Natural Alternative to D.P.X (Mounting Medium) - Comparison between Honey and Castor Oil

Introduction: To go organic is the theme of the present day.With added benefits of both honey and castor oil being ecofriendly, easily available, cost effective, nontoxic and noninflammable, they can also be used as an effective naturalalternative to synthetic mounting media as they have goodrefractive index. Study aimed to evaluate and compare theefficacy of honey and castor oil with D.P.X as a mountingmedium.Material and Methods: Six paraffin-embedded blocks with aconfirmed histopathological diagnosis of pyogenic granulomawere taken from the archives. Three sections were taken fromeach block and subjected to routine H & E staining procedures,and later they were mounted with three different mountingmedia and analyzed for different parameters.Result: The results were tabulated. Krushkal wallis test wasused for comparing the results. Statistically significant resultswere observed for different mounting media and castor oilshowed better details of cellular architecture than D.P.X andhoney.Conclusion: Both Castor oil and honey as a mounting mediashowed a superior quality over D.P.X due to their propertiesbut they do not adhere to the slide as well as cover slip withlack of adhesive agents. Both can be used as an alternative toD.P.X with the addition of some adhesive agents because theyare having a good refractive index.

The antipsychotic activity of alcoholic extract of Withania coagulans fruits in Swiss albino mice

Background: Schizophrenia is one of the most distressing central nervous system (CNS) disorders. It is described by positive, negative and cognitive symptoms. These symptoms can be controlled by the antipsychotic medicines. The numerous antipsychotic medications used today are not lacking the adverse drug reactions. The Withania coagulans a susceptible species, is not explored much for its CNS effects except in late seventies. Therefore, it was thought worthwhile to investigate anti-psychotic activities of alcoholic extract of Withania coagulans fruits. The objective of the present study was to assess the antipsychotic activity of alcoholic extract of Withania coagulans fruits in Swiss albino mice by Cook’s Pole Climb Apparatus for conditioned avoidance response (CAR)Methods: Cook’s Pole Climb Apparatus for conditioned avoidance response was used for assessing the antipsychotic activity of the alcoholic extract of 200mg/kg, 500mg/kg and 1000mg/kg doses of Withania coagulans fruits.Results: There was statistically (p-value >0.05) no significant association between any of the 200mg/kg, 500mg/kg and 1000mg/kg doses of the alcoholic extracts of Withania coagulans fruits with antipsychotic activity in Swiss albino mice.Conclusions: Withania coagulans fruits alcoholic extract did not demonstrate antipsychotic activity in Swiss albino mice under standard conditions.

Systematic review of adverse drug reactions of ofloxacin

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in countries having limited healthcare resources. Of all the Adverse Drug Reactions, antimicrobials contribute 28% which is highest compared to the other drugs. Ofloxacin is an antimicrobial used for treating several bacterial infections. Incidence rate of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to ofloxacin is 4.27%. Although these figures appear to be small, it is consumed for gastrointestinal infections along with ornidazole in India contributing significant burden of ADRs. However, there is no research done in past many years focusing on the adverse drug reactions of ofloxacin. This article bridges the gap of such a need. The objective of the present study was to review the adverse drug reactions related to ofloxacin in human and animal studies. Authors conducted Pubmed and Cochrane library search to review all the articles related to the adverse drug reaction of ofloxacin from 1980 to 2016. Authors got 84 articles pertaining to the adverse drug reactions of ofloxacin. Authors conclude that ofloxacin should be judiciously used as the side effect profile is increasing.

Ofloxacin-induced maculopapular rash in the infant

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in countries having limited healthcare resources. The ofloxacin is an antimicrobial used for treating several bacterial infections. The ofloxacin, belonging to quinolone group of drugs, is bactericidal and acts by inhibition of bacterial DNA gyrase. Among the adverse drug reaction of ofloxacin, skin rashes are rare. An ofloxacin-induced maculopapular rash is the unique rare condition in the infant. The present case report was assessing the causality in ofloxacin induced maculopapular rash in the infant. Naranjo Adverse Drug Reaction Probability Scale and World Health Organization and Uppsala Monitoring Centre (WHO-UMC) system for standardized case causality assessment were used for assessing the causality. According to the Naranjo and WHO-UMC, ofloxacin scaled as the probable/likely cause of this ADR in infant. So, authors can conclude that the ofloxacin should be used cautiously in the pediatric age group.