Emodin–phospholipid complex

Developing the drugs as amphiphilic lipid complexes is a potential approach for improving therapeutic efficacy of the drugs by increasing solubility, reducing drug crystallinity, modifying dissolution behavior (sustained or controlled release), and improving bioavailability. Emodin (1,3,8-trihydroxy-6-methylanthraquinone), an anthranoid derivative, shows several biological effects like antimicrobial, antidiuretic, anti-cancerous, and potent antioxidant but due to poor solubility, the dissolution restrains its valuable importance. To overcome this limitation, the emodin–phospholipid complex was developed and investigated by thermal analysis (differential scanning calorimetry), crystallographic (X-ray diffractography), surface morphology (scanning electron microscopy), spectroscopic methods (FT-IR, ¹H-NMR), solubility, and the dissolution (in vitro drug release) study. The phospholipid complex of emodin was found, fluffy and porous with rough surface morphology in the SEM. FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, DSC, and X-RPD data confirmed the formation of the complex. The water and n-octanol solubility of emodin was improved from 2.25 to 9.97 and 53.45 to 77.62 μg/ml, respectively, in the prepared complex. The improved dissolution was shown by the phospholipid complex. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the phospholipid complex may be considered as promising drug delivery system for improving the overall absorption and bioavailability of the emodin molecule.     

A Natural Isolate Producing Shikimic Acid: Isolation, Identification, and Culture Condition Optimization

Shikimic acid has wide use in pharmaceuticals due to its application in the synthesis of drug Tamiflu used in the treatment of Swine flu. The high cost and limited availability of shikimic acid isolated from plants has impeded the use of this valuable building block of the drug. In this context, fermentation route to produce shikimic acid from renewable resources has become increasingly attractive. The present study was embarked upon isolation of wild-type microorganisms able to produce shikimic acid. Out of the 42 isolates obtained from the soil, isolate GR-21 was selected as the best with initial production of 0.54 g/L shikimic acid and later identified as Citrobacter sp. The process optimization resulted in 14-fold increase in the shikimic acid production, thereby claiming this process to be a sustainable alternative for the production of this important biomolecule. The process was further scaled up to 14 L bioreactor to validate the production of shikimic acid. Further, the product formed is shikimic acid was confirmed by FTIR analysis. The current studies suggest that the selected isolate could be used as a promising agent to fulfill the worldwide demand of shikimic acid.