Introduction:The COVID-19 outbreak created a major panic among all the citizens of the country owing to its severity, contagiousness within the community, lack of specific treatment and possibility of re-infection. All these factors along with the uncertain behaviour of the virus lead to state of fear and concern all throught out the nation. The current study represents the mental health survey conducted on the students of South Indiaafter the completion of one month quarantine period of the COVID-19 outbreak. Methodology:The present study is a cross-sectional, web-based online survey which consists of 21-item DASS questionnaire. Thiswas used to assess the emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. Using Google Forms, the questionnaire was randomly distributed among the pharmacy students of selected colleges. Mean with standard deviation was calculated for continuous variables and the number with percentage was calculated for categorical variables.Results: A total of 500 participants responded to the questionnaire. More than half of the responses were received from females (65%). On assessment it was found that, 26 % of respondents reported severe to extremely severe depressive symptoms; 31.5 % of respondents reported severe to extremely severe anxiety symptoms, and 19 % reported severe to extremely severe stress levels. Conclusion:In India during the outbreak of COVID-19, an alarming number of students were found to have an impact on mental health due to the outbreak and were observed to have higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. The study findings shows the need of conducting more such studies and can be used to prepare appropriate psychological interventions to improvemental health among the young public during the pandemic.

Objective: In the present investigation, an attempt was made to improve the surface characters and solubility of the drug by solid dispersion and coating it on the nonpareil sugar beads as pellets. Methods: Ezetimibe solid dispersions were prepared by kneading method using soluplus. Crospovidone was added as a disintegrant in pellets. Ezetimibe pellets were prepared by dissolving soluplus and crospovidone in ethanol in different ratios and coated on nonpareil sugar beads as a drug layer by pan coating technique. Various physicochemical parameters like particle size, friability, angle of repose and drug content were evaluated for the prepared solid dispersions and pellet formulations. In vitro dissolution studies were carried out in 1% SLS using USP apparatus II. FTIR and SEM analysis were performed for solid dispersions, pellet formulations and its polymers to determine the interactions and surface characteristics. Results: The physicochemical parameters were within the specified I. P limits. It was observed that the solid dispersion formulation ED5 showed better dissolution rate to the extent of 1.07 folds and 1.95 folds when compared to a marketed formulation and the pure drug, respectively. Similarly, pellet formulation EP5 containing 1:5 ratio of ezetimibe to soluplus showed an improved dissolution rate to the extent of 1.173 folds and 2.136 folds when compared to the marketed formulation and the pure drug, respectively. FTIR analysis revealed that there was no major interaction between the drug and the excipients.  Conclusion: From the present study, it was observed that the solubility of ezetimibe was enhanced by soluplus in pellet formulations when compared to solid dispersions.

The objective of the present study was to develop floating microballoons of captopril in order to achieve an extended gastric retention in the upper GIT which may enhance the absorption and improve bioavailability. The floating microballoons were formulated with calcium silicate as porous carrier, Eudragit L100 and ethyl cellulose 7 cps as coating polymers and captopril as model drug. The prepared microballoons were evaluated for particle size, angle of repose, Carr’s index, buoyancy studies, drug content and for in vitro drug release. Based upon the dissolution data obtained and various physical parameters evaluated, formulation containing drug to polymer ratio at 1:9 was optimised and further trials were carried out by changing the parameters like temperature, rpm and surfactant concentration to obtain more uniform and stable microballoons. In the optimized formulation, the drug release form was at a steady state manner when compared to the other formulations. The floating drug delivery system of captopril is a promising alternative way of achieving prolonged release with potential for achieving enhanced absorption and bioavailability.