The treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders always remains a challenge for the researchers. The presence of various physiological barriers, primarily the blood–brain barrier (BBB) limits the accessibility of the brain and hinders the efficacy of various drug therapies. Hence, drug targeting to the brain, particularly to the diseased cells by circumventing the physiological barriers is essential to develop a promising therapy for the treatment of brain disorders. Presently, the investigations emphasize the role of different nanocarrier systems or surface modified target specific novel carrier system to improve the efficiency and reduce the side effects of the brain therapeutics. Such approaches supposed to circumvent the BBB or have the ability to cross the barrier function and thus increases the drug concentration in the brain. Although the efficacy of novel carrier system depends upon various physiological factors like active efflux transport, protein corona of the brain, stability, and toxicity of the nanocarrier, physicochemical properties, patient-related factors and many more. Hence, to develop a promising carrier system, it is essential to understand the physiology of the brain and BBB and also the other associated factors. Along with this, some alternative route like direct nose-to-brain drug delivery can also offer a better means to access the brain without exposure of the BBB. In this review, we have discussed the role of various physiological barriers including the BBB and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB) on the drug therapy and the mechanism of drug transport across the BBB. Further, we discussed different novel strategies for brain targeting of drug including, polymeric nanoparticles, lipidic nanoparticles, inorganic nanoparticles, liposomes, nanogels, nanoemulsions, dendrimers, quantum dots, etc. along with the intranasal drug delivery to the brain. We have also illustrated various factors affecting the drug targeting efficiency of the developed novel carrier system.

Objectives The pharmacist faces need to provide clinical services to the patients and then the actual proficiency of the pharmacist can be judged. The aim of the study was to evaluate the elements of clinical knowledge, needs for clinical services, value of practice and confidence to practice among expatriate pharmacists (EPs) working in community pharmacies. Also determine the correlation pattern between the rudiments. Methods A survey‐based investigation conducted between December 2015 and May 2016 among EPs working in community pharmacies of Saudi Arabia. A total of 1007 community pharmacies (with 1897 EPs) were approached from four major cities of Saudi Arabia, that is, Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah and Makkah. Cluster random sampling applied for distribution/selection of community pharmacies based on homogeneity and population density. Self‐developed bilingual questionnaire (face‐content validation performed with average reliability of 0.784 Cronbach's alpha) used to collect data, however only 1258 EPs responded with 66.31% response rate rest 639 EPs either denied to participate or incomplete responses. Ethics applied and approved from Taibah University research ethics committee. Key findings A total of 1258 EPs participated in the survey with mean ± SD age of 33.17 ± 4.759 years. Participants’ distribution pattern showed highest to lowest as Riyadh‐377 (30%), Jeddah‐315 (25%), Makkah‐302 (24%) and Madinah‐264 (21%) approximately. Findings showed different association patterns with; drug‐dose adjustment practices, defining critical symptoms with drug use for referral, developing pharmacoinformatic database and others. Total Mean ± SD for knowledge: 3.87 ± 1.172, Value: 4.12 ± 2.11, Need: 4.72 ± 1.788 and Confidence: 3.25 ± 1.021 (shows significantly High Need for practice: P < 0.001, ONE‐way ANOVA). Conclusions Conclusion of the study reflective to effective clinical services inbound with knowledge, need, value and confidence of a pharmacist. Expatriate pharmacists have a potential to work efficiently but they should equip themselves with appropriate competencies in order to transform clinical services at community level.

The review article explores the various problems associated with hydrolysis which occurs during formulation and the various solutions of it. The moisture content either the drug or the excipients affect the formulation, by hydrolysis, thus it is important to find out ways to prevent it and thus protect the formulation and provide a greater stability under processing and storage condition. The common moisture interactions which occur are water-solid interactions, water-amorphous solid interactions, drug-excipient interactions and the change in the crystal habit of the solids. The science behind the hydrolysis is due to the moisture sensitive functional group of the ingredient, and the other freely moveable living groups. Amides, lactams, esters, lactones, chloride are the functional groups most susceptible to hydrolysis. The hydrolysis of excipients, including both polymeric and non-polymeric also show great impact on the stability of the drugs. The excipients used in the form of sweeteners, plasticizers, solvents, surfactants, wetting agents, emollients, antioxidants, lubricants, preservatives, and etc. have effects on the drug stability. As a result, several solutions are found to prevent unwanted hydrolysis in different dosage forms. The main parameters which are likely to solve this issue are pH, buffers, surfactants, non-aqueous solutions, suspensions, lyophilization, packaging and an adequate proportion of the desiccant use.

The present study deals with the formulation and evaluation of transdermal patches of Glibenclamide towards enhance its permeation through the skin and maintain the plasma level concentration. Transdermal patches were prepared by using polymers like Chitosan, HPMC 15cps and EC 20cpsat various concentrations by solvent casting technique employing dibutyl phthalate as plasticizer and iso-propylmyristate as permeation enhancer. The transdermal patches were evaluated for their physico-chemical properties and in-vitro drug release. The transdermal patches were found to be transparent and smooth in texture. Among the formulations studied, at the end of 12th hour, the minimum and maximum in-vitro drug release was observed for the formulations F12 and F4 i.e. 80.012 ± 2.012 % and 98.365±3.012% respectively. The mechanism of drug release was found to be Non-Fickian diffusion controlled. FT-IR studies revealed the integrity of the drug in the formulations. Keywords: Transdermal Patches, Glibenclamide, Chitosan, HPMC 15cps, EC 20 cps, in-vitro diffusion studies.

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