Development and Evaluation of Polyherbal Formulation for the treatment of Dengue Fever

Abstract

Dengue is endemic in more than 100 countries and it is estimated that annually above 390 million infections occur globally. During the period between 1996-2015, a massive increase of more than 500 percent has been recorded in number of dengue cases reported in India. Dengue is a disease caused by any one of four closely related viruses (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, or DEN-4). The viruses are transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito (Aedes aegypti). The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the vector of dengue/dengue hemorrhagic fever. Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever is a more severe form of dengue. There is no specific medication for treatment of a dengue infection. In India mostly herbal products are majorly used for many treatments. The development of polyherbal formulation for Dengue Fever in the form of tablets was performed in this present study. The polyherbal tablets were prepared by using herbals like Andrographis paniculata Nees, Carica papaya Linn and Ocimum sanctum Linn leafs with excipients like Lactose Monohydrate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Cross Povidone, Colloidal Silicon Dioxide, Methyl Paraben and Magnesium Stearate for the treatment of dengue fever. The plants are collected and plants materials was identified and authenticated taxonomically. The presence of active constituents in herbals was confirmed by preliminary phytochemical screening tests. The preformulation studies were carried out for the powder blends; it was evaluated to determine the bulk density, tapped density and the flow characteristics by angle of repose, carr’s index and hausner’s ratio. The data obtained from these studies indicated that the powder blends have good flow properties. The tablets were prepared with powdered herbals leafs and different ratios of excipients by direct compression. The formulated tablets were evaluated for physical characterization like appearance, weight variation, thickness, hardness, friability, and disintegration. Evaluation studies of all formulations shows that the weight variation, friability and disintegration complies with specification. The disintegration study of formulation F3 was concluded the best formulation among other formulation, which shows the faster disintegration. So, formulation F3 was considered as optimized formulation. Finally, among the three formulations, the formulation F3 showed better results than other formulations in respect of evaluation parameters.