Department of Pharmaceutics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Sector 67, S. A. S. Nagar,Mohali, Punjab-160 062, India, Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Polytechnic University, Via Ranieri 67, IT-60100 Ancona, Italy,Green Biotechnology Research Group, The Special Division for Human Life Technology, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science andTechnology, 1-8-31 Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka-563-8577, Japan, and Department of Medicinal Chemistry & Natural Products,The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, School of Pharmacy-Faculty of Medicine, Jerusalem 91120, IsraelReceived March 2, 2004

Chitosan chemistry and pharmaceutical perspectives.

Hydrogels: from controlled release to pH-responsive drug delivery.

In recent years, several mathematical models have been developed for analysis of drug dissolution data, and many different mathematical approaches have been proposed to assess the similarity between two drug dissolution profiles. However, until now, no computer program has been reported for simplifying the calculations involved in the modeling and comparison of dissolution profiles. The purposes of this article are: (1) to describe the development of a software program, called DDSolver, for facilitating the assessment of similarity between drug dissolution data; (2) to establish a model library for fitting dissolution data using a nonlinear optimization method; and (3) to provide a brief review of available approaches for comparing drug dissolution profiles. DDSolver is a freely available program which is capable of performing most existing techniques for comparing drug release data, including exploratory data analysis, univariate ANOVA, ratio test procedures, the difference factor f
 1, the similarity factor f
 2, the Rescigno indices, the 90% confidence interval (CI) of difference method, the multivariate statistical distance method, the model-dependent method, the bootstrap f
 2 method, and Chow and Ki’s time series method. Sample runs of the program demonstrated that the results were satisfactory, and DDSolver could be served as a useful tool for dissolution data analysis.

DDSolver: An Add-In Program for Modeling and Comparison of Drug Dissolution Profiles

The rapid development of novel organic technologies has led to significant applications of the organic electronic devices such as light-emitting diodes, solar cells, and field-effect transistors. There is a great need for conducting polymers with high conductivity and transparency to act as the charge transport layer or electrical interconnect in organic devices. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS), well-known as the most remarkable conducting polymer, has this role owing to its good film-forming properties, high transparency, tunable conductivity, and excellent thermal stability. In this Review, various of interesting physical and chemical approaches that can effectively improve the electrical conductivity of PEDOT:PSS are summarized, focusing especially on the mechanism of the conductivity enhancement as well as applications of PEDOT:PSS films. Prospects for future research efforts are also provided. It is expected that PEDOT:PSS films with high conductivity and transparency could be the focus of future organic electronic materials breakthroughs.

Effective Approaches to Improve the Electrical Conductivity of PEDOT:PSS: A Review

Chitosan-starch composite film: preparation and characterization.

Moist heat treatment on physicochemical change of chitosan salt films.

Ion pair skin transport of a zwitterionic drug, cephalexin.

Two kinds of dosage forms of commercially available suppositories containing ketoprofen (KP), fatty suppositories (FS) and gelatin capsulated suppositories (GCS), were administered to patients immediately after anal surgery, and results obtained were compared. No difference was found in each corresponding pharmacokinetic parameter of the two dosage forms. However, when these parameters were compared with those from healthy subjects, significant differences were found in the values of peak level (Cmax), peak time (Tmax) and terminal phase half-life (t1/2). Cmax decreased by one half, and Tmax and t1/2 increased two and four times longer, respectively, those from healthy subjects. The absorption rate constant (ka) in patients was significantly (p < 0.01) smaller than that in healthy subjects. However, the distribution volume/bioavailability (Vd/F), elimination rate constant (kel), and area under the curve (AUC) differed only slightly. Consequently, the flip-flop phenomena could be seen in the time profiles of plasma KP concentration of patients. These results suggested that the rectal suppository of KP should be administered with care, especially in the patients operated on under spinal anesthesia.

Tamotsu Koizumi

Papers

Moist heat treatment on physicochemical change of chitosan salt films.

Ion pair skin transport of a zwitterionic drug, cephalexin.

Pharmacokinetics of two rectal dosage forms of ketoprofen in patients after anal surgery.

Analysis of data on drug release from emulsions. II. Pyridine release from water-in-oil emulsions as a function of pH.

Chitosan citrate as film former: compatibility with water-soluble anionic dyes and drug dissolution from coated tablet.