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The study was aimed to identify cytotoxic leads from Abutilon indicum leaves for treating glioblastoma. The petroleum ether extract, methanol extract (AIM), chloroform and ethyl acetate sub-fractions (AIM-C and AIM-E, respectively) prepared from AIM were tested for cytotoxicity on U87MG human glioblastoma cells using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. These extracts exhibited considerable activity (IC50 values of 42.6-64.5 μg/mL). The most active AIM-C fraction was repeatedly chromatographed to yield four known compounds, methyl trans-p-coumarate (1), methyl caffeate (2), syringic acid (3) and pinellic acid (4). Cell viability assay of 1-4 against U87MG cells indicated 2 as most active (IC50 value of 8.2 μg/mL), whereas the other three compounds were much less active. Interestingly, compounds 1-4 were non-toxic towards normal human cells (HEK-293). The content of 2 in AIM-C was estimated as 3% by HPLC. Hence, presence of some more active substances besides methyl caffeate (2) in AIM-C is anticipated.

In this study, investigation was carried out under in vitro as well as field conditions to explore inhibitors of sorghum grain mold. Phytochemicals, viz., methyl trans-p-coumarate (AIC-1), methyl caffeate (AIC-2), syringic acid (AIC-3), and ursolic acid (UA), at different concentrations (500, 750, and 1000 ppm) were tested on spore germination of Alternaria alternata, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium moniliforme, F. pallidoroseum, and Helminthosporium sp. Significant growth inhibition (P < 0.001) was observed against all fungi except A. alternata which was found to be resistant to AIC-3. Further, two separate sets of field experiments involving spraying of water and F. moniliforme suspension over chemicals treated (1000 ppm) sorghum panicles were done. The levels of protection varied with different treatments which were graded using a standard 1 - 9 rating scale. The Fusarium-challenged panicles (FCP) showed lesser susceptibility and decreased the rate of infection of grain mold (grade 7.0), compared to simple UA, AIC-2, and AIC-1 treatments (7.4, 7.6, and 8.0 grade, resp.). The HPLC quantification of differentially induced phenolic acids in treated sorghum grains substantiated this effect disclosing the higher accumulation of chlorogenic, vanillic, and salicylic acids in FCP. This might be due to defensive induction of these acids by the plants. Although mold control by examined chemicals were lesser than the standard Tilt (grade 5.9), they were found to be nontoxic to mammalian cells under cytotoxicity assay.

Observation of higher healing power of alkaloid enriched-ointment compared with single alkaloid ointment corroborated the synergy mechanism.

To establish the identity and quality of safflower petals used as herbal tea, four spiny and non-spiny cultivars (APRR3, TSF-1, NARI-NH-01, and NARI-06) were analyzed for various pharmacognostic characters, toxic metals (As, Pb, Hg, Cr, Cd by atomic absorption spectroscopy), pesticide residue (GC-ECD/PFPD), and flavonoid constituents, like quercetin, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, and kaempferol, by high performance thin layer chromatography. Arsenic and lead were found to be absent in the decoction of all varieties. Although mercury and chromium were detected in standard acceptable levels, cadmium was exceeding the limit except in APRR3 (0.3 mg/kg). While none of the samples contained pesticide residue and saponins, presence of tannins (19-25%), bitterness principle (1257-2200 units/g), mucilaginous substances (0.93-2.83 mL/g), and volatile matter (4-16%) were observed and estimated in all varieties. Microscopic examination of NARI-06 and APRR3 petals explored similar features having slightly thick cylindrical style with dense spikes and corolla tube with five slightly thick ridges possessing ribbon like outgrowths. High performance thin layer chromatography analysis revealed APRR3 to possess higher amount of quercetin (116.6 ng/g), quercetin-3-O-rutinoside (189.7 ng/g), and kaempferol (185.07 ng/g). Thus, the spiny APRR3 safflower petals encompassing anti-oxidative flavonoids and complying heavy metals test, was identified as a safe variety for human consumption.

In the recent past, delivery of therapeutic agents through the nasal route becoming a very attractive proposition, especially when rapid absorption and effects are required. The droplets size of a nasal spray dosage form is important for both efficacy and toxicity. In this study, an attempt was made to develop and validate a method to measure the droplets size distribution in Fluticasone nasal spray using Malvern spray tech coupled with automatic actuation station at various angles. Devices were actuated at the force of 6.0 kg, the velocity at 60 mm/s and rate of acceleration at 5000 mm/s 2. Data was collected for 150 ms at a height of 6.0 cm from the tip of the device. The method was evaluated for their precision, robustness and impact of different actuation angle on the formation of droplets size. The study revealed that changing the actuation angle from 0° to 45° had no significant impact on droplets size distribution of brand-B, whereas, the Dv (90) of brand-A significantly affected. The repeatability of the method was assessed from the percent standard deviation of six replicate measurements and was found to be 3.2, 5.3, 9.1 and 11.1 for Dv (10), Dv (50), Dv (90) and less than 10 µm respectively. Similarly, the robustness of the method was evaluated by changing velocity and acceleration. When the velocity changed to 55 and 65 from 60 mm/s the percent difference in their Dv (10), Dv (50) and Dv (90) was found to be-4.2,-7.6 and-11.4 for 55 mm/s and 0.4, 0.2 and 0.5 for 65 mm/s. When the acceleration changed to 4500 and 5500 from 5000 mm/s 2 the percent difference in their Dv (10), Dv (50) and Dv (90) was found to be-2.6,-1.7 and 0.1 for 4500 mm/s 2 and-3.3,-1.7 and 0.5 for 5500 mm/s 2. The results suggest that change in velocity and acceleration does not impact significantly on droplets size, thus ensures the robustness of the method. The method was applied to two commercially available nasal sprays labeled as Brand-A and Brand-B. The result has shown marginal differences in their Dv (10 and 50) but a significant difference observed in Dv (90) and Dv ˂10. The Dv (90) and Dv ˂10 of Brand-A and Brand-B was found to be 91.7; 0.8 and 66.9; 2.1 µm respectively. The data presented here suggest that the developed method is precise and robust can distinguish the droplets size change in the products. Hence, this can be adopted in the pharmaceutical industries to check the characteristics of the spray products. a.

Objective: The objectives of the present study were to develop and validate a mass compatible ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) method to quantify the impurities in fluticasone nasal spray, and to establish a suitable container-closure system for the formulation. Methods: A gradient method was optimized with a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min, detector wavelength-240 nm, run time-25 min and 0.1% Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in water as solvent A and Methanol as solvent B. Results: The developed method was linear over the range of 0.07-1.10 µg/ml for impurity-I, 0.16-2.47 µg/ml for impurity-II, 0.67-10.0 µg/ml for impurity-III, and 1.29-19.3 µg/ml for impurity-IV. The limit of quantification (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD) were established as 0.07 and 0.02 µg/ml, 0.14 and 0.05 µg/ml, 0.59 and 0.19 µg/ml, 1.06 and 0.35 µg/ml for impurities I-IV respectively. The percent relative standard deviation (%RSD) of the replicate analysis for impurities I-IV, was within the acceptance criteria (0.4, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.1% respectively) that proved the precision of the method. The accuracy of the method was studied from 50%-150% of test concentration and the results ranged from 100.3% to 109.4%. The container-closure compatibility study revealed that the solution stored in the glass container system did not generate any additional peaks in the chromatogram. Conclusion: Hence, the developed method can be employed by quality testing laboratories to quantify impurities in fluticasone propionate nasal spray. The study also suggests that glass containers could serve as a compatible system for the storage of fluticasone propionate nasal solution.

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