Anemia and thrombocytopenia in malaria: an observational study of 115 patients in Mardan Pakistan

Objective: the aim of present study was to evaluate hematological changes in malaria in Mardan, Pakistan

Methods: this prospective observational study was conducted at O.P.D of Mardan MedicalComplex Mardan from July to September 2015. A total of 115 patients were divided to age groupsof< 15 and > 15 years old. Malaria parasite was examined using thick and thin smears stained with Giemsa stain and also cross-checked by ICT. Those patients with a confirmed diagnosis of malaria were investigated for platelets, hemoglobin and total leukocyte count on Automatic hematology analyzer [Mindray] and studied by hematologist. Data was tabulated, descriptive statistics analyzed; the chi-square test was applied to evaluate statistical significance of the studied variable between groups on SPSS version 20. A p-value of 0.05 or less was used for statistical significance

Results: a total of 115 patients were included in the study. Male were 56[48.7%] and females 59[51.3%], the mean age of study group was 10.62[3.89]. According to age group, patients were divided into two groups; those <15 years comprised of 102[88.7%], while> 15 years were found 13[11.3%]. P. vivax was seen in 108[93.9%] and P. falciparum 7[6.1%] patients. Out of total population 70[60.9%] were found anemic, 79[68.7%] had mild thrombocytopenia and 4[3.5%] with moderate thrombocytopenia and sever leucopenia were found 2[1.7%], mild leucopenia 24[20.9%], mid leucocytosis 1[0.9%]. Patients with P.vivax aged <15 years had found anemia 59[62.1 %] with p=0.56, moderate thrombocytopenia 4[4.2%] [p=0.05], sever leucopenia 2[2.11 %], mild leucopenia 13[13.7%] and mild leukocytosis 1 [1.1 %] with p=0.001

Conclusions: the present study concludes that thrombocytopenia and anemia are common hematological findings in patient with Plasmodium infection particularly vivax species infection in Mardan region. Therefore, malaria should be a consideration in febrile patients with low platelets and haemoglobin

Development of [99m]Tc-5-fluorouracil as a potential tumor diagnostic agent

5-Fluorouracil is a well know drug for chemotherapy of various types of cancer. In the present study, we radiolabeled 5-fluorouracil with 99mTc for a diagnostic study of cancer. After successful labeling of the drug we performed an animal study to evaluate the potential of this radiopharmaceutical as a tumor diagnostic agent. The results showed 98.1 +/- 1.2 % labeling efficacy of 5-fluorouracil with [99m]Tc. The in vitro stability of the radiolabeled drug at room temperature at 4 hr of post-labeling was >96.5 +/- 0.4 %. The binding of the radiolabeled drug with plasma proteins was 66.6 +/- 3%. Partition coefficient results showed that this drug is hydrophilic in nature. Biodistribution study in rabbit models displayed faint uptake in liver. Both kidney and bladder were prominent as excretory route of the labeled drug. Bioevaluation was performed in Swiss Webster mice having naturally developed tumor. Mice were dissected, uptake of drug in various organs was studied and results showed prominent uptake in liver and tumor. Tumor was further investigated by histopathological study

In house development of [99m]Tc-Rhenium sulfide colloidal nanoparticles for sentinel lymph node detection

In this study, rhenium sulfide colloidal nanoparticles were developed as radiopharmaceutical for sentinel lymph node detection. We directly used rhenium sulfide as a starting material for the preparation of colloidal nanoparticles. UV-visible spectrophotometry was used for characterization of in house developed colloidal particles. The size distribution of radioactive particles was studied by using membrane filtration method. The percentage of radiolabeled colloidal nanoparticles was determined by paper chromatography [PC]. The study also includes in vitro stability, protein binding in human blood and bioevaluation in a rabbit model. The results indicate that 77.27 +/- 3.26 % particles of size less than 20nm [suitable for lymphoscintigraphy] were radiolabeled. [99m]Tc labeled rhenium sulfide labeling efficacy with the radiometal is 98.5 +/- 0.5%, which remains considerably stable beyond 5h at room temperature. Furthermore, it was observed that 70.2 +/- 1.3 % radiolabeled colloid complex showed binding with the blood protein. Bioevaluation results show the remarkable achievement of our radiopharmaceutical. The in house prepared [99m]Tc labeled rhenium sulfide colloidal nanoparticles reached the sentinel node within 15 min of post injection. These results indicate that [99m]Tc labeled rhenium sulfide colloid nanoparticles kit produced by a novel procedure seems of significant potential as a feasible candidate for further development to be used in clinical practice