In Vivo Evaluation of Almotriptan malate Formulation through Intranasal Route for the Treatment of Migraine: Systematic Development and Pharmacokinetic Assessment.

Migraine headaches are usually intolerable, and a quick-relief treatment remains an unmet medical need. Almotriptan malate is a serotonin (5-HT1B/1D) receptor agonist approved for the treatment of acute migraine in adults. It is currently available in an oral tablet dosage form and has a Tmax of 1-3 h, and therefore, there is a medical need to develop a non-invasive rapidly acting formulation. We have developed an intranasal formulation of almotriptan malate using the quality-by-design (QbD) approach. A 2-factor 3-level full factorial design was selected to build up the experimental setting. The developed formulation was characterized for pH, viscosity, in vitro permeation, ex vivo permeation, and histopathological tolerance. To assess the potential of the developed formulation to produce a rapid onset of action following intranasal delivery, a pharmacokinetic study was performed in the Sprague-Dawley rat model and compared to the currently available marketed oral tablet formulation. For this, the LC-MS/MS bioanalytical method was developed and used for the determination of plasma almotriptan malate concentrations. Results of a pharmacokinetic study revealed that intranasal administration of optimized almotriptan malate formulation enabled an almost five-fold reduction in Tmax and about seven-fold increase in bioavailability in comparison to the currently available oral tablet formulation, suggesting the potential of developed almotriptan malate intranasal formulation in producing a rapid onset of action as well as enhanced bioavailability.

Lymphoepithelial Carcinoma: A rare Presentation in the Hypopharynx.

Hypopharyngeal origin of lymphoepithelial carcinoma is extremely rare. We report a case of 74 years old male presented with Globus sensation in the throat for 2 months. He underwent total laryngectomy with partial pharyngectomy after clinico-radiological evaluation and biopsy. His final diagnosis was lymphoepithelial carcinoma and IHC was positive for pancytokeratin and p63.

Synthesis of ppy-MgO-CNT nanocomposites for multifunctional applications.

Cotton is one of the most important raw materials for textile and clothing production. The main drawbacks of cotton fibers are their poor mechanical properties and high flammability. Compared with some synthetic polymer fibers, cotton fabrics treated with modern flame-retardant and reinforcement finishes often cannot meet rigid military specifications. Polypyrrole-magnesium oxide (ppy-MgO) and polypyrrole-magnesium oxide-carbon nanotube (ppy-MgO-CNT) composites were prepared with various weight ratios by in situ chemical polymerization method. 1,2,3,4-Butane tetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) was used as a cross-linking agent in the presence of sodium hypophosphite (SHP). The composite sol was coated on cotton fabric using the pad-dry-cure technique. The coated cotton fabrics were characterized by SEM, EDAX, XRD, UV-DRS and FT-IR analysis, and tested for flame retardant and UPF application. The flame-retardant study showed a maximum char length of 0.3 cm and the char yield was about 49% for the ppy-MgO-CNT composite. For that UPF application, a 30 UPF value was shown for the ppy-MgO-CNT composite. In the case of the antibacterial study, the zone of inhibition was observed for all of the test samples against MRSA and PAO1 bacteria. The zone of inhibition showed as 4.0, 3.0 mm for the ppy-MgO-CNT composite. Hence, the ppy-MgO-CNT composite was found to be efficient.

Antibacterial activity of cotton coated with ZnO and ZnO-CNT composites.

With the growing public health awareness of the pathogenic effects and strain formations caused by microorganisms, there is an increasing need for antibacterial materials in many applications. Zinc oxide (ZnO)-1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) and ZnO-BTCA-carbon nanotube (CNT) composites were synthesized by simple stirring method. The synthesized materials were coated on cotton fabric by pad-dry-cure method separately. The coated fabrics were characterized by FT-IR analysis that revealed the cross-linking in the composites. The fabrics were screened for antibacterial activity by agar well diffusion method against gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and gram negative Escherichia coli. The results showed that the ZnO-BTCA-CNT-coated fabric has improved antibacterial activity when compared with the ZnO-BTCA-coated fabric.