Effect of solvent polarity on the extraction of components of pharmaceutical plastic containers

A study of the extraction of polymeric material and dyes from the pharmaceutical plastic containers using various organic solvents was conducted to evaluate the effect of polarity on the extraction process. The plastic containers used included semi-opaque, opaque, transparent and amber colored and the solvent used were acetonitrile, methanol, ethanol, acetone, dichloroethane, chloroform and water. The determination of extractable material was carried out by gravimetric and spectrometric methods. The yield of extractable materials from containers in 60 h was 0.10-1.29% [w/w] and the first-order rate constant [kobs] for the extraction of polymeric material ranged from 0.52-1.50 × 10[-3]min[-1] and for the dyes 6.43- 6.74 x10[-3]min[-1]. The values of [kobs] were found to be an inverse function of solvent dielectric constant and decreased linearly with the solvent acceptor number. The extractable polymeric materials exhibited absorption in the 200-400 nm region and the dyes in the 300-500nm region. The rates of extraction of polymeric material and dyes from plastic containers were dependent on the solvent dielectric constant. The solvents of low polarity were more effective in the extraction of material indicating that the extracted material were of low polarity or have non-polar character. The dyes were soluble in acetone and chloroform. No plastic material was found to be extracted from the containers in aqueous solution

Resistance pattern of clinical isolates involved in surgical site infections

Wound infections due to the incursion of microbes need to be averted or to heal the wounds by antibiotics. Antibiotics are not only aid in cure of infections but also help to prevent the flourishing and production of one or more species of microorganism, resultant in purulent discharge. This current study was carried out to evaluate the resistance pattern of clinical isolates from surgical site infections by the Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. A total of 257 clinical isolates were collected from different hospitals in Karachi and evaluated by using fifteen antibiotics belonging to different groups. Staphylococcus aureus [n=87], Escherichia coli [n=76], Pseudomonas aeruginosa [n=56], Proteus [n=21] and Klebsiella [n=17] species are the most common clinical isolates of surgical site infections. Among the semi-synthetic penicillins, ampicillin was found to be resistant to nearly all clinical isolates but amoxicillin was moderately sensitive to S. aureus. Combinations of semi-synthetic penicillins are more sensitive than the penicillin alone. Co-amoxiclave exhibits superior sensitivity to all the surgical infection isolates except Pseudomonas aeruginosa which showed 68.75% resistance. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was highly resistant to cephalosporin except ceftraixone which showed 21.88% resistance. S. aureus was slightly responsive to cefazolin, cephradine, cefaclor, ceftizoxime, cefuroxime and ceftriaxone. E. coli, Gram-negative clinical isolate was showed 25% and 31.25% resistance to ceftriaxone and cefuroxime. In the Klebsiella species, 71.42% and 64.29% resistance to cefazolin and cefuroxime respectively, was observed. Aminoglycosides such as gentamycin and tobramycin were found to be more susceptible to all the clinical isolates. Quinolones like ofloxacin and enoxacin were showed good sensitivity to nearly all the clinical isolates. On the basis of the present study, it is recommended to adopt a rational use of antibiotics in prophylaxis and the utilization of a coordinated scheme of surgical wound inspections.

Prevalence and therapy of chronic obstructive disease in Karachi

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] has boon one of the main causes of mortality worldwide. The impact of COPD has been increasing socio-economically over time to make COPD an alarming condition for health associated professionals due to the severity of prevalence and its expensive treatment. Due to COPD, patients not only suffer from the illness as the financial costs associated with it

Objective: To determine the prevalence and the medication of COPD

Methods: The medical records of patients suffering from COPD were collected from different tertiary care hospitals in Karachi from June 2011 to May 2012 comprising of middle adulthood to mature aged patients

Results: Out of 1260 patients 174 [13.60 %] were suffered from COPD. Nearly all the patients of COPD were associated with co-morbidity like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, urinary tract infections, renal failure, pneumonia, cardiovascular diseases, and other diseases. Ant-allergy, oxygen supply, intravenous and oral montilukast, atrovent and other nebulizers, cough syrups, inhalers, antibiotics, and other treatment were used for the treatment of COPD as directed by the world renowned guidelines for COPD

Conclusion: The prevalence of COPD is high and is detected through a standalone pulmonary function test [PFT] e.g Spirometry, or in conjugation with a clinical examination. In most oases the guidelines provide by the British Thoracic Society, Americans Thoracic Society, and European Respiratory Society are used to treat COPD

role of antiseptics in surgery

Surgical site infection [SSIs] are one of the most frequent causes of nosocomial infections which not only increase the stay in the hospitals but also burden the patient financially. Skin acts as a barrier in the invasion of microbes from environment but on injury, the major source of infections could be normal flora on the skin. Antiseptic agents [ASAs] are applied on the skin as well as on the mucous membrane of minimize the chances of infection. ASAs should have a prolonged action to be more beneficial. A number of factors are involved in the prevention of SSIs. It been established that the use of sterile antiseptics not only reduces the source of infections but also improves patient's condition. A number of ASAs alone or as admixtures are commercially available and provide complete or partial eradication of microbes. ASAs like alcohols, chlorohexadiene, iodine/iodophor, xylenol, triclosan and octenidine are still commonly used developed countries