Currents in Pharmaceutical Research

Impact of Drug Information Centers on Healthcare Outcomes: A Narrative Review of Pre- and Post-implementation in South Asian Countries

Tharsika Kanthasamy — 2025-04-23

Drug Information Centers (DICs) play a vital role in the provision of accurate, reliable, and updated information on medications to healthcare professionals as well as the general public. These centers are now taking a step forward in the healthcare field. This narrative review aimed to analyze the evolution and impact of DICs on South Asian countries, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Furthermore, it also discussed the role of DICs in healthcare as well as the barriers in the establishment of such services in developing countries. The established DICs in these South Asian countries improves rational drug use and enhances patient safety even though there are significant challenges to establish and expand these centers in South Asia. The DICs established in India, Nepal, and Pakistan have significantly contributed in the enhancement of patient safety and rational use of medications. However, there are challenges in establishing DICs in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Innovative strategies, such as telemedicine services and collaboration with healthcare institutes, academics, and regulatory authorities would expand the services of DICs across South Asia.

Pharmacognostic, Phytochemical, and DNA Protection Assays of Eclipta alba, Ageratum conyzoides, Calendula officinalis, and Conyza bonariensis

Waheed Ullah Hafiz — 2025-04-28

Asteraceae is the most famous family of ornamental flowering plants. Most of the plants included in this family have medicinal properties. The current research aimed to investigate the pharmacognostic and phytochemical standards of Eclipta alba L., Ageratum conyzoides L., Calendula officinalis L., and Conyza bonariensis L. to ensure their purity, safety, and efficacy as medicinal agents. The investigated parameters included pharmacognostic characterization, that is, powder microscopy, preliminary phytochemical analysis, physicochemical analysis, and in vitro DNA protection assay. The pharmacognostic characteristics evaluated via microscopy included the presence of fibers, linear covering trichomes, and glandular trichomes. Preliminary phytochemical screening confirmed the presence of different classes of phytoconstituents, such as glycosides, flavonoids, phenols, and triterpenoids. The DNA damage protection assay revealed that the crude methanolic extracts of these plants effectively protected human DNA from oxidative stress generated by free radicals of the oxidizing agent (Fenton’s reagent).

Validation of an RP-HPLC Method to Determine Rupatadine as a Fumarate in Pharmaceutical Dosage Form

Qazi Amir Ijaz — 2025-04-28

Rupatadine (RUP) is a second generation antihistamine drug and an agonist of platelets activating factor. Literature does not report any specific method for the determination of RUP. Therefore, a Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was developed in this research for the quantitative determination of RUP in pharmaceutical dosage form. For this purpose, a mixture of monosodium phosphate buffer and acetonitrile 80:20 v/v was used as mobile phase, flowing at a rate of 1.0 ml/min. A well-characterized reference material of RUP with a potency of 99.68% (as is basis) was used throughout the study. RUP for system suitability chemical related substances (CRS) (containing impurities A and B) was also used in this study for the identification of fumaric acid, impurity A, impurity B, and RUP in the pharmaceutical dosage form. Method validation was performed by the preliminary analysis of the standard sample and by performing recovery studies. The method was found to be linear with regression line y = 95464x -6164, having correlation 1.0000, in the range of 17.04-85.20 µg/ml. Moreover, percentage recovery of RUP was found to be in the range of 99.08 to 100.25. The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 0.63 µg/ml and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was found to be 1.91µg/ml. It can be inferred from the obtained results that the developed method is simple, linear, precise, accurate, and robust. Therefore, it can be employed for the quantitative determination of RUP in the pharmaceutical dosage form.