Determinants and Utilization of Maternal Health Care Services in Urban Slums of an Industrialized City, in Western India.

Objective: To assess the status of utilization of Maternal Health Care (MHC) services in slums of an industrialized city and elucidating the various determinants influencing the utilization. Materials and methods: A Cross-sectional study using multi stage sampling methodology was conducted in slums of an industrialized city. The study participants were the women who had given a live birth in the last one year before 4 weeks of the study starts. Total one hundred eighty families were interviewed & analysed. Results: The utilization of MHC services was poor as compared to national averages in urban slums. There was no association between age of mother, birth order, educational and occupational status of head of family with utilization of services while education and employment of mother, category and type of family, distance and time to reach health facility, were significantly associated. Conclusion: The reduction of maternal mortality and morbidity mostly depends on the utilization of MHC services. The findings of this study have important implications for improving utilization of maternal health care services.

The Remarkable Cationic Peptides: A Boon to Pharmaceutical Sciences?

In this opinion article, the authors discuss a number of interesting, beneficial properties of naturally occurring and synthetic cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with the prospective aim of bringing these compounds into therapeutic use to avoid antibiotic resistance and utilize their numerous properties. The structural diversity and the conformational freedom of these compounds adversely affects their mechanistic elucidation. Our molecular level mechanistic exploration of these peptides has shown their ion carriage properties and systematically explains their antibiotic activity through disruption of bacterial cell homeostasis and inhibition of 14-α demethylase enzyme. We have also shown self-assemblage in AMPs in different nanoparticulate and tubular forms. Some AMPs possess cell penetration capability and their co-administration with drug enhances antibacterial activity through a non-disruptive mechanism. The anti-HIV activity of AMPs has been explained based on their non-covalent, non-base-pair base-pair type interactions with HIV viral ssRNA template. Design of peptidomimetic compounds with enhanced druggability based on our mechanistic explorations will definitely lead to better non-toxic drugs with antibacterial, anti-HIV activity and may contribute towards development of efficient drug delivery systems. This article is open to POST-PUBLICATION REVIEW. Registered readers (see "For Readers") may comment by clicking on ABSTRACT on the issue's contents page.