Design and development of transdermal drug delivery system.

In the course of development of microspheres preparation techniques, the encapsulation of hydrophilic drugs with high entrapment efficiency has been a problem, as the commonly used technique like single emulsification technique and w/o/w double emulsification technique show low entrapment of the hydrophilic drugs. The problem is overcome by using by using w/o/o double emulsification technique, several modifications have been done in this technique one of most widely and effective technique in w/o/o double emulsification is the solvent diffusion technique. In this brief review comparison of w/o/o double emulsification technique with other methods and details about the w/o/o double emulsification technique and the drugs encapsulated using this technique will be discussed.

Increased yield of smear positive pulmonary TB cases by screening patients with > or =2 weeks cough, compared to > or =3 weeks and adequacy of 2 sputum smear examinations for diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: RNTCP recommends examining three sputum smears for AFB from Chest Symptomatics (CSs) with cough of > or =3 weeks for diagnosis of Pulmonary TB (PTB). A previous multi-centric study from Tuberculosis Research centre (TRC) has shown that the yield of sputum positive cases can be increased if duration of cough for screening was reduced to > or =2 weeks. Other studies have shown that two smear examinations are adequate for diagnosis of smear positive PTB . To validate the above findings, a cross sectional multi-centric study was repeated in different settings in five geographical areas in India. METHODS: Three primary and secondary level health facilities with high out-patient attendance were selected from two Tuberculosis Units (TU) in each of the 15 selected districts to screen about 10,000 new adult outpatients from each state. For patients who did not volunteer history of cough, symptoms were elicited using a structured simple questionnaire. All the CSs were referred for sputum examination. RESULTS: A total of 96,787 out-patients were registered. Among them 69,209 (72%) were new adult out-patients. Using > or =2 weeks of cough instead of 3 weeks as the criterion for screening, there was an overall increase of 58% in CS and 23% increase in the detection of smear-positive cases. Among 211 patients, 210 were positive at least by one smear from the initial two specimens. Increase in the work-load if 2 smears were done for patients with cough of > or =2 weeks cough were 2 specimens (i.e. 13 to 15) per day for an adult OPD of 150. CONCLUSION: The yield of sputum positive PTB cases can be improved by screening patients with > or =2 weeks cough and two specimens are adequate for diagnosis.

Estimation of BCL-2 protein in carcinoma of the breast and its clinical correlation in locally advanced breast cancer.

The change in expression of apoptotic markers (Bcl-2 and Bax proteins) brought about by various chemotherapeutic regimens is being used for its predictive value for assessing response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in locally advanced breast carcinoma (LABC). AIMS: (1) Estimation of Bcl 2 expression in LABC, (2) Any change in Bcl 2 expression following chemotherapy in LABC, (3) Any relation of Bcl 2 estimation to changes in size of tumor, nodal status, age, and menopausal status. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a prospective study of 120 cases of LABC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All cases were subjected to biopsy and the tissue was evaluated immunohistochemically for apoptotic marker Bcl-2 family protein. Three cycles of NACT were given at three-weekly intervals. Modified radical mastectomy was performed and the specimens were re-evaluated for any change in the Bcl-2 family protein. The clinical response and immunohistochemical response were correlated and compared. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Coefficient of correlation was calculated by Pearson correlation coefficient (P-value). RESULTS: Clinical response, as measured by reduction in the tumor size, was observed in 81 (67.5%) patients while immunohistochemical response was observed in 67 (55.8%) patients. Correlation between immunohistochemical and clinical response was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.02). Nodal response was seen in 72 (60%) patients. There were no patients in the N o group; 22 (53.7%) of the N 1 patients were down-staged to N o , while 19 (46.3%) remained N 1 . In patients with N 2 disease, 11 (13.9%) were down-staged to N o status, 39 (49.4%) were down-staged to N 1 status, and 29 (36.7%) did not show any response. Immunohistochemical response was observed in 67 (55.8%) patients. Correlation between immunohistochemical and nodal responses was also found to be statistically significant (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: This significant positive correlation between clinical and immunohistochemical responses highlights the importance of apoptotic marker Bcl-2 family protein in predicting the response of LABC to NACT.

Arthroscopy: an initial experience

Diagnostic artroscopy is a useful adjunct to clinical and radiological examinations in assessing internal derangements of the knee. This series of fifty cases shows asn average diagnostic accuracy of approximately 90-92%. This accuracy varied from 85% in the early stages to 98% in the later cases. We have found this procedure to be significant value in assessing acute sports imjuries of the knee joint, allowing early treatment and full rehabilitations of the athletes