Curcumin: Its Bioavailability and Nanoparticle Formulation: A Review

Curcumin is used as traditional Indian and Chinese medicine in order to treat various diseases as well as used as a wound healing agent. Two to five percent in turmeric is curcumin; turmeric is available in yellow colour mainly obtained from polyphenolic pigment and fat-soluble substance called as curcuminoids, mostly used in the Indian subcontinent. Various clinical trials are conducted for understanding the wide range of therapeutic uses of curcumin. According to the studies, it shows that curcumin manifests very poor oral bioavailability, and forms numerous curcumin metabolites are formed after metabolism, although the bioavailability is low but the therapeutic activity of the curcumin for the various diseases, and for treatment of the disease enhancement of bioavailability of the curcumin in the future is necessary. According to the recent study on nanocurcumin with the size less than 100 nm which is an application of polymer-based nanoparticle of curcumin. It was observed that this polymer-based nanoparticle of curcumin has similar in vitro activity as that of free curcumin in pancreatic cell lines. In in-vivo study performed with the healthy volunteers a cream containing curcuminoid loaded SLNs was topically applied over the cream containing free curcuminoid showed the improvement in efficacy. Therefore, various techniques are developing for the nanoparticulate formulations. Key words: Curcuminoids, bioavailability, nanoparticulate, nanocurcumin, polyphenolic.

Formulation and Antibacterial Activity of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng Leaves Ethanolic Extract as Herbal Mouthwash Against Halitosis Caused Bacteria

BACKGROUND: Halitosis is one of the unpleasant conditions which could alter the self-confidence and cause serious illness. One of the treatments to overcome halitosis is by using mouthwash. Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng is one of the plants that is known to have antibacterial activity which can be used to overcome halitosis caused bacteria. AIM: To formulate the Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng leaves ethanolic extract as herbal mouthwash and to evaluate the antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. METHODS: The methods of the study included the characterization and screening of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng leaves dried powder; the extraction process by maceration using 96% ethanol; the antibacterial activity test of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng leaves ethanolic extract and the formulation and evaluation of mouthwash dosage form with various concentrations of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng leaves ethanolic extract. RESULTS: The characterization results showed that the Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng leaves powder contained 7.92% of water, 29.26% of water-soluble substance, 13.32% of ethanol soluble substance, 0.82% of total ash and 0.66% of acid insoluble ash. The screening examination gave glycoside, saponin, flavonoid, tannin and steroid/triterpenoid positive results. The antibacterial activity test of the Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng mouthwash showed that the dosage form with 2% of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng extract successfully inhibited the growth of bacteria with 12.00 and 11.25 mm of inhibition diameter for both Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans, respectively. CONCLUSION: The Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng leaves ethanolic extract can be formulated in mouthwash dosage form and has antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans bacteria.

The evolution of some nutritional parameters of the tomato fruit during the harvesting stages

The main purpose of this study was to highlight the nutraceutical value of the tomato fruit for five hybrids recently introduced in culture, during the harvesting phases: mature green, half ripen and full ripen: ‘Antalya’, ‘Cemil’, ‘Lorely’, ‘Tiger’ and ‘Sacher’. They differentiate because of their size and fruit colour. The parameters to be followed for each harvest phase were: the chlorophyll a and b content, the total carotenes, the soluble substance, vitamin C, the titratable acidity, and also a maturity index was established. The results obtained showed significant differences between the hybrids, but also during the maturation phases. It singularised Tiger F1 with a total carotene contentof 7.1 (green) to 12.5 (half ripen) and 18.6 mg/100g f.w. (in full ripen) and Sacher F1 with vitamin C from 6.2 (green) to 17.2 (half ripen) and 20.7 mg/100g f.w. (in full ripen). This variability can be attributed to these harvesting phases, but also to the genetic factors, such as cultivar type, fruit size and colour.

Effect of Hydrothermal Pretreatment on Volatile Fatty Acids Production from Source-Separated Organics

The current study investigates the effect of hydrothermal pretreatment (HTP) on acidification of source-separated organics (SSO) in terms of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production and solubilization. Temperature and retention time for HTP of SSO ranged from 150 to 240 °C and 5 to 30 min, respectively. The soluble substance after hydrothermal pretreatment initially increased, reaching its peak at 210 °C and then declined gradually. The highest overall chemical oxygen demand (COD) solubilization of 63% was observed at “210 °C-20 min” compared to 17% for raw SSO. The highest VFAs yield of 1536 mg VFAs/g VSS added was observed at “210 °C-20 min” compared to 768 mg VFAs/g VSS for raw SSO. Intensification of hydrothermal pretreatment temperature beyond 210 °C resulted in the mineralization of the organics and adversely affected the process.

Cherry chemical composition and antioxidant activity under freezing comprehensive relations assessment

Cherry is a successful combination of sugars, acids, attractive color and taste. However, its shelf life is limited and can be prolonged only with the help of new freezing technologies. Therefore, the gool of this work was to investigate changes in component composition of fresh and frozen cherry. The objects of the research were cherries of the varieties of Shpanka and Lotovka. The studies were carried out with cherries grown in the Central region of Ukraine at the Department of Technology of storage and processing of fruits and vegetables at Uman National Horticulture University. For cherries of both varieties were kept in 20% sugar solution with the addition of 4% ascorutin 1% chitosan for 30 minutes, dried with air flow, frozen at –25°C, packed in 0.5 kg plastic bags, and stored at ‒18°C. For control purposes, nontreated cherries were packed in plastic bags of respective volume. According to the research, preprocessing with 20% sugar solution with the addition of 1% chitosan contributes to preservation of quality and biological value of frozen cherries. Thus antioxidant activity in frozen cherries of Shpanka and Lotovka varieties is 27 and 18 mmol/dm3, ascorbic acid content – 17.6 and 20 mg/100g. So the indexes of quality of cherries for freezing are interrelated and constitute one correlation pattern in which the major index indicator is the content of dry soluble substance and antioxidant activity.

Evidence of a distinct group of Black African patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

BackgroundThe autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) occurs more frequently in patients of African descent with high morbidity and mortality. Current SLE diagnostic criteria including antinuclear antibody (ANA) reactivity are derived largely from non-African populations. This study characterises ANA reactivity patterns and relates them to SLE clinical presentation in Black African patients.MethodsSera from Black participants (61 patients with SLE and 100 controls) aged 1–81 years were analysed for reactivity against the antigens: uridine 1-ribonuclear protein, Smith uridine-1-5 ribonuclear protein antigen, soluble substance-A, recombinant Ro-52, soluble substance-B, Scl-70, cytoplasmic histidyl-tRNA synthetase antigen, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), nucleosomes, ribonuclear P-protein, antimitochondrial antibody M2 (AMA-M2), histones, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), centromere protein B and polymyositis–sclerosis overlap antigen.FindingsA significantly higher proportion (97%) of the 61 patients with SLE had detectable autoantibody reactivity compared with 15% of the 100 controls (p<0.001). The highest frequencies of autoantibody reactivity in patients with SLE were against the dsDNA antigen (41%) and PCNA (54%). Anti-PCNA and anti-dsDNA reactivity were mutually exclusive (p<0.001) giving rise to two distinct groups of Black African patients with SLE. The first group (n=25) had reactivity profiles consistent with international standard SLE definitions, including anti-dsDNA reactivity, and was 13 times more likely to present with joint symptoms. The larger, second group (n=34), characterised by anti-PCNA and anti-AMA-M2 reactivity, was nine times more likely to present with only cutaneous symptoms.InterpretationOur study demonstrates a need to extend autoantibody panels to include anti-PCNA in the diagnostic process of Black African patients and further refine the predictive values of the reactivity to different antigens to differentiate SLE syndromes in African populations.

Pharmaceutical development with commercialization of generic drugs with poor soluble substance – tablets of drug nimodipine

The pharmaceutical development of solid dosage forms which containing a poor soluble substance deserves special attention, because a composition and a technology of production such drugs directly effects on release the active pharmaceutical ingredient in the human body and, as a consequence, on pharmacological effectiveness of this drug. The search of therapeutically effective, economically viable and industrially reproducible technology for the production of such drugs is very important for the pharmaceutical industry. The purpose of our work was the pharmaceutical development of the generic drug, which contains a poor soluble in water substance nimodipine. The subject of the research is the substance nimodipine and the samples of tablets obtained with the help of various technological methods from this substance. All analytical and pharmaco-technological researches were implemented according to generally accepted methods that accordance with the requirements of the State Pharmacopoeia of Ukraine. Laboratory batches were developed using technological methods of physical modification of a substance, such as: micronization, sonocrystalllization, solid dispersion by melting, solid dispersion by solvent evaporation, complexation with β-cyclodextrins. Researches of the comparative in vitro dissolution kinetics of substance nimodipin from these laboratory batches made it possible to establish optimal technology for the commercial production of a generic drug. Researches on influence quantity of disintegrant and lubricant in the composition of tablets on the pharmacopoeial parameters of the quality were done. According to the results of the pharmaceutical development, it can be argued that the use of the technological method for production a solid dispersion with the aid of a solvent is most appropriate for the production of tablets of a generic drug with a substance nimodipine, which is confirmed by the results of the comparative in vitro dissolution kinetics in three media and clinical trials. The required quantity of disintegrat (not less than 2.5% per tablet) and lubricant (not less than 0.4% per tablet) in the composition of generic tablets were defined.

In situ monitoring the viscosity change of an electrolyte in a Li–S battery

Li2S2is not a solid precipitate, but an electrolyte–soluble substance.