Nano Encapsulation of An Essential Oil Transpire the Therapeutic Approach.

Essential oils are natural compounds extracted from plants that are volatile and sensitive to heat. Due to their therapeutic value, essential oils are now used in many industries, including the sanitary, cosmetic, agricultural, food, and pharmaceutical industries. These are complex mixtures of a wide range of volatile molecules, including phenol-derived aliphatic and aromatic compounds and terpenoids. Essential oils have been used medicinally since ancient times for their antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, insecticidal, sedative, antiinflammatory, and anaesthetic properties. However, essential oils come with inherent limitations; thus, nanoencapsulation is advocated as a remedy as it has the potential to enhance the stability, solubility, and effectiveness of formulations based on essential oils, all while preserving the therapeutic drug blood levels. It is not always viable to use essential oils independently in treatment due to several restrictions; however, nanodelivery technologies appear capable of overcoming these challenges. The therapeutic efficacy that is achieved can be affected by several factors, including the selection of the essential oil as well as the system of nanodelivery. Today, nanoencapsulation is capable of enabling the simultaneous delivery of multiple oils, providing synergistic effects, and facilitating the development of combinational therapies. Additionally, they may have potential applications in preserving food to prolong the shelf life of quickspoiling items and their fragrances. While there is already much research on the characterisation of EOs, this review evaluates the features of the nanoparticles employed for the delivery of essential oils and their impact on the functionality of nano-delivered essential oils and their beneficial uses.

Antibacterial activity and phytochemical characterisation of Saussurea gossypiphora D. Don.

The study demonstrates that S. gossypiphora contain number of secondary metabolites such as steroids, tannins, flavonoids, phenolics, carbohydrates, saponins, and amino acids. Methanolic extract (MESG) of the plant contained highest quantity of phenolics, flavonoids and has greater antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activity in comparison to other extracts. Moreover, acute toxicity studies revealed that none of the extracts produced any toxic symptoms and mortality when administered orally to mice at a dose of 2000 mg/kg b. w. Furthermore, in MESG, the SG-4 fraction exhibited the highest antibacterial activity than other isolated fractions against all tested bacterial strains in a dose-dependent manner. SG-4 fraction showed significant anti-inflammatory effect (60.91%) as evident by maximum inhibition of Carrageenan-induced paw oedema in rat model. The HPTLC analysis confirmed the presence of apigenin and luteolin in the SG-4 fraction of methanolic extract. A noticeable number of mineral elements were also found to be present in S. gossypiphora. Conclusively, our study reveals that Saussurea gossypiphora contains plethora of bioactive compounds that contributes to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activity. Apigenin and luteolin possibly being one of them. Besides, the presence of ample minerals hints is utilisation as nutritionally valuable herb.

Satyrium nepalense, a high altitude medicinal orchid of Indian Himalayan region: chemical profile and biological activities of tuber extracts.

The present study investigated antioxidant and antibacterial activities of 5 different extracts and derived fractions from the S. nepalense tubers. Identification of the most active fractions, their phytochemical characterization, total phenolic and flavonoid contents, and biological activities were also evaluated. Petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol, water extracts and methanol fractions were screened for their antibacterial activity at 10, 50 and 100 mg/mL doses against ten Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains by disc diffusion method. Their total antioxidant activity was measured by DPPH and ABTS assays. Identification of the main compounds was performed by LC-MS/MS. Methanol extract exhibited the highest antioxidant (IC50= 30.79 µg/mL and 24.53 µg/mL for DPPH and ABTS, respectively) and antibacterial (MIC 71.5 to >100 µg/mL) activities in comparison with the other extracts. Levels of phenolics and flavonoids were also the highest in the same extract, i.e. 19.2 mg GAE/g and 11.20 mg QE/g, respectively. Phytochemical investigation of the active fractions of the methanol extract led to the isolation of gallic acid (19.04 mg/g) and quercetin (23.4 mg/g). Therefore, methanol extract showed an interesting potential for both antioxidant and antibacterial activities, thus deserving attention for future applications in the fields of medicinal plants and food supplements.

Comparative study on the predictability of statistical models (RSM and ANN) on the behavior of optimized buccoadhesive wafers containing Loratadine and their in vivo assessment.

OBJECTIVE: Buccoadhesive wafer dosage form containing Loratadine is formulated utilizing Formulation by Design (FbD) approach incorporating sodium alginate and lactose monohydrate as independent variable employing solvent casting method. METHODS: The wafers were statistically optimized using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Network algorithm (ANN) for predicting physicochemical and physico-mechanical properties of the wafers as responses. Morphologically wafers were tested using SEM. Quick disintegration of the samples was examined employing Optical Contact Angle (OCA). RESULTS: The comparison of the predictability of RSM and ANN showed a high prognostic capacity of RSM model over ANN model in forecasting mechanical and physicochemical properties of the wafers. The in vivo assessment of the optimized buccoadhesive wafer exhibits marked increase in bioavailability justifying the administration of Loratadine through buccal route, bypassing hepatic first pass metabolism.

Design expert supported mathematical optimization and predictability study of buccoadhesive pharmaceutical wafers of Loratadine.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work encompasses the application of the response surface approach in the development of buccoadhesive pharmaceutical wafers of Loratadine (LOR). METHODS: Experiments were performed according to a 3(2) factorial design to evaluate the effects of buccoadhesive polymer, sodium alginate (A), and lactose monohydrate as ingredient, of hydrophilic matrix former (B) on the bioadhesive force, disintegration time, percent (%) swelling index, and time taken for 70% drug release (t(70%)). The effect of the two independent variables on the response variables was studied by response surface plots and contour plots generated by the Design-Expert software. The desirability function was used to optimize the response variables. RESULTS: The compatibility between LOR and the wafer excipients was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry, FTIR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Bioadhesion force, measured with TAXT2i texture analyzer, showed that the wafers had a good bioadhesive property which could be advantageous for retaining the drug into the buccal cavity. CONCLUSION: The observed responses taken were in agreement with the experimental values, and Loratadine wafers were produced with less experimental trials, and a patient compliant product was achieved with the concept of formulation by design.

Effect and evaluation of antihyperlipidemic activity guided isolated fraction from total methanol extract of Salvadora oleoides (Decne.) in Triton WR-1339 Induced hyperlipidemic rats.

BACKGROUND: Hyperlipidemia is implicated as the cause for coronary heart diseases. Though varieties of synthetic drugs are used in the treatment, still the searches are on for better medicaments especially from the plant kingdom. Many medicinal plants have been studied in this context but most of them are seasonal or have restricted availability. One such weed, available throughout the year is Salvadora oleoides (decne.). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Column chromatographic fractionation of the butanol fraction of leaves of Salvadora oleoides (decne.) yielded four fractions (fraction A-D). All sub-fractions were tested for their anti-hyperlipidemic activity. Fractions were administered at a dose of 65 mg/kg (oral) to the Triton WR-1339 induced hyperlipidemic rats. RESULTS: Sub-fraction D showed maximum significant reduction (P<0.05) among four sub-fractions in comparison with standard drug fenofibrate. CONCLUSION: Further studies on the isolated fractions and constituents are needed to isolate compound responsible for activity and elucidate the mechanism by which Salvadora oleoides (decne.) exerts protective effects against hyperlipidemia.