Background & Aim:The hot water extract of a mixture of Anogeissus leiocarpus and Prosopis africana is widely used in the northern part of Nigeria for the treatment and management of asthma. Since investigations of its pharmacological activities already justify its use, and the need for standardization of herbal medicine and develop appropriate dosage forms has continued to grow, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of some common channelling agents (sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate and sodium lauryl sulphate) on the compaction properties of the mixed stem bark extracts of Anogeissus leiocarpus and Prosopis africana. Experimental: Granules of the mixed extracts (AA1) were produced using the wet granulation method of massing and screening. The micromeritics and flow properties of the extracts as well as the effects of the three common additives were studied, while the compaction properties of the extract formulated alone and in the presence of these additives were interrogated using the Heckel equation. Results: Our results showed that, all the formulations containing the channelling agents exhibited poor flow. Granules prepared using sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) exhibited plastic deformation during consolidation, those formulated using calcium carbonate (CaCO3) showed initial fragmentation before consolidation by plastic deformation and those formulated using sodium lauryl sulphate consolidated essentially by plastic deformation. Inclusion of additives modified the compressibility profiles of the formulations. Tensile strength of the formulations containing NaHCO3 and sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) were observed to be concentration dependent while those containing CaCO3 showed no appreciable increase in tensile strength with increased pressure. Generally, formulations containing 5% of the additives gave the highest tensile strength, however, those containing CaCO3 were found to be higher than the other two formulations. Recommended applications/industries: Considering that, none of the channelling agents altered significantly the compaction properties of AA1, they might be useful in developing standardized and robust tablets of A. leiocarpus and P. africana admixtures for Asthma therapy.

This study aims to develop a suitable single tablet dosage form containing a mixture of hot water stem back extracts of Anogeissus leiocarpus and Prosopis africana (AA1), suitable for use in the therapeutic management of asthma. The compaction characteristics of the oven-dried hot water extract (HWE) were studied using the Heckel equation. The mechanical properties as well as disintegration and dissolution profile of the compacts were also assessed. The results showed that AA1 exhibited high densification due to dye filling while the subsequent rearrangement of the granules did not contribute, significantly, to their densification. The granules had enhanced plasticity as shown by the low yield point, Py. The tablets produced from the extract had good mechanical properties, with hardness increasing with compression pressure while the friability decreased. Of the four disintegrants tested, tablets containing Explotab had the shortest disintegration time of 11 min while tablets containing Prosolv had the longest disintegration time of 40 min. The order of disintegrant property is Explotab > Cellactose > Emcocel > Maize starch > Prosolv. Dissolution results (t(90%)) show that tablets containing Explotab released 100% of the drug in 20 min proving to be the most suitable in acute asthma attack. The order of dissolution is Explotab > Cellactose > Maize starch > Prosolv > Emcocel. It is concluded that incorporation of Explotab (10%w/w) as a disintegrant in AA1 preparation produced tablets of suitable compressional properties and ensured adequate drug release for the management of acute asthma.