Aamir Mirza

Objective: In the given study, we have carried out a survey among general population of Delhi NCR (India) for the knowledge, perceptions, and attitude toward coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and also attempted to reach to a few conclusions in the form of recommendations. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire based online survey (using Google Forms) was conducted between April 2020 and May 2020 to investigative knowledge, perceptions, and attitude toward COVID-19. Chi-square test was used for the computation of p-value. Results: There were total 823 respondents, with 43.01% females and 56.98% males. Around 73.74% respondents believe that it has become a social stigma. About 75.09% were of the opinion that sneezing etiquettes can help in curbing the infection. About 93.43% of study population follows the personal hygiene, 24.78% wished to get insurance coverage. Similarly, interesting data were collected over different aspects of COVID-19. Conclusions: The current pandemic is the fir...

Humic Substances (HS) occur naturally in our environment and are the remains of a process called humification, which is the biodegradation of biomass that then recombines and converts into dark colored complex compounds with no definite chemical structure. These are the end result of microbial degradation but resistant to further microbial degradation. It has a strong global presence as a dietary supplement and cosmetics applications for different beneficial uses. Till date its exploration as a pharmaceutical excipient has been limited to academic research only but the data being presented augurs a good commercial success.

The present study explores the pharmaceutical potential of a natural organic matter (fulvic acid) for sustained release, acid buffering capacity and mucoadhesion in vaginal drug delivery. The antifungal drug, Itraconazole, was first converted into inclusion complexes with fulvic acid (1:1 & 1:2 molar ratio) and then characterized by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT IR) and Mass Spectroscopy. Results were also authenticated by conformational analysis. Solubility analysis of complexes yielded different thermodynamic parameters and explained the driving force for solubilisation when the pH was varied in an acidic range. MTT assays were also performed to assess the potential in vitro cell toxicity of the complexes in comparison to the neat drug. The complexes were then formulated into tablets and optimized for hardness, mucoadhesion and release profiles. The optimized tablets presented with satisfactory mucoadhesion, acid buffering and spreading ability. Moreover, the antifungal activity of the formulation was also increased due to improved aqueous solubility of the drug despite the larger size of the complex. The study also indicated the potential use of fulvic acid as a functional excipient in the preparation of a vaginal drug delivery system (VDDS).

Major and biologically most explored components of natural organic matter (NOM) are humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA). We have explored rock shilajit as a source of NOM. On the other hand carbamazepine (CBZ) is a well known anticonvulsant drug and has a limited accessibility to brain. Bioavailability and pharmacokinetic profiles of CBZ have been improved by complexation and different techniques also. Present study has assessed the comparative abilities of FA and HA as complexing agent for CBZ in order to enhance pharmacokinetic profile of CBZ and accessibility to the brain. These two complexing agents have been compared on various indices such as their abilities to cause complexation and enhance solubility, permeability and dissolution. The present study also compared pharmacodynamic and biochemical profiles after oral administration of complexes. With the help of various pharmaceutical techniques such as freeze drying, physical mixture, kneading and solvent evaporation, two molar ratios (1:1 and 1:2) were selected for complexation and evaluated for conformational analysis (molecular modeling). Complex formed was further characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), mass spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Preclinical study on rodents with CBZ–HA and CBZ–FA has yielded appreciable results in terms of their anticonvulsant and antioxidants activities. However, CBZ–HA (1:2) demonstrated better result than any other complex.