Objectives: To evaluate the perceptions and extent of practicing self-medication among undergraduate pharmacy students. Methods: This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted over a six month period (January to June 2016) among undergraduate pharmacy students in five reputable public universities of Bangladesh. It involved face-to-face interviews regarding self-medication of 250 respondents selected by simple random sampling. Results: Self-medication was reported by 88.0% of students. Antipyretics (58.40%) were mostly preferred for the treatment of fever and headaches. The major cause for self-medication was minor illness (59.60%, p = 0.73) while previous prescriptions were the main source of knowledge as well as the major factor (52.80%, p = 0.94) dominating the self-medication practice. The results also demonstrated 88.80% of students had previous knowledge on self-medication and 83.60% of students always checked the information on the label; mainly the expiry date before use (85.60%). A significant (p < 0.05) portion of the students (51% male and 43% female) perceived it was an acceptable practice as they considered self-medication to be a segment of self-care. Furthermore, students demonstrated differences in their response level towards the adverse effect of drugs, the health hazard by a higher dose of drug, a physician’s help in case of side effects, taking medicine without proper knowledge, and stopping selling medicine without prescription. Conclusions: Self-medication was commonly used among pharmacy students primarily for minor illnesses using over-the-counter medications. Although it is an inevitable practice for them it should be considered an important public health problem as this practice may increase the misuse or irrational use of medicines.

Background:Diabetes is associated with oxidative stress and considered as a major risk factor for cardiac disease. We attempted to investigate the role of oral antidiabetic (OAD) agents gliclazide and metformin in lowering the lipid peroxidation and managing the risk for cardiovascular (CV) complications in diabetic patients in comparison with nondiabetic healthy individuals.Materials and Methods:This cross-sectional study was comprised of 150 individuals grouped in three, namely, Group A (n = 60) healthy volunteers, Group B (n = 30) newly diagnosed diabetes, and Group C (n = 60) diabetes treated with OAD. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), and Vitamin C were assessed for studying lipid peroxidation status, whereas serum triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol were monitored as predictors for CV risk.Results:We found significantly higher concentrations of MDA and NO levels (P < 0.001) in both groups of patients (Group B and C) in comparison to control group (Group A). Regarding antioxidants, significantly lower concentrations of Vitamin C (P = 0.046) were found in Group B and C compared to Group A. Moreover, there was significant difference exhibited in concentration level of MDA (P = 0.001) and NO (P = 0.015) between Group B and C, whereas difference of Vitamin C (P = 0.147) was not statistically significant.Conclusion:Our data confirmed that treatment with gliclazide and metformin significantly reduced the lipid peroxidation accompanied with attenuated levels of serum TGs and cholesterol and suggested that oral hypoglycemic agents have great impact to reduce the oxidative stress and increase the antioxidant status in diabetes.

How to cite this article: Bhatta R, Hossain MS, Banik S, Rahman Mogal MM, Rashid MMO, Akter M. Swelling and mucoadhesive behavior with drug release characteristics of gastoretentive drug delivery system based on a combination of natural gum and semisynthetic polymers. Marmara Pharm J. 2018; 22 (2) ABSTRACT: Using ramipril as a model active pharmaceutical ingredient, the focus of the present study was to fabricate low-cost controlled release tablets using combinations of biopolymer and semi-synthetic polymers. Cellulose derivatives are more viscous where biopolymers form gels more easily. Xanthan gum can't shape a solid gel, result in fragmentation of gel around the tablets so that depend upon high concentration. Therefore, a combination was used to formulate tablet by direct compression. This combination of polymer provides low cost product with higher potentiality. Ingredients as per formulations were mixed in small polybag through hand blending. Then tablets were compressed one by one tablet in a hydraulic press. Prepared tablets were evaluated for hardness, weight variation, content uniformity, friability, surface pH and in-vitro dissolution studies. ANOVA was used to analyze the differences between release data. Swelling index, mucoadhesive strength and in-vitro residence time was studied to show gastroretention of the tablets. Formulated products exhibit sufficient quality and strength to formulate as a mucoadhesive tablet. Significant differences were found in drug release among different formulations (p ˂0.05) in all cases. Among all of formulations, F11, F12 and F13 containing different ratio of xanthan gum and guar gum showed promising mucoadhesive strength and in-vitro residence time.

Background Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a major cause of death globally. Countries vary in their rates, and changes have occurred over time. Nowadays, developing countries pose new public health challenges. Objectives The objective of the present study was to appraise the alterations in the levels of serum Zn, Cu, Fe, and Mn that occur in patients with ischemic heart disease and to depict the correlations of the effects of these changes that lead to the pathogenesis of IHD. Methods Zn, Cu, Fe, and Mn in the IHD patients were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). Results This study evaluated 52 patients with IHD, and 61 healthy volunteers served as controls. The primary outcomes of interest were explored regarding the correlations of the serum levels of these trace elements in patients with IHD. The secondary outcomes were explored in terms of inter-element relations to connect them with the pathogenesis of IHD. Our study found significantly reduced levels of Zn and Cu (2.50 ± 0.19 mg/L and 2.52 ± 0.17 mg/L, respectively) and an elevated level of Fe (148.97 ± 17.25 mg/L) in the patient group with IHD. The level of Mn (7.32 ± 1.23 mg/L) was elevated in the sera of the patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) compared to healthy control subjects. Conclusion Our results indicate strong associations of the pathogenesis of IHD with depleted serum levels of Zn and Cu and elevated Fe and Mn levels, which may provide a prognostic tool for the treatment of this concerning the disease.

A new sustained release formulation of Atorvastatin Calcium tablet, exhibiting improved swelling property and compatibility to prolong the drug release was prepared. Sustained release tablets were formulated using varying concentration of Carbomer-974 and Hypromellose-15000 cps, by direct compression method. Physical characteristics, compactibility, swelling index and drug content uniformity of the prepared formulations were determined. The drug release studies was carried out in USP dissolution test apparatus II (paddle) using phosphate buffer of pH 6.8 as dissolution medium for 8 hours and documented the effects of polymers on the drug release profile. The release mechanism was explored and explained with Zero order & Higuchi kinetic models. Formulation F1 and F5 were best fitted in the Higuchi model, representing diffusion mechanism of drug release, while Formulations F2, F3 and F4 showed Zero order model of drug release profile. The drug release pattern, compactibility and swelling index property of the formulated preparations were concentration dependent of the polymers used. Further study is necessary to evaluate the in vitro-in vivo relationship, but this study will be helpful for future to exploit the potential of this drug delivery system for the benefit of the mankind.