Liqui-solid technique and solid dispersion formation are two novel approaches for enhancement of dissolution rate of BCS class II drugs. Liqui-solid compact converts a liquid drug or drug solution into a free flowing powder with enhanced dissolution rate. In case of solid dispersion drug is molecularly dispersed in a hydrophilic polymer in solid state. In the present study, Liqui-solid and solid dispersion techniques were applied to enhance the dissolution of the Hydrochlorothiazide. Three formulations of Hydrochlorothiazide were prepared by liqui-solid technique using micro crystalline cellulose as carrier material and colloidal silicon dioxide as coating material. Water, poly ethylene glycol-400 and Tween-60 were used as solvent system. Solid dispersions of Hydrochlorothiazide were prepared by solvent fusion method using PEG-4000 as carrier polymer. Tablets were subjected to evaluation of various physical and chemical characteristics. Dissolution profiles of tablets prepared by the novel techniques were compared with marketed conventional tablets. Model independent techniques including similarity factor, dissimilarity factor and dissolution efficiency were applied for comparison of dissolution profiles. The results obtained indicated that liqui-solid compact formulations were more effective in enhancing the dissolution rate compared with solid dispersion technique. The liqui-solid compacts improved the dissolution rate up to 95% while the solid dispersion increased it to 88%.

The SeDeM expert system is a pre formulation tool applied for the prediction of the suitability of a material for direct compression. This innovative tool provides an index of good compressibility of the material indicating its aptitude to be compressed by direct compression. In the study the SeDeM expert system has been applied for the prediction of the behavior of the material to be used in the formulation of effervescent tablets by direct compression. Different formulations were developed on the basis of the results of the SeDeM expert system. Various parameters for the material as per the SeDeM expert system were determined according to their official and reported methods. Powder blend for different formulations was evaluated for their rheological properties while tablets were evaluated for various official and unofficial tests. Suitability of the material for direct compression was successfully predicted using the SeDeM expert system. Domperidone was found unsuitable for direct compression. During formulation all excipients responded as they were predicted as per the SeDeM expert system. Tablets produced using the resultant formulations were having sufficient mechanical strength, free of premature effervescence and were capable to be scaled up for commercial manufacturing.

Potential Drug-Drug Interactions in Psychiatric Ward of a Tertiary Care Hospital: Prevalence, Levels and Association with Risk Factors

The objective of the study was to identify prevalence, types and predictors of potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) in pulmonology ward and to report common interactions. Medical records of 400 randomly-selected patients were reviewed for pDDIs using Micromedex Drug-Reax software. Logistic-regression was applied to determine predictors of pDDIs. We identified 126 interacting-combinations that encountered in total 558 pDDIs with median number of 01 pDDI per patient. Overall 45% patients had at least one pDDI; 24.25% were having at least one major pDDI, and 36% patients had at least one moderate pDDI. Among 558 identified pDDIs, most were of moderate (53.6%) or major severity (34%); good (74.2%) or fair (16.3%) type of scientific-evidence; and delayed onset (70%). Top 15 common pDDIs included 6 major, 7 moderate and 2 minor interactions. There was significant association of the occurrence of pDDIs with patient with age of 60 years or more (p <0.001), hospital stay of 7 days or longer (p = 0.01) and taking 7 or more drugs (p <0.001). We have recorded a high prevalence of pDDIs in pulmonology ward, most of which were of moderate severity. Patients with old age, long hospital stay and increased number of drugs were more exposed to pDDIs. Key words: Drug-drug interactions, potential drug-drug interaction, prescriptions screening, drug related problems, clinical pharmacy.