Development of a curcumin bioadhesive monolithic tablet for treatment of vaginal candidiasis

The present investigation was designed to formulate a natural tablet for the treatment of vaginal candidiasis in order to eliminate side effects that are caused by existing antifungal drugs. Curcumin has promising antifungal activity in comparison with the existing azole antifungal drugs. Bioadhesive curcumin vaginal tablets were prepared by direct compression with different ratios of biadhesive polymers like xanthan gum, guar gum and HPMC. Curcumin tablets were characterized by studies of friability, hardness, hydration, DSC, mucoadhesion, in vitro release and antifungal activity. DSC and FT-IR data indicate there was no interaction between the drug and the excipients and also polymer concentration has some effects on melting point of curcumin. Formulation F3 showed the best results in terms of swelling and mucoadhesion together with prolonged drug release. The antifungal activity of the Curcumin tablet has demonstrated a significant effect against Candida albicans. Hence, the study indicates the possible and effective use of curcumin bioadhesive monolithic vaginal tablet for vaginal candidiasis as a promising natural antifungal treatment

Thrombocytopenia in Malaria

OBJECTIVE: Malaria is a major health problem in South Asia. It can be associated with many complications. Thrombocytopenia is the most common hematological complication of malaria

Our aim was to assess the severity and frequency of thrombocytopenia in malaria

DESIGN: This was a descriptive case-series study. A total of 69 admitted patients diagnosed with malaria were assessed for thrombocytopenia using automated quantitative D3 Analyzer

The data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. The results were obtained in numbers and percentages

Data was expressed as means with standard deviation

RESULTS: Out of the sample population 64 patients were diagnosed with vivax malaria and 3 with falciparum malaria while 2 patients had mixed infection. About 86% of patients with vivax malaria had thrombocytopenia while 66% of patients with falciparum malaria had thrombocytopenia

Mean platelet count in vivax malaria was 84.02x10[3]/microL with a range of 15-213x10[3]/microL

Platelet count of <20,000/microL was seen in only 2 patients with vivax malaria and none of the patients with falciparum malaria

CONCLUSION: Thrombocytopenia is a common feature in malaria. In patients having fever with thrombocytopenia, malaria should be on top of differential diagnosis. Viral hemorrhagic fevers can also present as fever but in these cases the complete blood counts has other features such as high hematocrit and leucopenia along with thrombocytopenia. Our finding can have therapeutic implications in the context of avoiding unnecessary platelet transfusion with the relatively more benign course in vivax malaria. In our study the commonest cause of thrombocytopenia in malaria was vivax malaria

Hoffman syndrome; rare presentation of hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism may present with various systemic manifestations including hypothyroid myopathy as a recognized feature. It is characterized by muscle weakness, pain, stiffness, and cramps along with elevated muscle enzymes and thyroid stimulating hormone levels.One of the rare presentations of hypothyroidism is Hoffman Syndrome characterized by myopathy along with muscle pseudohypertrophy and raised muscle enzymes. We report a case of Hoffman syndrome that showed significant clinical and biochemical response to thyroid hormone replacement

This case report highlights the clinical features, diagnostic approach and management of Hoffman syndrome. This signifies that early diagnosis and appropriate management improves outcome and prognosis. There have been few such cases reported worldwide and we report this rare case from Pakistan