Study of drotaverine on first stage of labour and pregnancy outcome.

A prospective randomised study of 200 women with spontaneous onset of labour was carried out in 100 women who were given 40mg of drotaverine hydrochloride intravenously at > or = 3cm dilatation of the cervix, the other 100 were taken as control. The effects of the drug on the progress and outcome of labour were noted. The mean durations of active phase of labour in primigravida and multigravida were 148.9 minutes and 99.5 minutes in drotaverine group whereas in control group were 331.6 minutes and 227.9 minutes respectively. It was concluded that drotaverine is highly effective in reducing the duration of active phase of labour by hastening cervical dilatation, more effective when given in more dilated cervix than with less dilatation and more effective in multigravida than in primigravida. There was no interference with uterine contractility and no increase in operative delivery. It reduces the incidence of traumatic postpartum haemorrhage by reducing the incidence of cervical tear. It is a safe drug for the mother as well as for the baby.

Effect of T3 treatment on glutathione redox pool and its metabolizing enzymes in mitochondrial and post-mitochondrial fractions of adult rat testes.

T3 (3,3', 5-triiodo-L-thyronine; 20 microg/100 g body weight/day in 0.01 N NaOH, i.p for 1, 3 and 5 days) treatment modulated reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione contents along with the activities of its metabolizing enzymes (such as glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glutathione S-transferase) in the testis of Wistar rats. However, the magnitude and nature of changes in the above biochemical parameters in response to T3 treatment were noticed to be different between mitochondrial and post-mitochondrial fractions. This was accompanied with elevated levels of lipid hydroperoxide and ascorbic acid in the crude homogenate of testis. The level of hydrogen peroxide in the post-mitochondrial fractions of testes did not change on first day, decreased on 3rd day and increased on 5th day of the hormone treatment when compared to respective controls. Nevertheless, its content in mitochondria was significantly elevated in response to all the three durations of the hormone treatment having the highest induction on 3rd day. The changes observed in the levels of GSH and GSSG and its metabolizing enzymes in response to T3 treatment reflect an alteration in the redox state of testis, which may be a causative factor for the impairment of testicular physiology as a consequence of oxidative stress.

Detection of cancer cervix by estimation of sialic acid.

The study was undertaken to determine the sialic acid concentration of cervical tissue and serum of women with healthy and unhealthy cervix. The sialic acid value in local tissue of cervix and in serum showed slight elevation in benign inflammatory lesions, moderate elevation was found in severe dysplasia and preinvasive carcinoma and marked elevation in invasive carcinoma cervix. The values, both in the serum and in the cervical tissue, increased gradually with the advancement of grading of frank malignancy. The elevation of sialic acid in the serum was slow to start with but persisted for a longer period, wereas the concentration in local tissue was found to be increasing with the pathological process.

Experimental hyperthyroidism-induced oxidative stress and impairment of antioxidant defence system in rat testis.

Short-term hyperthyroidism, induced by daily administration of T3 (20 microg/100g body weight) for one, three, and five days consecutively, modulates oxidative stress and antioxidant defence parameters in mitochondrial and postmitochondrial fractions of testis in adult rats. Alteration in antioxidant defences along with oxidative stress parameters in testis by thyroid hormone was found to be associated with a decline in the number of sperms and disturbances in histoarchitecture of seminiferous tubules in the testes; the results indicated that induced hyperthyroid state altered testicular physiology by influencing antioxidant defence system of testes.