To Evaluate the Efficacy of Topical Propolis in the Management of Symptomatic Oral Lichen Planus: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

INTRODUCTION: Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic inflammatory, autoimmune, mucocutaneous disease of unknown etiology. The first line of treatment for oral LP (OLP) has been corticosteroids, but because of their adverse effects, alternative therapeutic approaches are being carried out, of which the recent natural alternative is propolis. AIM: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of topical propolis in the management of OLP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research group consisted of 27 patients diagnosed with symptomatic OLP, among which 15 patients were in the control group and the rest 12 were in the study group. The patients in the control group received triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% (topical application) while the patients in the study group received propolis gel. Both the groups were evaluated for pain and erythema at baseline (1st visit), first follow-up (7th day), and second follow-up (14th day) using numerical rating scale and modified oral mucositis index. RESULTS: The patients in both the study and control groups showed a statistically significant reduction (P = 0.000 for the study group and P = 0.000 for the control group) in pain and erythema scores from baseline to second follow-up visit. However, on comparison of the reduction in pain and erythema scores between the two groups, the difference was found to be statistically insignificant (P = 0.255). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Chi-square and Cramer's V test were used. CONCLUSION: The topical propolis was found to be of comparative effectiveness with respect to triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% in the management of OLP.

Current Perspectives on Novel Drug Delivery Systems and Therapies for Management of Prostate Cancer: An Inclusive Review.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PC) is a prostate gland cells carcinoma, the foremost reason of cancer deaths in men in developed countries, representing most common malignancy in adult males. The key obstacle to achieve practicable therapeutic effect of active drugs and capable hopeful agents including proteins and peptides, and nucleic acid for prostate cancer is the scarcity of targeted drug delivery to cells of prostate cancer. As a result, need for novel systems, strategies or therapeutic approaches to enhance the assortment of active agents meant for prostate cancer becomes an important criterion. Currently cancer research focuses on improving treatment of prostate cancer using various novel drug delivery systems of chemotherapeutic agents. These novel drug delivery systems comprise nanoparticles and liposomes. Also, strategies or therapeutic approaches intended for the prostate cancer include radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer, hormonal therapy for suppressing tumor growth, and gene-and-immunologic therapy. These systems and approaches can deliver the drugs to their selected or targeted cancer cells for the drug release in cancer atmosphere of prostate thereby enhancing the effectiveness of tumor penetration. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to collect and report the recent research findings to manage the PC. Present review encloses existing diverse novel drug delivery systems and approaches intended for the management of PC. CONCLUSION: The reported miscellaneous novel drug delivery systems along with the diverse therapies are seem to be precise, secure and relatively effective; and in consequence could lead to a new track for obliteration of prostate cancer.

Use of Curcumin Mouthrinse in Radio-Chemotherapy Induced Oral Mucositis Patients: A Pilot Study.

INTRODUCTION: Oral Mucositis is a complex and distinct pathobiologic entity resulting in injuries in mucosa that is a common complication in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy (CT) and radiation therapy (RT). Phytochemicals, such as Curcumin, turmeric extract, has attracted great attention for its therapeutic benefits in clinical oncology due to its chemopreventive, antitumoral, chemosensibilizing and radiosensibilizing activities against various types of cancers and the complications associated with their management. AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of curcumin mouthwash in the management of Oral Mucositis in cancer patients undergoing radio-chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research group consisted of 20 adult cancer patients undergoing radio-chemotherapy at the Regional Oncology Centre, who were evaluated for signs and symptoms of oral mucositis and then randomly divided into two groups. Standard preventive oral care i.e. chlorhexidine mouthwash 0.2% was given to one group while the other group was provided with freshly prepared curcumin mouthwash; each to be used thrice daily. Oral mucositis was assessed at days 0, 10 and 20. The World Health Organization (WHO) scale, the Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS), and a Numerical Rating Scale (NRS; patient reporting scale of 0-10) were used. Adverse events were tracked. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics, Independent sample t-test and repeated measure ANOVA test were performed. RESULTS: Statistically significant difference was found in the NRS (p=0.000), Erythema (p=0.050), ulceration (p=0.000) and WHO scores (p=0.003) between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Curcumin was found to be better than chlorhexidine mouth wash in terms of rapid wound healing and better patient compliance in management of radio-chemotherapy induced oral mucositis. No oral or systemic complications were reported.

Probiotic and prebiotic-probiotic PEC microparticles for sustaining and enhancing intestinal probiotic growth.

The aim of the study was to develop and evaluate Polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) microparticles composing Lactobacillus Acidophilus (probiotic) and Fructo oligosaccharide-Lactobacillus Acidophilus (prebiotic-probiotic), for sustaining and enhancing intestinal growth of probiotic bacteria. Gum Karaya-Chitosan(GK-CH) was used to fabricate PEC microparticles by extrusion method. The prepared microparticles were characterized for FT-IR, DSC and particle size and evaluated for percentage yield, swelling, surface morphology, entrapment rate and further studied for influence of prebiotic over probiotic growth. The fabricated PEC microparticles composed of Probiotic and Prebiotic- Probiotic have exhibited sustainability of probiotic bacteria for 12 hrs in GIT conditions and presence of prebiotic in the preparation enhanced the probiotic cell growth. Hence, it can be concluded that PEC between GK-CH was found to be successful in sustaining cell release and presence of prebiotic was found to enhance the probiotic cell growth.

Clinical evaluation of sustained-release metronidazole gel versus metronidazole solution as an intracanal medicament in abscessed primary molars.

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of metronidazole gel versus metronidazole solution against Enterococcus faecalis in abscessed primary molars. STUDY DESIGN: A clinical trial. METHOD: Twenty pulpally involved non-vital carious human primary mandibular second molars with furcal abscess were randomly allocated into two groups to evaluate the efficacy of metronidazole gel (3% w/v) and metronidazole solution (0.5% w/v) against E. faecalis. Subjects in the first experimental group were subjected to treatment with metronidazole gel (3% w/v) and subjects in the second experimental group were treated with metronidazole solution (0.5% w/v). Two microbial samples (pre-operative and post-operative samples) were obtained from the root canals of each subject from both the groups; sub cultured and efficacy of both the groups were evaluated. RESULTS: Overall percentage reduction of the mean colony forming unit (CFU) count of metronidazole gel (3% w/v) group was 96.39% and metronidazole solution (0.5 % w/v) was 90.90%. Results of intergroup t test of the percentage difference of mean CFU counts between both the groups revealed a statistically highly significant difference, i.e. p value--0.008 (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Metronidazole gel (3% w/v) was more effective than metronidazole solution (0.5% w/v) against E. faecalis.

Automated EEG signal analysis for identification of epilepsy seizures and brain tumour.

Abstract Electroencephalography (EEG) is a clinical test which records neuro-electrical activities generated by brain structures. EEG test results used to monitor brain diseases such as epilepsy seizure, brain tumours, toxic encephalopathies infections and cerebrovascular disorders. Due to the extreme variation in the EEG morphologies, manual analysis of the EEG signal is laborious, time consuming and requires skilled interpreters, who by the nature of the task are prone to subjective judegment and error. Further, manual analysis of the EEG results often fails to detect and uncover subtle features. This paper proposes an automated EEG analysis method by combining digital signal processing and neural network techniques, which will remove error and subjectivity associated with manual analysis and identifies the existence of epilepsy seizure and brain tumour diseases. The system uses multi-wavelet transform for feature extraction in which an input EEG signal is decomposed in a sub-signal. Irregularities and unpredictable fluctuations present in the decomposed signal are measured using approximate entropy. A feed-forward neural network is used to classify the EEG signal as a normal, epilepsy or brain tumour signal. The proposed technique is implemented and tested on data of 500 EEG signals for each disease. Results are promising, with classification accuracy of 98% for normal, 93% for epilepsy and 87% for brain tumour. Along with classification, the paper also highlights the EEG abnormalities associated with brain tumour and epilepsy seizure.

Lyophilization monophase solution technique for improvement of the solubility and dissolution of piroxicam.

Piroxicam (PX), an anti-inflammatory drug, exhibits poor water solubility, dissolution and flow properties. Thus, the aim of the present study was to improve the solubility and dissolution rate of PX by freeze drying technique using dimethylformamide (DMF), chloroform and water as co-solvent system. The prepared crystals containing PX were evaluated for DMF and chloroform solvent residual by gas chromatography and solubility and in vitro dissolution. The prepared formulations were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimeter; X-ray diffraction and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Dissolution profile of the freeze dried crystals was compared with its recrystallized and pure samples. The samples were stored in stability chamber to investigate their physical stability. Solvent residual of DMF and chloroform was found to be within the toxic level. Freeze dried crystals exhibited decreased crystallinity and the solubility and dissolution of the PX crystals were significantly improved compared to its recrystallized and pure samples. In stability test, the release profile of the freeze dried crystals was almost unchanged as compared with the freshly prepared freeze dried crystals stored at 40°C and 75% relative humidity for 90 days. Hence, this technique can be used for formulation of PX tablets by direct compression with directly compressible tablet excipients.

Preparation and characterization of microparticles of piroxicam by spray drying and spray chilling methods.

Piroxicam, an anti-inflammatory drug, exhibits poor water solubility and flow properties, poor dissolution and poor wetting. Consequently, the aim of this study was to improve the dissolution of piroxicam. Microparticles containing piroxicam were produced by spray drying, using isopropyl alcohol and water in the ratio of 40:60 v/v as solvent system, and spray chilling technology by melting the drug and chilling it with a pneumatic nozzle to enhance dissolution rate. The prepared formulations were evaluated for in vitro dissolution and solubility. The prepared drug particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimeter, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Dissolution profile of the spray dried microparticles was compared with spray-chilled microparticles, pure and recrystallized samples. Spray dried microparticles and spray chilled microparticles exhibited decreased crystallinity and improved micromeritic properties. The dissolution of the spray dried microparticle and spray chilled particles were improved compared with recrystallized and pure sample of piroxicam. Consequently, it was believed that spray drying of piroxicam is a useful tool to improve dissolution but not in case of spray chilling. This may be due to the degradation of drug or variations in the resonance structure or could be due to minor distortion of bond angles. Hence, this spray drying technique can be used for formulation of tablets of piroxicam by direct compression with directly compressible tablet excipients.

Chromium exposure study in chemical based industry.

176 chromium-exposed and 30 control subjects were selected for this study. Blood samples (3 ml) were collected for the estimation of chromium. The data on chromium concentration indicated a significant higher level of chromium in the blood of the exposed workers as compared to the control. There was no significant correlation between the mean blood and environmental chromium level. This study suggests that exposure to chromium may have some effect on the health of workers, even though the dose response relationship could not be established between blood chromium and environmental chromium levels. This study suggests that exposure to chromium may have some effect on the health of workers, even though the dose response relationship could not be established between blood chromium and environmental chromium levels. Study also indicates that the environmental levels to Cr are well below the permissible levels at all the sites of the industry at the time of survey even though the blood Cr levels were observed high in 14.8% of workers and some of them were having Cr related morbidity. Therefore, preventive and engineering control measures are suggested to minimize the chromium exposure in the chromium based industry located in Gorwa industrial estate at Baroda, Gujarat. About three months period was taken to complete this study.

Environmental monitoring of benzene and toluene produced in indoor air due to combustion of solid biomass fuels.

Exposure to benzene and toluene from the combustion of solid biomass fuels is one of the important causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. In this study, we assessed the exposure of cooks to benzene and toluene from biomass fuel combustion in 55 rural homes. The GC-MS was used for quantification while a personnel sampler was used for environmental monitoring. The benzene exposure differed significantly (p < 0.0001) across different types of indoor kitchen fuel combinations. The geometrical mean (GM) of benzene exposure for cooks during cooking hours in an indoor kitchen using mixed fuel was 75.3 microg/m3 (with partition) and 63.206 microg/m3 (without partition), while the exposure was 11.7 microg/m3 for open type. The benzene exposure was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in an indoor kitchen with respect to open type using mixed fuels. Concentration of benzene (114.1 microg/m3) for cooks in an indoor kitchen with partition using dung fuel was significantly higher in comparison to non-cooks (5.1 microg/m3) for open type. Benzene exposure was not significantly different for kitchen with ventilation (31.2 microg/m3) and without ventilation (45.0 microg/m3) using wood fuel. However, this value was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than in indoor kitchens with or without partition. An almost similar trend was observed for toluene but the difference was statistically non-significant. This study may be helpful in developing a regional exposure database and in the facilitation of health risk assessment due to volatile organic pollutants in our day-to-day environment.

Pulmonary function and fuel use: a population survey.

BACKGROUND: In the backdrop of conflicting reports (some studies reported adverse outcomes of biomass fuel use whereas few studies reported absence of any association between adverse health effect and fuel use, may be due to presence of large number of confounding variables) on the respiratory health effects of biomass fuel use, this cross sectional survey was undertaken to understand the role of fuel use on pulmonary function. METHOD: This study was conducted in a village of western India involving 369 randomly selected adult subjects (165 male and 204 female). All the subjects were interviewed and were subjected to pulmonary function test. Analysis of covariance was performed to compare the levels of different pulmonary function test parameters in relation to different fuel use taking care of the role of possible confounding factors. RESULTS: This study showed that biomass fuel use (especially wood) is an important factor for deterioration of pulmonary function (particularly in female). FEV1 (p < .05), FEV1% (p < .01), PEFR (p < .05) and FEF(25-75) (p < .01) values were significantly lower in biomass fuel using females than nonusers. Comparison of only biomass fuel use vs. only LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) use and only wood vs. only LPG use has showed that LPG is a safer fuel so far as deterioration of pulmonary function is concerned. This study observes some deterioration of pulmonary function in the male subjects also, who came from biomass fuel using families. CONCLUSION: This study concluded that traditional biomass fuels like wood have adverse effects on pulmonary function.

Occupational injuries: is job security a factor?

CONTEXT: Although a large number of contributing factors of occupational injury causation are explored meticulously to explain the phenomenon of higher occupational injury occurrence in some subjects, it has remained a matter of controversy. AIMS: In this study, an effort is made to explore whether job security has any contribution in explaining higher susceptibility of some workers. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a retrospective occupational injury record study conducted in an industry of eastern India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Along with the study of injury records of 5 years, an interview was also conducted involving 726 workers (including permanent and temporary workers both) of the factory. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Comparison was made between permanent and temporary workers by using the Mann-Whitney U-test and the chi-square test. A theoretical model of Poisson's distribution was used to compare between expected and real occurrence. RESULTS: Although two worker groups were very similar in relation to age, level of education, habits, and nature of work, accident frequency and severity rates were found to be significantly higher in temporary workers. CONCLUSIONS: This study concluded that the higher accident risk of the temporary workers might have been due to the less effective experience as well as due to lack of job security inherent in such workers.

Acute and chronic health effects due to green tobacco exposure in agricultural workers.

BACKGROUND: An epidemiological study was undertaken in Gujarat, India to study the acute and chronic health effects of occupational exposure to green tobacco. METHODS: Non-Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco is the main crop in many districts of Central Gujarat. Three villages were selected from Anand district for the study and a random sample of 685 exposed workers were examined. Six hundred and fifty-five control workers with the same socio-economic status were examined from two villages where tobacco was not cultivated. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of green tobacco sickness (GTS) was 47.0% among tobacco workers. The prevalence in women workers was 55.7% while in men workers it was 42.66%. To detect the chronic health effects prevalence of hypertension, electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities, and eye problems in all the workers and reproductive abnormalities in women workers, all subjects received a medical examination. The data were compared in exposed and control group but they were non-significant statistically. No case of tobacco amblyopia was detected. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of GTS among non-FCV tobacco workers is high. However, from viewpoint of severity it can be considered as mild acute nicotine toxicity, which is relieved without medication. No significant difference is observed as regards to chronic health effects among tobacco workers and control workers.

Gas chromatographic-mass spectroscopic determination of benzene in indoor air during the use of biomass fuels in cooking time.

A gas chromatography-mass spectroscopic method in electron ionization (EI) mode with MS/MS ion preparation using helium at flow rate 1 ml min(-1) as carrier gas on DB-5 capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm i.d. film thickness 0.25 microm) has been developed for the determination of benzene in indoor air. The detection limit for benzene was 0.002 microg ml(-1) with S/N: 4 (S: 66, N: 14). The benzene concentration for cooks during cooking time in indoor kitchen using dung fuel was 114.1 microg m(-3) while it was 6.6 microg m(-3) for open type kitchen. The benzene concentration was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in indoor kitchen with respect to open type kitchen using dung fuels. The wood fuel produces 36.5 microg m(-3) of benzene in indoor kitchen. The concentration of benzene in indoor kitchen using wood fuel was significantly (p < 0.01) lower in comparison to dung fuel. This method may be helpful for environmental analytical chemist dealing with GC-MS in confirmation and quantification of benzene in environmental samples with health risk exposure assessment.

Ocular morbidity and fuel use: an experience from India.

The association of fuel use and ocular morbidity in a village in western India was investigated in a cross sectional prevalence survey involving 469 randomly selected subjects. All subjects were interviewed and underwent medical and ophthalmological examination. Wood use was found to be an important factor in the aetiology of age dependent cataract (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.03-4.34). When comparing wood only and LPG only users, the odds ratio was 3.47 (95% CI 1.05-11.50). In cases of eye irritation, coal use (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.13-3.68) and cattle dung use (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.35-2.47) were shown to be important factors, while male sex posed a lesser risk.

Determination of nicotine and cotinine in tobacco harvesters' urine by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography.

A solid-phase extraction method using Drug Test-1 column containing chemically modified silica as a solid support for sample clean up and reversed phase ion-paired high-pressure liquid chromatography method have been developed for the simultaneous determination of nicotine and its metabolite cotinine from the urine samples. Mobile phase was consisted of acetate buffer (containing 0.03 M sodium acetate and 0.1 M acetic acid) pH 3.1 and acetonitrile (78:22% (v/v)) containing 0.02 M sodium octanosulfonate as an ion pair agent. pH of the mobile phase was adjusted to 3.6 with triethylamine for better resolution and to prevent peak tailing. The linearity was obtained in the range of 0.5-10 microg/ml concentrations of nicotine and cotinine standards. The correlation coefficients were 0.998 for cotinine and 0.999 for nicotine. The recoveries were obtained in the range of 79-97% with average value of 85% for nicotine and in the range of 82-98% with average value of 88% for cotinine. The limit of detection was 2 ng/ml for cotinine and 5 ng/ml for nicotine with 2 ml urine for extraction, calculated by taking signal to noise ratio 10:3. The intra-day co-efficient of variation (CV) were <4 and 7% and inter-day CV were <9 and 7% for nicotine and cotinine, respectively. The method was applied to the urine samples of tobacco harvesters, who suffer from green tobacco sickness (GTS) to check the absorption of nicotine through dermal route during the various processes of tobacco cultivation due to its good reproducibility and sensitivity.