Prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia in healthy Indian doctors.

Currently, hyperhomocysteinemia is a well-known risk factor for variety of vascular diseases. Prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia increases with age. Hence, the present study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia in healthy upper socio-economic class population in India. Total homocysteine (tHcy) concentration was determined in 1243 (906 men & 337 women) healthy Indian doctors with different age group. Using Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) study criteria, the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia was 92.85% among men (>11.4 µmol/L) and 81.60% among women (>10.4 µmol/L). The prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia was higher among men with mean tHcy concentration (21.96 ± 0.38 µmol/L) significantly higher (P<0.0001) than women (15.90 ± 0.39 µmol/L) (95% CI, 4.733- 7.376). Our study showed very high prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia which may point to the future risk for various pathologies in the present subset of population. Further studies to look at the plasma levels of homocysteine lowering vitamins are warranted to prevent the future risk of vascular diseases.

Bioequivalence Study of Pantoprazole Sodium-HPBCD and Conventional Pantoprazole Sodium Enteric-Coated Tablet Formulations.

The objective of this study was to investigate the bioequivalence of two formulations of 40 mg pantoprazole sodium enteric-coated tablets: Tripepsa as the test and Pantocid as the reference. The two products were administered as a single oral dose according to a randomized two-phase crossover with a 1-month washout period in 25 healthy Indian volunteers. After drug administration, serial blood samples were collected over a period of 30 hours. Plasma pantoprazole concentrations were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. Pharmacokinetic parameters were analyzed based on noncompartmental analysis. The logarithmically transformed data of AUC0-∞ and Cmax were analyzed for 90% confidence intervals (CI) using ANOVA. The mean (90% CI) values for the ratio of AUC0-∞ and Cmax values of the test product over those of the reference product were 90.21 (83.69-97.24) and 108.68 (100.21-117.86), respectively (within the bioequivalence range of 80-125%). On the basis of pharmacokinetic parameters including AUC0-∞ , AUC0-t , and Cmax values, both the formulations were bioequivalent.