ABSTRACT

Haemovigilance is a continuous process of data collection and analysis of adverse reactions which occur during blood transfusion and it is used to investigate their causes and outcomes to prevent their occurrence or recurrence. It is a powerful risk monitoring system for blood transfusion and its ultimate purpose is to improve the quality and safety of transfusion therapy. It also proves that blood transfusion is relatively safe compared with the use of medicinal drugs as these blood components have reached a high safety standard.

Keywords: blood transfusion, adverse reactions, blood safety.

ABSTRACT

Cancer is currently one of the major diseases that has gained a lot of scientific attention. Conventional cancer therapeutics involve surgical removal of tumors from patients followed by chemotherapeutic treatment. In the use of anticancer drugs during the chemotherapy process, patients often suffer from a variety of undesirable side effects including damage to normal organs. Thus, there is an urgent need for the development of novel strategies to overcome these side effect issues. Malignant diseases are one of the major causes of death in the western world. Patients are treated by surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Chemotherapeutic treatment is used to decrease the tumour burden and to eliminate malignant cells. However, in most cases, resistance against chemotherapy develops. Therefore, there is a permanent need for new additional treatment strategies and chemotherapeutic combination regimens. In the present review article, the authors try to highlight the most promising approaches and summarize a selection of potential targets and compounds which might become alternative treatment options against malignant diseases.

Keywords: Cancer, Chemotherapy, Radiation, Malignant diseases, Novel Strategies.

ABSTRACT

Microbubbles designate air or gas filled microspheres suspended in a liquid carrier phase which generally results from the introduction of air or gas. The liquid phase contains surfactants to control the surface properties as well as stability of the bubble. Microbubbles have an average size less than that of RBC’s i.e. they are capable of penetrating even into the smallest blood capillaries & releasing drugs or genes, incorporated on their surface, under the action of ultrasound. Microbubbles in general have a wide variety of applications. However in the biomedical field these are primarily used as diagnostic agents in combination with ultrasound for molecular imaging of various organs and even tumors. These are also proposed for drug and gene delivery to targeted regions in combination with various ligands. Most of the physicians today prefer imaging with ultrasound in combination with microbubbles compared to other diagnostic techniques for low cost and rapidity.

Keywords: Micro bubbles, diagnostic agents, ultrasound, drug delivery, gene delivery, ligands.

ABSTRACT

The present work aimed to develop a novel chitosan–PVA-based hydrogel sheet which forms an immobilizing matrix for silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Silver nanoparticles were prepared by chemical reduction method. Silver nitrate was taken as the metal precursor and tri-sodium citrate as a reducing agent. These AgNPs were incorporated in to chitosan-PVA hydrogels in different concentrations (1%, 2%, 4% and 6%) to form F1, F2, F3 and F4 formulations respectively. The prepared chitosan and silver nanoparticle composite hydrogel sheets were characterized using U.V, FTIR, water absorption studies, SEM and Anti-microbial studies. The data shows the average diameter of AgNPs is in the range of 60-70 nm and is roughly spherical in shape. The AgNPs incorporated hydrogel sheets were bactericidal against Escherichia Coli (gram positive) and staphylococcus aureus (gram negative) and it showed good antibacterial effect by disc diffusion method. These results suggested that AgNPs incorporated chitosan hydrogel sheet could be a promising candidate for wound dressing applications.

Keywords: Chitosan, Hydrogel, Silver Nanoparticles, Chemical reduction.

ABSTRACT

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that results in a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks flexible (synovial) joints. It can be a disabling and painful condition, which can lead to substantial loss of functioning and mobility if not adequately treated. Conventional medicine treats rheumatoid arthritis with steroids and other immunosuppressive medications, most of which are toxic when used long-term. Patients who are dependent on them are now likely to respond to herbal products. Boswellia serrata (Shallaki) is mentioned as a pain remedy in ancient Sanskrit texts dating back thousands of years. The herb is recommended in treating rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, joint pain, skeletal muscle pain and back pain. B-boswellic acid, its 11-keto derivative and their acetates are the important constituents derived from the resin which are responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity of Shallaki. Shallaki improves the blood supply to the joints and restores the integrity of blood vessels destroyed by spasms. Degradation of glycosaminoglycans, which leads to articular damage and cartilage breakdown, is a common condition in patients on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Shallaki significantly reduces the degradation of glycosaminoglycans and protects the joints. So, in this present study an attempt was made to study the anti-arthritic efficacy of the Shallaki in patients by observational study. A total 65 patients who suffered with severe rheumatic pain with joint dysfunction and clinical decline during the treatment with Shallaki capsule was examined. Rheumatoid factor (RF) and Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were measured to evaluate the anti arthritic activity. Results of the present study revealed that the percent reduction of ESR found with Shallaki capsule is more than the combination of steroids and NSAIDs. The significant effects were observed with percent reduction of RF by Shallaki capsule then steroids and NSAIDs. The triple combination posses quite more effects than observed with individuals. From the above data it was concluded that the Shallaki capsule posses the ulcer protective anti inflammatory and anti arthritic effects in patients of arthritis, whereby, it is not possible to propose a same effects by conventional steroids and NSAIDs. Shallaki capsule reduces glycosaminoglycan degradation and increases maintenance of collagen which inhibits the progress of arthritis in lower doses.

Keywords: Arthritis, Boswellia serrata, NSAIDs.

ABSTRACT

The adverse drug reaction monitoring and reporting are very important in identify and preventing adverse drug reaction. The utmost important area during the therapy of patient is pharmacovigilance and it was not implemented in India by health care professionals. The observation of adverse drug reaction during the treatment helps to eliminate the drug induced diseases and death. Hence, this study aimed to estimate the incidence of adverse drug reactions causing hospital admission or occurring while in hospital. It is a prospective Cohort study of six months where the subjects have been followed-up and the outcomes are recorded. The maximum number of adverse drug reaction reported from the general medicine department was 26.66%. The geriatric patients had experienced more adverse drug reaction, accounting for about 44.90% followed by adults 34.90% and children 20.40%. The reason for geriatric falls in adverse drug reactions may be the alterations in Pharmacokinetic parameters, multiple drugs and polypharmacy.

Keywords: Adverse drug reaction, pharmacovigilance, polypharmacy, pharmacokinetic.

ABSTRACT

Hyperlipidemia induced cardiovascular complications are too common in the younger populations. The aim of the study is to identify the prevalence of hyperlipidemia in Cardiology Inpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. 54.39% patients identified with Hyperlipidemia. Female populations were found to be 52% and the remaining were males. 55.29% of population comes under age of less than 60. This clearly showed up the risk of hyperlipidemia in the study population

Keywords: Hyperlipidemia, Prevalence, Cardiology, Inpatients.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of diclofenac sodium, ketorolac, tramadol individually and their combination after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Total 150 subjects who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomly (lottery method) divided into five groups to receive respective treatment. Pain score was measured after 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after surgery through visual analogue scale. The data was statistically analyzed through SPSS (version 20.0). It is concluded on the basis of collected results that a combination of Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs and Opioid derivatives is much superior to achieve effective pain control than either of the drug alone. Furthermore, ketorolac and tramadol combination provided more efficient pain control than diclofenac sodium and tramadol combination. This effective pain control is associated with short hospital stay which will cause less economic burden for patients. So, we may recommend that Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (ketorolac) and opioids (tramadol) combination should be used for effectual pain control after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Keywords: Diclofenac, Ketorolac, Tramadol, Cholecystectomy.

ABSTRACT

A simple, new UV-spectrophotometric method has been developed and validated for the assay of cilostazol in pure and formulations based on measurement of absorption at maximum wavelength of 257.40nm. The developed method exhibited linearity in the range 2.5-15μg/ml with precision is exemplified by relative standard deviation of 0.86% for cilostazol. The percentage mean recovery of cilostazol was found to be in the range of 98.39‐99.34% during accuracy studies respectively. The proposed method is further validated statistically in accordance with ICH norms and the validation results allowed the feasibility of the proposed method in the analysis of cilostazol in pure and its formulations.

Keywords: Cilostazol, Formulation’s, ICH norm’s.

ABSTRACT

Antimicrobials are a standout amongst the most usually prescribed medicines. However, they are often excessively and inappropriately used, which can lead to adverse effects (including fatality in a few cases) in individuals and the community as well. The duration of antimicrobial therapy needs to be sufficient to control the microbial infection and prevent relapse. The aim of this study is to estimate the duration of antimicrobial therapy in various infectious disease conditions and identify commonly prescribed antibiotics in infectious diseases. A Prospective Observational Study was conducted for one year (December 2013 - December 2014) on the patients diagnosed with infectious diseases of both sex and mean age of 39 ±16.8 years in a super specialty hospital, Hanamkonda, Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India. During the study period a total number of 2500 patients were reviewed, among them 752 patients were enrolled in the study who has met the inclusion criteria. Among the patients enrolled, 456 (60%) patients were males and 297 (48%) patients were females. In total, of collected 7 infectious diseases, the longer duration of antibiotic treatment was required to diseases like pancreatitis and malaria that is around 18 days followed by liver abscess of 13 days, typhoid fever of 11 days and gastroenteritis and pneumonia with 10 days each. The shortest duration of 9 days of antibiotic therapy is sufficient for UTI.

Keywords: Antibiotics, Infectious Disease, Duration of Antimicrobial Therapy.