Osteoarthritis of knee joint - role of quadriceps exercises

Background: Osteoarthritis of knee joint is a common clinical condition among patients attending orthopaedics outpatient department. The role of quadriceps exercises in its management is not effectively stressed. Hence this study was carried out to assess the role of Quadriceps exercises in management of Osteoarthritis of Knee and reduce the morbidity associated with it. Methods: A total of one hundred patients in the age group of 40-65 years and suffering from mild to moderate Osteoarthritis of the knee joint were included in the study. Subjects were divided into two groups, Group I receiving drug therapy only and Group II receiving physiotherapy also, in the form of quadriceps exercises. Data was recorded on a proforma designed to assess symptomatic relief after two weeks. Results: Participants in group II with exercise program had improvements in physical function and symptom relief, decrease in knee pain and increase in range of motion, more than that of participants in group I. It was observed that majority of the study subjects, 39 (78%) had excellent result in group II, whereas 12 (24%) patients from group I had poor result.Conclusions: There is relationship between age, sex and quadriceps exercise with osteoarthritis of knee. Moderate quadriceps exercise is a safe and effective prevention and therapy for Osteoarthritis of knee.

Study of Antibacterial Properties of Ziziphus mauritiana based Green Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles against Various Bacterial Strains

Due to their low cost and environmentally friendly nature, plant extracts based methods have gained significant popularity among researchers for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles. Herein, green synthesis of silver nanoparticles was performed using the aqueous solution of Ziziphus mauritiana leaves extract (ZM-LE) as a bio-reducing agent. The as-obtained silver nanoparticles were characterized by using UV-Vis spectroscopy, XRD (X-ray diffraction), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), and FT-IR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy). In addition, the effects of the concentrations of the leaves extract, silver nitrate, and the temperature on the preparation of nanoparticles were also investigated. In order to determine the nature of secondary metabolites present in leaves extract, a preliminary investigation of phytoconstituents was carried out using different methods including Folin-Ciocalteu and AlCl3 methods. The results have indicated the presence of a considerable amount of phenolic and flavonoid contents in the leaves extract, which are believed to be responsible for the reduction of silver ions and stabilization of resulting nanoparticles. Indeed, the FT-IR spectrum of silver nanoparticles also confirmed the presence of residual phytomolecules of leaves extract as stabilizing ligands on the surface of nanoparticles. The antibacterial properties of as-obtained silver nanoparticles were tested against various bacterial strains including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Bacillus subtilis. The nanoparticles strongly inhibited the growth of S. aureus with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2.5 μg/ml and moderately inhibited the growth of E. coli with a MIC of 5 μg/ml