Soap is sodium or potassium salt of fatty acid produced by saponification reaction. Soap is used on a day to day basis by households. The physicochemical properties of soaps determine their quality and hence determine their efficiency and their cleansing properties. It remains obscure the quality of the soaps that are sold in the local markets in Kenya and thus the need to assess them. Eight commercial washing soaps were analyzed for Matter insoluble in alcohol, moisture content, total fat matter, free caustic alkalinity, Percentage chloride, pH and Total alkali according to documented methods of analysis. Values of matter insoluble in alcohol ranged between 6.22% to 61.80%, moisture content ranged between 10.91% to 22.69%, total fat matter ranged between 22.64% to 70.51%, free caustic alkali ranged between 0.00% to 0.06%, percentage chloride ranged between 0.07% to 1.01%, pH ranged between 10.63 to 11.71 and total alkali ranged between 0.00% to 0.99%. This study showed that the free caustic alkalinity of all the analyzed soap samples were below the KEBS set limits hence no adverse effects on the cloth or skin, and the pH values for all analyzed soaps were within KEBS limits.
Primaquine (PQ) is one of the most widely used antimalarial drugs and is the only available drug that combats the relapsing form of malaria. PQ use in higher doses is limited by severe tissue toxicity including hematological- and gastrointestinal-related side effects. Nanoformulation of drugs in an appropriate drug carrier system has been extensively studied and shown to have the potential to improve bioavailability, thereby enhancing activity, reducing dose frequency, and subsequently reducing toxicity. The aim of this work was to design, synthesize, and characterize PQ-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) (PQ-SLNs) as a potential drug-delivery system. SLNs were prepared by a modified solvent emulsification evaporation method based on a water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) double emulsion. The mean particle size, zeta potential, drug loading, and encapsulation efficiency of the PQ-SLNs were 236 nm, +23 mV, 14%, and 75%, respectively. The zeta potential of the SLNs changed dramatically, from −6.54 mV to +23.0 mV, by binding positively charged chitosan as surface modifier. A spherical morphology of PQ-SLNs was seen by scanning electron microscope. In vitro, release profile depicted a steady drug release over 72 hours. Differential scanning calorimeter thermograms demonstrated presence of drug in drug-loaded nanoparticles along with disappearance of decomposition exotherms, suggesting increased physical stability of drug in prepared formulations. Negligible changes in characteristic peaks of drug in Fourier transform infrared spectra indicated absence of any interaction among the various components entrapped in the nanoparticle formulation. The nanoformulated PQ was 20% more effective as compared with conventional oral dose when tested in
Plasmodium berghei
-infected Swiss albino mice. This study demonstrated an efficient method of forming a nanomedicine delivery system for antimalarial drugs.
Diabetes Mellitus is an endocrine disorder which causes insulin deficiency. Medicinal plants are documented to be efficacious in the management of the disease. The current research set to determine the phytochemicals present, anti-oxidant activity and investigate the potency of
Eriobotrya japonica
against α-amylase inhibition. The leaves of the plant were extracted sequentially. The different extracts were evaluated for the presence of phytochemicals and their potential anti-oxidant and α-amylase inhibition activity. Methanol with the highest polarity, gave the highest yield of 20% and hexane with the lowest polarity have the lowest yield of 2.09%. This trend resembled that observed for the total flavanoid and total phenolic content analysis which gave values of 0.3822 mg QAE/mg and 3.810 mg GAE/mg respectively for methanolic and hexane extracts. The extracts of methanol recorded higher DPPH free radical scavenging activity of 87% and gave the lowest IC
50
of 0.5336 which was below that of ascorbic acid used as a control. Hexane extract had a higher α-amylase inhibitory activity of 24% at 1 μg/ml as compared to other extracts. Generally hexane extracts of
Eriobotrya japonica
exhibits mild inhibitory activity against α-amylase enzyme which is recommended than the conventional therapy which maximally inhibits the enzyme causing major side effects. The results obtained herein support the use of the plant as an anti-diabetic agent at higher concentrations.
The aim of this study was preparation of a liver schinonticide Primaquine phosphate (PQ) directly to the hepatocytes using solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN). The PQloaded solid lipid nanoparticles (PQ-SLNs) were prepared by a modified solvent emulsification evaporation method based on a water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) double emulsion and dried freeze drying (PQ-SLNFD) to obtain the nanoparticles. The mean particle size, zeta potential, drug loading, and encapsulation efficiency of the PQ-SLNFD were 236nm, +23 mV, 14%, and 75%, respectively. A spherical morphology of PQ-SLNFD was seen by scanning electron microscope had traces of drug crystals. In vitro, release profile depicted a steady drug release over 400 hours for PQ-SLNFD. Differential scanning calorimeter thermograms demonstrated presence of drug in drug-loaded nanoparticles along with disappearance of decomposition exotherms, suggesting increased physical stability of drug in prepared formulations. The nanoformulated PQ was 20% more effective as compared with conventional oral dose when tested in Plasmodium berghei-infected Swiss albino mice. This study established an effective process of developing a nanomedicine delivery system for PQ.
Copper(II) and zinc(II) levels in drinkable water sources in the alluvium areas of the Lake Victoria Basin in Siaya County of Kenya were evaluated to assess the risk posed to resident communities by hydrogeological accumulation of toxic residues in the sedimentary regions of the lake basin. The levels of the metals in water were analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Metal concentrations ranged from 0.11 to 4.29 mg/L for Cu(II) and 0.03 to 1.62 mg/L for Zn(II), which were both higher than those normally recorded in natural waters. The Cu(II) levels also exceeded WHO guidelines for drinking water in 27% of the samples. The highest prevalence of excessive Cu(II) was found among dams and open pans (38%), piped water (33%) and spring water (25%). It was estimated that 18.2% of the resident communities in the current study area are exposed to potentially toxic levels of Cu(II) through their drinking water.
Objective: The objective of the study was to encapsulate ibuprofen (IBU) into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) for enhanced dissolution and achieving a sustained and controlled release of the drug from the nanocarrier.
Methods: IBU loaded nanoparticles were prepared by emulsification solvent evaporation technique and characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy. Release kinetics on the drug-loaded nanoparticles was carried out in phosphate buffer pH 6.8 using pharma test dissolution apparatus adopting shaking basket method at 37°C.
Results: The optimized IBU-loaded SLNs had a particle size of 76.40 nm, polydispersity index of 0.275, and zeta potential of −41.3 mV. The encapsulation efficiency (EE) and DL were 99.73% and 2.31%, respectively. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra confirmed successful encapsulation of the drug inside the nanocarrier as only peaks responsible for the emulsifier and the binder could be identified. This corroborated well with XRD spectra which showed a completely amorphous state of the drug-loaded nanoparticles as compared to the crystalline nature of the pure drug. The IBU-SLNs showed a release profile of up to 8 h which is a great improvement from other reported works. The drug release pattern of IBU-SLNs was best fitted with Higuchi square root model and followed the Higuchi drug release kinetics. Korsmeyer-Peppas model confirmed a non-Fickian diffusion model for the release of the drug from the matrix system.
Conclusion: IBU-loaded SLNs were successfully prepared which had a sustained and controlled release. It was observed that the release of the drug from the matrix was diffusion controlled and time dependent.
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