Breast Cancer Survivorship Experiences

Background: With advancement in early detection and treatment number of breast cancer survivors are on the rise. Long term survivors have in addition to medical problems related to treatment, psychological distress and challenges related to body image, sexuality and stigma. The survivorship issues related to breast cancer are largely under studied in India. Methods/Design: This is a retrospective cohort study of breast cancer survivors from 2016 Hospital-Based Cancer Registry (HBCR) of a Tertiary Cancer Centre (TCC). Baseline data will be collected from registry. Quantitative data on present status and issues of survivors will be done by a cross sectional survey. In depth interviews will be done to explore the challenges of survivors and lived experiences of the co- survivors. Documents about cancer will also be reviewed to find out existing guidelines on breast cancer control. Discussion: Understanding survivorship experiences will help to improve their quality of life and guide health workers and caregivers in providing the much-needed supportive care in their journey throughout the disease. &nbsp

PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TRIFLUOPERAZINE LOADED TRANSDERMAL PATCHES FOR SUSTAINED RELEASE

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to formulate and evaluate the polymeric transdermal delivery system of antipsychotic drug Trifluoperazine (TFP) for sustained drug release. Methods: A transdermal patch loaded with (TFP) was formulated by solvent casting technique. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) K-30 and ethyl cellulose (EC) was used as a polymeric matrix with different ratios. Di n-butyl phthalate was used as a plasticizer. The parameters such as thickness, folding endurance and weight variation of the prepared patches were studied. The interaction study by attenuated total reflectance-infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were performed. In vitro drug release study was performed by modified paddle over-disc technique. Results: The infrared spectroscopic study confirmed the absence of any chemical interaction between TFP and selected polymers. All the prepared formulations showed folding endurance values ranging from 130-162 and a satisfactory drug loading of 90-95%. In in vitro drug release study, formulations PE-3 and PE-4 exhibited a sustained and stable cumulative release of 54 % and 48% respectively, at the end of 24 h. The DSC and XRD analysis proved the partial conversion of the drug from crystalline to amorphous form when integrated into the polymeric matrix. Conclusion: The prepared transdermal formulations using polymers PVP and ethyl cellulose demonstrated their ability to sustain the release of TFP. The developed formulation could be exploited for multiday therapy of TFP for the effective treatment of schizophrenia with a simplified dosing regimen and enhanced patient compliance

Preserving of intercostobrachial nerve relieves breast carcinoma patients from postmastectomy pain syndrome

Background: Post-mastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) is a complication experienced by majority of the patients who undergo breast surgery for cancer. The etiology of this chronic neuropathic pain syndrome seems to be complex and it is still understood below par. Injury to the intercostobrachial (ICB) nerve is presumed to be the dominant one for developing PMPS. This prospective study was designed to appraise the effect of preservation of intercostobrachial nerve on post-mastectomy pain syndrome and also to determine the most common anatomical variation of the intercostobrachial nerve during surgery.Methods: A total of 100 patients were included in this study and were divided into 2 groups. Group A included patients with ICB nerve preserved and Group B patients with ICB nerve sectioned. The patients were evaluated for pain subjectively on the 2nd day, 1 month and in the 3rd month post-operatively by short form of McGill pain questionnaire and visual analog scale. During surgical dissection, anatomical variation of ICB nerve was ascertained each time.Results: After 3 months, 68.2% of the patients were asymptomatic in Group A (ICB nerve preservation group) and 31.8% in the Group B (nerve section group) (chi-square test was applied and p value was 0.002). We found that type 1 anatomical variation was commonest with 87%.Conclusions: Preservation of ICB nerve might greatly decrease the incidence of PMPS. Hence, the insight of the anatomical variations of this nerve is very crucial for the operating surgeons to preserve them and to prevent PMPS

Investigation of novel methods to remove the cyanotoxin, Cylindrospermopsin, from drinking water.

The widespread distribution of cyanobacteria and their toxic effects on humans has become a major concern for researchers. Cyanobacteria are a group of oxygenic phototrophic bacteria that exhibit an enormous diversity in shapes and arrangements and occupy widespread habitats that include brackish, marine and fresh water. The major concern among these organisms is not so much the cyanobacteria themselves but their toxin production. Under suitable circumstances, cyanobacteria can reach high biomass levels and form toxic algal blooms. These toxins, known as cyanotoxins, are produced as secondary metabolites by several cyanobacterial species. Cyanotoxins affect not only aquatic ecosystems but also impact on human health. The current work focuses on the cyanotoxin cylindrospermopsin that was originally known to be produced by the cyanobacterium species Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii but has since been identified in a number of other cyanobacterial species. Cylindrospermopsin is hepatotoxic and acts as a strong inhibitor of protein synthesis. The increasing occurrence of toxic cyanobacterial blooms is of major concern, particularly within drinking water supply systems. Therefore, the investigation of more effective water treatment technologies is of great importance in order to ensure the removal of these potent toxins. There are many techniques that have been used so far, but the need to use an effective and efficient method to remove the toxicity is paramount. Removal of the toxin by the use of microbial degradation has been evaluated. Experiments with different strains of bacterial isolates showed positive signs in the removal of toxin by Biolog MT2 assay. In addition to that shake flask culture experiments were carried out and did not show any significant removal of the toxin. Studies with natural water sources showed some pronounced effect on the removal of CYN. The use of TiO2 photocatalysis as another potential water treatment strategy was also evaluated. Current study successfully demonstrated the potential degradation of purified cylindrospermopsin using the titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalysis treatment method. TiO2 photocatalysis was performed by using a powder form (Degussa P25) catalyst effectively removing the toxin; however, the powder is difficult to remove from the treated water. TiO2 pellets (Hombikat K01/C) were found to be slower in degradation although they allowed for an easier adaption to a continuous treatment system. As an alternative Photospheres(TM) (buoyant glass beads coated in TiO2) was evaluated and showed the same efficacy as that of Degussa P 25. Studies were extended to investigate the application of UV-LEDs in the photocatalysis reaction to show better efficiency

Template induced polymorphic selectivity in pharmaceutical crystallisation

Polymorphism in pharmaceutical drug crystals causes differences in their bioavailability, stability and processability. Hence, identifying different crystal polymorphs of an active ingredient during the early stages of drug development and controlling crystal polymorphism during the manufacturing process are important aspects of pharmaceutical crystallisation. Nucleation and growth of different polymorphs in a crystallising solution are regulated by a delicate balance between thermodynamic and kinetic factors. Crystal nucleation predominantly occurs via heterogeneous nucleation pathway as it is energetically favourable than homogeneous nucleation. Template-induced nucleation approach aims to utilise the advantage of heterogeneous nucleation to induce nucleation of specific crystal polymorphs through interfacial interactions between a preformed solid surface and solute molecules at the nucleation stage. In template-induced crystallisation, templates with specific surface properties that can act as heterogeneous nucleation sites are introduced in contact with the crystallising solution. Specific interactions between the template surface and solute molecules are known to influence nucleation and growth of crystal polymorphs. However, the effects of template surface chemistry and other operating conditions such as temperature and supersaturation on template-induced crystallisation is not clearly understood. Hence, the aim of this study is to probe the combined effects of surface chemistry, crystallisation temperature, supersaturation, and solvent on template-induced crystallisation experimentally and consequent development of a molecular modelling approach to study template-induced nucleation. This could help in establishing template-induced nucleation as a method to achieve preferential nucleation of crystal polymorphs and to support template chemistry as a novel parameter for polymorph screenings. Carbamazepine (CBZ) was selected as the model drug compound and silanised glass vials were chosen as the template surfaces. CBZ crystallisation from ethanol solutions on templates with cyano functional surface groups led to selective nucleation of metastable form II crystals while the control surfaces resulted in concomitant nucleation of both form II and stable form III crystals. On mercapto and fluoro templates, CBZ crystallised preferentially as form III polymorph. These variations in the polymorphic outcome with template chemistry, temperature and supersaturation were mapped on to template-induced polymorphic domain (TiPoD) plots. The analysis of TiPoD plots showed that the template-induced nucleation mechanism was prominent within a narrow range of supersaturation across the temperature range studied. The influence of solvents on template-induced nucleation of CBZ polymorphs was also investigated by constructing TiPoD plots in five different solvents. These studies revealed that the templates were less effective in altering polymorphic outcome in highly polar solvent in comparison with the less polar solvents. Interfacial interactions between the template surface and CBZ crystal polymorphs were calculated through molecular modelling. The simulation results suggest that those templates exhibiting favourable interaction energies with the dominant crystal facets of a specific polymorph preferentially induce nucleation of that crystal form.Open Acces

Biological Evaluation and Molecular Docking Studies of Benzalkonium Ibuprofenate

The third-generation ionic liquids (ILs), which are being used to produce double active pharmaceutical ingredients (d-APIs) with tunable biological activity along with novel performance, enhancement, and delivery options, have been revolutionizing the area of drug discovery since the past few decades. Herein we report the in vitro antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity of benzalkonium ibuprofenate (BaIb) that are being used as in-house d-API, with a particular focus on its interaction with respective protein target through molecular docking study. The evaluation of the biological activity of BaIb with the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory target at the molecular level revealed that the synthesized BaIb could be designed as a potential double active drug since it retains the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity of its parent drugs, benzalkonium chloride (BaCl) and sodium ibuprofenate (NaIb), respectively

New Record of the Egg-larval Parasitoid, Chelonus formosanus Sonan of Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) in the Philippines

The egg-larval parasitoid on fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) have not reported in the Philippines. This paper summarizes the global biological information on two species of Chelonus and their role in the regulation of FAW. The FAW egg masses and larvae were collected in the corn plantations inside the Lipa Agricultural Research Station, Marawoy, Lipa City, Batangas. The collected egg masses and larvae were reared at the Entomology Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Crop Protection Center IVA. The larvae of FAW were observed for the emergence of parasitoids. Two cocoons of the parasitoid from the rearing cages were obtained for species determination. Three adults from the emerged parasitoids, each male and female, were initially preserved and labeled. Color images of habitus and other morphological characters of the parasitoid were taken using a DSLR camera attached to an Olympus SZ61-60 microscope. This research found two species that emerged from FAW: Chelonus formosanus and the new record of C. semihyalinus. We also highlight the need for more research in the Philippines on exploring the diversity of indigenous natural enemies, the development of mass-rearing techniques, and their utilization to manage fall armyworms

DFT and Molecular Docking Studies of a Set of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs: Propionic Acid Derivatives

Inflammation is the body’s defense mechanism to eradicate the spread of injurious agents in the affected mammalian tissues with a number of cellular mediators. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most commonly used drugs worldwide in such situations. The mode of action of the non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is attributed primarily to the inhibition of prostaglandin (PG) synthesis, and more specifically, to the inhibition of the COX enzyme system. This work can be considered as an effort to gain a deeper insight into the physiochemical properties of a few well-known NSAIDs namely; ketoprofen, fenoprofen, flurbiprofen and ibuprofen. A quantum computational approach was used to predict geometry, molecular electrostatic potential (MESP), polarizability, hyperpolarizability and molecular docking study of all selected NSAIDs with human COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes were done to predict the most active drug among the four and to demonstrate good selectivity profile with COX enzymes