Vamini Madhukar

The current study aimed to develop an oral controlled drug delivery system for captopril, a highly water-soluble drug. Captopril is a highly water-soluble drug if not formulated properly may release the drug immediately and cause toxicity. Half-life of captopril is around 2-3 hours with 60-75% of bioavailability and prescribed thrice a day, due to this reason an attempt was made to prepare multilayer matrix tablet of captopril for its controlled and durable release. Multilayer matrix tablets of captopril were prepared by compressing 100mg of guar gum granules containing either 60%(T1), 70%(T2) and 80%(T3) of guar gum on both sides of matrix powder of captopril containing either 1:2, 1:1 and 2:1 ratio of HPMC and ethyl cellulose, above which an immediate release layer is compressed having the loading dose of captopril forming the fourth layer of the multilayered matrix tablet. The respective formulations were coded as T1M1, T1M2, T1M3, T2M1, T2M2, T2M3, T3M1, T3M2 and T3M3. Result: Values for bulk densities, tapped density, compressibility, Hausner ratio and angle of repose for all the prepared powder and granules were found in a range of 0.33 to 0.446, 0.37 to 0.50, 8.002 to 16.27, 1.08 to 1.16 & 25.96 to 27.7 respectively. Whereas, values for thickness, friability, hardness, Weight variation and content uniformity is found to be 7.14±0.27 to 7.29±0.22, 0.15 to 0.33, 5.7±0.28 to 5.9±0.27, 645.4±2.9 to 649.5±4.7 & 97.79±0.52 to 101.12±0.50 respectively. Swelling study indicates the % swelling of the polymers and the study reviles that maximum swelling were obtained with the formulation T3M3. Dissolution profile defines that the concentration of polymer plays an important role in the release of drug. The values of drug release for the formulation T1M1 to T3M3 after 12 hours were found to be in between 68.91 to 96.47 % respectively.

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of premature death and diseases in the world. Nicotine is the causal agent for the addiction of people to tobacco. To reduce the mortality and morbidity caused by tobacco use the only way out is to make people free from this monstrous addiction. The goal of this work is compilation of different diagnostic methods available to help people in the diagnosis of their level of addiction to nicotine. Various diagnostic methods included are Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and Heaviness of Smoking (HSI), Features of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV, Features of the International Statistical Classification and Related Health, The Tobacco Dependence Screener (TDS), The Cigarette Dependence Scale (CDS), The Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (NDSS), Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (WISDM), The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence-Smokeless Tobacco (FTND-ST). These questionnaires are simple, easy to answer and assess. A number of smokers try to quit and fail in their attempt in lack of proper strategic planning. With the use of these questionnaires and by assessing their addiction level one can successfully plan for their quit attempt and benefit with it in a positive way.