FORMULATION AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF NANOSTRUCTURED LIPID CARRIER FOR CODELIVERY OF CLOTRIMAZOLE AND CIPROFLOXACIN

Objective: The purpose of this research was to formulate nanostructured lipid carrier system (NLCs) in such a way that they can be applied forbacterial as well as fungal infectious diseases.Methods: To achieve the prime objective, varying concentrations of clotrimazole (CLZ) and ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) were selected for formulations.Stearic acid (solid lipid polymer), oleic acid (liquid lipid polymer), and polyvinyl alcohol (surfactant) were utilized for formulating NLCs throughsolvent diffusion technique. NLCs were characterized for their surface morphology, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) drug-polymerinteraction, particle size distribution, zeta potential, loading capacity, drug entrapment efficacy (EE), and in vitro drug release profile.Results: NLCs were fabricated with size range varying from 276 nm to 564 nm, possessing smooth spherical morphology. No drug-polymer interactionwas observed through FTIR analysis. The highest drug EE for CLZ and CIPRO was found to be 78.6% and 65.8%, respectively. Formulated NLCs depictthe biphasic release profile with initial burst release of 40% within 2 hrs followed by controlled release.Conclusion: Better homing of drug molecules and controlled drug release through formulated NLCs makes them suitable carrier system for variousanti-microbial and anti-fungal applications.Keywords: Nanostructured lipid carries, Clotrimazole, Ciprofloxacin, Solvent diffusion method, In vitro release

ANTIFERTILITY ACTIVITY AND CONTRACEPTIVE POTENTIAL OF THE HYDROALCOHOLIC RHIZOME EXTRACT OF TRILLIUM GOVANIANUM IN FEMALE WISTAR RATS

Objective: Trillium govanianum is used in several traditional containing steroids and sex hormones for the management of inflammation, menstrual disorders, sex-related disorders, and antiseptic. The present study was aimed to investigate the antifertility potential of hydroalcoholic rhizome extract of T. govanianum and to explore the possible mechanism of action. Methods: Anti-implantation activity of T. govanianum rhizome extract (125 and 250 mg/kg; p.o.) was performed in female Wistar rats with proven fertility, and its estrogenic/antiestrogenic effect was evaluated in ovariectomized females. 17-α-ethinylestradiol (1 μg/rat/day; s.c.) or plant extract was administered for 11 days after which animals were sacrificed. Percentage inhibition of implantation sites, serum estrogen levels, changes in body and uterus weight, and morphological alterations in the uterus and ovaries were evaluated. Results: T. govanianum treatment resulted in increased uterus weight and induced dose-dependent anti-implantation effect, with 100% implantation inhibition at 250 mg/kg dose. Anti-implantation effects of T. govanianum were associated with endometrial thickening and significantly elevated serum estrogen levels. Moreover, estrogenic/antiestrogenic studies revealed that T. govanianum possessed strong estrogenic effect; however, the effect was saturable. Conclusion: T. govanianum possesses antifertility activity which can be attributed to its strong estrogenic potential and uterine thickening. Moreover, it could find a clinical application as a safer and efficacious birth control herbal remedy

EFFICIENT HYDROALCOHOLIC EXTRACTION FOR HIGHEST DIOSGENIN CONTENT FROM TRILLIUM GOVANIANUM (NAG CHHATRI) AND IT'S IN VITRO ANTICANCEROUS ACTIVITY

ABSTRACTObjective: The present study involves hydroalcoholic extraction of Trillium govanianum (Hindi name: Nag chhatri), which is a high-value medicinalplant found at the altitude of 2500-4000 m. Aiming in this direction, we performed hydrolysis of extract using response surface methodology (RSM)for optimizing diosgenin content. The extracts were evaluated for cytotoxicity.Methods: In RSM, the cumulative effect of independent variables including time (minutes), temperature (°C), and solid-liquid ratio (g/ml)were investigated through central composite design. Cytotoxicity studies of crude rhizome and hydroalcoholic extract were carried out by3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay on three cell lines, viz., MDCK, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-23.Results: The diosgenin content obtained was 5.9%, which is reported for the first time in T. govanianum. Hydrolyzed extract showed less toxicity inMDCK (normal cell line) cells but significantly reduced the proliferation of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells.Conclusion: Hydrolysis method was optimized by RSM, which proved to be an efficient method for extraction of diosgenin from T. govanianum.Hydrolyzed extract showed antiproliferative activity on cancer cell lines with minimal effect on normal cells.Keywords: Trillium govanianum, Diosgenin, Nag chhatri, Hydrolysis, MDCK, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231

Use of thiopurines in inflammatory bowel disease : an update

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), once considered a disease of the Western hemisphere, has emerged as a global disease. As the disease prevalence is on a steady rise, management of IBD has come under the spotlight. 5-Aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, immunosuppressive agents and biologics are the backbone of treatment of IBD. With the advent of biologics and small molecules, the need for surgery and hospitalization has decreased. However, economic viability and acceptability is an important determinant of local prescription patterns. Nearly one-third of the patients in West receive biologics as the first/initial therapy. The scenario is different in developing countries where biologics are used only in a small proportion of patients with IBD. Increased risk of reactivation of tuberculosis and high cost of the therapy are limitations to their use. Thiopurines hence become critical for optimal management of patients with IBD in these regions. However, approximately one-third of patients are intolerant or develop adverse effects with their use. This has led to suboptimal use of thiopurines in clinical practice. This review article discusses the clinical aspects of thiopurine use in patients with IBD with the aim of optimizing their use to full therapeutic potential.Peer reviewe

FNAC findings of head and neck lesions in our Institute- A 3 year retrospective study

Background: There are several lesions of the head and neck region which are routinely encountered by different clinicians in patients among all age groups and diagnoses varies from benign lesions to malignancies. To identify these lesions, various diagnostic tools such as FNACs are being used which help the clinicians in a great way.Methods: This is a retrospective study done from August 2016 to October 2019 in a tertiary care hospital. All cases received in Department of Pathology were included in this study. It included a total of 310 cases. FNAC (including USG guided) were done from palpable masses of head and neck regions preferably from thyroid and breast lumps. Data entry and analysis were done using SPSS version 20.Results: A total of 310 patients who underwent FNAC of the head and neck region were included in this study. Maximum number of patients were in the age group of 21 to 30 years i.e. 85(27.42%) . In this study, 273(91.30%) cases were benign and 26(8.70%) cases were malignant lesions with aspirates from lymph nodes being the maximum. In our study, majority of the thyroid lesions 111(92.5%) belong to benign category II.Conclusion: It is concluded that FNAC proves to be a first line of investigation in the diagnosis of head and neck swellings. Here, most of the swellings occurred in the head and neck region. Thyroid FNA smears were also reported using the Bethesda system which helped in achieving more precise cytological diagnosis

Case for resurgence of radical perineal prostatecomy in Indian subcontinent

Introduction: Radical perineal prostatectomy was the first surgery described for prostatic carcinoma (Young, 1904) but it lost its eminent status after Walsh′s description in 1982 of anatomic radical retropubic prostatectomy followed by the enthusiasm in laparoscopy and now robotics. It made resurgence after it was realized in early 1990s that the pelvic lymph node dissection is needed only in selected cases. Last decade witnessed over 80 publications addressing the results and advances in the perineal approach. Strangely, centres from the subcontinent have chosen to ignore this resurgence. We describe our early experience with the technique in 35 patients and present the case for its more widespread usage. Patients and Methods: Thirty five patients of clinically localized carcinoma prostate were operated by perineal route in our institution from December 2006 onwards. All patients had serum prostate specific antigen levels less than 10 ng/ml. Results: Operating time was 2 to 3.5 hours (mean 2.5 hours). Rectal injury occurred in three patients but was closed primarily in all and none required a colostomy. Mean duration of hospital stay was four days. The disease was organ confined in 25(71%). Positive margins were seen in 5(14%) patients. Biochemical recurrence occurred in 17% patients at one year. Seventy six percent patients had achieved continence at one year. Conclusions: As the world is taking note of radical perineal prostatectomy again, with a very small learning curve, minimal invasion and good oncological control urologists from Indian subcontinent should also embrace this procedure in view of the relative limited resources available

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A PASSENGER CAR FUELLEDWITH BLENDSOF JATROPAMETHYL ESTER/ETHYL ESTERWITH DIESEL

Recent concerns over the environment, increasing fuel prices and scarcity of its supply have promoted the interest in the development of the alternative sources for petroleum fuels. Many researchers have reported the use of vegetable oil ester as a fuel in diesel engine, thereby achieving reduction in harmful exhaust emissions as well as a comparable engine performance as that with diesel. However, study on chassis dynamometer and in the field related to fuel economy, acceleration was undertaken in order to understand the impact of blending vegetable oil esters with the diesel in vehicles. This paper presents the result of the investigation carried out on a diesel passenger car on chassis dynamometer using diesel, 10%, 20% and 30% blend of bio-diesel (JME) and (JEE) fuels. The vehicle performance study have been carried out with the aim of obtaining comparative measures of the constant speed fuel consumption, driving cycle fuel economy, WOT Power, fuel consumption. The emission of the CO2 was also computed using the fuel economy data on the above-mentioned fuels. The vehicle acceleration tests were also carried out on actual road condition using global positioning systems (GPS) and the results for maximum speed, time elapsed for a distance of the 1km and also the acceleration time for reaching speeds of 0-60 km/hr and 0-90 km/hr are reported in the paper

Improving quality of intrapartum and immediate postpartum care in public facilities: experiences and lessons learned from Rajasthan state, India

Abstract Background In spite of considerable improvement in maternal and neonatal outcomes over the past decade in India, the current maternal mortality ratio and neonatal mortality rate are far from the Sustainable Development Goal targets due to suboptimal quality of maternity care. A package of interventions for improving quality of intrapartum and immediate postpartum care was co-designed with the Ministry of Health as the Dakshata program and implemented in public sector health facilities in selected districts in the state of Rajasthan of India since June 2015. This article describes the key strategies, interventions, results and challenges from four years of Dakshata program implementation. Methods We have conducted secondary analysis of program data (government data) collected from 202 public facilities across 20 districts of Rajasthan state. The data collected between June–August 2015 (baseline) and the data collected between May-August 2019 (latest) were analyzed. The data sources included: facility assessments, service statistics, monthly progress reports. Results During the period of program implementation, there were 17,94,249 deliveries accounting for 70% of institutional deliveries in intervention districts. As a result of the intervention, there was a notable increase in competency of health care providers, availability of essential resources, achievement of labour room standards and adherence to evidence-based clinical standards. We also observed reductions in the proportion of referrals for pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, postpartum hemorrhage and neonatal asphyxia by 11, 8 and 3 percentage points respectively. Similarly, data revealed a reduction in stillbirth rates in Dakshata intervention facilities (19.3 vs 15.3) compared to non-Dakshata facilities (21.8 vs 18). Conclusions Our experience and findings indicate that the quality of intrapartum and immediate postpartum care can be improved in low- and middle-income countries with the approach presented in this paper