Role of sildenafil citrate therapy in pregnant women with foetal growth restriction and oligohydrominos from Northern India

Background: No specific treatment is available for severe early-onset IUGR. To best of my knowledge, very few studies have assessed the potential benefit of Sildenafil therapy targeted to improve perinatal outcomes in pregnancies complicated by severe early-onset IUGR in Indian pregnant women.Methods: The present hospital based prospective study was carried out on one hundred ANC pregnant women with early and late fetal growth restriction and oligohydrominos at Pannadhai Mahila Chikatsalya, Rabindra Nath Tagore (RNT) Medical College, Udaipur, during Jan to Dec 2017. Sildenafil citrate 25 mg three times in a day was  administered until delivery. Study subjects were subjected to fetal Doppler and ultrasound twice a week after the Sildenafil administration.Results: After sildenafil therapy, out of total 45 cases of IUGR alone, 39 cases (86.66 %) had improvement. Out of 35 cases of oligohydramnios alone, 28 cases (80 %) had improvement.  Out of 20 cases having both IUGR and Oligohydramnios 16 had improvement (80 %) and only 4 cases did not show any improvement. Among gestation age 27-30 weeks group at the time of admission, there were total 10 cases out of which 5 (50 %) had early premature delivery (32-34 weeks), 3 (30 %) had late premature delivery (34-37 weeks) and 2 cases (2 %) had term delivery i.e. between 37-39 weeks after giving sildenafil treatment.Conclusions: The findings of the present study indicate that sildenafil citrate may offer a potential therapeutic strategy to improve outcomes in pregnant women facing foetal growth restriction and oligohydrominos.

Photocatalytic degradation of reactive dyes and simulated dyebath wastewater.

The study related to photocatalytic degradation of three reactive dyes, namely, Reactive Red 141 (RR141), Reactive Orange 16 (RO16) and Reactive Violet 13 (RV13) was carried out. Further, two simulated textile dyebath wastewaters were prepared and examined for photocatalytic degradation. Three dyes were subjected to photodegradation in a batch annular immersion well photoreactor equipped with a 400W Medium Pressure Mercury Lamp (MPML). The UV illuminated TiO2 containing aqueous suspensions found to remove colour as well as chemical oxygen demand (COD). The photocatalytic activity was monitored by measuring the rates of decolorization and COD removal as a function of concentration of the dye and treatment time. The photodegradation efficiency of these three reactive dyes was found in the order of RR141 > RO16 > RV13. The first order rate constant (k(app)) for decolorization was 3-9 times higher than the k(app) for COD removal. The rate constants for degradation of simulated wastewater were also of the similar order of magnitude. These results suggest that TiO2/UV photocatalysis may be envisaged as a method for treatment of diluted coloured wastewaters not only for decolourization, but also for polishing of the COD parameter.