Ondansetron: a newer aspect of dose response relationship on ileal smooth muscles of rabbit

There are several life threatening deadly diseases in our world but 'Cancer' out powers them all in recent years. Chemotherapy may be used on its own or an adjunct to other forms of therapy. Despite the advancement in cytotoxic drug therapy and supportive treatment almost 70% of patient suffer from chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting [CINV]. Ondansetron, a 5-HT[3] receptor antagonist has now become a gold standard in the treatment of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting. The central actions of ondansetron are well established but its peripheral actions are not well recognized. The aim of our study was to explore the peripheral actions of ondansetron. Experiments were performed in five groups [n=6] and ileal smooth muscles activity was recorded on power lab [USA]. The effects of increasing concentrations of acetylcholine, serotonin and ondansetron alone was observed in first three groups. In the next two groups effects of acetylcholine and serotonin pretreated with fixed concentration [1ml] of ondansetron [10 Omega M] were studied. The maximum response obtained by acetylcholine served as a control for our study. Maximum response with acetylcholine was taken as 100% and with serotonin was 177 percent of control. Cumulative dose response curve with ondansetron was triphasic. At 10 PSI M it was 28.8%, whereas with 10XI M the amplitude decreased to 16.87%, it reached to plateau at 10 Omega M. Response of acetylcholine and serotonin was decreased to 57% and 78% respectively in the presence of fixed concentration of ondansetron [10 Omega M]. Ondansetron reduces the acetylcholine and serotonin induced gastrointestinal motility. Our study has indicated that ondansetron apart from having central action also has marked peripheral actions that play an important role in CINV and may act as a partial agonist

Early detection of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and its prevention by carvedilol.

Background: The objective was to detect doxorubicin (Dox) - induced myocardial injury at early stage by quantitative estimation of cardio specific protein, cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and to explore the cardioprotective effects of carvedilol. Methods: The study design was lab-based randomized controlled in-vivo in rabbits conducted from January to August 2012. Cardiotoxicity was produced by single intravenous injection of 12 mg/kg body weight (BW) of Dox in a group of rabbits, control group was treated with normal saline only and the rabbits of third group were pre-treated with carvedilol 30 mg/kg of BW for 10 days before injecting Dox. Results: Dox induced cardiotoxicity was depicted by markedly raised serum levels of cTnI, creatine kinase-MB, lactate dehydrogenase, and Grade 3 necrosis of the heart tissue in rabbits. The pre-treatment with carvedilol resulted in improved serum levels of these biomarkers and the histological picture of heart tissue. Conclusions: Quantitative serum estimation of cTnI detects the presence of cardiotoxicity much before cardiac dysfunctions can be revealed by any other diagnostic technique. It can lead to significant economic impact in the management of cancer patients because the troponin-negative subjects can be excluded from long-term cardiac monitoring programs that involve high costs imaging techniques. The outcome of Dox chemotherapy can be made successful with the concurrent use of carvedilol.

Surgery in a temporary setup- sharing an experience of 16 months

Sharing an experience of surgery in a temporary set up. Descriptive study. This study was carried out at Combined Military Hospital Muzaffarabad after the earthquake of October 2005 over a period of 16 months. The workload that this hospital has managed over the period despite running under tents. The hospital was functioning under the temporary set up. Patients were earth quake victims requiring different surgical procedure. A total of 2887 major and 7471 minor surgical procedures pertaining to the specialty of General Surgery, Orthopedics, ENT, EYE and Gynecology were carried out over a period of 16 months. Though the load was comparable to any [C] class and most of the [B] class hospitals, despite being under tents, there was not a single case of post operative infection. The importance of single-use-only surgical disposables in the good management of surgical patients has also been highlighted. The basic sterilization techniques, if followed religiously stand good in preventing postoperative infection, even in compromised working condition

Rubber band ligation of symptomatic internal haemorrhoids; result of 450 cases

To assess the outcome of rubber band ligation of 2[nd] and 3[rd] degree haemorrhoids in terms of relief of symptoms. Case series. Colorectal clinic, Department of General Surgery, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center Karachi, from January 2001 to May 2008. All Patients with 2nd and 3rd degree haemorrhoids were included in this study. Data related to the age, gender etc, were recorded. Patients were counseled regarding prospects of success of the procedure. Short and long term outcome data were recorded for success of treatment. A total of 450 patients underwent rubber band ligation. There were 337 males [74.88%] and 113 females [25.11%] with male to female ratio of 3:1. Age of the patients ranged from 20-80 years. Male with 2nd degree haemorrhoids were 297 [66%] and females were 203 [22.88%]. Successful results were achieved in 86.22%. Rubber band ligation is a safe, effective and economical procedure for treating 2nd and 3rd degree haemorrhoids on out patient basis