No abstract

Urticaria affects all age groups of a population. It is triggered by allergens in foods, insect bites, medications, and environmental conditions. Urticaria is characterized by itching, a burning sensation, wheals and flares, erythema, and localized edema. The aim of this study was to develop a polymeric dosage form of ebastine using Carbopol 940 and mixture of span and tween. The emulsion was prepared, the gelling agent was added and the desired emulgel loaded with active drug was formulated. The formulations were subjected to physical stability, pH, viscosity, spreadability, drug content analysis, thermal analysis, in vitro drug release, and in vivo anti-allergic activity in animal model. The formulated emulgel exhibited good physical stability. The pH of the formulation was in the range of 5.2 ± 0.17 to 5.5 ± 0.20 which is suitable for topical application. Insignificant changes ( p > .05) were observed in viscosity and spreadability of stored emulgels. The drug content was in the official limit of Pharmacopeia (i.e. 100 ± 10%). DSC measurements predicted that there is no interaction between the active moiety and excipients in emulgel formulation. The optimized formulation (ES3) released 74.25 ± 1.8% of ebastine after 12 h. The ebastine emulgel showed significant ( p < .05; ANOVA) in vivo anti-allergic activity as compared to commercial product Benadryl ® in histamine-induced allergy in rabbits. This study concluded that a topical drug delivery of ebastine-loaded emulgel could be well tolerated and safe for the treatment of urticaria/hives.

Mimosa pudica seed mucilage (MPM) is composed of glucuronoxylan, which is a swellable, pH-responsive and non-toxic biomaterial. Herein, we aimed to extract MPM from M. pudica seeds (MP seeds) to ascertain optimization of extraction conditions to get highest yield by response surface methodology, via Box-Behnken design (RSM-BBD). MPM was extracted from MP seeds by a hot water extraction method. The effects of four different parameters on the extraction yield of MPM were evaluated: pH of the extraction medium (1–10), seed/water contact time (1–12 h), the temperature of extraction medium (30–90 °C), and seed/water ratio (1:5–1:35 w/v). The maximum yield of MPM obtained by Design-Expert software was 10.66% (10.66 g/100 g) at pH 7, seed/water contact time of 6 h, extraction temperature of 50 °C, and seed/water ratio of 1:20 w/v. The p values of ANOVA were found to be less than 0.0001, which indicated that the extraction yield of MPM was significantly affected by all the study parameters. The results revealed that pH and extraction temperature were the most significant factors affecting the yield of MPM. MPM in compressed tablet form showed pH-responsive on–off switching behavior at pH 7.4 and 1.2 in a reversible manner. MPM in compressed tablet form sustained the release of itopride for 16 h following a super case-II transport mechanism and zero-order release kinetics.

The present study deals with the isolation and modification of Salvia spinosa hydrogel (SSH) to investigate its thermal degradation profile. The SSH was modified chemically to its acetylated derivative (ASSH-1–4) with DS 1.05-2.79. After characterization by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and solid-state CP/MAS 13C-NMR spectroscopic techniques, both SSH and ASSH-4 were subjected to thermogravimetric analyses (TG) by the isoconversional method, i.e., the Flynn-Waal-Ozawa (FWO) and the Kissinger methods. TG curves showed that both SSH and ASSH-4 exhibited two-step degradation. The energy of activation (Ea) for each degradation step was calculated by fitting thermal degradation data to the FWO method, revealing greater stability of ASSH-4 than that of SSH. Analysis by Kissinger’s method revealed the second and one and a half order of thermal degradation (n) for SSH and ASSH-4, which also evidenced that ASSH-4 is more stable than SSH. The values of the thermodynamic triplet (ΔH, ΔG and ΔS) were calculated from thermal data. Positive values were found for ΔG, which showed the non-spontaneous nature of thermal degradation of SSH and ASSH-4. The values of integral procedural decomposition temperature (IPDT) and intrinsic thermal stability (ITS) for SSH and ASSH-4 were found comparatively greater than those of many other commercially available materials of the same kind, which revealed the higher stability of both materials. SSH, as a benign polysaccharide-based material, was also assessed for its utility in drug release studies, taking caffeine as a model drug. The SSH matrix-based tablet formulation (SSHC) showed a sustained release behavior of the drug in preliminary studies.

Herein, we report the dynamic swelling, stimuli responsive swelling-deswelling properties, sub-acute toxicity studies and sustained drug release potential of a polysaccharide-based hydrogel isolated from psyllium husk (a well-known dietary fiber).