Rational synthesis, anticancer activity, and molecular docking studies of novel benzofuran liked thiazole hybrids.

A novel series of benzofuran bearing thiazole hybrids were synthesized by the multistep reaction approach. All synthesized molecules were selected by the National Cancer Institute, USA for one-dose anticancer activity against 60 various human cancer cell lines indicating nine types of cancer. Among thirteen compounds, two compounds showed higher lethality, so, it was selected for five-dose anticancer screening against all cancer cell lines. Compound 8g and 8h were displayed remarkable antiproliferative activity with GI50 values ranging from 0.295 to 4.15 µM and LC50 values ranging from 4.43 to > 100 µM. All data are compared with standard drugs fluorouracil and doxorubicin. Compound 8g showed higher potency as a cytotoxic molecule then fluorouracil. Furthermore, all new hybrids were studied for molecular docking into the active binding sites of 1HOV protein.

Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among HIV infected persons in Pokhara, Nepal.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in Nepal. HIV co-infection has further added a serious challenge to control TB. An early diagnosis and treatment of TB in HIV infected individuals can help reduce not only the morbidity and mortality associated in this high risk group but also to control the TB burden in Nepal. METHODS: Clinical and bacteriological examination for pulmonary TB was carried out in 184 HIV positive persons from the community in Pokhara. Questionnaire was used to screen for symptoms and collect participants' demographic information and potential risk factors for TB. RESULTS: Eighty (43.5%) sero-positive participants were young adult (21-30 years), followed by 71 (38.6%) middle aged (31-40 years) persons. Eleven participants were found to have Mycobacterium tuberculosis in their sputum, giving an overall prevalence of tuberculosis of 5.97%. All 11 cases were detected by Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) culture, of which only three cases were detected by direct microscopy of AFB stained sputum smear. The majority of TB/HIV patients were asymptomatic with low AFB smear positivity. No significant association was found between TB and risk factors like ARV status, common clinical features of tuberculosis and smoking habit. However, significant association was found between the alcohol consumption and TB (X2=4.11, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence of tuberculosis (5.97%) was found among HIV infected persons. Alcohol consumption was associated with the development of tuberculosis. Majority of the studied subjects were asymptomatic for common signs and symptoms of TB. Weight loss was observed in 43% of the studied subjects followed by chest pain (39.2%), loss of appetite (34.8%), fever (34.8%) and night sweat (26.1%). Only 27% of the TB cases were found to be smear-positive.

Development and validation of a stability indicating method for the enantioselective estimation of omeprazole enantiomers in the enteric-coated formulations by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Omeprazole is widely prescribed in the form of enteric-coated formulations, due to the rapid degradation of the drug in the acidic condition of the stomach. In the current article, we are reporting the development and complete validation of a stability indicating chiral high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the enantioselective analysis of omeprazole in the enteric-coated formulations. A precise and sensitive enantiomeric separation of omeprazole was obtained on Chiralcel OD-H analytical column (250mm × 4.6 mm, 5µm particle size) using normal phase chromatography. The analysis was performed under UV detection at 301nm wavelength. During method development, the addition of methanol to the mobile phase helped in getting the sharp peaks. The developed method showed linear response over a wide concentration range of 0.39-800µg/ml and the regression coefficients value (r(2)) was obtained more than 0.999 for (S)- and (R)-omeprazole. The lower limit of detection (LLOD) and lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) for (R)-omeprazole were found to be 0.39 and 0.78 µg/ml, respectively for 5 µl injection volume. The percentage recovery of (R)-omeprazole ranged from 93.5 to 104 in spiked formulation samples and omeprazole sample solution and mobile phase were found to be stable for at least 24 h at room temperature. The proposed method was found to be suitable and accurate for the quantitative determination of undesired enantiomer in the enteric-coated omeprazole formulations.

Breast-feeding initiation and determinants of exclusive breast-feeding - a questionnaire survey in an urban population of western Nepal.

OBJECTIVE: To assess rates of initiation of breast-feeding and exclusive breast-feeding within 2 months after delivery and to determine the factors influencing exclusive breast-feeding. DESIGN: A health worker-administered questionnaire survey was carried out during the time period 1 August-30 September 2005. SETTING: Immunisation clinics of Pokhara, a submetropolitan city in western Nepal. SUBJECTS: Three hundred and eighty-five mothers who had delivered a child within the previous 2 months. RESULTS: The rates of initiation within 1 h and within 24 h of delivery were 72.7 and 84.4%, respectively. Within 2 months after delivery, exclusive breast-feeding was practised by 82.3% of the mothers. Breast milk/colostrum was given as the first feed to 332 (86.2%) babies but 17.2% of them were either given expressed breast milk or were put to the breast of another lactating mother. Pre-lacteal feeds were given to 14% of the babies. The common pre-lacteal feeds given were formula feeds (6.2%), sugar water (5.9%) and cow's milk (2.8%). Complementary feeds were introduced by 12.7% of the mothers. By logistic regression analysis, friends' feeding practices, type of delivery and baby's first feed were the factors influencing exclusive breast-feeding practice of the mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the higher rates of initiation and exclusive breast-feeding, practices such as pre-lacteal feeds and premature introduction of complementary feeds are of great concern in this urban population. There is a need for promotion of good breast-feeding practices among expectant mothers and also the community, especially the families, taking into account the local traditions and customs.

Infant feeding practices of mothers in an urban area in Nepal.

BACKGROUND: Child health in developing countries including Nepal is a matter of serious concern as the prevalence of malnutrition among children continues to be high with 48.6% of children under five in Nepal being underweight. Since infant feeding practices adopted by mothers play a major role in influencing health of these children, there is a need to study the infant feeding practices prevalent in different areas in order to have pragmatic approaches to solve this problem. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted among mothers who attended the immunization clinics of 18 wards of Pokhara municipality area. They were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire on various aspects of infant feeding. RESULT: A total of 168 mothers were interviewed and prevalence of breastfeeding was 99.4% (167). Only 43.5% of the mothers initiated breastfeeding within one hour of birth and 60.5% were practicing exclusive breastfeeding at 5 months. Almost 40% of the mothers started complementary feeding before the recommended age of 6 months and 22.5 % delayed introduction of complementary feeding beyond the recommended age. CONCLUSION: Breast feeding practices adopted by mothers of Pokhara urban area are still lacking in terms of late initiation of and early starting of complementary feeding. There is a need to educate the mothers regarding proper infant feeding practices.

Pattern of road traffic injuries: one year hospital-based study in Western Nepal.

Road traffic injuries and deaths caused by motor vehicles is a growing public health problem all over the world. Inter-country or regional differences in the pattern of injury by road users have significant implications in determining prevention policies. The present study was conducted to evaluate the pattern of injuries in 217 hospitalized trauma patients admitted during 1 year, 2003. The majority of the injuries (54%) involved motorcycles. The highest incidence amongst the male population was in the age group of 16 - 30 years. Head and face injuries and injuries to the lower limbs comprised 58.1% and 50.7% of all injuries respectively. The bones of the lower limbs were most commonly fractured. To conclude, the traffic casualties of motorcyclists and pedestrians are considered a major problem and the preventive measures to reduce these transport-related injuries are discussed in this study.

Frequency and susceptibility profile of pathogens causing urinary tract infections at a tertiary care hospital in western Nepal.

INTRODUCTION: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common nosocomial infection among hospitalised patients. Area-specific monitoring studies aimed to gain knowledge about the type of pathogens responsible for UTIs and their resistance patterns may help the clinician to choose the correct empirical treatment. Recent reports have shown increasing resistance to commonly-used antibiotics. We aimed to study the antibiotic resistance pattern of the urinary pathogens isolated from hospitalised patients. METHODS: Three urine samples were collected by the mid-stream "clean catch" method from 1,680 clinically-suspected cases of urinary tract infections from inpatients of various clinical departments during one year. The samples were tested microbiologically by standard procedures. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated pathogens was tested for commonly-used antibiotics by Kirby-Bauer technique according to NCCLS guidelines. RESULTS: Significant bacteriuria was present in 71.7 percent of the samples, 17 percent were sterile, 4.8 percent showed insignificant bacteriuria, and 6.5 percent non-pathogenic bacteriuria. The most common pathogens isolated were Escherichia coli (59.4 percent), Klebsiella spp (15.7 percent) and Enterococcus faecalis (8.1 percent). The mean susceptibility was high for amikacin (87.2 percent), ciprofloxacin (74.8 percent), ceftazidime (71.5 percent) and gentamicin (70.4 percent) but low for nitrofurantoin (35 percent), cephalexin (49.7 percent) and ampicillin (50.5 percent). Escherichia coli was found to be most susceptible to amikacin (98 percent) followed by gentamicin (87.9 percent), ceftazidime (80.8 percent), norfloxacin (78.4 percent) and cotrimoxazole (77.9 percent). CONCLUSION: A high isolation rate of pathogens from urine samples of clinically-suspected UTI shows a good correlation between clinical findings and microbiological methods. The antibiotics commonly used in UTIs are less effective. Since the present study was a cross-sectional study, regular monitoring is required to establish reliable information about resistance pattern of urinary pathogens for optimal empirical therapy of patients with nosocomial UTIs.

Influence of anaesthetics, mating, premature delivery, the time of day of blood sampling, and suckling on plasma levels of luteinizing hormone in hamsters.

The influence of several factors on immunoreactive LH levels in peripheral plasma of female hamsters was investigated. The LH values for animals anaesthetized with either sodium pentobarbitone or chloral hydrate were significantly lower (P smaller than 0-01) than those values obtained for hamsters sampled under ether anaesthesia. Mating on the night of pro-oestrus resulted in increased LH levels (P smaller 0-01) the following morning as compared with the levels in control females not caged with males. The LH levels were relatively low (13 plus or minus 2 (S.E.M.) ng/ml) on the afternoon (16.00-18.00 h) of day 15 of pregnancy and also on the morning (09.00-10.00 h) of day 16 before (7 plus or minus 1 ng/ml) and after parturition (4 plus or minus 0-2 ng/ml), but rose severalfold (561 plus or minus 201 ng/ml) on the afternoon post partum. When premature delivery was induced on day 15 of pregnancy by administration of prostaglandin E2 the LH levels did not rise on the afternoon of this day (29 plus or minus 11 ng/ml), but did so on the following afternoon (213 plus or minus 115 ng/ml), at the same interval post coitum as in normal delivery. Marked increases in the concentration of LH in plasma were observed on the afternoon of each of days 0-6 post partum. The levels were comparable to those found on the afternoon of pro-oestrus in cyclic hamsters and could be blocked by administration of sodium phenobarbitone at 13.00 h. Similar afternoon surges of LH were not observed during dioestrus. In the morning, the LH levels were significantly higher (P smaller 0-001) in the non-suckled dams (95 plus or minus 4 ng/ml) than those in mothers allowed to nurse their young (13 plus or minus 4 ng/ml). In contrast, the levels in the afternoon were unaffected by the suckling stimulus (suckled, 495 plus or minus 76 v. non-suckled, 744 plus or minus 165 ng/ml; P greater than 0-05).