The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of C. grandis (Family: Leguminosae) were evaluated for antidiabetic activity by a glucose tolerance test, in normal rats and alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The aqueous and ethanolic extracts showed that they significantly lowered the blood glucose levels to normal in the glucose tolerance test. In alloxan-induced diabetic rats the maximum reduction in blood glucose was observed after three hours, at a dose level of 150 mg/kg of body weight. The percentage of protection given by the aqueous and ethanolic extracts was 32.72 and 46.42%, respectively. In the long-term treatment of alloxan-induced diabetic rats, the degree of protection was determined by measuring the blood glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides on the tenth day. Both the extracts showed a significant antidiabetic activity comparable to that of glibenclamide. These results showed that the Cassia grandis possessed significant antidiabetic activity.

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Background: Breast cancer (BC) is an emerging health issue not only for the developed nation but also for developing countries and very few literatures are available on drug utilization evaluation in patients with BC. Objective: To examine the utilization pattern of anti-cancer agents in patients with BC in an Indian oncology setup. Setting: The oncology department of Bharat Cancer Hospital in the western part of India. Methods: In a descriptive-observational study treatment orders of patients on chemotherapy for BC were reviewed and the treatment pattern was assessed. Cancer patients who were above 18 years and are on chemotherapy along with supportive care medications were enrolled. Main outcome measure: The most frequently used anti-neoplastic and supportive care agents, as a percentage of treatment. Results: A total of 201 patients fulfilling inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. The majority of the enrolled patients were in the age group of 50-69 (54.7%) and females (100%). The family history was found insignificant as a risk factor for the development of BC. The most common types of BC were ductal infiltrating (46.3%), ductal invasive (35.8%) and metastatic (9.0%) and most of them were in stage III (53.2%) and II (25.9%). Amongst them, 18.4% and 16.4% of patients were suffering from oestrogen and progesterone positive tumors respectively whereas 6.5% was HER2 positive. Tamoxifen and anastrozole or letrozole were prescribed in oestrogen and progesterone positive BC respectively. Adjuvant chemotherapy (78.1%) followed by Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (16.9%) were frequently prescribed. Amongst all anti-neoplastic agents prescribed cyclophosphamide (92.0%) was highly prescribed followed by doxorubicin (79.1%) and fluorouracil (37.8%). Dexamethasone (61.2%), ondansetron (50.8%), palonosetron (32.8%), pantoprazole (25.4%), and peg-filgrastim (16.9%) were commonly prescribed supportive care medications. Conclusion: This study has shown that the majority of BC patients received alkylating agents followed by anthracycline derivatives and taxanes. Moreover, supportive care agents such as dexamethasone, ondansetron, and pantoprazole were administered in the majority of the patients along with peg-filgrastim or filgrastim to minimize chemotherapy induce toxicities.

Pranlukast hydrate is an anti-asthmatic drug and used in the treatment of acute asthma. Stability-indicating RP-HPLC method for pranlukast hydrate has been developed and validated. The reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed using Shimadzu Column: Kromosil 100 C18 (150 mm × 4.6 mm × 5 μm) and mobile phase Acetonitrile: 0.1% Glacial acetic acid (85: 15% v/v). Eluent was monitored with UV-detector at 262 nm with a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min, temperature maintained at 30°C. Stress testing was carried out in acidic, alkaline, oxidative, photolytic and dry heat degradation conditions. The method was validated as per the International Conference for Harmonization guidelines and includes specificity, accuracy, precision, linearity and limit of quantitation and detection parameters. A relative standard deviation <2% indicates the developed method was precise. The accuracy of the method was represented by recovery studies ranging between 99.41 and 99.72%. In acid, alkaline, oxidative stress conditions, pranlukast hydrate degrades significantly and in photolytic, dry heat, hydrolytic conditions remain stable. This proposed method is suitable for the analysis of pranlukast hydrate in its laboratory mixture.

Edoxaban Tosylate Monohydrate (EXN) is oral anticoagulant drug indicated to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism (SE) in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Sensitive and reproducible UV-Visible spectrophotometric method has been developed and validated for the estimation of Edoxaban Tosylate Monohydrate in its synthetic mixture. Methanol was used as a solvent. Developed method has been validated for linearity range, precision, accuracy, limit of detection, and limit of quantification as per ICH Q2(R1) guidelines. The method was found to be linear in the range of 5-25 μg/mL at λ max 289 nm and the regression coefficient value was found to be 0.9999. For Edoxaban LOD and LOQ values were found to be 0.654 μg/mL and 1.982 μg/mL. The method was successfully applied for estimation of Edoxaban Tosylate Monohydrate in its synthetic mixture and results were found to be in good agreement with the amount of Edoxaban Tosylate Monohydrate present in synthetic mixture.