Dr H N Aswatha Ram

Associate Professor

Date of Joining : 01.06.2001

Department of Pharmacognosy

CURRENT ACADEMIC ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

    Dr Aswatha Ram H N teaches undergraduate, postgraduate students. He supervises postgraduates and Ph.D for their dissertation work.

    • He is involved in development of laboratory manuals and designing of experiments for PG and UG students.
    • He is also involved in handling and demonstrating with Disintegration and Dissolution apparatus.
    • He sets question papers.
    • He assists in the development of curriculum for both UG and PG courses in Pharmacognosy.
    • He is a member of sessional co-ordination committee. 

SUBJECTS CURRENTLY TEACHING

Subject Semester / Year
Pharmacognosy and Phytopharmaceuticals (Theory & Lab) Second Year PharmD
Herbal Drug Technology (Theory & Lab) Sixth Semester BPharm
Advanced Pharmacognosy-I First Semester MPharm
Industrial Pharmacognostical Technology First Semester MPharm
Indian Systems of Medicine Second Semester MPharm
Herbal Cosmetics Second Semester MPharm
Pharmacognosy practicals II Second Semester MPharm

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

Degree Specialisation Institute Year of passing
PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences Manipal Academy of Higher Education 2009
MPharm Pharmacognosy Karnatak University 1995
BPharm Pharmacy Gulbarga University 1993

Experience

Institution / Organisation Designation Role Tenure
Department of Pharmacognosy MCOPS Manipal Associate Professor Teaching and Research Jan-2009 till date
Department of Pharmacognosy, MCOPS Manipal Selection Grade Lecturer Teaching and Research September 2007 to January 2009
Department of Pharmacognosy, MCOPS Manipal Senior Grade Lecturer Teaching and Research July 2002 to August 2007
Department of Pharmacognosy, MCOPS Manipal Lecturer Teaching June 2001 to June 2002
KLES’s College of Pharmacy, Bangalore Lecturer Teaching October 1995 to April 2001

AREAS OF INTEREST, EXPERTISE AND RESEARCH

Area of Interest

Phyto-chemical work Pharmacological investigations. Standardisation of herbal formulations.

Area of Expertise

Physico-chemical standardisation of herbal formulations, Investigation of sites of absorption for herbal preparations, Evaluation of biological activities for herbal products, Determination of pKa values for the phytoconstituents.

Area of Research

Physico-chemical Standardisation of classical formulations, Anti-ulcer, Anti-hyperlipidemic, Anti-allergic, Anti-diarrheal activities of herbal preparations.

Professional Affiliations & Contributions

  • Life Member of Karnataka State Pharmacy Council, 5 April 1999.
  • Life Member of Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India, 11 October 2000.

Standardization of Rajanyadi churna: An ayurvedic preparation

2014-01-01 Standardization of traditional formulations Rupali Deshpande Aswatha Ram H N

Rajanyādi cūrṇa (RC) is an ayurvedic classical preparation used in the treatment of digestive disorders, fever, jaundice, anemia, and asthma. We seek to standardize this drug to ensure its quality. Objective: The current investigation was aimed at the preparation of cūrṇa in three batches so as to standardize it. Materials and Methods: The cūrṇa was prepared in-house in three different batches according to directions given in The Ayurvedic Formulary of India. The cūrṇa was evaluated based on organoleptic characters, physical characteristics, and physico-chemical parameters. High performance thin layer chromatography was carried out for the quantification of curcumin. Results: The parameters were found to be comparable and sufficient for the evaluation of the cūrṇa. Conclusion: Ayurvedic medicine, RC has been standardized using the various parameters and can be incorporated while developing the pharmacopoeial standards.

Mast cell stabilization potential of Sitopaladi churna: An ayurvedic formulation

2013-01-10 Pharmacological evaluation of traditional formulations Inder K. Makhija, Aswatha Ram H N

Background: Sitopaladi churna (SPC) is a popular polyherbal ayurvedic formulation used in the treatment of allergy and respiratory diseases. Objective: The present study was aimed to justify the classical use of antiallergic claim by performing the mast cell stabilizing activity of extracts of SPC. Materials and Methods: The protective effect of aqueous extract and methanolic extract - of SPC against compound 48/80-induced mast cell degranulation model was carried out. Results: Sitopaladi churna aqueous extract (SPCA) at the dose of 300 mg/kg and Sitopaladi churna methanolic extract (SPCM) at the doses of 150 and 300 mg/kg showed better protection of mast cell degranulation (65%-74%) and were comparable to the standard drug ketotifen (79%), when peritoneal mast cells were treated with compound 48/80. The protection against mast cell degranulation was significant (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: From the above results, it has been justified that SPC can be used to treat allergic disorders.

Anti-infl ammatory activity of Ajmodadi Churna extract against acute infl ammation in rats

2012-01-01 Biological standardization of Traditional medicine Aswatha Ram H N Neeraj K. Sriwastava Inder K. Makhija

Background: Ayurvedic polyherbal formulations are widely prescribed for a wide range of infl ammatory conditions, yet, despite widespread use, there has been no systematic documentation of their safety and effi cacy. Objective: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the anti-infl ammatory activity of aqueous extracts of Ajmodadi churna (AJM) in rats. Materials and Methods: Carrageenan-induced hind paw edema and air pouch infl ammation models were used for the study. Results: The extracts showed signifi cant antiinfl ammatory activity, reducing paw edema volume by 0.417 ± 0.097 and 0.379 ± 0.049, respectively. In the carrageenan-induced air pouch model, AJM reduced total leukocyte count by 73.09 ± 7.13 and 62.17 ± 10.53, granulocyte count by 69.48 ± 5.44 and 63.33 ± 4.13, and myeloperoxidase activity by 14.84 ± 0.91 and 18.44 ± 3.18, respectively, compared to controls. Discussion and Conclusion: AJM signifi cantly reduced paw edema, during the second phase of edema development. In the carrageenan-induced air pouch model, AJM inhibited cellular infi ltration into the air pouch fl uid. We conclude that AJM is an effective candidate for prevention or treatment of acute infl ammation

In vitro antioxidant studies of Sitopaladi Churna, a polyherbal Ayurvedic formulation

2011-08-02 biological evaluation of herbal drugs Inder Kumar Makhija Aswatha Ram H N Vijay Kumar Raviraj Devkar

Introduction: “Sitopaladi churna” is a reputed Ayurvedic polyherbal medicine prescribed for pleurodynia, intercostal neuralgia, cough associated with bronchitis, supportive agent for allergy, viral respiratory infection, and in pharyngeal and chest congestion. Antioxidants play an important role in protecting cellular damage by reactive oxygen species. Plants containing phenolic compounds have been reported to possess strong antioxidant properties. Methods: Antioxidant potential of the Sitopaladi churna was studied using different in vitro free radical models like DPPH, ABTS, nitric oxide and superoxide scavenging radical models. Results: The extracts showed good dose dependent free radical scavenging property in all the models. IC50 values of methanolic and aqueous extracts of Sitopaladi churna were found to be 65.6 and 44.88 μg/ml for DPPH, 74.5 and 66.46 μg/ml for ABTS, 191.77 and 170.15 μg/ml for nitric oxide, 94.79 and 62.03 μg/ml for superoxide radical, respectively. Total phenolic contents of aqueous and methanolic extract were found to be 256.25 and 298.2 μg equivalent of gallic acid. Conclusions: The antioxidant potential may be directly linked to the phenolic compounds present in the ingredients of Sitopaladi churna. The data obtained in this study suggest a possible use of Sitopaladi churna as a natural antioxidant agent.

Formulation and evaluation of floating tablets of liquorice extract

2010-01-09 Formulation and evaluation of herbal agents Aswatha Ram H N Prachiti Lachake Ujjwal Kaushik

Background: Floating tablets prolong the gastric residence time of drugs, improve bioavailability, and facilitate local drug delivery to the stomach. With this objective, floating tablets containing aqueous extract of liquorice as drug was prepared for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori and gastric ulcers. Methods: The aqueous extract of liquorice was standardized by HPTLC. Tablets containing HPMC K100M (hydrophilic polymer), liquorice extract, sodium bicarbonate (gas generating agent), talc, and magnesium stearate were prepared using direct compression method. The formulations were evaluated for physical parameters like diameter, thickness, hardness, friability, uniformity of weight, drug content, buoyancy time, dissolution, and drug release mechanism. The formulations were optimized on the basis of buoyancy time and in vitro drug release. Results: The diameter of all formulations was in the range 11.166–11.933 mm; thickness was in the range 4.02–4.086 mm. The hardness ranged from 3.1 to 3.5 kg/cm2. All formulations passed the USP requirements for friability and uniformity of weight. The buoyancy time of all tablet formulations was less than 5 min and tablet remained in floating condition throughout the study. All the tablet formulations followed zero-order kinetics and Korsemeyer–Peppas model in drug release. Conclusion: The optimized formulation was found to be F6 which released 98.3% of drug in 8 h in vitro, while the buoyancy time was 3.5 min. Formulations containing psyllium husk, sodium bicarbonate and HPMC K100M in combination can be a promising for gastroretentive drug delivery systems.

Physico-chemical Standardisation, Antioxidant and Anti allergic Activity of Sitopaladi Churna

2011-01-01 Inder Kumar Makhija

2011 ,MPharm Part II. The In-house Sitopaladi churna was prepared and studied for various physic-chemical parameters in comparison with the marketed samples. Antioxidant activity of extracts (aqueous and methanolic) was studied in different in vitro models. The mast cell stabilising potential of churna extracts was shown in Compound 48/80 induced model in rats.

Vesicular nanocarriers for transcutaneous delivery of Curcumin

2011-01-01 Rajani Gollapudi

2011,MPharm Part II. Curcumin ethosomes and liposomes were prepared and characterised using various parameters including the ex vivo skin permeation and partition coefficient studies.

Physico-chemical and biological standardisation of Ajmodadi churna

2010-01-01 Neeraj Kumar Sriwastava

2010 , MPharm Part II. In-house Ajmodadi churna was formulated as per AFI and compared with one marketed sample for various physic-chemical parameters. The etracts (aqueous and methanolic) showed free radical scavenging activity in the tested in vitro models. Aqueous extract showed anti-inflammatory activity in rat models.

Pharmacognostic evaluation of some medicinally important Ficus species

2010-01-01 Amrit Kumar Singh

2010, MPharm Part II. The Pharmacognostic studies provide valuable information regarding the identification and authentication of for Ficus species such as F. religiosa, F. glomerata, F. retusa and F. carica.