Outcomes of early first trimester medical termination of pregnancy: retrospective study

Background: Unsafe abortion is a major public health problem. Globally, 20 million unsafe abortions occur each year, accounting for 13% of all maternal deaths. According to WHO, 56% of abortions in developing countries are still unsafe even though medical abortion methods have been used for over a decade. The main objective of the present study is to compare the efficacy, acceptability, side effects and factors affecting the outcome of early medical abortion with oral and vaginal misoprostol after oral mifepristone in inducing early medical abortion up to 8 weeks of gestation. Methods: A one-year retrospective, observational study was conducted. A total of 82 post-MTP patients were included in this study. Data retrieved from the hospital database was tabulated and analysed. Results: The majority of women who underwent the procedure fell into the age group of 26-30 years (32.9%), on observing the parity of the mothers a whopping 82.9% were multiparous. The finished family (41.5%) was the most common reason for MTP. The incidence of RPOC in the study group was 31.7%. About 26.8% of the patients did not come back for follow-up. Conclusions: The majority of women who underwent the procedure fell into the age group of 26-30 years (32.9%), on observing the parity of the mothers a whopping 82.9% were multiparous. The finished family (41.5%) was the most common reason for MTP. The incidence of RPOC in the study group was 31.7%. About 26.8% of the patients did not come back for follow-up

Total Thiols: Biomedical Importance And Their Alteration In Various Disorders

Thiols are the organic compounds that contain a sulphydryl group. Among all the antioxidants that are available in the body, thiols constitute the major portion of the total body antioxidants and they play a significant role in defense against reactive oxygen species. Total thiols composed of both intracellular and extracellular thiols either in the free form as oxidized or reduced glutathione, or thiols bound to proteins. Among the thiols that are bound to proteins, albumin makes the major portion of the protein bound thiols, which binds to sufhydryl group at its cysteine-34 portion. Apart from their role in defense against free radicals, thiols share significant role in detoxification, signal transduction, apoptosis and various other functions at molecular level. The thiol status in the body can be assessed easily by determining the serum levels of thiols. Decreased levels of thiols has been noted in various medical disorders including chronic renal failure and other disorders related to kidney, cardiovascular disorders, stroke and other neurological disorders, diabetes mellitus, alcoholic cirrhosis and various other disorders. Therapy using thiols has been under investigation for certain disorders

A Comparative Study Between Alcoholics of Koraga Community, Alcoholics of General Population and Healthy Controls for Antioxidant Markers and Liver Function Parameters

Objectives: It is well established that long-term alcohol consumption leads to liver cirrhosis and other related disorders. Sufficient work has been done on biochemical markers of liver damage and antioxidant status of chronic alcoholics in general population. In the current study chronic alcoholics from a community called Koraga are analysed for the same parameters in a view to assess the extent of liver damage as compared to healthy controls and other alcoholics. Methods: Serum and urine samples from Koraga alcoholics (n=28), general alcoholics (n=30) and healthy controls (n=31) were analysed for liver function parameters and antioxidant markers. Liver function parameters were determined by automated analyzer. Markers of antioxidant status were estimated spectrophotometrically. The data was analysed using SPSS version 16.0. Results: There was significant increase in serum AST, serum ALT, serum GST and urine GST in both general and Koraga alcoholics when compared to healthy controls (p<0.0001). Serum ALT, serum GST and urine GST activity was significantly higher in general alcoholics when compared to Koraga alcoholics (p<0.001). Serum and urine total thiol levels were significantly lower in general alcoholics when compared to healthy controls and Koraga alcoholics (p<0.0001). We have observed no difference in total thiols level between healthy controls and Koraga alcoholics, in fact, there was significant increase in urine total thiols level in Koraga alcoholics compared to healthy controls (p<0.001). On Pearson’s correlation serum AST, serum ALT correlated positively with serum and urine GST (p<0.0001) and negatively with serum total thiols (p<0.0001). Serum GST correlated negatively with serum total thiols (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Results of our study possibly indicate that the extent of alcohol induced liver damage in Koraga subjects is comparatively lower than general alcoholics, even though the alcohol consumption is found to be higher in them. There may be some mechanism that is rendering them resistant to alcoholic liver damage which needs to be explored through further studies at molecular level