Indian Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology

105-109

Authors: Satyendra Sharad,Dinesh Kansal*,Vipin Sharma,Parveen Sharma

Introduction: Diacerein and oxaceprol are frequently used for the treatment of Grade-I & II osteoarthritis of knees. Diacerein acts by blocking the action of interleukin-1 whereas oxaceprol prevents leukocyte infiltration in the synovial joints. Both the drugs are effective. But there are few comparative studies regarding safety and efficacy of these two drugs. Hence we planned this study. Materials and Methods: An open label randomized comparative study was conducted by the departments of Pharmacology and Orthopedics at Dr RPGMC, Tanda, H.P, after taking permission from the IEC. Patients were diagnosed clinically as per American College of Rheumatology (ACR) guidelines and graded radiologically as Grade I & II osteoarthritis of the knee joint based on Kellgren and Lawrence classification. Then considering exclusion criteria, patients were enrolled after taking written informed consent. 31 and 29 patients were enrolled in diacerein and oxaceprol groups respectively. Tab diacerein 50 mg and oxaceprol 200 mg were prescribed twice daily for three months in respective groups. One patient dropped out in each group, who opted for operative intervention after a few days of enrolment. Efficacy was assessed clinically by WOMAC scale during their follow up at three months. Safety was evaluated clinically considering adverse effects and by complete haemogram & blood biochemistry. Results: In diacerein-group, WOMAC score (mean ± S.D.) improved from 48.77± 18.17 to 29.40 ± 19.94 (p-value = 0.00001) and in oxaceprol group from 42.59 ± 19.49 to 26.58 ± 16.83 (p-value = 0.00001). No adverse effect was reported in any group. Conclusion: Both medicines are almost similar in safety and efficacy.

116-120

Authors: Sumit Patel*,Akanksha Prajapati

Introduction: Pediatric age group comprises about 40% of total population of India. Many medications are available to children and the safety of paediatric medications is an important public health issue. The challenge all the paediatricians are facing is the calculation of appropriate dose of drugs prescribed. A patient’s weight is often used to calculate the appropriate medication dose. When medication errors arise due to inaccurate or unknown patients’ weights, the dose of a prescribed medication could be significantly different from what is appropriate. Therefore the study was undertaken to compare the prescribed dose with standard dose of the drugs by using Clark’s formula. Materials and Methods: Study was an open label cross-sectional. Children admitted to ICUs were included. Data of total 400 patients were collected, 200 from PICU and NICU each. Analysis of NICU and PICU was done separately. Comparison of prescribed total daily dose of each drug with the standard total daily dose was done. Results: Total 712 and 437 drugs were prescribed in PICU and NICU. Antibiotics were the major group of drugs prescribed in both PICU and NICU. In comparison of prescribed and standard total daily dose of drugs, statistically significant difference was observed with antimicrobials, Antiepileptic, NSAIDs and antihistaminic. Conclusions: There was significant difference in means of prescribed and standard doses of drugs in various groups, which was higher in PICU as compared to NICU. E-prescriptions can reduce Perhaps dosing error and will reduce drug induced adverse drug reactions in children.

124-128

Authors: Smita Sontakke,Vijay Motghare*,Ritu Budaniya,Kundan Niwangune,Avinash Turankar

Objective: To estimate plasma olanzapine concentration (POC) using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) and identify factors that contributes to pharmacokinetic variability of olanzapine. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, observational study initiated after approval of institutional ethics committee. Stable patients of schizophrenia on olanzapine, above 18 years of age, of either gender, on olanzapine therapy for at least 12 weeks with no change in dose for at least one week were included. Plasma levels of olanzapine were assessed using HPLC based kit on LCMS. To assess response to treatment patients were subjected to Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) in which lower score indicates better response. Adherence to therapy was assessed by using Morisky 8-Item Medication Adherence Questionnaire in which lower score indicates better adherence. Graph pad prism version 6.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: POC was higher in women compared to men. No correlation was observed between POC and age (r = 0.01343, p= 0.9470) or daily dose of olanzapine(r= -0.2765, P = 0.1626). Patients having POC more than 20 ng/ml had better adherence (Morisky’s score 1 or 2) to medication compared to those having POC less than 20 ng/ml. Significant correlation was observed between POC and clinical response(r = -0.4371, p=0.0226). Conclusion: TDM of olanzapine is important considering large interpatient variability in POCs at the same dosages. It can also help in improving efficacy, particularly when patients do not respond to therapeutic doses or when they develop adverse effects. Cost of the procedure is a major concern which needs to be considered before this can be established in routine practice.

135-140

Authors: Karunakar Hegde*,Fathima Jazeela M A,Vijetha Poojary K,Satish S

In the present study the ethanolic extract of Aquilaria malaccensis (Agar wood) leaves before inoculation (BF) and after inoculation (AF)) was evaluated for its anticancer potentials. The leaf extracts (BF and AF) was subjected to in-vitro cytotoxicity studies on EAC cells, normal spleen cells and DLA cells. The leaf extracts showed dose dependent cytotoxicity with increase in dose. The IC50 value for BF and the AF leaf extract was 79.09?g/ml and 79.20?g/ml respectively. The effect on primary spleen cells was observed to be more than 100?g/ml. The study concluded that the extract of the said plant leaves has significant potential anti-cancer activity. All these results clearly indicate that the crude extract has a remarkable capacity to inhibit the growth of Ascites tumor induced by EAC cell line in animals.

146-152

Authors: Ajay Kumar Halwai,Vinod Koshley*,Rajesh Hishikar,Basant Maheshwari,Usha Joshi

Objectives: To evaluate the potential association between antipsychotics (Olanzapine, Risperidone and Haloperidol), serum glucose level and serum cholesterol level in schizophrenic patients. Introduction: Schizophrenia is quite prevalent and has high rate of chronicity and morbidity. Newer atypical antipsychotic drugs were developed in response to limitations such as lack of efficacy and side effects associated with older (conventional) agents. However, significant hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia and weight gain have been reported with the use of newer atypical antipsychotics. Materials and Methods: This was an observational prospective study. Total 75 schizophrenic patients were divided in three groups according to treatment allocated (group I- olanzapine, group II- risperidone, group III haloperidol) comprising of 25 patients in each group. Blood sample was collected when patient came to hospital for the first time before starting the treatment and 6 weeks after treatment, then again 6 months after treatment, fasting serum glucose and cholesterol levels were estimated by enzymatic procedure. Simultaneously body weight was also measured. Results: In this study majority of patients were male-73.33% with mean age of 30.76 years. There were significant increase in serum glucose levels and serum cholesterol level, after 6 weeks and 6 months of treatment (t=3.11 p<0 xss=removed xss=removed> t=3.65 p < 0 t=3.11,> Conclusion: Olanzapine was associated with increased risk of glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia and weight gain.