Quality assurance in nuclear medicine--biological quality control of radiopharmaceuticals.

Quality assurance is the sum of all parameters concerning the preparation and control of a finished product. It is a wide term commonly used for the confirmation and validity of various ways and measurements adopted to obtain a high quality procedure for intended use with guaranteed performance. Biological quality control of pharmaceutical products becomes essential as they are ultimately to be consumed by living organisms, in particular the humans. In this review, we have discussed the importance and significance of biological quality control in nuclear medicine. The current and new procedures for sterility, apyrogenecity and the biodistribution quality control, have been discussed and evaluated in view of the future needs and modern trends in this important area of research.

Effect of some psychoactive drugs on stress induced alteration in plasma corticosterone level.

Psychoactive drugs such as chlorpromazine, fluphenazine, haloperidol, propranolol and diazepam were evaluated for their ability to block stress induced changes in Wistar albino rats. The stress induced changes were monitored as the difference in plasma corticosterone (PCS) levels, before and after the administration of minimum effective doses of psychoactive drugs. Significant results were obtained with diazepam at the dose of 5-10 mg/kg and to a lesser extent with propranolol 20 mg/kg. Other drugs, at their minimum effective doses showed no significant change in plasma corticosterone levels.

A simple computer programme for biokinetic study of 99Tcm-radiopharmaceuticals.

A simple programme has been written in GW BASIC to calculate the percentage activity of 99Tcm-radiopharmaceuticals in different tissues after biodistribution. The programme is efficient, easy to handle and produces a permanent record in terms of a final report.

Bioburden and theoretical sterility dose calculation for radiation sterilization of surgical cotton and bandages.

The initial bioburden, count of colony forming unit (CFU) was determined on the locally manufactured non-sterilized surgical cotton and bandages. In all 489 tests were conducted on 163 cotton samples and 246 tests on 82 bandage samples. The surgical cotton showed an average of 198 microbes with a maxima of 287 and minima 94 whereas bandages showed an average of 179 microbes with a maxima of 268 and minima of 89. In the 20% samples subjected to identification no anaerobic microorganism was isolated while the aerobic microorganisms isolated were all bacilli. The sterilization dose (SD) for sterility assurance level (SAL) of 10(-6) was 2.23 Mrads and 2.21 Mrads, whereas the device verification dose (DVD) was 0.6 and 0.59 Mrads for cotton and bandages respectively as calculated by the method proposed by the Sterilization Standard Committee, Association of Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI).

Simple, efficient and simultaneous determination of anabolic steroids in human urine.

A high performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of free anabolic drug "sustanon 250" (Organon) is developed. Four testosterone esters, propionate, phenylpropionate, isocaproate and decanoate were detected simultaneously and quantitatively in only 15 minutes. The percentage extraction in dichloromethane of the four testosterone esters from doped urine was 88, 87, 89 and 94% respectively. The separation recorded at 254 nm using analytical column ODS-C18 and methanol as an eluent, showed no interference of naturally occurring steroids. This method can be used for pharmacokinetic studies, routine analysis in pharmaceutical industry, routine therapeutic surveillance and in drug abuse by sportsmen.

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

This article discusses the basic concepts of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with the intention to introduce the subject to uninitiated. The MRI technique is a powerful noninvasive probe of the body's internal anatomy. In MRI, the images are produced not by X-rays, but through the use of non-ionizing radiowaves that stimulate transitions between spin states of nuclei in a magnetic field when passed through the body. The time required for the nucleus to return to equilibrium gives information about the environment of that nucleus. In this way tissue abnormalities can be determined in vivo. This article covers the basis of MRI phenomena, the concept of magnetic moment of the sample, NMR exalation and emission and the equipment necessary to observe these NMR properties. The primary agents used to increase tissue contrast in MRI are also mentioned. Finally the importance and prospects of this technique in Pakistan have been discussed.

Detection of coliform organisms in drinking water by radiometric method.

The radiometric method has been used for detection of coliform bacteria in water. The method is based on measuring the released metabolic 14CO2 from 14C-lactose in growth media containing coliform organisms incubated at 37 degrees C under continuous shaking. This rapid and sensitive radiometric method permits the detection of even single coliform organisms within 6 hours of incubation. Using this automated method, a total of 102 samples (in duplicate) collected from different areas in and around Rawalpindi and Islamabad were assessed for coliform bacteria. Of these 102 samples, 50 were tap water samples, 40 from wells and 6 each were from Rawal and Simly dams. About 47% and 67% tap water samples, while 62% and 74% well water samples were found unsatisfactory from around Islamabad and Rawalpindi areas, respectively. About 83% and 66% water samples from Rawal dam and Simly dam respectively were found to be unsatisfactory.

Antibacterial activity of copper-amino acid complexes.

Copper complexes of L-alanine, L-arginine, L-histidine, L-lysine, L-proline and L-threonine were studied for their antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Escherichia Coli. The complexes of 1-alanine, 1-proline and 1-threonine were nearly as active as ampicillin against Strep. Pyogenes. Mixed complexes of these amino acids showed similar effect. Other complexes were also active to a significant extent against all the three strains studied.