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A simple, economic, rapid, reliable, and stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol (PCM) and caffeine (CF) in solid dosage form. The chromatographic separations were achieved with a Waters Symmetry W C18 column (5 μm, 4.6 × 150 mm), using a mixture of methanol and water (40:60, v/v) as a mobile phase, under isocratic elution mode with a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min, and ultraviolet (UV) detection was set at 264 nm. The oven temperature for the column was set and maintained at 35 °C. The method was validated according to International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines, and it demonstrated excellent linearity, with a correlation coefficient of 1 and 0.9999 for PCM and CF, respectively, over the concentration ranges of 15-300 μg/mL (PCM) and 2.5-50 μg/mL (CF). The retention time (t R ) was found to be 2.6 ± 0.001 and 3.5 ± 0.002 min for PCM and CF, respectively. Extensive stress degradation studies were conducted by subjecting the analytes to various stress conditions of acidic and alkaline hydrolysis as well as oxidative, photolytic, and heat degradations. The method was found to efficiently separate the analytes' peaks from that of the degradation products, without any variation in their retention times. The relative standard deviation (RSD) values of all recoveries for PCM and CF were less than 1.3%. The method was found to be suitable for routine analysis of PCM and CF in pharmaceutical dosage form.

Curcuma aromatica Salisb. (C. aromatica) is commonly known as wild turmeric. Curcuma aromatica is an essential herbal plant and it has been extensively used in traditional medicine for centuries. It has been used for the treatment of gastrointestinal ailments, arthritic pain, inflammatory conditions, wounds, skin infections, and insect bites. This article aims to review the phytochemical and pharmacological aspects of C. aromatica and to provide a guide and insight for further studies. Electronic repositories, including Web of Science, Google Scholar, ProQuest, Science Direct, Scopus, and PubMed, were searched until December 2019 to identify studies relating to C. aromatica. A systematic analysis of the literature on pharmacognostical, physicochemical, and nutritional contents, bioactive compounds, and biological activities of C. aromatica was carried out, and ideas for future studies were also coined. A total of 157 articles concerning in vitro or in vivo (or both) researches on C. aromatica have been evaluated. Analyses of the data showed that C. aromatica consists of various classes of compounds, including alkaloids, flavonoids, curcuminoids, tannins, and terpenoids, that formed the bases of its pharmacological activities. The reviewed data also revealed that C. aromatica possessed the pharmacological effect of anticancer, antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antitussive, antiepileptic, analgesic, wound healing, and insect repellent activities. This review has systematically compiled and summarized the literature related to the nutritional values and bioactive compounds, as well as the biological activities of C. aromatica. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive review reported on C. aromatica.

It is undeniable that many patients worldwide suffer from various types of wounds, especially from chronic wounds. The complex and intricate process of wound healing has a severe impact on the patient's quality of life as well as causing an economic burden on healthcare institutions. Although various new therapies have become available for treating patients with acute and chronic wounds for the past decade, the available therapies are often expensive or accompanied by undesirable side effects. Hence, the discovery of a new arsenal for wound healing remains a hot topic of research. Recently, plants or herbs and their derivatives have garnered significant attention as a source of therapeutic agents to treat wounds. This is because plants provide a rich reservoir of phytochemicals that could potentially become effective and affordable therapeutic agents. Thus, the present review attempted to outline wound healing mechanisms and analysed some renowned medicinal plants with potential wound healing properties from the existing literature from various electronic databases. This review also sheds light on the plant's underlying molecular mechanisms and, wherever available, acknowledges the biologically active substances found in these plants.

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Background The aim of the study was to evaluate the suitability of triclosan (TCS) and flurbiprofen (FLB) with poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL), chitosan (CS), and Kolliphor® P188 (KP) for possible application in the design of nano-formulations. Results Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the physical characteristics of the various sample compositions without any apparent interaction. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)’s spectra of the physical mixtures showed their characteristic absorption bands with broadening and overlapping of bands in some instances, but no appearance of new bands was observed. Conclusion The study revealed the physical form stability of the evaluated components after the storage period and lack of definite pharmaceutical incompatibility between them. Thus, the selected drugs and excipients could be used for the development of pharmaceutical nano-formulations.

Introduction and objective. For an effective and desired outcome of therapy to be achieved, the technical capacity of the healthcare worker is a key factor. The aim of the study is to assess knowledge and attitudes of primary healthcare (PHC) workers towards rational artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) prescribed in the treatment of uncomplicated malaria. Materials and method. This is a descriptive cross-sectional survey in which a self-administered structured questionnaire was used. A combination of stratified and multistage sampling techniques where utilized in the selection of the healthcare workers (HCWs). Results. Of the 422 respondents, 100 (23.7%) were males and 322 (76.3%) were females. Respondents with less than five years in practice accounted for 36%, while 64% had six years and above of practice. Community health extension workers (CHEW) accounted for 54%, while 46% were either community health officers (CHO), nurses, midwives, Bachelors of Science (BSc) in community health, or with other qualifications. A total of 390 (92.4%) were aware of the availability of ACTs and used the malaria treatment protocols, whereas 28 (6.6%) still used monotherapy for simple malaria treatment, and 2.7% did not use any form of test before initiating treatment. Co-administration of non-ACTs with ACTs accounted for 12%, with 88% prescribing paracetamol with ACTs. 67% of the respondents required capacity building in rational ACT use. Conclusion.The majority of the respondents had the requisite knowledge and skills coupled with positive attitudes in prescribing ACTs. Some respondents could not distinguish between an ACTs and a monotherapy. This may affect the exact application of the malaria treatment protocols, especially at the PHC level.