The Urgency of Redifining Minimum Monitoring Standards in Anesthesia.

Anesthesiology is an intense discipline, which entails unexpected, often life threatening complications, requiring immediate recognition and prompt intervention. It is essential to have uniform standards of monitoring irrespective of location, duration and type of anesthesia. The Indian Society of Anesthesiologists (ISA) in 1998 started preparing guidelines suited for indian conditions and presented these in 1999. The 1999 ISA guidelines have outlived and there is an urgent need to update the currently applicable guidelines. These guidelines of ISA are under revision since April 2007. Keeping in view of developments in the field, medically complex patients, training methods of present day trainees and CPA needs, updated guidelines should include additional monitoring techniques and precautions.

Anti-HIV and cytotoxic ruthenium(II) complexes containing flavones: biochemical evaluation in mice.

Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes containing 3-hydroxyflavone derivatives as coligands were screened for anti-HIV and cytotoxic activities against eleven tumor cell lines. In order to check the effect of flavones containing Ru(II) complexes in vivo on a mammal, a representative complex Ru(L)2(DMSO)2 x 5H2O (LH-3-Hdroxy-4'-benzyloxyflavone; M5) was orally administered to adult male mice. Its effects on protein content and LDH were studied in different tissues of the animal. The compound got absorbed and retained in the blood between 1-3 hr after feeding. As compared to the normal and DMSO control sets, tissue specific significant reversible changes in the protein content as well as in LDH activity were observed between 1-4 hr of treatment. However, on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, except some tissue specific transitory alterations, expression patterns of five LDH isozymes were unchanged after feeding the compound. The present results suggested that in addition to its potent cytotoxic and anti-HIV effects on cell lines in vitro, M5 inhibited LDH activity, but reversibly with a little effect on biosynthetic status of the enzyme in mice.

Breast feeding and childhood hematological malignancy.

Breast milk is known to have anti-infective and immunomodulating effects on infants, but its association with childhood cancer has not been well studied. Artificial feeding may affect the immune response in carcinogenesis. In this communication the authors have reviewed different articles describing the association between breast feeding (BF) and subsequent development of childhood hematological malignancy. It appears that BF may have a protective effect on childhood cancer, both the duration of BF as well as the quantity of milk ingested is probably critical to the beneficial immunological effects of BF against childhood cancer if any.