Glyphosate is a non-specific organophosphate pesticide, which finds widespread application in shielding crops against the weeds. Its high solubility in hydrophilic solvents, especially water and high mobility allows the rapid leaching of the glyphosate into the soil leading to contamination of groundwater and accumulation into the plant tissues, therefore intricating the elimination of the herbicides. Despite the widespread application, only a few percentages of the total applied glyphosate serve the actual purpose, dispensing the rest in the environment, thus resulting in reduced crop yields, low quality agricultural products, deteriorating soil fertility, contributing to water pollution, and consequently threatening human and animal life. This review gives an insight into the toxicological effects of the herbicide glyphosate and current approaches to track and identify trace amounts of this agrochemical along with its biodegradability and possible remediating strategies. Efforts have also been made to summarize the biodegradation mechanisms and catabolic enzymes involved in glyphosate metabolism.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the nanoemulgel as transdermal delivery system for poorly water soluble drug, ketoprofen, in order to overcome the troubles associated with its oral delivery. Different nanoemulsion components (oil, surfactant, and cosurfactant) were selected on the basis of solubility and emulsification ability. Pseudoternary phase diagrams were constructed using titration method to figure out the concentration range of components. Carbomer 940 was added as gel matrix to convert nanoemulsion into nanoemulgel. Drug loaded nanoemulsions and nanoemulgels were characterized for particle size, TEM, viscosity, conductivity, spreadability, rheological behavior, and permeation studies using Wistar rat skin and stability studies. Transdermal permeation of ketoprofen from nanoemulgels was determined by using Franz diffusion cell. Nanoemulgel containing 6% oleic acid as oil, 35% Tween 80, and Transcutol P as surfactant cosurfactant mixture, 56.5% water, 2.5% drug, and 0.6% carbomer was concluded as optimized formulation (NG6). Theex vivopermeation profile of optimized formulation was compared with nanoemulsion and marketed formulation (Fastum). Nanoemulgel showed significantly higher (P<0.05) cumulative amount of drug permeated and flux along with lower lag time and skin retention than marketed formulation. Thus, the study substantiated that nanoemulgel formulation can be used as a feasible alternative to conventional formulations of ketoprofen with advanced permeation characteristics for transdermal application.

The oral route of drug administration is the most common and preferred method of delivery due to convenience and ease of ingestion. From a patient's perspective, swallowing a dosage form is a comfortable and a familiar means of taking medication. As a result, patient compliance and hence drug treatment is typically more effective with orally administered medications as compared with other routes of administration 1 . Limited drug absorption resulting in poor bioavailability is paramount amongst the potential problems that can be encountered when delivering an active agent via the oral route. Hence, two areas of pharmaceutical research that focus on improving the oral bioavailability of active agents include enhancing solubility and dissolution rate of poorly water-soluble drugs and enhancing permeability of poorly permeable drugs 2 . Other methods, such as salt formation, complexation with cyclodextrins, solubilization of drugs in solvent(s), and particle size reduction have also been utilized to improve the dissolution properties of poorly water soluble drugs 3,4,5 .In the Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) drugs with low aqueous solubility and high membrane permeability are categorized as Class II drugs. Therefore, solid dispersion technologies are particularly promising for improving the oral absorption and bioavailability of BCS Class II drugs 6 .

Transdermal patches of olanzapine were aimed to be prepared to overcome the side effects by oral application. The strategy was formulation of eudragit-based polymeric films to prepare transdermal patches by using nonionic (span-20), anionic (sodium lauryl sulfate), cationic surfactant (benzalkonium chloride), and vegetable oil (olive oil) as permeation enhancers. The patches were subjected to physicochemical, in vitro release and ex vivo permeation studies. On the basis of in vitro release performance, ERL 100:ERS 100 in the ratio of 3:2 was selected for incorporation of permeation enhancers. The permeation studies showed that formulation containing 10% span 20 (OD3) exhibited greatest cumulative amount of drug permeated (19.02 ± 0.21 mg) in 72 h, so OD3 was concluded as optimized formulation and assessed for pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and skin irritation potential. In vivo studies of optimized olanzapine patch in rabbit model revealed prolongation of action with Frel 116.09% during 72-h study period. Neuroleptic efficacy of transdermal patch was comparable to oral formulation during rotarod and grip test in Wistar albino rats with no skin irritation. Thus, developed formulation of olanzapine is expected to improve the patient compliance, form better dosage regimen, and provide maintenance therapy to psychotic patients.

Oral route still remains the favorite route of drug administration in many diseases and till today it is the first way investigated in the development of new dosage forms. The major problem in oral drug formulations is low and erratic bioavailability, which mainly results from poor aqueous solubility. As a consequence of modern drug discovery techniques, there has been a steady increase in the number of new pharmacologically active lipophilic compounds that are poorly water soluble. It is a great chal lenge for pharmaceutical scientist to convert those molecules into orally administered formulation with sufficient bioavailability. Among the several approaches to improve oral bioavailability of these molecules, self-micron emulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) is one of the approaches usually used to improve the bioavailability of lipophillic drugs. However, conventional SMEDDS are mostly prepared in a liquid form, which can have some disadvantages. Hence, solid SMEDDS (S-SMEDDS) prepared by solidification of liquid/semisolid self-micron emulsifying ingredients into powders, have gained popularity. This article gives an overview of the recent advances in the study of S-SMEDDS, especially the related solidification techniques and the development of solid self-micron emulsifying dosage forms. Finally, the existing problems and the possible future research directions in this field are pointed out. Thus S-SMEDDS could be used as an effective oral solid dosage form to improve the bioavailability of hydrophobic drugs.