A cross-sectional study to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of gastro-esophageal reflux disease among the undergraduate medical students of a tertiary-care Indian setting

Introduction: Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a condition characterized by the reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus, causing unpleasant symptoms and/or consequences like heartburn and acid regurgitation. GERD in the student stages can hurt their quality of life, college attendance, everyday activities, and overall well- being of the individual. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted among medical students of a tertiary care setting from August 2021 to October 2021 for a three-month duration. A convenient sample of 458 participants from all the years of MBBS was included in this study. Results: A total of 458 medical students were made part of this study of which most of them (58.9%) were females and 41.1% were males. The average age among the study participants was 22 ± 2.3 years (range of 18–27 years). The average BMI of the individuals was 23.48 (range 14.58–32.41), with the majority (54.8%) of them having a normal BMI. Discussion: In our study, we found that the prevalence of GERD in the medical students of a rural Indian tertiary care setting was 24.2%, and was observed that irregular meal timings and consuming coffee and soft drinks are the crucial risk factors for developing GERD in the medical students in comparison to the general population. Conclusion: Medical students should be trained on proper eating habits, maintaining ideal body weight, good sleep hygiene, and avoiding drinking alcohol and smoking to lessen the burden of GERD.

Adverse drug reactions in hospitalized paediatric patients in a tertiary care center in Kerala, India

Background: Drug safety information about children is scarcely available. This study aims to describe the ADRs in hospitalized paediatric patients under 12 years of age in paediatrics wards of DM WIMS Hospital, Wayanad, Kerala, a tertiary care center in southern part of India.Methods: A retrospective study based on data collected as per the ongoing pharmacovigilance program of India (PvPI) was conducted for twelve months period in order to study the ADRs in hospitalized paediatric patients under 12 years of age with at least one medication prescribed. The study was conducted in paediatrics wards of DM WIMS Hospital, Wayanad. WHO-UMC scale and Naranjo´s Algorithm was used to evaluate causality, the modified Hartwig and Siegel assessment scale was used to establish severity and the Schumock and Thornton criteria was used to determine preventability.Results: Forty-two children (42) who experienced 55 ADRs were included in the study. The frequency was higher in children under 1 year of age (47.62%). Emergence of ADRs was higher in male patients (59.52%), in those used three or more medicines together (71.43%) and in those with systemic antibiotics (58.18%).Conclusions: Being the first study from Kerala in paediatric patients, it is an important contribution to drug safety profile in children from this region of India. ADRs frequency and other descriptive characteristics are provided for the enrolled children under 12 years of age. ADRs are an additional burden of morbidity and risk, particularly in those who used several medicines, including antibiotics.

Quantification of 17-desacetyl norgestimate in human plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and its application to bioequivalence study / 药物分析学报

A rapid and sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the estimation of 17-desacetyl norgestimate in human plasma using solid-phase extraction technique. 17-desacetyl norgestimate D6 was used as the internal standard. Simple gradient chromatographic conditions and mass spectrometric detection enabled accurate and precise measurement of 17-desacetyl norgestimate at sub-picogram levels. The proposed method was validated for a linear range of 20–5000 pg/mL with a correlation coefficient Z 0.9988. The intra-run and inter-run precision and accuracy were within 10%. The overall recoveries for 17-desacetyl norgestimate and 17-desacetyl norgestimate D6 were 96.30%and 93.90%, respectively. The total run time was 4.5 min. The developed method was applied for the determination of the pharmacokinetic parameters of 17-desacetyl norgestimate following a single oral administration of a norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol 0.250 mg/0.035 mg tablets in 35 healthy female volunteers.

Endophytic Fungi: A Poor Candidate for the Production of Lovastatin.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to screen soil and endophytic fungi for production of lovastatin. Methodology: Soil fungi were isolated by dilution plating technique and endophytic fungi from selected medicinal plants by using standard procedures. All isolates were tested for lovastatin production by Solid State Fermentation (SSF) using wheat bran as substrate. Results: The soil isolate, Aspergillus terreus NCBI (KM017963) showed positive for lovastatin (1.0 mg/G DWS) whereas none of the endophytic fungi tested showed positivefor lovastatin production.

Turner syndrome and its variants.

Case records of female patients with karyotype proven turner syndrome were analyzed. 11 patients had classic Turner karyotype (Group 1) and 13 patients had karyotype suggestive of one of the variants of Turner syndrome (Group 2). There was a median difference of 3 years between the age of presentation and the age of diagnosis in Group 2. Out of the thirteen patients in Group 2, 4 had no clinical stigmata of Turner Syndrome; the rest (n=9) had one or more of the typical clinical stigmata of Turner Syndrome. One patient with a complex mosaic karyotype also had an intracranial medulloblastoma. One patient in each group had coarctation of the aorta. 5 patients in Group 1 and 3 patients in Group 2 had primary hypothyroidism and received levothyroxine. The median Thyroid Stimulating Hormone levels were significantly higher among patients in group 1 than in group 2.

Atlantoaxial fixation: overview of all techniques.

Over the past century, steady advances have been made in fixating an unstable atlantoaxial complex. Current options for fixation of the atlantoaxial complex include posterior clamps, posterior wiring techniques, C1-C2 transarticular screw fixation, posterior C1 lateral mass screw with C2 pars or pedicle screw fixation, and anterior transoral C1 lateral mass to C2 vertebral body fixation.