Bauhinia purpurea (B. purpurea) (family: Fabaceae) commonly called as butter fly tree has vast medicinal uses and remarkable pharmacological potential. Various phytoconstituents, extracts and parts of this plant were possess significant pharmacological activities such as cardiac activity, antifungal, wound healing, antidiabetic, antiulcer, antioxidant, antinociceptive, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, antidiarrhoeal, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic, antimalarial, gastro protective and cytoprotective activity. The present study emphasizes the overview of recent studies and/or updates on pharmacological potential of B. purpurea.

Objective: Nanosuspension is known to enhance the saturation solubility and dissolution velocity of poorly soluble drugs owing to the increased surface area of nanosized particles. Stability of these solubility enhancing systems can be improved by converting them into solidified forms. To simultaneously achieve enhanced dissolution and improved stability, an attempt has been made to increase the dissolution rate of poorly soluble drug tadalafil by formulating immediate release pellets of its nanosuspension. Methods: Tadalafil nanosuspensions were prepared using high shear homogenization technique and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) E 15, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) as stabilizers. Prepared nanosuspensions were subjected to the characterization of particle size distribution, zeta potential, drug loading and saturation solubility. Optimized nanosuspension was solidified by preparing immediate release pellets: for improved stability, where tadalafil nanosuspension was used as a binder. Pellets were prepared by extrusion-spheronization technique using κ-carrageenan as a pelletizing aid. Results: Prepared immediate release pellets disintegrated within 03 min. In vitro dissolution studies showed 85% drug release within 45 min in pH 1.2 buffer from immediate release pellets containing tadalafil nanosuspension. Conclusion: It can be concluded that formulation of nanosuspension of poorly soluble drug and its use as a binder for the preparation of immediate release pellets markedly improved the dissolution rate.

UV, HPLC and HPTLC methods were developed and validated for the quantitative determination of Pirfenidone, a novel antifibrotic agent used in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Chromatography was carried out by isocratic technique on reversed phase Eclipse XDB-C 18 column (150 x 4.6 mm, 5µm) with mobile phase consisting of phosphate buff: acetonitrile (pH 3.5) 72:28 v/v at flow rate 1mL/min. TLC was carried out by stationary phase precoated Silica Gel 60 F 254 TLC Plate using mobile phase Toluene: Methanol, 8:2 v/v. The UV spectrophotometric determination was performed at 311nm using solvent methanol. The proposed methods were validated according to ICH Q2-(R1) guidelines. The linearity range for Pirfenidone was 5-70 µg/mL for HPLC, 800-1600 ng/spot for HPTLC and 10-60 µg/mL for UV method. These methods were accurate and precise with recoveries in the range of 98.2-102.32 and relative standard deviation < 2%. The developed methods were successfully applied for determination of Pirfenidone in tablets.

The marine ecology is diverse with innumerable types of natural substances, both of plant and animal origin. Padina tetrastromatica (PT) (Hauck) is a brown algae belonging to the order Dictyotales, found in coastal region. The objective of present investigation was to evaluate phytochemical profile of extracts of PT. The air dried plant material was defatted and extracted successively with solvents of increasing polarity. Incumbent study was performed with standard qualitative phytochemical tests and HPTLC fingerprint analysis using CAMAG HPTLC system. The results showed the presence of phytoconstituents like sterols, terpenoids, flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids and carbohydrates. Furthermore, components present in extracts were resolved in best possible solvent system by HPTLC. The chloroform extract of PT displayed eight peaks, in which those with Rf values 0.28 and 0.72 were more predominant. Whereas ethanol extract of PT exhibited nine peaks, in which maximum Rf value was found to be 0.82. In conclusion, the data of this study provide useful guide and suitability for investigation of biological activity of the plant according to the phytochemical groups observed. However, further work is needed to standardize the above chemical constituents in comparison with biomarker and this result can also be measured along with the other data for setting up the standards to this plant.

Objective: The main objective of this work was to understand the basic properties of crystalline nanocellulose (CNC) that can be useful as a novel excipient in pharmaceutical formulations. This covers the isolation and preparation of nanocellulose followed by characterization. Methods: Cellulose was isolated from aquatic weed by autoclaving and bleaching. Cellulose to CNC conversion involved gluconic acid treatments at different concentrations (40%, 50% and 60%) followed by centrifugation and neutralization. CNC was further characterized by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermo gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) for surface morphology, elemental analysis by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), crystallinity index by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and optical microscopy. Results: Acid concentration affects the moisture uptake, particle size, and yield of CNC. CNC size ranged from 350 nm to 900 nm with a crystallinity index 80% to 85%. Moisture uptake was 6.38±0.12% at 33% relative humidity. DSC and TGA established thermal stability over 200 °C. Nanocellulose has shown Angle of repose (28.81°), Carrs index (12.32), zeta potential (33mV) values and heavy metals within pharmacopoeial limits. Conclusion: CNC from water hyacinth was prepared successfully by sustainable process. CNC physico-chemical characterization revealed the stable nature of CNC, suitable to be used as an excipient in pharmaceutical formulations.