Trends of human influenza infection in Chhattisgarh: a retrospective observational study

Background: Human influenza virus was recognized as a pandemic in 2009 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then many newer incidences was recognized in India, but there was no sufficient data from all state of India. This study will provide data from the Chhattisgarh state of India.Methods: It was a retrospective observational study from December 2015 to November 2017. All patient samples with suspected influenza infection were collected and analysed by Real-time reverse polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).Results: 341 patients’ sample was collected and analysed; among these samples, 07.9% of patients have all three serotype of influenza positive. Raipur district has the highest incidence of influenza A followed by Durg and Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh. There was no significant difference between male and female who was affected by the influenza virus.Conclusions: The incidence of Human influenza virus is lesser in Chhattisgarh as compare to the average states of India and the state capital has a higher rate of sample collection as well as positive influenza infection

Antibiotics sensitivity and resistant pattern in tribal region of Chhattisgarh, India: a retrospective observational study

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the biggest health care problem globally, it is responsible for the high rate of mortality worldwide which was commonly observed in developing countries. We tried to find the incidence of antimicrobial resistance in the tribal region of Chhattisgarh, India.Methods: It was an institutional based retrospective observational study. Out of 3389 samples from inpatient and outpatient department, a total number of 1676 cultured proven micro-organism were isolated from Jan 2017 to Dec 2018. SPSS v23 was used for descriptive analysis.Results: More than 75% of the samples collected from the inpatient department in which surgical IPD were significantly higher. The commonest isolated were Staphylococcus aureus followed by Escherichia coli, then Klebsiella species. Amoxycillin-clavulanic acid was resistant to the majority of microorganism followed by 3rd generation cephalosporins then Co-trimoxazole.Conclusions: Antimicrobial resistance was higher even in the tribal region. The incidence of AMR is increasing at an alarming rate. Microorganism targeted antimicrobial therapy with the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics and avoidance of broad-spectrum antibiotics will possibly overcome the antimicrobial resistance. There is also a need to strengthen laboratory or microbiology department to produce an accurate report to combat antimicrobial resistance

Sistema de administración de fármacos autoemulsionante: una estrategia para mejorar la biodisponibilidad oral

Objetivo: La vía oral siempre ha sido la ruta preferida de administración de fármacos en muchas enfermedades y hasta hoy es la primera forma investigada en el desarrollo de nuevas formas de dosificación. El principal problema en las formulaciones de fármacos orales es la baja y errática biodisponibilidad, lo que resulta fundamentalmente por la escasa solubilidad en agua, con lo que plantean problemas en su formulación. Para la administración terapéutica de los grupos activos lipófilos (BCS clase II drogas), las formulaciones a base de lípidos están teniendo cada vez más atención. Métodos: Con ese objetivo, a partir de los sitios web de PubMed, HCAplus, Thomson, y sus registros se utilizaron como fuentes principales para llevar a cabo la búsqueda de los artículos de investigación más importantes publicados sobre el tema. A continuación, la información fue analizada cuidadosamente, poniendo de relieve los resultados más importantes en la formulación y desarrollo de sistemas de administración de fármacos auto-emulsionante micro, así como su actividad terapéutica. Resultados: El sistema de administración de fármacos autoemulsionante (SMEDDS) ha ganado más atención debido a la mejorada que permite la reducción de la biodisponibilidad oral en dosis, los perfiles temporales más consistentes de la absorción del fármaco, la orientación selectiva de fármaco (s) hacia la ventana de absorción específica en el tracto gastrointestinal, y la protección del fármaco (s) desde el entorno poco receptivo en el intestino. Conclusiones: Este artículo proporciona una visión completa de SMEDDS como un enfoque prometedor para abordar eficazmente el problema de moléculas poco solubles.Aim: Oral route has always been the favorite route of drug administration in many diseases and till today it is the first way investigated in the development of new dosage forms. The major problem in oral drug formulations is low and erratic bioavailability, which mainly results from poor aqueous solubility, thereby pose problems in their formulation. For the therapeutic delivery of lipophilic active moieties (BCS class II drugs), lipid based formulations are inviting increasing attention. Methods: To that aim, from the web sites of PubMed, HCAplus, Thomson, and Registry were used as the main sources to perform the search for the most significant research articles published on the subject. The information was then carefully analyzed, highlighting the most important results in the formulation and development of self-micro emulsifying drug delivery systems as well as its therapeutic activity. Results: Self-emulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) has gained more attention due to enhanced oral bio-availability enabling reduction in dose, more consistent temporal profiles of drug absorption, selective targeting of drug(s) toward specific absorption window in GIT, and protection of drug(s) from the unreceptive environment in gut. Conclusions: This article gives a complete overview of SMEDDS as a promising approach to effectively deal with the problem of poorly soluble molecules

SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC DETERMINATION OF PROPRANOLOL HYDROCHLORIDE AND METOPROLOL TARTRATE IN PHARMACEUTICAL DOSAGE FORMS, SPIKED WATER AND BIOLOGICAL FLUIDS

Objective: A new spectrophotometric method for the determination of propranolol hydrochloride (PRO) and metoprolol tartrate (MTP), beta blocker drugs, has been developed for their analysis in pharmaceutical dosage forms for the purpose of quality control and water samples for monitoring impact on environmental water quality of natural sources and in biological fluids for ascertaining their physiological performance.Methods: The method is based on the derivatization of the amino function present in these drugs to the corresponding yellow copper (I) drug dithiocarbamate derivative through reaction with carbon disulphide, pyridine and copper (I) perchlorate in aqueous acetonitrile and measuring absorbance at 406 nm for propranolol and 400 nm for metoprolol. The different experimental parameters affecting the development and stability of the colour were carefully studied and optimized.Results: The Beer's law is obeyed in the range of 1.0-40.0 μg/ml of each drug solution with a correlation coefficient 0.999. The maximum relative standard deviations (RSDs) in the analysis of pure PRO and MTP were 1.01 and 1.52 % respectively. The recoveries of the drugs from pharmaceutical formulations, spiked water samples and biological fluids were in the range 98.0-100.5 % with RSDs in the range 0.23-1.94% indicating good accuracy and precision of the method.Conclusion: The instantaneous development of colour and its stability, well-established stoichiometry of the reaction and above simplicity and rapidity of procedures are some special attributes of the proposed method

Screening and statistical optimization of media ingredients for production of microbial transglutaminase

Transglutaminase is a calcium dependent enzyme that catalyses acyl transfer reactions between primary amino groups and protein bound glutamine residues. Eighteen bacterial and twenty eight actinomycetes were screened for the presence of transglutaminase. Among the microbial cultures screened Streptomyces sp. D1, showed maximum transglutaminase activity. In this study characterization of transglutaminase and its application to modifying the properties of panner (Indian cottage cheese) in the form of cross linking was investigated. Optimum temperature and pH for enzyme was found to be at 50°C and 6.0, respectively. Optimization of media ingredients for maximizing the transglutaminase activity using Streptomyces sp. D1 was carried out using central composite design. Response surface methodology was employed to standardize the optimum media composition for maximum enzyme activity. Three factors such as carbon source, nitrogen source and pH were tested for the maximum enzyme activity as response. The optimized medium with sugarcane molasses as carbon source 6.0% (w/v), peptone as nitrogen source 1.75% (w/v) were found to be optimal at initial pH 6.5 and incubation temperature 30.0°C with agitation at 100 rpm for 96h. The enzyme activity of transglutaminase obtained from the optimized medium was found to be 4.1 (AU/ml). Low cost substrate such as sugarcane molasses in the form of a renewable substrate is proposed to be suitable even for scale-up production of enzyme and for industrial applications. The ethanol fractionated transglutaminse treated milk was found to produce more paneer with increased moisture content while reduction in cooking loss of the paneer prepared using enzyme treated milk is also reported

A world health organization core drug use indicator based prescription study in the dermatology outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital of central South India

Background: Irrational prescribing is a universal problem that may lead to inadequate response to medication therapy, poor patient compliance and increased adverse drug reactions ultimately leading to frequent hospital admissions. Hence this study was done to assess the drug utilization pattern using WHO core drug use indicators so that the recommendation can be made towards the rational prescribing.Methods: A sample of 3650 prescriptions was analysed prospectively to assess the drug utilization patterns in the dermatology OPD of a tertiary care teaching hospital of central south India.Results: The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.74 whereas 79.26% drugs were prescribed by generic names. Percentage of encounters with an antibiotic prescribed was 18.68%. Regarding use of injections, 3.26% prescriptions contains one or more injections. Percentage of drugs prescribed from essential drugs list was 78.37%. Average consultation time was lower (2.9 minutes) than recommended.Conclusions: The data from the present study indicates that prevalence of polypharmacy, inadequate consultation and dispensing time along with poor patient’s knowledge are the areas of medication therapy to be improved. Availability of essential drugs and key drugs in stock should be improved to achieve rational therapeutic goal. Further, continued medical education regarding the rational prescribing will definitely improve the standards of health care delivery

Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus infection causes modulation of inflammatory and immune response genes in mouse brain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neurovirulent Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) causes lethal encephalitis in equines and is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. VEEV is highly infectious when transmitted by aerosol and has been developed as a bio-warfare agent, making it an important pathogen to study from a military and civilian standpoint. Molecular mechanisms of VEE pathogenesis are poorly understood. To study these, the gene expression profile of VEEV infected mouse brains was investigated. Changes in gene expression were correlated with histological changes in the brain. In addition, a molecular framework of changes in gene expression associated with progression of the disease was studied.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results demonstrate that genes related to important immune pathways such as antigen presentation, inflammation, apoptosis and response to virus (<it>Cxcl10</it>, <it>CxCl11</it>, <it>Ccl5</it>, <it>Ifr7</it>, <it>Ifi27 Oas1b</it>, <it>Fcerg1</it>,<it>Mif</it>, <it>Clusterin and MHC class II) </it>were upregulated as a result of virus infection. The number of over-expressed genes (>1.5-fold level) increased as the disease progressed (from 197, 296, 400, to 1086 at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours post infection, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Identification of differentially expressed genes in brain will help in the understanding of VEEV-induced pathogenesis and selection of biomarkers for diagnosis and targeted therapy of VEEV-induced neurodegeneration.</p

A Study of Climate Variability and Socioeconomic Impact on Tourism Industry of Nepal

In Nepal, tourism is the second largest industry after agriculture. Furthermore, Nepal offers numerous opportunities for adventurous outdoor recreation, especially in the Himalayas, and attracts touristsfrom all over the World. However, future prosperity of Nepal’s tourism industry might be affected by a changing climate and a socioeconomic environment. A log-level regression model is employed to estimate the impact of climatic and socioeconomic factors on the number of international tourists visiting Nepal. Climatic estimates indicated that an increase in temperature did not have a significant impact on the numbers of international tourist arrival. Results show that the number of international tourists visiting Nepal was positively associated with GDP and population growth, inflation rate, and an exchange rate. These results help policy makers for facilitating growth of tourism industry and its adaptability to climate change in Nepal