Background Increasing hydrophilicity of poorly water-soluble drugs is a major challenge in drug discovery and development. Cocrystallization is one of the techniques to enhance the hydrophilicity of such drugs. Carvedilol (CAR), a nonselective beta/alpha1 blocker, used in the treatment of mild to moderate congestive heart failure and hypertension, is classified under BCS class II with poor aqueous solubility and high permeability. Present work is an attempt to improve the solubility of CAR by preparing cocrystals using hydrochlorothiazide (HCT), a diuretic drug, as coformer. CAR-HCT (2:0.5) cocrystals were prepared by slurry conversion method and were characterized by DSC, PXRD, FTIR, Raman, and SEM analysis. The solubility, stability, and dissolution (in vitro) studies were conducted for the cocrystals. Results The formation of CAR-HCT cocrystals was confirmed based on melting point, DSC thermograms, PXRD data, FTIR and Raman spectra, and finally by SEM micrographs. The solubility of the prepared cocrystals was significantly enhanced (7.3 times), and the dissolution (in vitro) was improved by 2.7 times as compared to pure drug CAR. Further, these cocrystals were also found to be stable for 3 months (90 days). Conclusion It may be inferred that the drug–drug (CAR-HCT) cocrystallization enhances the solubility and dissolution rate of carvedilol significantly. Further, by combining HCT as coformer could well be beneficial pharmacologically too.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) comprises the most prevalent serious disorders in the developed and developing nations. Epidemiological studies have played an important part in the elucidation of predisposing factors for CVD and opportunities for prevention and treatment. The present study is designed retrospectively to focus on prevalence of various CVD and causes of mortality in patients admitted to cardiology unit. Materials and Methods: A retrospective epidemiological study was conducted in the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit (ICCU) of a tertiary care teaching hospital where the data was collected from January, 2013 to June, 2015 (2.5 years). The study population includes all the patients admitted to ICCU with various symptoms of CVDs. The demographic and clinical data was obtained from the records and the analysis was performed. Results: A total of 6,307 patients were admitted in ICCU with an average age of 52 years in which majority was men (58.33%). The study indicates coronary heart disease (CHD) (67.06%) was most prevalent among other CVDs and non-CVDs. A total of 592 (9.12%) deaths were noted during the study period where mortality rate was high in females (11.26%). Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure accounted for major deaths in ICCU. Conclusion: The study observed the significant prevalence of various CVD. Based on the results we hypothesize that serological studies will be necessary to identify the specific underlying aetiology/infectious pathogenesis leading to death and prospective observational study will yield significant strength to epidemiological studies respectively.

OBJECTIVES:Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the primary cause of death globally despite the advanced health-care facilities. Extensive disparity exists in pharmacotherapy pattern among CVD patients where rational drug use plays a pivotal role in promoting safety and efficacy. The study focused to evaluate drug utilization using the World Health Organization (WHO) prescribing indicators and defined daily dose (DDD) in patients admitted to a teaching/referral hospital in Northern Telangana.MATERIALS AND METHODS:A total of 1120 medical records were analyzed for drug utilization for a period of 7 months. Prescription pattern was assessed using the WHO prescribing indicators and DDD to measure individual drug utilization categorized under anatomical–therapeutic–chemical classification.RESULTS:Of the total admissions, 58.57% (55.19 ± 15.19 years) were male and 41.43% (56.64 ± 15.28 years) were female where coronary artery disease was the most common cause of admission followed by cardiomyopathy. Among prescribing indicators, percentage of drugs with generic names was least accounted with 26.86% and 18.95% during hospitalization and discharge, respectively. A mean of 11.55 (hospitalization) and 6.55 (discharge) drugs were prescribed per prescription. Antiplatelet (72.86%) and statin (80.62%) use was predominate during complete therapy. The DDD of furosemide (109.33) was found to be high, followed by atorvastatin (64.6), enalapril (58.44), aspirin (58.14) and clopidogrel (53.2).CONCLUSION:Polypharmacy and least use of generic name were observed in the study which may affect the rationality. The use of antiplatelets, statins, and angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitors was appropriate, but furosemide overuse is of major concern. Therefore, appropriate prescription writing improvises treatment compliance in the patients, which results in rationality.

Objective: Heart failure (HF) affects quality of life (QoL) more profoundly than other chronic diseases resulting in increased disability and mortality. Investigations which include assessment of QoL and nutritional status using questionnaire if implemented could effectively improve HF outcomes. The study focuses on the association of QoL with severity of the disease, and nutrition in HF.: A prospective observational study was conducted in Materials and Methods forty eight HF patients of a teaching hospital. The QoL was assessed using Minessota living with HF (MLwHF) and Left Ventricular Dysfunction-36 (LVD-36) questionnaires; and nutritional status was examined using Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA ). All the obtained scores were interpreted and presented as percentages and association of variables ® was measured statistically using Pearson correlation coefficient (r).: In a total of 48 HF patients 60.42% were men Results and 39.58% were women. The mean age of men of women were found to be 56.41 ± 13.08 years and 55.89 ± 8.379 years respectively with a significant difference (p=0.0001). Quality of Life assessed using MLwHF and LVD-36 has positive correlation with age (MLwHF r=0.1376; LVD-36 r=0.221), HF severity and negatively correlated with nutritional status (MLwHF r=-0.6382; LVD-36 r=-0.6523).: Quality of life is an important patient outcome measure, if Conclusion adequately addressed and treated accordingly could prevent frequent hospitalisations thus reducing disability and mortality rate in HF.

Objective: To evaluate honey samples with respect to their physicochemical properties and anti-inflammatory activity. Materials and Methods: Different samples of honey namely Saffron honey, Chambal honey, Ajwain honey and Tulsi honey were evaluated for Ash content, pH, Moisture content and anti-inflammatory activity. Results and discussion: Anti-inflammatory activity of honey samples with different concentrations (30, 40, 50, 60 mg/ml) were compared using HRBC membrane stabilization method. Honey samples namely Tulsi honey, Saffron honey, Ajwain honey and Chambal honey showed maximum protection of 94.12%, 85.28%, 79.36% and 74.35% respectively at 60 mg/ml concentration. The results revealed that as with increase in concentrations of honey, membrane stabilizing activity also increases significantly. Tulsi honey gave highest ash content of 0.54±0.25 gm/100gm. Maximum pH of 4.8±0.36 was shown by chambal honey while highest acidity was seen in tulsi honey (3.8±0.43). This study Conclusion: demonstrated that honey samples possess significant anti-inflammatory activity. Thus it can be concluded that, physicochemical properties, anti-inflammatory activity and quality of honey varied depending on the botanical origins, storage conditions and handling.