VACCINE-INDUCED DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY: A CASE REPORT

Vaccines are weakened or dead microbes injected for the development of an acquired immunity as a preventive measure, also including the use of microbial proteins. The spectrum of adverse events following vaccination has been increasing as well with increasing number of reports detailing the events following immunization. The rate of morbidity and mortality of many communicable diseases has significantly decreased with time with relieve to the quality of life as well as the overall pharma economic cost. In this case report vaccine-induced developmental delay was observed in a child of 16 months of age. The child was born with low birth weight despite which the child was administered with hepatitis B vaccine, poliomyelitis vaccine, and bacillus Calmette-Guerin within 24 h of birth. Consecutive clinical outcomes followed throughout the years, which induced a developmental delay in this child. This case clearly signifies the need for more evidence-based implementation for the management of various diseases at secondary care hospitals

Review on Population Pharmacokinetics of Amikacin in Paediatrics

Amikacin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic with a broad-spectrum bacterial coverage that is frequently utilized both as monotherapy and in combination with other antibiotics for severe bacterial infections in the paediatric population. The narrow therapeutic index of the drug and high inter-individual variabilities in drug exposure results in either drug toxicity or subtherapeutic concentrations. Thus, therapeutic drug monitoring and population pharmacokinetics are pivotal to facilitate the optimal dosage regimens in paediatrics and negate the adverse outcomes. The therapeutic goal is to maintain the target peak and trough concentrations within 30-40mg/l and <5 mg/l respectively. This review aimed to summarize population pharmacokinetic considerations and the pharmacokinetic parameters of amikacin across the paediatric population

Engineering biomaterials for platelet contacting devices

Platelets for transfusion are routinely stored in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) bags at room temperature under constant agitation. This limits their shelf life to 5 days due to deterioration in function and bacterial contamination. Perlecan, a major multidomain basement membrane proteoglycan (PG) present in blood vessels, has shown to be anti-adhesive to platelets via its heparan sulfate (HS) chains. The aims of this thesis, therefore, were to explore platelet interactions with i) biological coatings based on perlecan and recombinantly expressed domains thereof and ii) alternative platelet bags made of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to elucidate their function in the enhancement of platelet shelf life.Potential platelet-binding sites on perlecan protein core were identified on domains III and V (DV), with specific peptides within these domains that may play an active role in platelet interactions. Perlecan DV and DI were recombinantly expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK)-293 cells as PGs decorated with HS and chondroitin sulphate (CS) chains. The PG and protein core forms of both perlecan DV and DI inhibited the adhesion, activation and aggregation of platelets as verified by a combination of confocal, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), enzyme-linked immunoadsorbant assay (ELISA), flow cytometry and quartz crystal microbalance dissipation (QCM-D). The passive adsorption or covalent attachment of the PG forms of recombinant perlecan DV or DI inhibited platelet adhesion and activation on PVC indicating that these coatings may find application in prolonging platelet shelf life.An analogue of Pellethane® 2363-80A (UC-80A) and Elast-Eon™ 2 80A (E2-80A) were characterised using attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) for functional groups, where E2-80A had similar mechanical properties as PVC. The TPU surfaces were more hydrophobic with smoother surface topographies compared to PVC, which in turn significantly inhibited platelet adhesion and activation compared to PVC. Platelet quality assessed by monitoring platelet indices such as pH, platelet count, gas exchange, glucose consumption, platelet activation and apoptosis marker expression over a 7 day period from storage in TPU minibags indicated that E2-80A could serve as an alternative platelet storage bag as it was able to maintain platelet quality to the same extent as PVC

POST-STROKE PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS: AN OVERVIEW ON ITS SCREENING AND MANAGEMENT

Stroke is the third leading cause of death. Stroke occurs when an insufficient amount of blood is supplied to the brain due to a thrombus or an emboli leading to permanent tissue damage. Lesions in the brain can lead to psychiatric complications. The prevalence of psychiatric complications after stroke is very common. Psychiatric complications such as depression, anxiety, apathy, pseudobulbar effects (laughing and crying), mania, psychosis, and bipolar disorders are seen after stroke. In this review, various psychiatric disorders are reported among post-stroke survivors in which depression and anxiety are common. Consequently, apathy, pseudobulbar effects, catastrophic reactions, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and mania are also observed after stroke. Therefore, early detection and management of psychiatric disorders prevent further complications and improve the quality of life in post-stroke patients

Organic Nanovesicular Cargoes for Sustained Drug Delivery: Synthesis, Vesicle Formation, Controlling “Pearling” States, and Terfenadine Loading/Release Studies

“Sustained drug delivery systems” which are designed to accomplish long-lasting therapeutic effect are one of the challenging topics in the area of nanomedicine. We developed an innovative strategy to prepare nontoxic and polymer stabilized organic nanovesicles (diameter: 200 nm) from a novel bolaamphiphile, where two hydrogen bonding acetyl cytosine molecules connected to 4,4′′-positions of the 2,6-bispyrazolylpyridine through two flexible octyne chains. The nanovesicles behave like biological membrane by spontaneously self-assembling into “pearl-like” chains and subsequently forming long nanotubes (diameter: 150 nm), which further develop into various types of network-junctions through self-organization. For drug loading and delivery applications, the nanovesicles were externally protected with biocompatible poly(ethyleneglycol)-2000 to prevent them from fusion and ensuing tube formation. Nontoxic nature of the nanovesicles was demonstrated by zebrafish teratogenicity assay. Biocompatible nanovesicles were loaded with “terfenadine” drug and successfully utilized to transport and release drug in sustained manner (up to 72 h) in zebrafish larvae, which is recognized as an emerging in vivo model system