Natural polymers have been extensively utilized in the past decades due to their outstanding features. Among these natural excipients, protein‐based polymers have superb features owing to their high drug binding capacity and biodegradability. Whey protein is a versatile protein‐based vehicle for drug delivery systems. It has been shown to be nontoxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable. Therefore, it has been considered as an ideal biomaterial for the design of advanced drug delivery systems. Protein‐based cargo acts as synthetic polymers counterpart for innovative delivery systems. The current review is mainly focused on application of whey proteins as an emerging carrier in drug delivery systems, achieved during the past.

Purpose: To highlight the prevalence and severity of depression among undergraduate students in public and private universities in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: In this cross-sectional study a total of 408 undergraduate students from both public and private universities in Karachi, Pakistan completed Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) questionnaire to appraise the presence and extent of depression among the participants. Their sociodemographic characteristics such as age, gender and course of study as well as drug use data were also collected and analyzed. Results: Depression prevalence was 53.43 % (38.07 % for males and 61.00 % for females). A significant disparity in the prevalence of depression across ethnicity was observed. Less than 50 % (n = 163) of the students were satisfied with their duration of degree course work while 111 (27.20 %) participants were not sure about this. The intensity of depression increased with declining satisfaction level (Gamma = 0.264, p = 0.001) which affected the performance and results of students during their studies. A majority of the participants (89 %, n = 358) of our study have never used medicines to alter their mood. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the importance of understanding the unique strains and mental health effect of university education on undergraduate students, especially female students.

The aim of this study was to determine the attitude of pharmacists and non-pharmacists in Karachi towards the use of non-prescription medicines. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from August 2012 to October 2012 among pharmacist and non-pharmacists. Data was analyzed and results were compared using Chi-square test with the help of statistical software package (SPSS version 19). Overall prevalence of self-medication was found to be 81.28%. Factors like busy life schedule (27.58%), previous experience of medicine (20.68%) and better drug information (20.86%), contributed differently in promoting self medication to pharmacists, whereas busy life schedule (45%), was one of the major factor of self medication among non pharmacist. The major clinical conditions in which self medication was observed in the pharmacists were flu (36.9%), pain (27.59%), fever (25.86%), diarrhea (24.14%) and headache (22.07%), whereas in the non pharmacists, the main conditions were headache (55.71%), diarrhea (53.33%), fever (35.71%) and flu (35.24%). Self-medication was commonly observed both in pharmacist (62.08%) and non pharmacist (71.43%) in Karachi, but there was a significant increase in non pharmacist ( 2 =4.756, p<0.05). In order to control this prevailing problem, legislation are to be made by the government especially to implement and facilitate the prescription system, conducting awareness programs and restricting drug advertisements for public.

Biopharmaceutic classification system (BCS) is a substantial part of drug designing and generic product development and has been accepted as a technique to renounce in-vivo pharmacokinetic evaluation (biowaiver). It appeared to be worthwhile and time-saving by means of in-vitro studies in the presence of biorelevant physiological mediums that mimic not only the predictable solubility but also permeability of the multisource product. Such methodology is now applied as a regulatory stamp to support new and generic product approvals based on other than in-vivo equivalence testing. This article outlines the foundation of BCS, its implementation in granting biowaiver, adequacy of in-vitro bioequivalence studies, principles and requirements of BCS biowaiver by four regulatory agencies such as; Food and Drug Authority (FDA), World Health Organization (WHO), European medicine agency (EMA) and International Conference on Harmonization (ICH), potential effect of excipients on solubility and permeability of drug molecules and supplementary data provided by FDA regarding biowaiver approvals. Furthermore, supportive data provided by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has also been given for biowaiver sanction of certain drug products. It has been concluded, that although biowaiver is a profitable methodology for generic and new drug product approval, the variance in the standards of governing bodies demands more critical assessment to establish some unified principles to be followed globally.

Objective: To appraise the use of various fast foods in different age groups among males and females and study its drift in Pakistani population. Method: The study was conducted from February to June 2013 in Karachi, Pakistan on a structured questionnaire. A total of n=489 individuals participated in this study among which n= 222 were males and n= 267 were females whose ages were grouped as <18 years, 18-40 years and >40 years. Fast food was categorized as fries, burgers, rolls, chicken broast and pizza whereas fibrous and vegetable diet included all vegetables in this study. Different types of diseases i.e. diabetes, asthma, hypertension, allergy, GI disorders and skin infections were also enquired about from the respondents consuming fast food. Result: The diet comprising fast food is high in energy and energy density. Fast food consumption has been reported to go along with large amounts of soft drinks which not only augments the weight of the individuals but also put them at danger to different kinds of ailments. In our study, both the genders were reported to take fast food on weekly basis, highest consumed in the age group of 18-40 years. Most popular fast food consumed among the females (n=63) was fries + burger and that in males (n=69) was more than one type of fast food. The consumption of cold drinks with fast food was seen more in males (n=105) than in females (n=90) and mostly in the age group of 18-40 years (males n=72 and females n=45). The consumption of fast food more than one time was observed more in the males. Both the genders belonged to age group of 18-40 years who exercised regularly. The frequency of use of fibrous/vegetable diet was higher in females (n=90) as compared to the male gender (n=117) in the age group of 18-40 years (p=0.033, χ 2 = 8.706). It was observed that the increase in weight was more in females under 18 years of age and more in males of age 18-40 years. It was also found that overall (n=72) males and (n=81) females were suffering from various diseases and yet were consuming fast food. Conclusion: Frequent fast food consumption may contribute to weight gain and with a sedentary life style can put the individuals at stake of different kinds of diseases and high health burden. Knowledge regarding healthy diet and healthy life style can contribute towards a society of people with better productivity and economy.

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The aim of the study was to determine the various pharmacokinetic parameters of the newly developed cost-effective aceclofenac 100 mg tablet formulation (F-15) and to establish the bioequivalence against the marketed brand (ACEMED). Both products (test and reference) were given to 12 healthy non-smokers male subjects with overnight fasting of >10hr. The study was a randomized, single-dose, open-label, two sequence, and two treatment crossover design, with a washout period of 2 weeks. Blood samples (5 mL) from the human subjects were collected before (0 hr) and after drug administration at 13different time points (0.5,

The role of Proniosomes in oral controlled drug delivery system is well accepted. Presently, an attempt was made to develop cephradine (CP) Proniosomes to prolong its duration of action with better efficacy. Overall, eighteen formulation trials were developed using variable quantities of sorbitol (F0S-F8S) and maltodextrin (F0M-F8M) carriers along with span60 and cholesterol. Trials were evaluated for powder flowability, drug entrapment efficiency and in vitro drug release. Based on the mentioned characteristics, formulations F4M and F4S were optimized. Stability test was performed on optimized Proniosomes for three months at temperature (2-8°C). Comparison for antimicrobial sensitivity against Staphylococcus aureus was also made between optimized and marketed conventional CP capsule. More than 80% drug release was observed in 22 hr in the trial formulations. The optimized CP Proniosomes were found to be highly stable with % drug entrapment efficiency of 78.60±0.15 and 88.41±0.19 respectively for F4M and F4S. The prepared Proniosomes possessed higher bactericidal activity against S. aureus than reference products (M1 and M2). In conclusion, CP Proniosomes have been successfully prepared using sorbitol/maltodextrin carrier. Sorbitol carrier exhibited marginally better drug entrapment efficiency and bactericidal activity than the maltodextrin trial and marketed brands. This effort offers improved drug delivery with the potential of more effective controlled therapy.