Antimicrobial activity and Quality Control Parameters of Talicati Vatakam - A Classical Siddha Drug

Tāḷicāti vaṭakam (TSV), a polyherbal siddha drug was chosen, it was screened for antimicrobial study and also subjected to standardization parameters. The ingredients were procured, authenticated and prepared the drug as per standard operating procedure. The ethanolic extract of TSV was screened for nine bacteria and two fungi. Then the drug was investigated for the phytochemical profile, physicochemical parameters, thin layer chromatographic  photo documentation (TLC), high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) finger print profile. Antimicrobial assay revealed  inhibitory activity against all test pathogens. TLC under UV  showed 8 bands at short wavelength, 13 bands at long wavelength; 8 bands showed post derivatization with vanillin Sulphuric acid reagent. The present investigation concluded that the siddha herbal preparation of TSV have great potential on antimicrobial against pathogens. This siddha formulation can be used to prevent the bacterial and fungal infections and the standards could be used for quality control of the drug

The Association of Active Cancer With Venous Thromboembolism Location: A Population-Based Study

OBJECTIVE: To test active cancer for an association with venous thromboembolism (VTE) location

Splanchnic vein thrombosis in myeloproliferative neoplasms: risk factors for recurrences in a cohort of 181 patients.

We retrospectively studied 181 patients with polycythaemia vera (n=67), essential thrombocythaemia (n=67) or primary myelofibrosis (n=47), who presented a first episode of splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT). Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) and portal vein thrombosis were diagnosed in 31 (17.1%) and 109 (60.3%) patients, respectively; isolated thrombosis of the mesenteric or splenic veins was detected in 18 and 23 cases, respectively. After this index event, the patients were followed for 735 patient years (pt-years) and experienced 31 recurrences corresponding to an incidence rate of 4.2 per 100 pt-years. Factors associated with a significantly higher risk of recurrence were BCS (hazard ratio (HR): 3.03), history of previous thrombosis (HR: 3.62), splenomegaly (HR: 2.66) and leukocytosis (HR: 2.8). Vitamin K-antagonists (VKA) were prescribed in 85% of patients and the recurrence rate was 3.9 per 100 pt-years, whereas in the small fraction (15%) not receiving VKA more recurrences (7.2 per 100 pt-years) were reported. Intracranial and extracranial major bleeding was recorded mainly in patients on VKA and the corresponding rate was 2.0 per 100 pt-years. In conclusion, despite anticoagulation treatment, the recurrence rate after SVT in myeloproliferative neoplasms is high and suggests the exploration of new avenues of secondary prophylaxis with new antithrombotic drugs and JAK-2 inhibitors.TB and AMV were supported by a grant from Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC, Milano) ‘Special Program Molecular Clinical Oncology 5 × 1000’ to AGIMM (AIRC-Gruppo Italiano Malattie Mieloproliferative). VDS was supported by an unrestricted grant from the Bruno Farmaceutici Foundation