Nanotechnology- future prospect in recent medicine: a review

Any damage at molecular or cellular level is the major culprit for disease & ill health. Nanotechnology, “the manufacturing technology of the 21st century," helps us economically build a broad range of complex molecular machines by manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Nanotech may be able to create many new materials and devices with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres with a vast range of applications, such as in medicine, electronics, biomaterials and energy production. Lots of new possibilities come into account in relation to use of nanotechnology in medicines. Nanotechnology in medicine involves applications of nanoparticles, also involves nano-robots to make repairs at the cellular levels. On the other hand, nanotechnology raises many of the same issues as any new technology, including concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of nanomaterials

Spanning Tree Based Community Detection Using Min-Max Modularity

AbstractCommunity refers to the group of entities which have similar behavior or characteristic among them. Usually community represents basic functional unit of social network. By understanding the behavior of elements in a community, one can predict the overall feature of large scale social network. Social networks are generally represented in the form of graph structure, where the nodes in it represent the social entities and the edges correspond to the relationships between them. Detecting different communities in large scale network is a challenging task due to huge data size associated with such network. Community detection is one of the emerging research area in social network analysis.In this paper, a spanning tree based algorithm has been proposed for community detection which provides better performance with respect to both time and accuracy. Modularity is the well known metric used to measure the quality of community partition in most of the community detection algorithms. In this paper, an extensive version of modularity has been used for quality assessment

Chronic pain, its management and psychological issues: A review

Chronic pain is one of the most prevalent, disabling conditions both in clinical and psychological aspects and yet often remains inadequately treateddue to cost reasons. Moreover, chronic pain commonly occurs in conjunction with depression, anxiety and somatoform disorders. Chronic andrecurrent pain not associated with a disease is very common in childhood and adolescence, but there are very less studies and analysis has been doneon chronic pain epidemiology and management. As pain is the important factor influencing quality of life and also the reason for which a person seekthe advice of physician even require hospitalization that is why this systematic review highlights the different types of chronic pain, epidemiology,pathophysiology, and management of chronic pain along with psychological issues associated with it.Keywords: Pain, Psychological aspects, Epidemiology, Somatoform disor

PATTERNS OF PRESCRIPTION AND ADR MONITORING OF DRUGS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF NEUROPATHIC PAIN IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Objective: Neuropathic pain arises from damage or pathological changes in the peripheral or central nervous system. The pain is difficult to treat as standard treatment with conventional analgesics doesn`t typically provide effective relief of pain. Methods: It was a one-year study of utilization and analysis of prescriptions for PNDs (Painful neuropathic disorders). The parameters evaluated were demographic profile of the patient (age and gender), type and etiology of PNDs, drug data (name of the group of drugs with individual drugs, mono or polytherapy, number of drugs per prescription, formulation) and associated adverse drug reactions (ADR) with the prescribed drug. Results: Maximum number of patients of PNDs resides in the age group of 18 – 35 yrs (41.2%) and more common in females. The most common PND encountered was painful diabetic neuropathy (43.9%) followed by cervical and lumbar radiculopathy, postherpetic neuralgia. 2942 drugs were prescribed in 1020 prescriptions out of which 96.8% were oral and 3.2% were topical formulations. Most frequently prescribed group of the drug was tricyclic antidepressants (27.3%) followed by anticonvulsants (25.3%). Polypharmacy was seen 89.7% as compared to monotherapy (10.3%). Only 132 ADRs of various types were seen. The most common organ system affected was the central nervous system followed by gastro intestinal systems. The most common drugs implicated for ADRs were TCAs (24.4%), anticonvulsants (16.6%), and Pregabeline (9.8%). There were no fatal adverse events. Mild to moderate ADRs included constipation, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, dryness of mouth. Conclusions: The choice of drug depends on etiology of neuropathic pain, drug efficacy and availability and also on ADR profile

PATTERNS OF PRESCRIPTION AND ADR MONITORING OF DRUGS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF NEUROPATHIC PAIN IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Objective: Neuropathic pain arises from demage, or the pathological changes in the peripheral or central nervous sytem. The pain is difficult to treat as standard treatment with conventional analgesics doesn`t typically provide effective relief of pain. Methods: It was a one year study of utilization and analysis of prescriptions for PNDs (Painful neuropathic disorders). The parameters evaluated were demographic profile of the patient (age and gender), type and etiology of PNDs, drug data (name of the group of drugs with individual drugs, mono or polytherapy, number of drugs per prescription, formulation) and associated adverse drug reactions(ADR) with the prescribed drug. Results: Maximum number of patients of PNDs resides in the age group of 18 – 35 yrs (41.2%) & more common in females. The most common PND encountered was painful diabetic neuropathy (43.9%) followed by cervical and lumbar radiculopathy, post herpetic neuralgia. 2942 drugs were prescribed in 1020 prescriptions out of which, 96.8% were oral and 3.2% were topical formulations. Most frequently prescribed group of drug was tricyclic antidepressant (27.3%) followed by anticonvulsants (25.3%). Polypharmacy was seen 89.7% as compared to monotherapy (10.3%). Only 132 ADRs of various types were seen. The most common organ system affected was central nervous system followed by gastro intestinal systems. The most common drugs implicated for ADRs were TCAs (24.4%), anticonvulsants (16.6%), and Pregabeline (9.8%). There were no fatal adverse events. Mild to moderate ADRs included constipation, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, dryness of mouth. Conclusions: The choice of drug depends on etiology of neuropathic pain, drug efficacy and availability and also on ADR profile

EVALUATION OF ANTIDEPRESSANT ACTIVITY OF ECLIPTA ALBA USING ANIMAL MODELS

Objective : Eclipta alba (Asteraceae) is a traditional medicinal plant known as Bhringaraj.This plant  has been used for the treatment of a variety of diseases. The leaves of Eclipta alba showed antihyperglycemic activity. The roots of Eclipta alba were found effective in wound healing . Methods : This study was undertaken to evaluate the possible antidepressant effect of  Eclipta alba leaf extract (EALE)  using Tail suspension test(TST) & Forced swim test (FST).  36 albino rats of either sex weighing between 20-25gm were randomly selected divided into 6 equal groups.  Group-I (control) received polyethyleneglycol (1ml/100gm),Group-II, III & IV received EALE in doses of 100,200,400 mg/kg orally (P.O.) respectively. Group V & VI (positive control) received Fluoxetine & Imipramine at doses of 20mg/kg & 15mg/kg p.o respectively.  Drug treatment was given for seven & fourteen successive days.  60 minutes after last dose of drug or standard the immobility period was recorded. Results : EALE produced significant antidepressant like effect at dose of 200 & 400 mg/kg administered for 7 & 14 consecutive days as indicated by reduction in immobility times of mice in TST & FST (P<0.05). The efficacy of EALE at 200mg/kg was found to be comparable to that of Fluoxetine & Imipramine at doses of 20mg/kg & 15mg/kg. Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that EALE possesses significant antidepressant activity compared to that of both Fluoxetine & Imipramine. KEYWORDS: Eclipta alba , Forced swim test, Tail suspension test, Antidepressants, Immobolity tim

Biosimilars in India; current status and future perspectives

Many key biologics are scheduled to lose their patent by the year 2020, which will provide the opportunity to other biopharmaceutical companies to develop the similar biologics. Biosimilar or similar biologic used has increased in the recent year following the approval of the first biosimilar in early 2000. India is one of the leading manufacturers of similar biologics. India has developed a new guideline in 2012 for the pre- and post-marketing approval of similar biologics

Perinatal Outcomes in Premature Placental Calcification and the Association of a Color Doppler Study: Report from a Tertiary Care Hospital in Eastern India

Introduction: Placental calcification, identified before the 36th week of gestational age, is known as premature placental calcification (PPC). PPC could be a clue for the poor fetal outcome. However, its association with adverse perinatal outcomes is yet to be confirmed. Objective: The primary objective was to determine and compare the perinatal outcomes in pregnancies with and without documented premature placental calcification. Methodology: The present study was a prospective cohort study performed from October 2017 to September 2019. We consecutively enrolled 494 antenatal women who presented to our antenatal OPD after taking consent to participate in our study. Transabdominal sonographies were conducted between 28–36 weeks of gestation to document placental maturity. We compared maternal and fetal outcomes between those who were identified with grade III placental calcification (n = 140) and those without grade III placental calcification (n = 354). Results: The incidence of preeclampsia, at least one abnormal Doppler index, obstetrics cholestasis, placental abruption, and FGR (fetal growth restriction) pregnancies were significantly higher in the group premature placental calcification. We also found a significantly increased incidence of Low APGAR (Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration) scores, NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) Admission, Abnormal CTG (cardiotocography), meconium-stained liquor, and low birth weight babies in those with grade III placental calcification. Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware of documenting placental grading while performing ultrasonography during 28 to 36 weeks. Ultrasonographically, the absence of PPC can define a subcategory of low-risk pregnant populations which probably need no referral to specialized centers and can be managed in these settings