Use of Platelet-Rich Plasma in Treating Low Back Pain: A Review of the Current Literature

Low back pain (LBP) is a common problem encountered by physicians. It is a considerable cause of morbidity and socioeconomic loss and is one of the most expensive musculoskeletal disorders. Conventional treatments include bed rest, analgesics, therapeutic exercises, lumbar or caudal epidural corticosteroids, and surgery. Several new biological therapies are being investigated for use in LBP and one of these is platelet-rich plasma (PRP). In this article, we summarize the current literature published on PRP concerning its composition, classification, and application in LBP. We believe our review will prove useful to clinicians and academics alike, interested in new developing therapies for LBP.

Taguchi's experimental design for optimizing the production of novel thermostable polypeptide antibiotic from Geobacillus pallidus SAT4

Polypeptide antimicrobials used against topical infections are reported to obtain from mesophilic bacterial species. A thermophilic Geobacillus pallidus SAT4 was isolated from hot climate of Sindh Dessert, Pakistan and found it active against Micrococcus luteus ATCC 10240, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Bacillus subtilis NCTC 10400 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 49189. The current experiment was designed to optimize the production of novel thermostable polypeptide by applying the Taguchi statistical approach at various conditions including the time of incubation, temperature, pH, aeration rate, nitrogen, and carbon concentrations. There were two most important factors that affect the production of antibiotic including time of incubation and nitrogen concentration and two interactions including the time of incubation/pH and time of incubation/nitrogen concentration. Activity was evaluated by well diffusion assay. The antimicrobial produced was stable and active even at 55degree C. Ammonium sulphate [AS] was used for antibiotic recovery and it was desalted by dialysis techniques. The resulted protein was evaluated through SDS-PAGE. It was concluded that novel thermostable protein produced by Geobacillus pallidus SAT4 is stable at higher temperature and its production level can be improved statistically at optimum values of pH, time of incubation and nitrogen concentration the most important factors for antibiotic production.

Antibiotic production by thermophilic bacillus species SAT-4

Production of antimicrobial compounds seems to be a general phenomenon for most bacteria. The prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among key microbial pathogens is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide. Current solutions involve development of a more rationale approach to antibiotic use and discover of new antimicrobials. Bacillus species produce a large number of biological compounds active against bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses. The process of production usually involves screening of wide range of microorganisms, testing and modification. Production is carried out using fermentation. Thermophilic spore-forming, gram positive, motile rod bacterial strains were isolated from the Thar Desserts, Sindh Province, Pakistan. These strains were screened and checked for antibacterial activity. The best activity was observed by SAT4 against Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeroginosa. The activity was only observed against gram positive bacteria and no activity was seen against Pseudomonas aeroginosa. Thermophilic Bacillus specie SAT4 was found to be active in the fermentation process to produce the antimicrobial agents. Further optimizations of different conditions [time of incubation, media, pH, glucose concentrations, nitrogen concentrations, and temperature] for antimicrobial production by the selected bacterial strain was performed. Agar diffusion assay was performed to evaluate the antibacterial activity. Optimum conditions for the production of antimicrobials by selected isolate were observed to be 48 hour, pH 5, temperature 55°C, 2% glucose and 1.5% nitrogen concentration. This newly isolated bacterial strain has great potential for antimicrobial production at industrial scale

phase II study of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil combination chemotherapy and concurrent thoracic radiation in squamous cell carcinoma of lung

To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil combination chemotherapy and concurrent thoracic radiation in squamous cell carcinoma of lung. A prospective, non randomized, quasi-experimental, phase II study which was conducted in the Department of Clinical Oncology Mayo Hospital/KEMC Lahore. This study was conducted from September 2002 to May 2004. Twenty two patients of histopathologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of lung were enrolled. Stage III B or stage IV patients requiring radiation therapy for control of local symptoms were included. These patients were treated with chemotherapy and concurrent chest radiation. The treatment regimen included cisplatin 80mg/m2 on day one and day "28" and 5-FU 750mg/m2 day 1-4 and day "28-31". Radia-tion was started on day one and a tumor dose of 50 Gy was delivered in 25 fractions. Common Toxicity Criteria and RTOG criteria were used to assess toxicities. Miller's criteria were used for response evaluation. Responses were evaluated two weeks after the completion of concurrent chemoradiotherapy. All the twenty two patients completed the planned treatment. Complete response was not achieved in any patient. Partial response was seen in 15 patients [68.18%], stable disease in five patients [22.73%] and progressive disease was seen in two patients [9.09%]. CTC Grade-II nausea was seen in eight patients [36.36%], vomiting in five patients [22.73%] and mucositis in six patients [27.27%]. Grade-III neutropenia was observed in three patients [13.64%] and Grade-III mucositis and diarrhea in five patients [22.72%] each. Grade-IV neutropenia was seen in two patients [9.09%]. Cisplatin and 5-Fluorouracil combination chemotherapy concurrent with 50 Gy radiation is an effective and well tolerated treatment modality for this subset of lung cancer patients