Spurious drugs: do we neglect during our clinical practice? a systematic review

Spurious drugs are those manufactured by concealing the identity of the true ones. It forms one of the largest growing markets in India. The aim of this review is to create an awareness of the prescribing doctors that substandard or fraudulent drugs are widely prevalent and it is in our doorstep during the regular practice. The duty of the prescriber is to identify these drugs, share the information’s to the fellow colleagues and avoid them from prescribing. It is the role of the physicians to intimate this information to the patients also who consumes these drugs due to lack of awareness as like food products which are consumed as an adulterant one. We the health care professionals carry the duty of identifying these spurious drugs being manufactured and marketed by unlicensed or licensed pharmaceutical companies which are hazardous to our patient’s health. All the data’s about this misbranded drugs are gathered from Journals and related websites from 2000-2016, thereby complied to reveal the present situation of spurious drugs. The Government of India has taken steps to implement Cosmetics Act 1940 and special courts are set up for speedy disposal of these related cases. Also the Government in its part announced the “Whistle Blower Scheme” to encourage the public to be vigilant and report the widespread infiltration of spurious drugs in the market and to receive the cash reward for this information

Enhancement of agronomic traits and yield of rice var. ADT 43 grown in typic ustifluvent soil through silicon fertilization

Rice is a rich accumulator of silicon and its supply is essential for the growth and economic yield of rice. Hence, a field experiment was conducted in sandy clay loam soil belonging to Padugai series (Typic ustifluvent) at farmers holding in Kuttalam block, Mayiladuthurai district, Tamil Nadu to assess the role of silicon in improving agronomic characters and yield of rice ADT 43, Oryza sativa. The treatments included  T1 -  Recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), T2 - RDF + Potassium silicate (FS) - 0.25%, T3- RDF + FS - 0.50%, T4 - RDF +FS - 1.00%, T5­ -RDF + FS - 0.25%, T6 - RDF + FS - 0.50%,  T7­ - RDF + FS - 1.00%,  T8 - RDF + SA - 50 kg ha-1, T9 - RDF + SA - 100 kg ha-1 and T10 - RDF + SA- 150 kg ha-1. From T2 to T4, the foliar spray was done at tillering stage and from T5 to T7, the foliar spray was done at tillering and panicle initiation stage.  The silicon was applied through FS with the rice crop. The soil application of silicon relatively recorded higher growth and yield compared to foliar application. Besides improving different agronomic characters of the rice, the soil application of 50 kg Si ha-1 registered the highest grain yield (6183.3 kg ha-1) and straw yield (6740 kg ha-1) and was comparable with a single foliar spray of 1% Si.  Growth and rice yield increased with Si concentration of 0.25% to 1%.  Thus, the soil application of silicon @50 kg ha-1 through potassium silicate is advocated to realize maximum rice yield

Decrease in Absolute Eosinophil Count as a Reliable Marker of Mortality in Perforative Peritonitis

INTRODUCTION: Peritonitis is the commonest cause of sepsis in developing countries. Despite the treatment measures, mortality rates are still high (upto 40%).A rapid and persistent decrease in the numbers of circulating eosinophils is a distinctive aspect of physiological response to acute inflammation. Eosinopenia (<150 cells/dl) may be the result of migration of eosinophils into the inflammatory site due to release of the chemotactic factors. Many recent reports have shown that eosinopenia as a marker of sepsis. This promoted us to assess the diagnostic value of eosinopenia as mortality marker. AIM OF THE STUDY: To assess the prognostic value of eosinopenia in perforative peritonitis. MATERIALS & METHODS: This is a Prospective non randomized study conducted in the Dept of General Surgery, Stanley Medical College between Sep 2013 to Sep 2014. 100 patients with perforative peritonitis of age group 15-90yrs were chosen.Inclusion criteria-Patients with perforative peritonitis (diagnosed by clinical and radiological methods).Exclusion criteria-spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, malignant perforation, traumatic perforation, non-resusticable patients & post surgical leak. Method of collection of data: Details like Age, Comorbid illness, Perforation -Operation interval, Blood pressure, Heart rate and Creatinine (JABALPUR PROGNOSTIC INDEX) are recorded on admission.5ml of venous blood drawn with EDTA for Absolute eosinophil count and C-reactive protein measurement.All patients were treated with conventional surgery after optimizing their general condition. Patients were followed postoperatively and categorised into two groups(mortality and survival group).Survival or inpatient Mortality is considered as the end point of this study.Jabalpur prognostic score, AEC and CRP levels were compared between these two groups. RESULTS: All values were expressed as mean ± standard deviation and p-value is calculated using -test or Mann-Whitney tests. P value <0.05 is taken as significant.ROC analysis was carried out for diagnostic accuracy of various parameters as expressed by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC); an AUROC 1.0 was considered perfect discrimination and 0.5 was considered equal to chance. The AEC, CRP and JPS scores differ significantly between the two group.AEC was found to have the highest discriminative value AUROC 1.0 compared to CRP and JPS. CONCLUSION: AEC is a reliable marker of survival and it allows timely identification of high risk patients of perforative peritonitis

2,4-Dinitro-1-naphthyl 4-toluene­sulfonate

In the title compound, C17H12N2O7S, the dihedral angle between the benzene ring and the naphthyl plane is 26.34 (6)°. The nitro groups make dihedral angles of 40.09 (4) and 37.05 (3)° with the naphthyl plane. In the crystal structure, weak intra- and inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions are observed

A prospective comparative study to assess the efficacy and safety of sertraline and methylcobalin with pregabalin and methylcobalin in patients suffering with depression due to diabetic neuropathic pain

Background: Diabetic neuropathic pain produces mood swings thereby creating emotional disturbances ranging from mild anxiety to severe depression when the disease progresses for 10 years or more. The existing treatment includes Tricyclic antidepressants, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, anticonvulsants, Dual Reuptake Inhibitor antidepressant, topical agents like capsaicin, lignocaine, gabapentin. Yet the psychological component has to be treated with the antidepressants. Even though SSRI’s like sertraline has shown some promising results as analgesic but could works better as an antidepressant. Hence, this work emphasizes some promising role of sertraline as an adjuvant to methylcobalin and other medications in the management of depression due to diabetic neuropathic pain.Methods: A total of 100 consecutive patients of both sex between the age group of 18-65 years with painful diabetic neuropathic pain with signs and symptoms depression were recruited and randomized into two groups. Statistical methods: Data were tabulated, and results were analyzed. Chi-square test was used to analyze demographic data of the study population. Depressive score was analyzed at baseline and 12th week by using Student’s t-test and Analysis of Co variance. A p value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: Group I patients showed an improvement of symptomatology where the number of patients shifted from mild to minimal depression. This is critically less in Group II.Conclusions: The combination of sertraline with methylcobalin showed a promising outcome with improvement of symptoms of painful diabetic neuropathic pain in Indian patients

3-Amino­phenyl naphthalene-1-sulfonate

In the title compound, C16H13NO3S, the plane of the naphthalene ring system forms a dihedral angle of 64.66 (10)° with the benzene ring. The mol­ecular structure is stabilized by weak intra­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions and the crystal packing is stabilized by weak inter­molecular N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O inter­actions and by π–π stacking inter­actions of the inversion-related naphthalene units [centroid–centroid distance of 3.7373 (14) Å]

Usability of monthly ERFS (Extended Range Forecast System) to predict maize yield using DSSAT (Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer) model over Erode District of Tamil Nadu

Extended Range of Forecast Service (ERFS) is highly useful for planning of cropping season and midterm correction at the farm level. The medium-range and long-range forecast validation have many studies, whereas ERF has less that needs to be studied. Maize is an important field crop in India after rice and wheat.  Therefore, the prediction of maize yield has significant importance. In the present study, ERFS data were validated by correlation analysis using monthly observed rainfall frequency and intensity. This data was imported to DSSAT (Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer) to simulate maize yield of Erode district of Tamil Nadu. The model output and actual yield data from Erode were compared. Forecasted monthly total rainfall was correlated at a rate of 0.97r value with that observed. Yield simulation of maize was done using DSSAT by integrating ERFS data and the observed monthly data. Mean per cent deviation among the yields of observed weather and the disaggregated one tended to be -15.7 %. The average deviation between the yields of ERF forecasted weather data and actual yield was very high ( -29.7 % ) for Erode. Mean % deviation between the yields of observed weather and the actual yield was -14.7 %. Downscaled and accurate weather forecasts could be facilitated for yield prediction of crops by DSSAT model. Yield prediction by the model under observed weather was convenient and usable. Model under-predicted the yields when using ERF data. Both model and ERF forecast need to be improved further for higher resolution

4′-Ferrocenyl-1′-methylacenapthylene-1-spiro-2′-pyrrolidine-3′-spiro-2′′-indane-2,1′′,3′′(1H)-trione

In the title compound, [Fe(C5H5)(C29H20NO3)], the acenaphthyl­ene ring system makes a dihedral angle of 83.77 (3)° with the indane-1,3-dione ring system. The central pyrrolidine ring exhibits a twist conformation. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by a weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­action into a chain along the b axis. Two weak intra­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions are also present

Methyl 9-p-tolyl-8a,9,9a,10,11,12,13,14a-octa­hydro-8H-benzo[f]chromeno[3,4-b]indolizine-8a-carboxyl­ate

In the title compound, C28H29NO3, the fused pyrrolidine and piperidine rings of the octa­hydro­indolizine unit exhibit envelope and chair conformations, respectively. The dihedral angle between the naphthalene ring system and the benzene ring is 40.37 (5)°. The crystal packing is stabilized by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions

19-Ferrocenyl-18-oxa-8,16-diaza­penta­cyclo­[8.6.3.01,10.02,7.012,16]nona­deca-2(7),3,5-triene-9,17-dione

In the title compound, [Fe(C5H5)(C21H19N2O3)], both pyrrol­idine rings of the pyrrolizine substructure show an envelope conformation. In the ferrocenyl moiety, the unsubstituted cyclo­penta­dienyl ring is disordered over two orientations with site occupancies of 0.64 (2) and 0.36 (2). In the pyrrolizine ring, one C atom is disordered over two positions, with site occupancies of 0.71 (1) and 0.29 (1). Intra­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions occur. The crystal packing is established through weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O and N—H⋯O inter­actions