajan extracts apart from its general details.

This update review is on mucoadhesive polymers used in nasal dosage forms. The nasal mucosa provides a potentially good route for systemic drug delivery. One of the most important features of the nasal route is that it avoids first-pass hepatic metabolism, thereby reducing metabolism. The application of mucoadhesive polymers in nasal drug delivery systems has gained to promote dosage form residence time in the nasal cavity as well as improving intimacy of contact with absorptive membranes of the biological system. The various new technology uses in development of nasal drug delivery dosage forms are discussed. The various dosage forms are vesicular carriers (liposome, noisome), nanostructured particles, prodrugs, in situ gelling system with special attention to in vivo studies.

Fast disintegrating tablets (FDTs) have received ever-increasing demand during the last decade, and the field has become a rapidly growing area in the pharmaceutical industry. Oral drug delivery remains the preferred route for administration of various drugs. Recent developments in the technology have prompted scientists to develop FDTs with improved patient compliance and convenience. Upon introduction into the mouth, these tablets dissolve or disintegrate in the mouth in the absence of additional water for easy administration of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The popularity and usefulness of the formulation resulted in development of several FDT technologies. FDTs are solid unit dosage forms, which disintegrate or dissolve rapidly in the mouth without chewing and water. FDTs or orally disintegrating tablets provide an advantage particularly for pediatric and geriatric populations who have difficulty in swallowing conventional tablets and capsules. This review describes various formulations and technologies developed to achieve fast dissolution/dispersion of tablets in the oral cavity. In particular, this review describes in detail FDT technologies based on lyophilization, molding, sublimation, and compaction, as well as approaches to enhancing the FDT properties, such as spray drying and use of disintegrants. In addition, taste-masking technologies, experimental measurements of disintegration times, and dissolution are also discussed.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated transcription factors of nuclear hormone receptor superfamily comprising of the following three subtypes: PPARα, PPARγ, and PPARβ/δ. Activation of PPAR-α reduces triglyceride level and is involved in regulation of energy homeostasis. Activation of PPAR-γ causes insulin sensitization and enhances glucose metabolism, whereas activation of PPAR- β/δ enhances fatty acids metabolism. Thus, PPAR family of nuclear receptors plays a major regulatory role in energy homeostasis and metabolic function. The present review critically analyzes the protective and detrimental effect of PPAR agonists in dyslipidemia, diabetes, adipocyte differentiation, inflammation, cancer, lung diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, fertility or reproduction, pain, and obesity.

Ayurvedic system of medicine is well known for treating renal problems. A vast number of medicinal plants mentioned in Ayurvedic system of medicine are known to possess diuretic properties. Present study reports the preliminary phytochemical investigation of petroleum ether and ethanolic extracts of Cyclea peltata and their diuretic activity. Preliminary phytochemical screening reveals the presence of phytosterols and alkaloids as major phytoconstituents in petroleum ether extract. The ethanolic extract showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, diterpenes and saponins. Pharmacological investigation revealed that ethanolic extract of C. peltata leaves possessed significant diuretic activity in a given dose of 200 and 300 mg/kg body weight (Diuretic action 1.7 and 2.6, respectively). Where as petroleum ether extract has shown moderate diuresis at a dose of 300 mg/kg body weight (Diuretic action 1.1). The present study justifies the use of C. peltata in the Ayurvedic system of medicine as a diuretic drug.

Microencapsulation is an accepted process used to achieve controlled release and drug targeting for many years. Mucoadhesion has been a topic of interest in the design of drug delivery systems to prolong its intestinal residence time. Mucoadhesion facilitates the intimate contact of the dosage form with the underlying absorption surface for improved bioavailability of drugs. Aceclofenac is a newer nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) having short biological half-life of 4-4.3 h, and therefore a sustained release medication is required to get prolonged effect and to reduce fluctuations in drug plasma concentration levels. Aceclofenac microcapsules were prepared employing sodium alginate as the coat material in combination with some mucoadhesive polymers such as (hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose) HPMC, (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose) Sod. CMC, Carbopol and methyl cellulose (MC) (drug:SA:polymer at ratios 2:2:1, 2:3:1 and 2:4:1), following orifice-ionic gelation technique. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction studies proved the compositions were compatible, without any interaction between the drug and excipients. The prepared microcapsules were evaluated for various physical and release parameters. The resulted microcapsules were found to be discrete and spherical in scanning electron microscopy studies and free flowing in rheological studies. The size of microcapsules was found to be around 757.44 ± 5.201 μm to 814.46 ± 6.586 μm. The microencapsulation efficiency was found to be higher in HPMC than in Carbopol > MC > Sod. CMC containing formulations, but the swelling index was found to be higher in Sod. CMC formulations. The microcapsules with HPMC exhibited good mucoadhesive property in the in vitro wash-off test. In vitro drug release studies of aceclofenac microcapsules were carried out up to 24 h and they followed zero-order release kinetics with Super Case II mechanism. The drug release from the microcapsules was sustained over a prolonged period with greater retardation in drug:SA:HPMC (2:4:1) containing microcapsules and this proved to be the best formulation.

Mikania scandens (L.) Willd. (Asteraceae), known as climbing hemp weed in English, is a herbaceous climbing vine grown as a weed throughout the plains of the Indian subcontinent. The present study evaluated some neuropharmacological properties of hydroalcoholic extract of aerial parts from M. scandens (HAMS) in experimental animal models. HAMS (at 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight, i.p.) was evaluated for central antinociceptive activity by tail flick method. Locomotor depressant activity was measured by means of an actophotometer. Skeletal muscle relaxant effect was evaluated by using rotarod apparatus and sedative potentiating property by phenobarbitone-induced sleep potentiation study. The results of the present study revealed significant (P<0.001) and dose-dependent central antinociceptive, locomotor depressant, muscle relaxant, and sedative potentiating effects of HAMS, demonstrating its depressant action on the central nervous system (CNS). From the present study, it can be concluded that the aerial parts of M. scandens possessed prominent depressant action on the CNS, as manifested by the important neuropharmacological properties in mice.

It is well known that the over production of reactive oxygen species is harmful for living organisms and it damages major cellular constituents such as DNA, protein, and lipid. At present, searching of new plant sources having free radical scavenging activity is an important field of research in phytomedicine as natural products are safe and relatively low cost. In this respect, attention has been focused to evaluate the antioxidant potential of hydro-methanolic extract of seed of Caesalpinia bonduc (Caesalpenacae) using different in vitro models. To evaluate the antioxidant activity, extract was examined on 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging effect, scavenging of hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical scavenging potential, and anti-lipid peroxidation activity by biochemical methods. Total phenol and flavonoids contents in the said extract were measured biochemically as per standard methods. Results were compared with butylated hydroxyl toluene and α-tocopherol. Results indicated that hydro-methanolic extract has strong scavenging activity on 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical with IC ₅₀ value 157.4 μg/ml, hydroxyl radical with IC ₅₀ value 61.9 μg/ml and hydrogen peroxide with IC ₅₀ value 64.32 μg/ml. Hydro-methanolic extract also showed notable inhibition in lipid peroxidation having IC ₅₀ value 58.87 μg/ml. Phytochemical study focused that the extract is rich in phenolic compounds (24.66 mg gallic acid equivalent/g dried extract) and flavonoids (136.65 mg quercetin equivalent/g dried extract). Findings of the experiment indicated that the hydro-methanolic extract of seed of Caesalpinia bonduc is a source of natural antioxidants.

The aim of this investigation was to develop fast dissolving tablet of cinnarizine. A combination of super disintegrants, i.e., sodium starch glycolate (SSG) and crosscarmellose sodium (CCS) were used along with camphor as a subliming material. An optimized concentration of camphor was added to aid the porosity of the tablet. A 3 ² full factorial design was applied to investigate the combined effect of two formulation variables: Amount of SSG and CCS. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy was performed to identify the physicochemical interaction between drug and polymer. IR spectroscopy showed that there is no interaction of drug with polymer. In the present study, direct compression was used to prepare the tablets. The powder mixtures were compressed into tablet using flat face multi punch tablet machine. Camphor was sublimed from the tablet by exposing the tablet to vacuum drier at 60°C for 12 hours. All the formulations were evaluated for their characteristics such as average weight, hardness, wetting time, friability, content uniformity, dispersion time (DT), and dissolution rate. An optimized tablet formulation (F 9) was found to have good hardness of 3.30 ± 0.10 kg/cm ² , wetting time of 42.33 ± 4.04 seconds, DT of 34.67 ± 1.53 seconds, and cumulative drug release of not less than 99% in 16 minutes.