ABSTRACT
Background: World Health Organization (WHO) has defined diarrhoea as, ‘the passage of loose stools by an individual, at least thrice a day or more frequently than normal’. It is most commonly caused by intestinal infection, mainly viral. Every year there are about 2 billion cases of diarrhoea worldwide, a second leading cause of mortality in children below the age of 5 years. WHO estimated that antibiotic treatment was necessary in only one in twenty cases of childhood diarrhoea. Yet huge resources are currently spent on anti-diarrhoeal drugs annually, most rendered useless or harmful. This study was proposed to evaluate the utilization pattern of drugs prescribed for diarrhoea in children, in a government tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra.Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was carried out in the paediatric ward of government tertiary care hospital, Maharashtra. All patients of age less than twelve years with diarrhoea admitted to paediatric ward within the study period of January 2015 - June 2016 were included in the study. Patients older than twelve years or admitted with other gastrointestinal diseases or co-mordbid conditions were excluded. Statistical analysis was done using descriptive statistics.Results: Majority of the patients admitted were males and more than half the patient population were in the age group of less than or equal to 3 years. Polypharmacy was found to be present in the prescribing pattern, with average, more than 4 drugs prescribed for diarrhoea treatment, in each prescription. Majority drugs were prescribed using brand names and parenteral route. Use of antibiotics was also found to be inappropriate in majority of the cases.Conclusions: The study highlighted the importance of drug utilisation studies and pointed out inappropriate drug prescribing trends for diarrhoea cases in a tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra.
ABSTRACT
Background: To evaluate prescribing pattern of antimicrobial agents in indoor patients of medicine and surgery department of SBH Government Medical College, Dhule. Methods: This was a retrospective cross sectional study carried over a period of 3 months. The patients who were admitted and received antimicrobial therapy in department of Medicine and Surgery were randomly selected and included in the study. The case record sheet and drug chart were obtained from Medical Record Section of the Hospital. The data was collected using case record form specially prepared for the study. The cases were categorised according to slightly Modified Kunin’s Criteria. Results: Total numbers of patients receiving antimicrobial therapy were 130 in medicine department and 93 in surgery department. Most commonly prescribed antimicrobial agent was cefotaxime (21.7%) in medicine and metronidazole in surgery (30.6%) department. The average number of antimicrobials per patient was found to be 1.7 and 3.02 in medicine and surgery department respectively. The switch on therapy from parenteral to oral route was employed in 16.15% patients in medicine department and 11.82% patients in surgery department. As per Kunin’s modified criteria, 66.2% and 58.06% patients received antimicrobial therapy appropriately in Medicine and surgery department respectively. Conclusion: This study highlights the problem of over-prescription of antibiotics and a trend towards polypharmacy. The interventions to rectify the problem of inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents are needed to make therapy more rational and cost effective.
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Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an endocrine disorder characterized by abnormal carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism along with specific long-term complications which are associated with hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress. Hence, it is important to find hypoglycemic drug that improves lipid profile and reduces oxidative stress in diabetic patient. This study, therefore, was performed to investigate hypolipidemic and antioxidant potential of Pioglitazone (PIO) in hyperlipidemic rats. Methods: Hyperlipidemia was induced in normal rats by including 0.75 gm% cholesterol and 1.5 gm% bile salt in normal diet and these rats were used for the experiments. PIO hydrochloride was administered as 10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg dose levels to the hyperlipidemic rats. Hypolipidemic activity was estimated by plasma lipid profile parameters while antioxidant potential was estimated by ascorbic acid, catalase activity, malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase activity using standard methods. Statistical analysis was done by one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnett’s test. Results: Treatment with 10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg dose levels of PIO hydrochloride resulted in a significant decrease in serum TG and VLDL only in 30 mg/kg PIO treated group and significant increase in serum HDL in both groups, but no significant decrease in cholesterol and LDL in both PIO treated groups. PIO increased activities of catalase enzyme and concentration of malondialdehyde significantly in only 30 mg/kg PIO treated group. But there were no significant changes in the superoxide dismutase activity and ascorbic acid concentration in both PIO treated groups. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that treatment with 10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg dose levels of PIO hydrochloride improves the plasma lipid profile and also reduces oxidative stress in hyperlipidemic animals.
ABSTRACT
Modern life style with present days technological advances have made human life sedentary. This is causing increasing prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity amongst population. The number of cases of diabetes worldwide in the year 2000 among adults 20 years of age is estimated to be 171 million in recent reports and is said to rise to more than 300 million by 2025. The raised plasma glucose levels give rise to complications in the form of microvascular and macrovascular complications diminished quality of life with reduced life expectancy. The currently available drugs used in the management of type II DM are not completely satisfactory in regard of controlling blood glucose level, many of the times they are associated with undesirable side effects. Hence there is continuous ongoing work in development of newer drugs, which are safe, efficacious and potent as well as free of undesirable effects such as sustained hypoglycaemia. Fortunately there are newer drug, few of them approved while other still knocking the door from the classes of drug such as GLP-1Mimetic, DPP-4 Inhibitors and others. Here we have tried to cover them in brief.
ABSTRACT
Background: Atherosclerosis is associated with hyperlipidemia which is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease. Therefore, treatment of hyperlipidemia is one of the major approaches to decrease the atherogenic process. Many studies revealed that Asparagus racemosus (AR) possesses hypolipidemic and antioxidant potential, but results were not consistent. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to investigate lipid lowering and antioxidant potential of AR root powder in hyperlipidemic rats. Methods: Hyperlipidemia was induced in normal rats by including 0.75 gm% cholesterol and 1.5 gm% bile salt in normal diet and these rats were used for the experiments. Dried root powder of Asparagus racemosus was administered as feed supplement at 5 gm% and 10 gm% dose levels to the hyperlipidemic rats. Plasma lipid profile, malondialdehyde, ascorbic acid, catalase and superoxide dismutase were estimated using standard methods. Statistical analysis was done by one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: Feed supplementation with 5 gm% and 10 gm% Asparagus racemosus resulted in a significant decrease in plasma cholesterol, LDL and significant increase in HDL. But there were no significant decrease in triglycerides and VLDL. The feed supplementation increased activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase and ascorbic acid content increased significantly in both the experimental groups (5 and 10 gm% supplemented groups). But there was no significant change in the concentration of malondialdehyde in these groups. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that addition of Asparagus racemosus root powder at 5 gm% and 10 gm% level as feed supplement reduces the plasma lipid levels and also acts as an antioxidant.