Al Mustansiriyah Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Different traditional dosage forms available in the market with many drawbacks including patient inconvenience, limited applications to several sites, variable bioavailability in addition to patent expiration. These drawbacks make pharmaceutical companies look for other drug platforms. Thin films loaded with active ingredients which are prepared as flexible polymer layer gaining acceptability in drug industry. They are easily prepared, adapted for administration of drug via different routes (to overcome several barriers) including ocular, dermal, transdermal, vaginal, oral and others. In additions, thin films are free of harmful chemicals and offer good drug stability. This review spotlights on the medicated thin films as alternative dosage forms that require further attention to maximize their performance and application.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is an interstitial lung disease leading to scarring of the lung. There are several types of lung fibrosis as familial pulmonary fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and others associated with non-specific



interstitial pneumonia. The most common type is idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis which is an unknown cause. Lung fibrosis causes changes in the histology of the lung by the disappearance of the lung parenchyma, replaced by an inflammatory infiltrate, and mild thickening of the pulmonary artery. The management of pulmonary fibrosis included Azathioprine, corticosteroid, and N-acetyl cysteinyl in 2011 but in 2014 this guideline was removed and replaced by nintedanib and pirfenidone. This study used Pirfenidone, as standard therapy for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis, and montelukast is Cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLT) antagonist which binds to its receptor (CysLTE4) located on smooth muscle cells of the respiratory airway causing anti-inflammatory effect by inhibition of inflammatory markers as TGFβ1. Sixty male rats were divided into five groups,12 rats for each group where the control group received distilled water by gastric gavage, the induction group received bleomycin intratracheally as a single dose, the pirfenidone group received pirfenidone 50mg/kg, montelukast group received montelukast 20mg/kg and the combination group received a half dose of pirfenidone and montelukast. After twenty-eight days after the treatment with montelukast or pirfenidone sacrifice rats and collect the organ (lungs) from each group were then placed in buffer formalin 10% for histopathological study. After 14 days from bleomycin dose, results show that bleomycin cause massive disappearance of pulmonary parenchyma that was replaced by an inflammatory infiltrate and medial thickening of the pulmonary artery in all groups, but montelukast and pirfenidone show normal lung paranchyma and pulmonary artery after 28 days of treatment in pirfenidone, montelukast, and combination groups.

In conclusion, that bleomycin changes the histology of the lung causing induction of lung fibrosis in all groups after 14 days except control group but pirfenidone, montelukast, and combination of half dose of pirfenidone with a half dose of montelukast return the lung to normal architecture after 28 days of treatment.

Levofloxacin carboxamides with certain amino acids were prepared through an amide linkage to the amino acid (glycine, histidine, or serine). These carboxamides were subjected to an in silico molecular docking evaluation on



DNA gyrase to predict their antibacterial activity using the GOLD suite. The binding affinities were very significant and encouraged the synthesis of the suggested carboxamides for intensive evaluation. These carboxamides were also subjected to Swiss ADME software to predict their ADME parameters. Levofloxacin carboxamides were prepared in high yield, and their chemical structures were confirmed by spectral analysis, such as 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy. Antibacterial activities were evaluated for the new carboxamides against two G-ve (Klebsiella and P. aeruginosa) and one G+ve (Streptococcus pneumonia) bacteria. When compared to levofloxacin, all of the synthesized carboxamides 1-3 demonstrated good activity against three types of bacteria. These carboxamides showed significant antibacterial activities against S. pneumoniae and lower activities against Klebsiella.

Background: Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is a severe infection primarily targeting the respiratory system. However, many other extrapulmonary body organs are also

affected with a varying degree of severity. Some evidence indicated the development of periodontist in patients, although the pathogenesis is not well-defined.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the association of COVID-19 severity and role of matrix metalloproteinase 2 in development of periodontitis.

Patients and Methods: This is a cross sectional study which included a total of 160 patients with COVID-19. Patients were categorized into severe and mild-moderated according to World Health Organization criteria. Periodontitis was diagnosed in those patients according to clinical criteria. Serum level of matrix metalloproteinase 2 was estimated in all patients using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Demographic and laboratory data were obtained from the patients’ records.

Results: Forty-two patients (26.25%) had severe COVID-19. Demographically, older ages and the presence of comorbidities were significantly associated with COVID-19 severity. Besides the inflammatory markers, the median serum level of MMP-2 was higher in severe than mild-moderate COVID-19 cases (208.12 ng/ml vs. 196.33 ng/ml) with a significant difference. The PO rate in severe and mild-moderate COVID-19 was 23.81% and 10.17%, respectively, with a significant difference. The median serum MMP-2 in patients with PO was 228.5 ng/ml which was significantly higher than those without PO 193.81 ng/ml.

Conclusions: These data indicate the significant association between COVID-19 severity and development of PO. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 could be the possible link between severe COVID-19 and PO.

A simple, accurate and rapid method was developed for routine determination of trace elements in blood serum. The method based on the direct determination for Cr, Se, Ge, and V in hypothyroidism patients before therapy. By using atomic absorption spectrometry with graphite surface coated and uncoated pyrolysis GF-AAS, and a mixture of palladium nitrate and magnesium nitrate as the matrix modifier, with deuterium background correction and no sample pretreatment except dilution was necessary. This permitted direct determination hence the risk of sample contamination was reduced. Further, the use of graphite surface-coated GF-AAS decreased the ashing and atomization temperatures of Cr, Ge, and V to values that were lesser than the corresponding values obtained using uncoated pyrolysis GF-AAS, by 100°C; in case of Se, the atomization temperature decreased to a value that was 200°C lesser than that obtained using uncoated pyrolysis GF-AAS.

A mixture of (3µL) palladium nitrate, and (2µL) magnesium nitrate was successfully applied to improve the sensitivity, reproducibility, recovery, limit of detection and the accuracy of the measurements. The correlation coefficients of the calibration curves of Cr, Se, Ge, and V were found to be (0.9999, 0.9999, 0.9995 and 0.9999) respectively, the relative standard deviation of the measurements for Cr, Se, Ge and V were (0.027, 0.075, 0.054 and 0.068) respectively. The statistical analysis of the acquired data showed acceptable accuracy. The analyses thus performed indicated that the levels of serum trace elements Cr, Se, Ge, and V in hypothyroidism patients were lower than those in the control group.

Tamoxifen Citrate (TC) is the standard endocrine therapy for estrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer. TC is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) whose estrogenic properties in uterus have been linked to increased side

effects like blood clots, endometrial polyps and cancer. Therefore, significant amount of research has been carried out to develop tamoxifen loaded nano-formulations with a preferential accumulation in tumor tissue rather than healthy tissues.

Synthetic high-density lipoproteins (sHDL) are novel nanocarriers with inherent active-targeting ability towards tumor cells through the ligand–receptor interaction between apolipoprotein A-I (Apo A-I) and scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI) overexpressed in various malignant cells. The current study was carried out to investigate whether encapsulation of TC in sHDL could improve the cytotoxic effect of TC against malignant cells. For this purpose, the cytotoxicity of TC-sHDL was evaluated in MCF-7 cell line in vitro. MTT assay demonstrated the increased cytotoxicity of TC-sHDL against cancer cells as compared with the cytotoxic effect of the free drug.

Background: Psychiatric symptoms are common during pregnancy, potentially leading to an increased risk of adverse birth outcomes. Studies assessing the impact of depression and/or anxiety on adverse birth outcomes in Iraq are currently lacking. This study aims to



determine whether depression and/or anxiety is independently associated with preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW).

Methods: A prospective cohort study included 352 pregnant women from outpatient clinics of Al-Yarmouk hospital and private clinics in Baghdad, Iraq from March 2021 to February 2022 using a convenience sampling. They were screened for depression using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during pregnancy and followed up to assess adverse birth outcomes. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine predictors associated with adverse birth outcomes.

Results: The prevalence of PTB and LBW was 7.7% and 11.6%, respectively. After adjustment of all potential sociodemographic, clinical and obstetric confounders, depression was independently associated with giving birth to LBW neonate (odd ratio (OR):3.64; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.70, 7.79), but not PTB. Prevalence of LBW in depressed was 21.2% compared to 7.7% for non-depressed. LBW was also associated with a history of LBW and PTB. In contrast, anxiety did not seem to affect birth outcomes.

Conclusion: Depression during pregnancy, regardless of the trimester, is independently associated with a higher likelihood of giving birth to LBW neonates (OR: 3.64; 95% CI 1.70, 7.79). Effective interventions that target maternal depression are vital to decrease morbidity and mortality associated with LBW.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial symptoms include fever, cough, and dyspnea. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, GIT involvement is also possible. The COVID-19 outbreak has increased the need for alternative medicine administration routes, particularly in public places. Buccal, sublingual, and rectal administration are all considered transmucosal methods. They are self-administration options for non-invasive systemic distribution. In addition, they are great for use in palliative and end-of-life care because of their quick onset of action and decreased first-pass metabolism. A mucosal atomization device allows for the intranasal administration of a parenteral formulation through nasal spray. Rectal mucosal absorption is comparable to that of the oral route, making the rectal route an extremely versatile and useful method of drug administration for a wide variety of medications. Covid-19 illness is treated with a variety of drugs, including anti-malaria medication (hydroxychloroquine), glucocorticoids (dexamethasone), antibiotics (azithromycin), and antiviral medications (favipiravir). This article discusses the route of drug administration for COVID-19, as well as symptoms, treatments, and the various ways it can be spread

Background: COVID-19 pneumonia is an illness that was spreading rapidly around the world and causes many deaths. Diabetes, is considered as a risk factor which adds severity and mortality to COVID-19 infected persons. There are many studies aiming to explain the

exact association between diabetes and COVID-19. This review aims to link between diabetes and COVID-19 risk factors, discuss the management of patients with diabetes and COVID-19 and provide perception into the COVID-19 disease complications relevant to diabetes .In this review, many scientific articles and reports about COVID- 19 and Type 2 DM were collected from different databases (e.g., PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science) using keywords such as SARS-CoV2, COVID-19, TYPE 2 DM, Mortality, and CO-morbidities .The result from this study found that diabetic patients has poor prognosis, severe symptoms, worsen outcomes, and the mortality rate is higher among COVID-19 patients who have diabetes mellitus. Many complications associated with diabetes like peripheral neuropathy and vascular insufficiency can make patients more susceptible to infections. One of the sever complication of Covid-19 infection is, the cytokine storm, that result in excessive release of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-a, IL-6, IL-10), and this may be aggravated by the inflammatory process together with the hyper-coagulable condition in diabetic patients. In conclusion: Hyperglycemia is established as risk factor for increased morbidity and mortality in covid 19 infection.

Film-forming sprays provide a number of advantages over conventional topical treatments, including equal medication distribution and dosing, increased bioavailability (increase local drug concentration), and less irritability (Dosing frequency). Polymers and excipients that improve the characteristics of preparations and increase the stability of active substances are the building blocks of mucoadhesive film-forming sprays. Films made from diverse combinations of polymer and excipient exhibited a wide range of characteristics. This reveiw examines the many types of polymers and excipients, the different types of sprayers, the different evaluations, as well as the essential criteria that are involved in defining the sprayability and film properties. This comes to the conclusion that natural and synthetic polymers with viscoelastic properties can both be employed to optimize the administration of buccal drugs.