Smart Functional Surfactant Activated Conductive Polymer Coated on Paper with Ultra-Sensitive Humidity Sensing Characteristics

Herein, surfactant-assisted PANI nanorods was synthesized via the solid-state synthesis method at different concentrations of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). Upon the addition of SLS, the average rod diameter of PANI...

Development and Optimization of a Topical Formulation with Castanea sativa Shells Extract Based on the Concept “Quality by Design”

The proposed study aims to develop and optimize a topical formulation with Castanea sativa shells extract considering the concept of Quality by Design, focusing on a planned development that consider the vulnerabilities of the entire process through risk analysis tools and design of experiments (DoE). A Box–Behnken design with three factors and three levels was used as a statistical tool for the execution of the DoE and the analysis of the response surface methodology responses. The independent variables studied were the quantity of sodium lauryl sulfate (%) (X1), beeswax (%) (X2) and macadamia oil (%) (X3); the dependent variables were pH (Y1), viscosity (Y2) and adhesiveness (Y3). According to the mathematical model, the optimal formulation contains 0.93% of sodium lauryl sulfate, 5.00% of beeswax and 10.00% of macadamia oil. The optimal formulation with the extract was prepared and characterized over the time, regarding organoleptic and technological characteristics, allowing conclusions to be reached regarding its stability. The formulation presented a pleasant odor and was light brown in color, it also demonstrated pseudoplastic-thixotropic behavior and a small reduction in the formulation consistency after 30 days of storage. This study demonstrated the efficiency of the Quality by Design methodology to understand the product variability, supporting that this approach favors a better understanding of the whole process and enables to design a robust development stage, reducing costs and generating high-quality products.

Evaluation of sodium lauryl sulfate for the development of cow-side mastitis screening test

Background and Aim: Subclinical mastitis (SCM) is an economically important disease for dairy cattle worldwide; therefore, regular screening is imperative to detect SCM at an early stage so as to control it. The study was conducted to compare the test characteristics of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as a test reagent to detect SCM in dairy cows. Materials and Methods: First, 106 milk samples of dairy cows were subjected to available indirect screening tests (white side test [WST], surf field mastitis test, Leucocytest, and Immucell) considering somatic cell count (SCC) as gold standard test. Then 273 milk samples were allowed to react with different concentrations of SLS with or without sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and indicators (bromothymol blue [BTB] and bromocresol purple [BCP]). Results: SLS with or without NaOH yielded best reaction with the milk samples similar to Leucocytest. It was observed that the reaction of milk samples with SLS added with indicators (BTB and BCP) was easier to visualize than without indicators. SLS 3%+NaOH 1.5% with BTB and SLS 2% with BCP had high sensitivity, specificity, and substantial agreement with SCC. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of SLS 2% with BCP and SLS 3%+NaOH 1.5% with BTB was 0.917 and 0.875, respectively. Conclusion: It may be concluded that SLS 3%+NaOH 1.5% with BTB and SLS 2% with BCP may be the potential reagents for the development of an effective cow-side test to detect SCM, as the main ingredient SLS is considerably cheap and readily available in developing countries.

Impact of Solubility Enhancement Methods on the Dissolution Rate of Valsartan Sachet

The oral drug delivery is the most generally used route of administration that has been explored for the delivery of drugs through various pharmaceutical products. Solubility of drug plays critical role in achieving the optimum therapeutic levels of the drug in blood and thus bioavailability. There are many drugs of various therapeutic categories fall in Biopharmaceutics Classification System Classes II and IV as they lack solubility. For all these drugs, dissolution is the big issue for the absorption process. Valsartan is an effective antihypertensive agent and it can be used for the treatment of hypertension in most cases. The objective of this study is to prepare Valsartan as an oral sachet which can be used as an alternative dosage form after improvement of drug solubility using solubilizing agents such as sodium lauryl sulfate and tween 80. Three different formulas of Valsartan sachet were prepared by conventional technique of wet granulation method named conventional formula (Fc), sodium lauryl sulfate formula (Fs), and tween 80 formula (Ft) then compared with the available marketed product of Valsartan tablet (Fd) as a reference. The preformulations studies were conducted to exclude drug excipients interaction. Evaluation was performed in terms of weight variation, dose content uniformity, and drug release study using dissolution test apparatus. Fourier Transforms Infrared Spectroscopy reveals no drug excipient interaction and the drug release profile for Fs and Ft formulas within 30 min was 100.16% and 104.16%, respectively, while for Fc only 57.55% of the drug was released. This difference in the release profile was statistically significant (P < 0.05) between Fs and Ft with Fc, but a non- significant difference (P > 0.05) was observed between Fs and Ft with the marketed Valsartan tablet (Fd). The results support the possibility of using the prepared formulas Fs and Ft as a Valsartan sachet for the oral administration alternative to conventional Valsartan tablets Fd.