A SUGGESTION FOR PROACTIVE CARDIOLOGIC APPROACH TO CUSHING’S SYNDROME OR DISEASE

Numerous studies and reviews agree about the increased cardiovascular risk in Cushing’s syn-drome. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to suggest a few common diagnostic and therapeutic cardiologic preferences for the majority of Cushing’s syndrome/Cushing’s disease (CS/CD) pa-tients which are not yet routine but have the rationale to become standard procedures. This may serve as an initial working document, to be improved by the experts in the field. A narrative review is used to present synthesis and deduction of several approaches in cardiology regarding the actu-al topic. Results are systematized as the risk factors or co-morbidities list (prevalent in CS/CD) coupled with current and adapted cardiologic suggestions for practice

Zdravstvene aplikacije – neiskorišćen potencijal

Today, there are a number of applications that allow you to monitor physical activity and health parameters or schedule a medical examination, and can also help you recognize a health problem and react in time (1, 2). The aim of the present study was to assess the usage of health applications (HApps, health-related mobile and/or web applications) among citizens in Serbia. The anonymous online questionnaire was distributed via social media in the spring of 2020. Data were processed using the IBM SPSS. 506 respondents participated in the research, of which 155 were from the health profession. The majority of respondents were female (73.9%), and the average age was 36.88 ± 11.22. About half of the respondents (48.2%) have a university degree, and 74.9% are employed. Installed HApps on phone/computer have 18.2% of respondents, with a statistically significant difference (p <0.01) between health professionals (25.8%) and non-health (14.8%). The most commonly used HApps among health professionals are those related to their professional work (14.7%), followed by general health (3.8%) and specific diseases (1.9%). Non-health professional respondents mostly used applications related to general health (5.4%), fitness (2.0%) and the chosen doctor (1.4%). Only 0.6% of citizens used COVID-19 pandemic applications. The importance of HApps is still not sufficiently recognized in Serbia. Given the potential in controlling chronic diseases and other health conditions, especially among a population with limited access to health care and health information, they should be more integrated into the health system.Danas postoji niz aplikacija koje omogućavaju praćenje fizičke aktivnosti i zdravstvenih parametara ili zakazivanje lekarskog pregleda, a mogu pomoći i u prepoznavanju zdravstvenih problema obaveštavajući vas da reagujete na vreme (1, 2). Cilj ove studije bio je da ispita upotrebu zdravstvenih aplikacija (HApps, mobilne i/ili web aplikacije u vezi sa zdravljem) među građanima Srbije. Anonimni onlajn upitnik distribuiran je putem društvenih mreža tokom proleća 2020. godine. Podaci su obrađeni korišćenjem IBM SPSS. U istraživanju je učestvovalo 506 ispitanika, od kojih 155 iz zdravstvene struke. Većina ispitanika su žene (73.9%), a prosečna starost bila je 36.88±11.22 godina. Oko polovine ispitanika (48.2%) ima fakultetsko obrazovanje, a 74.9% je zaposleno. Instalirane HApps na svom telefonu/računaru ima 18.2% ispitanika, sa statistički značajnom razlikom (p<0.01) među ispitanicima iz zdravstvene struke (25.8%) i onih koji to nisu (14.8%). Najkorišćenije HApps među ispitanicima zdravstvene struke su one koje se odnose na njihov stručni rad (14.7%), opšte zdravlje (3.8%) i specifične bolesti (1.9%). Ispitanici koji nisu iz zdravstvene struke najviše su koristili aplikacije koje se odnose na opšte zdravlje (5.4%), fitnes (2.0%) i izabranog lekara (1.4%). Aplikacije u vezi sa COVID-19 pandemijom koristilo je svega 0.6% građana. Značaj HApps još uvek nije dovoljno prepoznat u Srbiji. S obzirom na potencijal u kontroli hroničnih bolesti i drugih zdravstvenih stanja, naročito među populacijom sa ograničenim pristupom zdravstvenoj zaštiti i zdravstvenim informacijama, trebalo bi ih više integrisati u zdravstveni sistem.VIII Kongres farmaceuta Srbije sa međunarodnim učešćem, 12-15.10.2022. Beogra

A reliable chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin in human serum

Purpose: To develop and validate a simple chromatographic method for the analysis of ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin in human serum.Methods: After protein precipitation had been performed, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection was utilized for the analysis of ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin in human serum. Analytical column Zorbax SB-C18 (150 mm x 4.6 mm i.d., particle size 3.5 μm) was used as a stationary phase. Chromatographic separation was realized with the mobile phase 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid in water for chromatography - methanol (66:34, v/v), at the flow rate of 1 mL/min, temperature of 35 oC and detection at 280 nm. The method validation was performed according to the guidelines of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).Results: The chromatographic run time was about 12 minutes and no interference was observed. For ciprofloxacin, the method was linear over a concentration range of 0.5-50 μg/mL, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9874. For moxifloxacin, the method was linear over a concentration range of 0.5-50 μg/mL, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9946. Since relative standard deviation (RSD) and relative recovery values were within acceptable limits according to EMA guidelines, good intra-day precision, inter-day precision, as well as the accuracy of the method, were observed.Conclusion: A simple and reliable HPLC-UV method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin in human serum. The method can be applied for therapeutic drug monitoring but also and pharmacokinetic studies of ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin. Keywords: Human serum, Ciprofloxacin, Moxifloxacin, Protein precipitation, HPLC, UV detection, Method validatio

CONTROL OF GLYCEMIA AND CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES IN PRIMARY CARE IN MONTENEGRO

Some observational studies have shown that only a small number of diabetic patients achieve optimum control of glycaemia and cardiovascular risk factors. The aim of this study was to analyze whether patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated in primary care achieve adequate control of glycemic levels and cardiovascular risk factors. This was a retrospective, record-based, cross-sectional study that included eligible patients from 35 to 90 years old with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated in Primary Health Care Center in Podgorica. We investigated electronic records of 531 diabetic patients. The observed prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus among individuals between ages 35 and 90 years, was 11,84 %. Half of the patients were female. The mean age was 65,88±9,86 years. The mean value of HbA1c was 7,56±1,71. Fifty-nine percents of patients achieved optimal levels of HbA1c ≤ 7 %. Also, more than half of patients achieved target levels of blood pressure while 27.9% achieved LDL ≤ 2.6 mmol/L. Fifty percent of patients were non-smokers and 45.1 % were obese. Among patients on primary prevention only 5.7 % had met all target levels while on secondary prevention that number was even smaller 3.7 %. Our study showed that control of HbA1c and blood pressure was similar to other studies but reaching target levels of LDL was challenging for our patients. Further analysis are needed in order to discover the reasons for poor control of certain CVRF and to develop strategies for its optimal management