Microencapsulation of Cassia fistula Flower Extract with Chitosan and its Antibacterial Studies.

BACKGROUND: The plant used in the present study is Cassia fistula, which belongs to the family Leguminosae and has been used in traditional medicinal systems due to the presence of a copious amount of Phytochemicals with various properties. AIMS: This study is focused on the extraction of phytochemicals from the Cassia fistula flower and its subsequent encapsulation into chitosan matrix for applications in drug delivery. Chitosan is approved by FDA for its use in Pharmaceutical industries. METHODS: As described by several analytical techniques such as FT-IR, NMR, Thermal analysis, and SEM, the microsphere thus prepared by the current study is predicted to release the desired extract with medicinal properties in a controlled manner, allowing for more convenient and desired levels of drug administration. The swelling study and release study of the prepared microsphere have been carried out in physiological pH 2 and 7.4. NMR study has shown that sitosterol and friedelin have been encapsulated successfully into the chitosan matrix. RESULTS: The microspheres have shown up to 80% swelling in pH 2 upto 8 days, and 60% of the in- -vitro controlled drug release has also been found in pH 2 upto 2 days. The thermal studies using TGA and DSC supported the thermal stabilities of CS beads, CFFE and CFFE-CS beads, Also, it showed the dispersion of the CFFE in the cavities of the Chitosan matrix. CONCLUSION: The Biomedical application of the synthesized CFFE-CS beads has also been reported on the basis of their antibacterial studies.

Pharmacokinetic determination and analysis of nortriptyline based on GC-MS coupled with hollow-fiber drop-to-drop solvent microextraction technique.

AIM: A simple, sensitive and robust technique of hollow-fiber drop-to-drop solvent microextraction coupled with GC-MS has been successfully developed for the detection of antidepressant drug nortriptyline in human blood and urine samples. The recoveries of the drug from the spiked samples are found to be well within the range and appropriate to support the method. RESULTS: The LOD for the drug was obtained to be 0.007, 0.009 and 0.021 µg ml-1 in deionized water, urine and blood samples of human subjects, respectively. Linearity was obtained over the concentration range of 0.5-5.0 mg l-1 in deionized water with correlation coefficient 0.99672.