PRESCRIBING PATTERNS OF ANTIBIOTICS IN PAEDIATRICS FOR RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS/ DISORDERS IN TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

ABSTRACTObjectives: The main objective was to study the prescribing practice of antibiotic in hospital in-patient is to assess the prescribing patternsof antibiotics in children who were admitted in a tertiary care hospital regarding respiratory tract infections and to check out which category ofantibiotics are most prescribed.Methods: The study which includes a retrospective monitoring of pediatrics undergoing treatment with diff types of antibiotics were carried out fora period of 6 months both in-patient as well as outpatient.Results and Discussion: A total of 50 patients were screened. The most common category of antibiotic prescribed is aminoglycosides (48%),broad-spectrum antibiotics (29%), cephalosporins (14%), and fluoroquinolones (7%) macrolides (2%). 48% were admitted with common coughand cold accompanied by fever, 24% with bronchopneumonia, 14% with bronchial asthma, 12% with bronchitis, 2% with pneumonia. The numberof antibiotics per prescription ampicillin with garamycin were 51%, cefuroxime with garamycin were 21%, ciprofloxacin with garamycin were10%, cefotaxime with garamycin was 7%, ciprofloxacin with amoxicillin was 2%, single antibiotic prescribed are cefuroxime (2%), garamycin(4%), ciprofloxacin (4%). Adverse drug events were detected in sample size n=50 were 6% for drugs with ampicillin (rashes *4 days), ciprofloxacin(loose stools *2 days).Conclusion: In order to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance of microbes, an antibiotic policy should be carefully instituted and implemented. Thedoses prescribed to the pediatrics should be calculated according to the weights in order to avoid adverse drug reactions.Keywords: Antibiotics, paediatrics, infection

Characterization of DNA with an 8-oxoguanine modification

The oxidation of DNA resulting from reactive oxygen species generated during aerobic respiration is a major cause of genetic damage that, if not repaired, can lead to mutations and potentially an increase in the incidence of cancer and aging. A major oxidation product generated in cells is 8-oxoguanine (oxoG), which is removed from the nucleotide pool by the enzymatic hydrolysis of 8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine triphosphate and from genomic DNA by 8-oxoguanine-DNA glycosylase. Finding and repairing oxoG in the midst of a large excess of unmodified DNA requires a combination of rapid scanning of the DNA for the lesion followed by specific excision of the damaged base. The repair of oxoG involves flipping the lesion out of the DNA stack and into the active site of the 8-oxoguanine-DNA glycosylase. This would suggest that thermodynamic stability, in terms of the rate for local denaturation, could play a role in lesion recognition. While prior X-ray crystal and NMR structures show that DNA with oxoG lesions appears virtually identical to the corresponding unmodified duplex, thermodynamic studies indicate that oxoG has a destabilizing influence. Our studies show that oxoG destabilizes DNA (ΔΔG of 2–8 kcal mol−1 over a 16–116 mM NaCl range) due to a significant reduction in the enthalpy term. The presence of oxoG has a profound effect on the level and nature of DNA hydration indicating that the environment around an oxoG•C is fundamentally different than that found at G•C. The temperature-dependent imino proton NMR spectrum of oxoG modified DNA confirms the destabilization of the oxoG•C pairing and those base pairs that are 5′ of the lesion. The instability of the oxoG modification is attributed to changes in the hydrophilicity of the base and its impact on major groove cation binding

Band Gap Tuning of CH₃NH₃Pb(Br_1–<i>x</i>Cl_<i>x</i>)₃ Hybrid Perovskite for Blue Electroluminescence

We report on the structural, morphological and optical properties of AB­(Br_1–<i>x</i>Cl_<i>x</i>)₃ (where, A = CH₃NH₃⁺, B = Pb²⁺ and <i>x</i> = 0 to 1) perovskite semiconductor and their successful demonstration in green and blue emissive perovskite light emitting diodes at room temperature. The bandgap of perovskite thin film is tuned from 2.42 to 3.16 eV. The onset of optical absorption is dominated by excitonic effects. The coulomb field of the exciton influences the absorption at the band edge. Hence, it is necessary to explicitly account for the enhancement of the absorption through the Sommerfield factor. This enables us to correctly extract the exciton binding energy and the electronic bandgap. We also show that the lattice constant varies linearly with the fractional chlorine content satisfying Vegards law

Synthesis and Characterization of DNA Minor Groove Binding Alkylating Agents

Derivatives of methyl 3-(1-methyl-5-(1-methyl-5-(propylcarbamoyl)-1<i>H</i>-pyrrol-3-ylcarbamoyl)-1<i>H</i>-pyrrol-3-ylamino)-3-oxopropane-1-sulfonate (<b>1</b>), a peptide-based DNA minor groove binding methylating agent, were synthesized and characterized. In all cases, the N-terminus was appended with an <i>O</i>-methyl sulfonate ester, while the C-terminus group was varied with nonpolar and polar side chains. In addition, the number of pyrrole rings was varied from 2 (dipeptide) to 3 (tripeptide). The ability of the different analogues to efficiently generate N3-methyladenine was demonstrated as was their selectivity for minor groove (N3-methyladenine) versus major groove (N7-methylguanine) methylation. Induced circular dichroism studies were used to measure the DNA equilibrium binding properties of the stable sulfone analogues; the tripeptide binds with affinity that is >10-fold higher than that of the dipeptide. The toxicities of the compounds were evaluated in <i>alkA/tag</i> glycosylase mutant <i>E. coli</i> and in human WT glioma cells and in cells overexpressing and under-expressing <i>N</i>-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase, which excises N3-methyladenine from DNA. The results show that equilibrium binding correlates with the levels of N3-methyladenine produced and cellular toxicity. The toxicity of <b>1</b> was inversely related to the expression of MPG in both the bacterial and mammalian cell lines. The enhanced toxicity parallels the reduced activation of PARP and the diminished rate of formation of aldehyde reactive sites observed in the MPG knockdown cells. It is proposed that unrepaired N3-methyladenine is toxic due to its ability to directly block DNA polymerization