Background The current study was carried out to evaluate the possible application of Musa balbisiana starch in formulation of mucoadhesive microsphere for oral delivery of gliclazide (GLZ). The study objective was to improve the oral bioavailability along with prolongation of its duration of action for a better glycaemic control. Ionic gelation technique was employed in formulating the dosage form. Optimization of the batches was carried out by response surface methodology using 32 full factorial designs. The microsphere prepared was characterized for several parameters along with its in vitro release study. The gastrointestinal transit of the optimized batch of prepared microspheres after oral administration was studied in rabbits by using the gamma scintigraphy technique utilizing 99mTc as the labelling agent in the presence of stannous chloride. Also, the optimized batch was studied for its pharmacokinetic parameters. Moreover, the antidiabetic efficacy of the prepared microsphere was evaluated in rats by using the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic model. Results The factorial design experiment resulted in an optimum formulation coded as F8. The compatible nature of the drug and excipient was revealed from FTIR, DSC and IST studies. The scanning electron micrographs also showed the occurrence of spherical microspheres having a smooth surface. The in vitro release study provided an evidence of an initial burst effect that was followed by a prolong release phase. The pharmacokinetic parameters justified the ability of the prepared dosage form in sustaining the drug release with a 2.7-fold enhancement in drug bioavailability. The images obtained during the gamma scintigraphy study suggested the gastro-retentive nature of the dosage form with the gastro-retentive ability for more than 4 h. Also, the pharmacodynamics study carried out in diabetic rat model confirmed about the better efficacy of the dosage form in lowering the elevated blood glucose level. Conclusion The overall study data provide valuable information about the potential of this banana starch in formulation of a mucoadhesive dosage form that can be used for enhancement of bioavailability of drug-like gliclazide which in turn can provide a beneficial effect in the management of diabetes.

Background The derivatives of quercetin is known for their immune-modulating antiviral, anti-blood clotting, antioxidant, and also for its anti-inflammatory efficacy. The current study was therefore conducted to examine the noted novel derivatives of quercetin present in plant sources as an immune modulator and as an antiviral molecule in the COVID-19 disease and also to study their affinity of binding with potential three targets reported for coronavirus, i.e., papain-like protease, spike protein receptor-binding domain, and 3C-like protease. Based on the high-positive drug-likeness score, the reported derivatives of quercetin obtained from an open-source database were further filtered. Compounds with positive and high drug-likeness scores were further predicted for their potential targets using DIGEP-Pred software, and STRING was used to evaluate the interaction between modulated proteins. The associated pathways were recorded based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway database. Docking was performed finally using PyRx having AutoDock Vina to identify the efficacy of binding between quercetin derivatives with papain-like protease, spike protein receptor-binding domain, and 3C-like protease. The ligand that scored minimum binding energy was chosen to visualize the interaction between protein and ligand. Normal mode analysis in internal coordinates was done with normal mode analysis to evaluate the physical movement and stability of the best protein-ligand complexes using the iMODS server. Results Forty bioactive compounds with the highest positive drug-likeness scores were identified. These 40 bioactives were responsible for regulating different pathways associated with antiviral activity and modulation of immunity. Finally, three lead molecules were identified based on the molecular docking and dynamics simulation studies with the highest anti-COVID-19 and immunomodulatory potentials. Standard antiviral drug remdesivir on docking showed a binding affinity of − 5.8 kcal/mol with PLpro, − 6.4 kcal/mol with 3CLpro, and − 8.6 kcal/mol with spike protein receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2, the discovered hit molecules quercetin 3-O-arabinoside 7-O-rhamnoside showed binding affinity of − 8.2 kcal/mol with PLpro, whereas quercetin 3-[rhamnosyl-(1- > 2)-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside] and quercetin-3-neohesperidoside-7-rhamnoside was predicted to have a binding affinity of − 8.5 kcal/mol and − 8.8 kcal/mol with spike protein receptor-binding domain and 3CLpro respectively Conclusion Docking study revealed quercetin 3-O-arabinoside 7-O-rhamnoside to possess the highest binding affinity with papain-like protease, quercetin 3-[rhamnosyl-(1- > 2)-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside] with spike protein receptor-binding domain, and quercetin-3-neohesperidoside-7-rhamnoside with 3C-like protease and all the protein-ligand complexes were found to be stable after performing the normal mode analysis of the complexes in internal coordinates. Graphical Abstract

The pandemic, which is brought about by the SARS CoV-2 infection, has inundated the entire world and obliterated the economies of numerous nations. Hence, looking for treatment and prophylaxis of COVID-19, Quercetin, which is a flavonoid gotten from plants and different sources like grapes, onion, tomatoes, apple, and so forth and has various properties like calming property, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective properties, is inspected for its antiviral properties, so it tends to be considered as one of the adjuvant medicines alongside the pharmacological medicines like Remdesivir and plasma treatment. A survey of the antiviral property of Quercetin from distributed articles proposes that Quercetin has a solid antiviral movement towards SARS C0V-2 and other upper respiratory tract infections. It can be securely and financially used to battle COVID-19. For high-hazard populaces, this medication can be a brilliant decision of treatment. Here the authors give proof to the utilization of Quercetin in relationship with pharmacological treatments like Remdesivir or improving plasma treatment.

Objective: The objective of the current work is to develop and validate a simple yet effective, efficient and reproducible RP-UHPLC method for the determination of Gilcazide loaded in a microsphere formulation. Methods: The chromatographic analysis was carried out on Thermo Scientific (Dionex Ultra 3000plus) UHPLC using a stainless steel YMC C8 column (25cm × 4mm) packed with endcapped octylsilane bonded to porous silica (4µm) in isocratic elution mode using phosphate buffer pH 3.4 and HPLC grade acetonitrile in the ratio of 20: 80 (v/v) as eluent. The flow rate was adjusted as 1ml/min and eluent was detected at 230 nm. The retention time was observed at 1.9 min. Results: The linear dynamic range for the developed UHPLC method was found in the concentration range of 2-10µg/ml and percentage recovery was in the range of 94%-98%. Drug Entrapment Efficiency Data of Gliclazide loaded microsphere was found to be 93.72% Conclusion: In this RP–UHPLC method, the linearity was within the range of 2–10μg/mL and the validation parameters were within the limits was performed as per ICH guidelines. The % Drug entrapment Efficiency of the Gliclazide loaded microsphere was found to be 93.72 % which was satisfactory.

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) has an advantage over conventional High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as UPLC offers substantial resolution, speed, and sensitivity during analysis. This advanced chromatographic technique uses sub-2μm particles for the stationary phase. As a result, it saves time and reduces solvent consumption, which allows it to take less run time and makes it highly efficient.