Steering Standardization of Pathology Services Through Centralisation and Consolidation of Laboratory Procurement

@#The expansion of healthcare services to serve as many people as possible has led to the decentralisation of laboratory testing. Many laboratory tests are now made available at district hospitals and rural health clinics for certain states or provinces. Consequently, there is a proliferation of laboratory tests, techniques, equipment, and other required commodities at the different medical laboratories. The lack of central governance has resulted in a widely-diverse and non-standardised laboratory services that may eventually affect the quality of healthcare delivery to patients. To ensure a high-quality and standardised healthcare delivery across a state or a province, it is important that the relevant stakeholders outline and implement the necessary strategies to establish a streamlined medical laboratory network. In this article, we discuss the significance of laboratory procurement consolidation and centralisation in the steering of the standardisation of laboratory operations leading to a high-quality and efficient chemical pathology services in a defined region.

Preliminary Pharmacognostic and Phytochemical Screening of Leaves of Cosmostigma racemosum (roxb.) Wight.

Pharmacognostic and phytochemical evaluation are necessary for drug authentication and for prediction and confirmation of pharmacological activities of any plant part. Cosmostigma racemosum (Roxb.) Wight, a traditional and folklore drug in Kerala with many reputed usages, locally called as Vaattuvalli, is a shrubby twiner of Apocynaceae family. Leaves are the most used plant part. As no scientific data regarding its standards were available, preliminary pharmacognostic, physico-chemical and phytochemical evaluation of the leaves were done as per the guidelines of Ayurveda Pharmacopoiea of India and WHO. The study revealed that leaves of Cosmostigma racemosum (Roxb.)Wight are simple, opposite, exstipulate, apex caudate, base cordate and with a characteristic chilly odour. Microscopic examination of leaves revealed the presence of characteristic features such as lacticifers, secreting cells, absence of stomata on the upper epidermis, presence of paracytic stomata on the lower epidermis and presence of calcium oxalate crystals especially druse crystals. The preliminary phytochemical evaluation revealed the presence of tannins, alkaloids, steroids, saponins which indicates the wide range of pharmacological activities of the plant. The 13 peaks in the HPTLC profile indicate a wide pharmacological prospect of the leaves. The ICP-MS analysis confirmed that heavy metals like Cd, Cr, Zn, Cu, Pb and As present in the leaves are within permissible limits. Physicochemical parameters such as moisture content, different ash values, volatile oil content, different extractive values, ph, fibre content, and sugar content were also determined. All these findings can serve as standards for assuring the safety, quality and purity of the drug.

Physico Chemical Analysis of Asanavilwadi Tila Tailam and Asanavilwadi Kera Tailam

Taila Kalpana- A liquid dosage form of Ayurveda used for both external and internal application, has an important role in clinical practice. Asanavilwadi taila is a preparation mentioned in Sahasrayogam taila prakaranam and in Chikitsa manjari Siro roga chikitsa. It is used in the treatment of diseases of eye, ear and head and found to be very effective. Based on the data collected about the production of Asanavilwadi tailam from various manufacturing companies, it was noted that large amount of Asanavilwadi tila tailam and Asanavilwadi kera tailam are produced. In the present scenario there is increase in the number of manufacturing companies, increased production of formulations and there is decreased availability of raw drugs. So, it is necessary to confirm the genuinity of formulations available in the market. But Asanavilwadi tailam has not been standardized yet in API. This work was initiated to develop a standard analytical parameter for Asanavilwadi tila tailam and Asanavilwadi kera tailam. Asanavilwadi taila is prepared both in the media of Tila taila and Kera tailam as both samples are used for clinical practice and physico-chemical analyses were done. Standard analytical protocol proposed by Pharmacopoeial Laboratory of Indian Medicine (PLIM) and Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India were taken as the study tool.

How to develop an in-house real-time quantitative cytomegalovirus polymerase chain reaction: Insights from a cancer centre in Eastern India.

Development of a reliable, cost-effective cytomegalovirus quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) is a priority for developing countries. Manufactured kits are expensive, and availability can be inconsistent. Development of an in-house QPCR kit that is reliable and quality assured requires significant effort and initial investment. However, the rewards of such an enterprise are manifold and include an in-depth understanding of molecular reactions, and expertise in the development of further low-cost molecular kits. The experience of an oncology centre in Eastern India has been shared. Hopefully, this would provide a brief roadmap for such an initiative. Staff with adequate understanding of molecular processes are essential along with vital infrastructure for molecular research and development.

Comparison of bioactive ingredients in ocimum species.

With the increasing demand for health care approaches, resurgence of herbal medicines has taken up great dimensions in changing the health care scenario across the globe. However, identification of the correct species of therapeutic importance is of utmost necessity to deliver quality products to the global market. Hence, modern approach in the standardization of single herbal preparations employing sophisticated techniques is the need of the hour. The evaluation of a product in its entirety, so-called “fingerprinting” can be accomplished by appropriate methods, which may include HPLC, GC-MS, HPTLC-densitometry, FT-NIR, high-field NMR or a combination of these techniques. Using chemical fingerprinting, plants can be demarcated on the basis of their species, strain and geographical origin. Chemical fingerprinting of plants, through chromatographic fingerprinting is highly informative which includes its use as an absolute indicator of the chemical characteristics of plants. Adulterants can be distinguished even in processed samples, enabling the authentication of the drug. Herein, in the present study two varieties of Ocimum species with green and purple coloured leaves collected from Tirunelvelli district commonly known as “Tulasi” in Tamil or “Holy Basil” in English and widely used in both ayurvedic and siddha drugs was subjected to chemical fingerprinting using HPTLC and GC. Moreover, the secondary metabolities such as polyphenols, tannins, and flavonoids were quantified to check the potency of the crude drug material. The bioactive molecule such as eugenol was found to be varying in both the species and the purple variety was found to contain more of the bioactive molecules. The fingerprinting of chemical profile as well as the quantification of the bioactive molecules in the two varieties of Ocimum species exemplified that fingerprinting using analytical techniques are comprehensive and more informative to identify and authenticate the raw drug and proves to be a tool for standardization of herbal drugs.