Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Sciences and Natural Products
Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Sciences and Natural Products is a leading international, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing the field of pharmaceutical sciences and natural products research. Our journal covers drug discovery from natural sources, phytochemistry, pharmacognosy, medicinal plant research, bioactive natural compounds, pharmaceutical biotechnology, and innovative methodologies in natural product drug development. We are committed to fostering scientific excellence in both synthetic and natural pharmaceutical research while maintaining the highest standards of editorial integrity and peer review.
Herbal cosmetics in the management of skin disease
Skin conditions constitute one of the major burdens globally, and many individuals are plagued by skin disorders such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, hyperpigmentation, wounds, and aging processes. Traditional cosmetics and medicine have proven inadequate in combating the aforementioned skin diseases due to their side effects, inefficacy, and resistant nature. Herbal cosmetics, on the other hand, have become popular due to their safety and naturalness as per tradition. This comprehensive review highlights the potential of herbal cosmetics in addressing common skin disorders, which includes their definition, history, chemical composition including polyphenols, terpenoids, and essential oils, and various forms of formulation like creams, gels, serums, and face masks. This review article highlights the potential of herbal cosmetics in managing skin diseases such as acne vulgaris, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, melasma, scars, and photoaging. The chemical properties and modes of actions of different herbal components, such as Aloe vera, tea tree oil, turmeric, green tea, Calendula, Centella asiatica, and newer herbal components like liquorice and neem, will be elaborated in this review. Despite such encouraging results, there are still challenges facing in the areas of standardization, quality control, toxicology, and clinical application. Future research will focus on nanotechnology in order to improve delivery systems, customization, and testing to fill the evidentiary gap. Through combining ancient knowledge with contemporary scientific advances, herbal cosmetics represent a practical and holistic approach to dermatology, which could minimize the use of artificial treatments.
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Response surfaces without optima: a cross-study reanalysis of ultrasound-assisted extraction of polyphenols from agro-industrial fruit waste
Background. Ultrasound-assisted extraction is the dominant green route to recovering polyphenols from fruit processing by-products, and response surface methodology is the near-universal tool for optimising it. Individual studies report optimal conditions for a single matrix, but the fitted surfaces themselves are rarely interrogated, and the results have never been placed on a common scale. Objective. To refit published response surface designs for ultrasound-assisted extraction of polyphenols from agro-industrial fruit waste, establish the geometry of each fitted surface, compare factor effects across studies on a common coded scale, and test whether reported optima are consistent with the models from which they were derived. Methods. Five published designs covering orange by-products, apple peel, pomegranate peel, grape pomace and apple pomace, comprising 105 experimental runs, were transcribed in full from their source publications. Full second-order models were refitted by ordinary least squares in coded units, with analysis of variance, lack-of-fit testing where replication permitted, and leave-one-out predicted coefficients of determination. Every surface was subjected to canonical analysis. Linear coefficients were standardised against the mean response of their own design. Multi-response optimisation used the Derringer-Suich desirability function constrained to the experimental region. Results. Mean ordinary coefficient of determination across the five phenolic models was 0.9240, but the mean predicted coefficient of determination was 0.5379, falling to 0.0050 in one design, and 2 of 5 fell below one half. Canonical analysis classified 4 of 5 phenolic surfaces as saddle points with stationary points outside the studied region; only 1 possessed an interior maximum. Solvent variables dominated: solvent-to-material ratio carried a standardised effect of -0.4721 and ethanol concentration a mean of -0.2048 across two designs, whereas extraction time averaged 0.0370 across 5 designs and ultrasonic amplitude 0.0019. One reported optimum fell 2.8 per cent short of the maximum of its own refitted surface. Conclusion. Published optima in this field frequently derive from surfaces that possess no interior optimum, and ordinary coefficients of determination substantially overstate predictive capability. Solvent composition, not sonication intensity or duration, governs phenolic recovery across matrices.
In-Situ Gelling Ophthalmic Delivery System of a Fluoroquinolone: Formulation, Rheology and Antibacterial Performance
Topical antibacterial therapy of the eye is limited less by the intrinsic potency of the drug than by the speed with which the eye rejects it. A conventional drop is diluted by the tear film, spread over the ocular surface, and drained through the nasolacrimal duct within a few minutes, so that only a small fraction of the instilled dose ever reaches the corneal tissue. In-situ gelling systems address this loss directly: a low-viscosity liquid is instilled as an ordinary drop and undergoes a sol-to-gel transition on the ocular surface in response to temperature, ionic strength or pH, forming a retained depot that resists drainage. This work assembles the formulation, rheological and antibacterial evidence for ciprofloxacin in-situ ophthalmic gels and adds two computational analyses of the drug itself. Ciprofloxacin was profiled in silico for its physicochemical and drug-likeness properties, and its precorneal disposition was simulated with an apparent first-order elimination model to compare a conventional solution against an in-situ gel. Ciprofloxacin was calculated to have a molecular weight of 331.35 g/mol, a calculated logP of 1.58, a topological polar surface area of 74.6 square angstroms, and full compliance with the Lipinski, Veber, Egan and Ghose rule sets, with a quantitative drug-likeness estimate of 0.89. In the precorneal simulation, extending the apparent precorneal half-life from 2.5 to 15 min raised the mean residence time from 3.6 to 21.6 min and the precorneal exposure six-fold, and it lengthened the time for which the surface concentration remained above the ciprofloxacin minimum inhibitory concentration for Pseudomonas aeruginosa from about 26 min to about 158 min. The results, read together with the published formulation and antibacterial data, support the pharmacokinetic rationale for an in-situ gelling ciprofloxacin system while making plain the boundary between what was computed and what has been measured at the bench.
Plant-Derived Exosomes and Extracellular Vesicles for Drug Delivery: Emerging Therapeutic Applications
Vesicular nanoparticles recovered from edible and medicinal plants have moved in little more than a decade from a curiosity of plant pathology to a proposed drug delivery platform. Their appeal is straightforward: grapefruit and ginger yield lipid material at the gram-per-kilogram scale, the starting biomass is agricultural rather than a bioreactor, and a carrier built from a food crop carries no risk of transmitting a human pathogen. Preclinical performance has matched the promise in places. Oral ginger and grape vesicles reach the inflamed colon and the intestinal crypt, folate-decorated grapefruit lipid particles have shown tumour accumulation more than a thousand-fold above unmodified controls, and ginseng vesicles have extended median survival in an orthotopic glioma model. This review synthesises the evidence across biogenesis, composition, isolation, cargo loading, surface engineering and therapeutic application, and argues that the field's principal obstacle is neither delivery efficiency nor toxicity but definitional. The entity most papers call a plant exosome is, in the majority of published work, a mechanically produced mixture of secreted vesicles, intracellular membranes and reassembled lipid particles, and the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles now advises against the term. Reported yields for a single species vary several-fold across laboratories, encapsulation efficiencies span 1% to 96% depending on the cargo, and dose has been reported in at least five mutually inconvertible units. Three registered clinical trials, the earliest opened in 2011, have between them enrolled fewer than one hundred participants and posted no results. The carrier is ahead of the analytics that would allow it to be manufactured, dosed and compared, and closing that gap is the precondition for translation.
Green and sustainable extraction technologies for bioactive natural products: a critical comparison of ultrasound, microwave, supercritical carbon dioxide and natural deep eutectic solvents
Four technologies dominate the literature on sustainable recovery of bioactive natural products: ultrasound-assisted extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction and extraction with natural deep eutectic solvents. Each is routinely described as green, and each is routinely benchmarked against maceration or Soxhlet extraction on the single axis of yield. That comparison flatters all four and discriminates between none of them. This review reads the four platforms against a common framework drawn from the principles of green extraction, mass-based metrics, published life-cycle evidence, residual-solvent regulation and the small number of studies that place two or more platforms on the same plant matrix under matched analysis. The evidence supports a narrower and more useful claim than the field usually makes. Ultrasound has the lowest energy demand and the cheapest capital entry, and its acoustic intensity attenuates on scale-up while some matrices defeat it outright. Microwave irradiation is the fastest and most productive per batch, and it consumes more than three times the electricity of ultrasound for equivalent antioxidant recovery. Supercritical carbon dioxide delivers a genuinely solvent-free lipophilic extract with unmatched regulatory standing, and recovers polar phenolics poorly without an entrainer. Natural deep eutectic solvents extract labile and poorly water-soluble compounds better than aqueous alcohols, and then hold them: reported recovery from the eutectic spans about 21 per cent by antisolvent precipitation to above 90 per cent by macroporous resin. The four platforms therefore occupy separable regions of a design space set by target polarity, thermal lability, required purity and production scale. The review sets out that mapping and names the comparison the field has still not run.
Transdermal Nanoemulgel of an Anti-inflammatory Phytoconstituent for Osteoarthritis: An In Silico Formulation-Design and Molecular Target Study
Background: Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent joint disease worldwide and its management still depends heavily on oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, whose gastrointestinal and cardiovascular risks limit long-term use. Boswellic acids, the pentacyclic triterpenic acids of Boswellia serrata, inhibit the 5-lipoxygenase pathway and other inflammatory mediators central to osteoarthritis, but their extreme lipophilicity and poor oral bioavailability restrict clinical translation. A transdermal nanoemulgel is a rational way to deliver such a molecule to a superficial joint while bypassing first-pass metabolism. Objective: To profile the five principal boswellic acid congeners computationally, to predict their suitability for transdermal delivery, to test whether their molecular targets are over-represented among osteoarthritis-associated genes, and to translate the resulting property profile into a defensible nanoemulgel formulation-design rationale. Methods: Physicochemical descriptors and drug-likeness were calculated in RDKit for the five boswellic acids and two reference topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The steady-state skin permeability coefficient was predicted with the Potts-Guy model. Literature-compiled boswellic acid targets were intersected with an osteoarthritis gene set and the overlap tested by the hypergeometric distribution. All results are computational predictions; no experimental determination was performed. Results: The boswellic acids were compact, rigid and highly lipophilic (calculated logP 6.41 to 7.80, topological polar surface area 57.53 to 80.67 square angstrom, one to two rotatable bonds). Predicted log Kp values ranged from -1.02 to -0.20 cm/h, higher than diclofenac (-1.41) and ibuprofen (-1.78), a level of favourable intrinsic stratum-corneum permeability that is offset by very low aqueous solubility. Sixteen predicted targets intersected the osteoarthritis gene set in twelve genes, a 405-fold enrichment over chance (hypergeometric p = 3.94 x 10^-31), with 5-lipoxygenase the most connected node. Conclusion: The computed profile supports a solubilising lipid nanoemulgel as a mechanistically justified transdermal strategy for boswellic acids in osteoarthritis, and identifies the specific compound and targets that bench validation should address.
Floating gastroretentive microspheres of a Glycyrrhiza glabra anti-ulcer extract: structure-based target engagement of the root constituents and simulation of the input rate required for prolonged gastric action
Background. Peptic ulcer disease still accounted for roughly 8.09 million prevalent cases and 6.03 million disability-adjusted life years worldwide in 2019, and licorice root remains one of the most widely used traditional treatments for it. Two questions stand between that traditional use and a rational dosage form. Which constituents of the root plausibly engage the molecular machinery of gastric injury, and what release rate would a gastroretentive carrier actually have to deliver. Objective. To rank the documented root constituents of Glycyrrhiza glabra against two structurally characterised gastric targets, and to determine the input-rate window over which a floating gastroretentive microsphere would prolong exposure rather than waste it. Methods. Thirteen root constituents and four reference drugs were profiled for calculated physicochemical properties and drug-likeness in RDKit, then docked with AutoDock Vina 1.2.7 into the gastric H+/K+-ATPase (PDB 5YLU, 2.80 A) and human cyclooxygenase-2 (PDB 5KIR, 2.70 A). Each protocol was validated by redocking its co-crystallised ligand. Exposure was then simulated in a one-compartment oral model built from published non-compartmental values for 18beta-glycyrrhetinic acid, with the apparent absorption rate constant treated as the formulation design variable. Results. Redocking reproduced both crystallographic poses, at 0.553 A for vonoprazan in the proton pump and 0.482 A for rofecoxib in cyclooxygenase-2. Eleven root constituents scored between -8.03 and -9.99 kcal/mol at the vonoprazan site, with liquiritin, glabrene and glabridin ranking above vonoprazan itself at -9.25 kcal/mol, while glycyrrhizin returned a positive score and a truncated pose list at both targets, indicating that neither site could accommodate it. Carbenoxolone, the licorice-derived drug licensed for gastric ulcer and not an antisecretory agent, ranked 5.2 kcal/mol behind vonoprazan at the pump, which is the direction its known mechanism requires. Simulated total exposure was invariant across the input-rate sweep at 15.14 mg.h/L, so slowing input redistributed exposure rather than increasing it. Time above the internal reference concentration rose from 5.26 h at the immediate-release rate to a maximum of 7.06 h at an absorption rate constant of 0.20 per hour, then collapsed to zero below 0.10 per hour as the profile flattened beneath the threshold. At a matched daily dose, twelve-hourly gastroretentive input reduced simulated peak-to-trough fluctuation from 193.4 to 85.3 per cent without altering average steady-state concentration. Conclusion. The gastroretentive design space for this extract is bounded on both sides. An optimum exists near an input half-life of three to four hours, and a carrier that releases more slowly than that trades peak concentration for duration it cannot use. All values reported here are computational predictions and require experimental confirmation.
Closed-Loop Formulation Development Through Artificial Intelligence: Bayesian Optimization, Robotics, and Self-Driving Laboratories in Pharmaceutics
Closed-loop experimentation replaces the human step in the formulation cycle with an algorithm that selects the next composition and hardware that prepares and measures it without further instruction. This review assesses what that idea has delivered in pharmaceutics, and separates the three capabilities a working loop requires: a decision policy that is sample-efficient under uncertainty, execution hardware that can act without a person in the path, and a data layer that makes every outcome, including every failure, machine-readable. Evidence is now solid for the first. Bayesian optimization reached optimal orally disintegrating tablet conditions in roughly ten experiments where a factorial design needed about twenty-five, produced a monoclonal antibody formulation optimized simultaneously for thermal stability, colloidal interaction and interfacial stress in thirty-three experiments, and located high-solubility injectable vehicles after sampling 256 of 7,776 combinations. A robotic tableting platform has carried six active ingredients from raw material characterisation to in-specification tablets within six hours while cutting material use by 65%. The second capability is advancing but remains limited by the physical awkwardness of pharmaceutical matter, particularly cohesive powders and low-dose solids. The third is largely absent. The central argument is that the binding constraint is metrological rather than computational: dissolution behaviour, physical stability over months and performance in a patient cannot be measured on the timescale a loop consumes, so every autonomous campaign optimizes a surrogate. Managing the distance between surrogate and endpoint, together with reporting sample efficiency against stated baselines, will decide whether these systems produce better medicines or only faster experiments.
Smart Nanocarriers for Targeted Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Current Progress and Clinical Translation
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disease in which sustained synovial inflammation drives progressive cartilage and bone destruction. The conventional pharmacological armamentarium, from methotrexate and glucocorticoids to biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying agents, controls the disease in many patients but does so at the cost of systemic exposure, dose-limiting toxicity, and incomplete penetration of drug into the inflamed joint. Nanocarriers reframe this problem as one of delivery rather than of pharmacology. By exploiting the leaky, angiogenic vasculature of the inflamed synovium and the surface receptors of activated synovial macrophages, engineered nanoparticles concentrate a payload where the disease is active while sparing healthy tissue. This review synthesises the current evidence on smart nanocarriers for rheumatoid arthritis, defined as systems that combine joint-selective targeting with a microenvironment-triggered release that answers to the acidic, oxidative, and enzymatically active conditions of the arthritic joint. The major platforms are examined in turn: liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles and micelles, dendrimers, inorganic and hybrid particles, and the cell-membrane biomimetic carriers that now define the frontier of the field. The passive and active mechanisms of joint targeting are set out, and the stimuli-responsive chemistries that convert a carrier into a smart one are compared. Across preclinical models the direction of the evidence is consistent: targeted and responsive nanocarriers lower the effective dose, raise joint drug concentration, and reduce systemic toxicity relative to free drug. Yet the translational record remains thin, with few candidates advancing to controlled trials. The barriers to translation, from manufacturing reproducibility to the absence of validated imaging biomarkers, are analysed, and a set of concrete priorities is proposed to move the field from elegant preclinical demonstration to a licensed nanomedicine for rheumatoid arthritis.
Green Solvents in Natural Product Extraction: A Comparative Analysis of Deep Eutectic Solvents, Ionic Liquids and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide
The recovery of bioactive compounds from plant and marine biomass still depends heavily on volatile organic solvents whose toxicity, flammability and environmental persistence sit awkwardly beside a pharmaceutical industry that increasingly measures itself against sustainability targets. Three classes of alternative solvent have moved from curiosity to credible replacement over the past two decades: deep eutectic solvents and their natural subclass, ionic liquids, and supercritical carbon dioxide. Each rests on a different physical principle, and each therefore succeeds and fails against a different part of the extraction problem. This review compares the three head to head across the dimensions that decide whether a solvent reaches a manufacturing plant rather than a single publication: extraction efficiency and selectivity, green-chemistry credentials, solute recovery, scalability and capital cost, and regulatory acceptability. The central argument is that no single class is universally superior, and that framing the three as competitors obscures how neatly their strengths partition by target polarity and production scale. Deep eutectic solvents, and especially natural deep eutectic solvents, dominate the recovery of polar phenolics and offer the most convincing green profile, but pay for it in viscosity and difficult product isolation. Ionic liquids provide selectivity and tunability that neither rival matches, yet a debated toxicity record, high cost and awkward recovery keep most applications at laboratory scale. Supercritical carbon dioxide delivers solvent-free, food-grade nonpolar extracts at industrial scale but is largely blind to hydrophilic solutes without a co-solvent. The field's most productive direction is not the search for one winner but the deliberate pairing of these solvents with each other and with intensification techniques, supported by the life-cycle accounting that green claims currently lack.
Nanotechnology-Based Drug Delivery for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Recent Advances, Challenges, and Future Perspectives
Triple-negative breast cancer accounts for a minority of breast cancer diagnoses but a disproportionate share of early deaths, and the absence of oestrogen, progesterone and HER2 receptors removes the three targets on which the rest of the discipline is built. Cytotoxic chemotherapy therefore remains the backbone of treatment, and its ceiling is set less by tumour resistance than by what the patient can tolerate. Nanoscale carriers were proposed as the escape from that constraint, on the argument that leaky tumour vasculature would concentrate a circulating particle where free drug could not go. Two decades of work have complicated that argument considerably. This review synthesises the preclinical and clinical evidence for lipid, polymeric, inorganic and cell-derived carriers in triple-negative disease, the ligand and stimulus-responsive strategies developed to compensate for the loss of hormone-receptor targeting, and the record of what has actually reached patients. The pattern that emerges from the clinical data is consistent and is not the one the preclinical literature predicts: every nanoformulation that has succeeded in breast cancer did so by reshaping pharmacokinetics, solubilisation or toxicity rather than by concentrating drug in tumour tissue, and the formulations designed explicitly for tumour targeting have failed in randomised comparison. The review argues that the productive future for nanomedicine in this disease lies in three directions that do not depend on passive accumulation: carriage of cargo that cannot otherwise be administered, particularly nucleic acids and immunomodulators; exploitation of the active transport and dose-threshold behaviour that governs particle entry into tumours; and prospective stratification of patients by measured particle deposition rather than by tumour histology alone.
Artificial Intelligence for Property Prediction in Drug Product Formulation: QSPR Models, Feature Engineering, and Validation
The formulation of a drug product depends on a dense web of physicochemical and performance properties, from aqueous solubility and dissolution to the physical stability of an amorphous dispersion and the particle size of a nanosuspension. Measuring each property empirically for every candidate and excipient combination is slow and consumes scarce active material, and this cost is what has drawn quantitative structure-property relationship modelling and, more recently, machine learning into formulation science. This review examines how artificial intelligence is now used to predict formulation-relevant properties, and it argues that the discipline is limited less by the choice of learning algorithm than by three underdeveloped foundations: the representation of the formulation rather than the molecule alone, the scale and quality of the underlying data, and the rigour of validation. The prediction targets are surveyed by property class, spanning solubility, amorphous solid dispersion stability, tablet mechanical behaviour, nanoparticle attributes, and permeability, with the reported models and their measured performance placed side by side. The representation problem is then treated directly, comparing expert descriptors, structural fingerprints, and learned graph or sequence representations, and noting where each fails when the input is a mixture and a process rather than a single structure. The validation section sets out what a trustworthy model must demonstrate, drawing on the established principles for structure-property models: a defined applicability domain, honest external testing, and metrics that reflect real predictivity rather than fitted correlation. The synthesis is that formulation artificial intelligence will become decision-grade only when shared, standardised datasets and applicability-domain-aware, externally validated, interpretable models replace the single-laboratory, internally validated demonstrations that dominate the current literature.
quantitative structure-property relationship
Artificial Intelligence for Pharmaceutical Formulation: Opportunities, Challenges, and Barriers to Industrial Adoption
Artificial intelligence has moved from a speculative promise to a working method across pharmaceutical formulation, yet its presence in routine industrial development remains thin relative to the volume of published proof of concept. This review reads that gap directly. It first maps where machine learning now delivers genuine value in formulation science: predicting solubility, dissolution, disintegration and physical stability from composition; navigating the excipient design space faster than sequential experimentation allows; generating candidate formulations by inverse design; and closing the loop between prediction and experiment through autonomous, self-driving laboratories. Representative platforms already predict cyclodextrin complexation and solid dispersion stability with test-set accuracies that would have seemed implausible a decade ago. The review then argues that the constraint on adoption is no longer principally algorithmic. Three coupled barriers dominate. The data problem is structural, because formulation datasets are small, proprietary, fragmented and inconsistently reported, which limits model generalisation more than any shortfall in model architecture. The regulatory position is genuinely evolving rather than settled, and the frameworks now emerging from the United States Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency ask questions about model lifecycle, credibility and human oversight that most published models were never built to answer. The organisational barrier is the least discussed and possibly the most binding. It reaches across validation under existing quality systems, the scarcity of staff fluent in both formulation and data science, and the difficulty of scaling a pilot into a validated production workflow. The paper concludes that the decisive work now sits downstream of the model, in data infrastructure, benchmarking, regulatory engagement and workforce capability.
Analytical Method Development and Validation For Simultaneous Estimation of Polmacoxib and Paracetamol in Tablet By RP-HPLC
A simple, rapid, and reliable reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the simultaneous estimation of polmacoxib and paracetamol in combined tablet dosage form. No official pharmacopoeial method is available for this combination, highlighting the need for a validated analytical procedure. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C18 column under optimized isocratic conditions with UV detection at a selected wavelength. The developed method provided good resolution with symmetrical peaks and acceptable retention times. Linearity was observed over the selected concentration ranges with correlation coefficients close to unity. Accuracy and precision studies showed satisfactory recovery and low percentage Relative Standard Deviation values. The method was found specific, robust, economical, and suitable for routine quality control analysis of the combined tablet formulation.
A comprehensive review on gastroretentive floating drug delivery systems: mechanisms, formulation approaches, evaluation, and recent advancements
Floating drug delivery systems are among the most extensively studied strategies for prolonging the gastric residence of orally administered formulations. Their value rests on a simple physical premise: a dosage form whose bulk density remains lower than that of gastric fluid will stay buoyant on the stomach contents, releasing drug at a controlled rate within the gastric milieu and the upper small intestine, where the absorption windows for many therapeutic agents are concentrated. The present review examines the rationale, classification, and design principles of floating gastroretentive systems, with attention to both effervescent and non-effervescent formulations. Polymers commonly used in floating systems, including hypromellose grades, sodium alginate, Carbopol, polyethylene oxide and Eudragit polymers, are discussed alongside gas-generating agents and low-density excipients. Manufacturing methods covered include direct compression, wet granulation, solvent evaporation for hollow microspheres, and ionotropic gelation for floating beads. Standard in vitro evaluations such as floating lag time, buoyancy duration, swelling, and dissolution under simulated gastric conditions, together with in vivo techniques such as gamma scintigraphy, are reviewed. Marketed products with established clinical use are tabulated. Recent advances covered include three-dimensional printing of personalised floating dosage forms, floating in situ gels, raft- forming nanocomposite systems, and the application of artificial neural networks to formulation screening.
Comparative evaluation of citric acid concentrations in diverse fruit matrices using optimized maceration-assisted extraction and UV–Visible spectrophotometric determination
Citric acid is the most abundant organic acid present in fruits and is involved in influencing the taste, acidic properties, nutritional value, and preserving features. Quantitation of citric acid is vital in evaluating food quality, nutritional status, and analysis in pharmaceuticals. Though there are sophisticated analytical methods which yield accurate results, such as chromatography, their applicability can be hindered due to cost implications. The current experiment sought to establish the use of a rapid, cheap, and reliable method of UV-visible spectroscopy in the quantitation of citric acid in selected fruits and its relation to pH. Samples of lemon (Citrus limon), orange (Citrus sinensis), amla (Phyllanthus emblica), pineapple (Ananas comosus), and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) were subjected to the tests. Fruit extracts were prepared through a maceration method followed by filtration and centrifugation. A calibration curve was drawn from standard citric acid solution while UV-visible spectrophotometric analysis was performed using the wavelength of maximum absorption (λmax). Quantification was done at 210 nm using Beer-Lambert law. The pH of the fruits was measured in relation to citric acid. Based on the spectral results, the wavelength of maximal absorption was found to be 210 nm for citric acid. The calibration plot indicated linear relationship with R2 value of 0.9997, indicating that the proposed method is applicable for quantitative analysis. Comparing fruits for their citric acid concentrations, lemon has been found to contain the highest amount while tomato contains the lowest amount. The Pearson correlation test showed that there is high negative correlation between pH and citric acid concentration (r=−0.987). The proposed UV-Visible spectrophotometric method has been successfully used as an efficient, simple, and cost-effective technique for the determination of citric acid in various fruits.
DATA INTEGRITY AND ALCOA+ PRINCIPLES IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
Within regulated pharmaceutical environments, reliable records sit at the heart of product quality and patient safety. Every entry made during research, manufacturing, testing and distribution must be trustworthy enough to withstand scrutiny by inspectors, auditors, and downstream users. This review examines how the concept of data integrity has developed in the pharmaceutical sector, what frameworks now govern it, where companies still struggle, and where the next generation of digital tools may take it. The paper draws on regulatory documents from the FDA in the United States, the WHO at the global level, the EMA in Europe, the MHRA in the United Kingdom, India's CDSCO and the international PIC/S framework, together with published case studies and review literature. Documentation practice is traced from paper-based notebooks through early computerised systems, the 1997 introduction of 21 CFR Part 11, the WHO and MHRA guidance updates of 2016 and 2018, and the current era of cloud-based platforms and electronic batch records. The ALCOA principles, namely Attributable, Legible, Contemporaneous, Original, and Accurate, together with the four ALCOA+ extensions of Complete, Consistent, Enduring, and Available, are presented as the practical core of compliant documentation. Common failure modes are discussed, including human error, weak audit trails, unvalidated software, and governance gaps. The review closes by considering how artificial intelligence, blockchain ledgers, cloud platforms, and manufacturing automation may reshape pharmaceutical record-keeping in the years ahead. Robust documentation emerges as inseparable from product quality and public health.
PERSONALIZED MEDICINE: REVOLUTION IN HEALTHCARE
Personalized medicine adapts clinical decisions to the individual rather than to the population average, drawing on the molecular, genetic, environmental, and lifestyle features of each patient when tests and treatments are chosen. Where conventional protocols apply a single regimen across heterogeneous groups, individualised approaches identify the subset of patients most likely to benefit from a given intervention and at what dose. The supporting toolkit includes high-throughput sequencing, proteomic profiling, pharmacogenomic assays, biomarker measurement, and computational methods drawn from machine learning and deep learning that integrate clinical and molecular records. Such methods are used to stratify risk, predict therapeutic response, and shorten time to diagnosis, with established applications in oncology, rare inherited disease, and pharmacogenomically guided prescribing. Reported gains include closer alignment of drug to patient, fewer avoidable adverse reactions, and more efficient use of clinical resources along the care pathway. Active patient participation is encouraged, since care plans can be tuned to the individual's situation and treatment goals. Several barriers continue to slow broad uptake, among them the unit cost of sequencing and targeted agents, the protection of identifiable genetic information, regulatory variation across jurisdictions, and shortages of clinical infrastructure and trained personnel. As sequencing prices fall and clinical informatics matures, personalized medicine is projected to extend beyond current strongholds into more areas of routine practice, supporting more accurate, patient-centred, and economically sustainable care.
DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF SUSTAINED RELEASE TABLETS OF MIRABEGRON FOR THE TREATMENT OF OVERACTIVE BLADDER
Conventional immediate-release medication formulations used to treat OAB frequently call for frequent dosing, which can result in inconsistent plasma drug levels and poor patient compliance. In order to provide longer therapeutic activity and better patient adherence, the current study focuses on developing and evaluating sustained release (SR) matrix tablets containing the β3-adrenergic receptor agonist mirabegron. Hydrophilic polymers including polyethylene oxide (PEO) and hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) were used in the formulation of Mirabegron SR matrix tablets utilizing a top-spray granulation technique. By taking into account important factors including polymer concentrations and lubricant levels, the formulation was adjusted using Box-Behnken Design (BBD). To guarantee the powder blend had appropriate flow characteristics, pre-compression parameters such bulk density, tapped density, Carr's index, Hausner's ratio, and angle of repose were assessed. Hardness, friability, weight fluctuation, and drug content homogeneity were all assessed after compression. To replicate gastrointestinal circumstances, in vitro drug release investigations were conducted in various pH mediums. Following appropriate kinetic models, the improved formulation showed prolonged, regulated, and sustained drug release. DSC, FTIR, and XRD compatibility tests verified that there were no notable drug–excipient interactions, demonstrating the formulation's stability. The findings showed that polymer concentration is a key factor in regulating drug release behavior. Therefore, by increasing therapeutic efficacy, lowering dosage frequency, and boosting patient compliance, the new sustained release matrix tablets of mirabegron present a viable strategy for the efficient control of overactive bladder.
PHARMACOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT OF OVERACTIVE BLADDER
Patients' quality of life is greatly impacted by overactive bladder (OAB), a chronic urological condition marked by urgency, frequency, nocturia, and urge incontinence. Overactive Bladder occurs due to fragile hip diaphragm, injury to nerve fibers, UTI, excise weight, and postmenopausal condition. The bladder contracts leading to a strong desire to urinate, although bladder is not completely filled. These symptoms occur due to detrusor muscle overactivity or bladder hyperactivity, leading to involuntary contractions of the bladder during the filling phase. Some individuals with OAB may experience difficulty in initiating urination, asymptom called hesitancy.
A COMPREHENSIVE PHYTOCHEMICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL REVIEW OF MORUS ALBA
Medicinal plants are important in the management and prevention of various health ailments across centuries. Historical literature such as the Atharva Veda and Sushruta Samhita provides extensive documentation on the preventive and curative use of plants. Herbal medicines have gained increased acceptance in recent decades due to their accessibility, effectiveness, and typically favorable safety profiles. Morus alba commonly referred to as white mulberry, is known for its rapid growth. Native to China, it is now cultivated extensively across Asia, Europe, North America, and other parts of the world. As a member of the Moraceae family, it thrives in diverse climatic conditions, making it an important medicinal plant globally. Recent pharmacological validated many traditional claims Morus alba, highlighting its potential role in managing chronic disorders like diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases. Its therapeutic efficacy, combined with low toxicity, makes it a strong candidate for the development of plant-derived formulations and health products. This review provides detailed information on the phytochemistry and pharmacology of Morus alba.
FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF A MULTI-HERBAL HAIR GROWTH TABLET CONTAINING AMLA, BHRINGRAJ, KALONJI, VITAMIN E AND FOLIC ACID
Background: Pattern hair loss and diffuse telogen effluvium affect a sizeable proportion of Indian adults, and conventional minoxidil and finasteride therapy is limited by scalp irritation, rebound shedding and dose-related sexual adverse effects. Polyherbal oral formulations acting at multiple points of the follicular pathway represent a rational alternative. Objective: To formulate and evaluate an oral tablet combining hydroalcoholic extracts of Amla (Emblica officinalis), Bhringraj (Eclipta alba) and Kalonji (Nigella sativa) with vitamin E acetate and folic acid. Methods: Six wet-granulated batches (F1–F6) of 650 mg tablets were prepared on a 10-station rotary press, with croscarmellose sodium (CCS) and PVP K-30 varied at 2–6% w/w and 3–5% w/w. Pre-compression flow, post-compression attributes, in vitro dissolution in pH 6.8 phosphate buffer and 3-month accelerated stability were studied. Drug release was quantified at 271 nm as gallic acid equivalents and drug–excipient compatibility by FTIR. Results: All batches showed acceptable flow (Carr's index 11.86–17.31%, Hausner's ratio 1.13–1.21). Hardness ranged 4.5–6.8 kg/cm² and friability 0.31–0.78%. The optimised batch F4 (5% CCS, 4% PVP) showed hardness 5.8 ± 0.3 kg/cm², friability 0.42 ± 0.05%, disintegration 6.8 ± 0.4 min, drug content 99.1 ± 0.7%, and 92.4 ± 1.8% release at 60 min. F4 was stable at 40 ± 2 °C / 75 ± 5% RH over 3 months. Conclusion: A polyherbal tablet combining three traditional hair-growth botanicals with vitamin E and folic acid was successfully developed at laboratory scale; F4 may be progressed to in vivo evaluation.
THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF COMMIPHORA WIGHTII IN THE MANAGEMENT OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is a chronic inflammatory and autoimmune illness caused by an imbalance in the immune system's control of the synovial joint membrane. Patients have shown tolerance to anti-RA drugs, and conventional dose forms—such as pills and tablets—are mostly used or readily accessible. Another name for the species Commiphora wightii is the Indian Bdellium-tree. This species is indigenous to Pakistan and India. Gujarat and Rajasthan are also native to it. It provides guggul gum, which is the most valuable resin in Indian medicine. Indian bdellium, a pale- yellow gum-resin with a fragrant scent released by the plant, is scraped and extracted into the Guggul of trade. Guggul's ability to lessen joint edema thickness suggests that it may be helpful in care of arthritis. It was just found out that Commiphora Mukul is beneficial against osteoarthritis of the knee. Guggul and ketoprofen have been combined to formulate guggulosomes, which have demonstrated a synergistic effect. Guggul has demonstrated that in studies, guggul a viable carrier for the making of sustained release medications.
FORMULATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF KETOPROFEN LOADED GUGGULOSOMAL GEL FOR THE TREATMENT OF INFLAMMATION IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
The aim of the current study is to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of novel vesicular carrier, guggulosomes bearing ketoprofen. KTF-loaded gullulosomes NPs were prepared by lipid film hydration method with different ratios of polymer and constant amount of Drug further incorporated into Carbopol gel. The NPs of guggulosomes were studied by entrapment efficiency, particle size, zeta potential and surface morphology, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), . In vitro drug release from NPs was also assessed by a Frange diffusion cell method. Prepared guggulosomal gel were characterized by viscosity, Spreadability, pH, Homogeneity and % drug content, Extrudability, Entrapment Efficiency (EE%) of gullulosomal gel. The guggulosomes shows all the characteristic peak in ATR-FTIR. The optimized formulation was spherical in shape having particle size ranging 462.6nm with PDI 0.256. zeta potential value range -6.01(mV).The entrapment efficiency of guggulosomes was found to be between 34.32 ± 1.716 and 75.96 ± 3.798 and the average size was about 75.14 to 173 nm , and the viscosity lies between 6392±319.6 to 1175±58.75,and extrudability are found to be Good and %drug content of optimized formulation is 96.27±0.962 and homogeneity is found good appearance and good elegance, pH of all formulation lies between 5.9 to 6.8 , Spreadability is found to be 1365±0.445 to 20.84±0.239. The drug released from NP formulations was between 69.98% and 89% upon 24 hours, which indicated improved sustained drug release characteristics. These results suggested
FORMULATION, OPTIMIZATION AND EVALUATION OF EXTENDED RELEASE TABLET OF CYANOCOBALAMIN BY USING POLYMER MATRIX SYSTEM
Cyanocobalamin Extended Release tablet final formulation was pre-pared wet granulation method using Polymer System. The pre-compression para-meter values that were assessed & optimised showed good free-flowing properties and fell within the specified ranges. The post-compression characteristics, including hard-ness, friability, & wt. fluctuation, in vitro disintegration time, and drug content for preparation of tablets have been evaluated. The present investigation was under-taken to fabricate & evaluate a Release tablet of Cyano-cobalamin by wet granulation method. All the formulations were subjected to Accelerated stability program, under stress condition to study the effect of temperature and humidity as guidelines. It is evident that the most of the Extended Release tablets were unaffected in respect of colour stability after 3 months. No appreciable change in physical characteristics, size & shape, & drug content was observed even after the evaluation for 3months storage. No appreciable change in physical characteristic, weight variation, hardness, thickness, % friability, % drug content and in-vitro drug release amount was observed even after the evaluation for 3- months’ storage. Oral administration of dosage form should lead to appropriate distribution & show activity of therapeutic moiety depending on the characteristic of dosage form and drug. Among these formulated Extended Release tablets of Cyanocobalamin, Formulation (F5) was found to be best because release of drug in 12 Hours was found to be NLT 90.0 %.
ENHANCING OCULAR THERAPEUTICS: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
Human eye has peculiar complex anatomical characteristics which makes it difficult to deliver the therapeutic agent directly to the targeted site in the ocular surface. Various ocular barriers such as blood-retinal barrier, blood-aqueous barrier hinders the delivery of the drug to desired site. Various conventional ocular dosage forms such as drops, ointments, suspensions offer patient compliance due to ease of administration but are unable to produce adequate therapeutic effect due to the washout of the drug from the ocular surface. Researchers have been working hard over decades to develop such novel system/ formulations that can overcome the limitations seen with conventional dosage forms. In-situ gelling systems/ gel forming solution solve the drawbacks of traditional dosage forms like eye drops and suspensions simply because they show sol-gel transformation by change in pH, temperature, or ionic strength. Because they can form gel following ocular instillation, they extend the corneal residence period and restrict the drainage of the formulation. A growing class of broad-spectrum antibacterials known as fluoroquinolones combats a variety of gram-negative and anaerobic bacteria that cause infections in the eyes. Since these antibacterials have been demonstrated to be equally effective as combination therapying treating a variety of ocular infections, they have become increasingly well-liked in the area of ophthalmology. In this review article, comprehensive information on ocular gel forming solution along with mechanism of sol to gel transition, clinical trials, various studies, and evaluation parameters have been discussed. Also, it discusses the role of fluoroquinolones in the treatment of ocular infections when formulated as gel forming solutions.
FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF THE ORO- DISPERSIBLE TABLETS OF AMBROXOL HYDROCHLORIDE USING NATURAL DISINTEGRANTS BANANA POWDER
The objective of this study was to evaluate the formulation efficiency and long-term stability of Ambroxol HCl orally dissolving tablets (ODTs). The experimental methodology involved an assay of 20 randomly selected tablets, which were crushed and processed in a phosphate buffer at a pH of 6.8. Drug concentration was quantified using UV/Visible spectrophotometry by measuring absorbance at 345 nm, utilizing 10 ppm dilutions of both the test sample and a 50 mg standard for comparative calculation. In-vitro dissolution profiles were established using a Type-2 dissolution apparatus. Among the formulations tested, batch F8 exhibited the most superior performance, achieving a cumulative drug release of 99.76% within an 18-minute interval. This accelerated release rate is attributed to the synergistic disintegrating effects of Banana Extract and Croscarmellose Sodium. Furthermore, the tablets underwent a rigorous three-month stability program under accelerated stress conditions. Throughout the evaluation period, the formulations were monitored for critical changes in physical dimensions, weight variation, hardness, friability, and disintegration time. The results indicated no significant degradation in physical characteristics or chemical potency. The stability data, combined with the efficient drug release from formulation F8, suggests that this delivery system is both robust and effective for clinical applications.
UNLOCKING THE POWER OF COSMECEUTICALS: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
Cosmeceuticals is one of the fastest growing sector with natural health care and personal care industry, which is derived by consumers demand for safety, efficacy, and sustainability. Cosmeceuticals are the products that have scientifically active ingredients that provide therapeutic effects which improve appearance and affect skin or health care. They are derived from a blend of “cosmetics” and “pharmaceuticals” these products contain bioactive components like, retinol, vitamin C, peptides, antioxidants, botanicals, that helps treat conditions such as hair loss, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, & other skin related problems. Sunscreen, creams, soaps and shampoos are one of the most used cosmeceuticals product. This review highlights the key ingredients, emerging technologies, safety, quality, efficacy, regulatory framework, emerging technologies & future prospectives.
FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINED RELEASE TABLETS OF METHYLCOBALAMIN BY USING POLYMER MATRIX SYSTEM
Methylcobalamin is a medication commonly prescribed for anemia conditions linked to thick or excessive mucus production. The sustained-release tablets of Methylcobalamin are prepared using the wet granulation technique. A total of 6 batches were prepared. Dissolution profile and absorption or release of drug within 12 hours. Identification of drug purity was done through FTIR. The FTIR analysis showed that the spectra of the pure drug and the formulation ingredients were largely similar. The FTIR profile of the drug matched the reference spectrum for pure Methylcobalamin, confirming its purity. The Tapped density of various formulation were varies between 0.55-0.70 (gm/ml). According to the post compression parameter of all formulations are given as well as following. In the prepared formulations, tablet hardness was consistently above 2.0 kg/cm2, reflecting adequate mechanical strength. Additionally, the friability values for formulations 1 through 6 were all below 1%, demonstrating that the tablets possessed excellent resistance to abrasion and maintained their integrity. Among the sustained release Methylcobalamin tablets, formulation F-5 demonstrated the best performance, as it released at least 90% of the drug within 12 hours.
FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF FAST DISSOLVING TABLETS OF LAMIVUDINE
The oral cavity serves as an attractive pharmaceutical delivery target, with the buccal mucosa circumventing gastric acid degradation and first-pass hepatic metabolism to enhance drug bioavailability. Salivary flow modulates the pharmacokinetic profile of buccal films, while the inherent mucin layer enables mucoadhesive formulations to establish prolonged residence time through polymer-mucosal interactions. This intimate contact between the pharmaceutical agent and epithelium promotes enhanced permeation and therapeutic efficacy. Strategic formulation engineering neutralizes pH-related challenges and modulates transmucosal permeability through excipient selection to optimize drug transport. Buccal patch formulations employ a bilayered architecture with a drug-loaded polymeric matrix cast onto a backing substrate, complemented by an occlusive backing layer that prevents reverse diffusion and maintains formulation integrity.