SULINDAC IN OSTEOARTHROSIS OF THE HIP

Sulindac (400 mg/day) has been compared with ibuprofen (1200mg/day) in 40 patients with osteoarthrosis of the hip, overan eight-week period, in a double-blind controlled clinicaltrial. The two drugs were comparable in terms of patient preference,effects on hip movements, and toxicity. Sulindac showed superioranalgesic properties to ibuprofen, resulting in a significantlygreater reduction in pain on weight-bearing and with passivemovements P<0.01).     

Health and health services on plantations in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is an example of a country which has achieved impressiveimprovements in health status since Independence despite itslow income per head. However, the improvement has been uneven,with plantations consistently lagging behind. Most of the estateworkers in Sri Lanka are Indian Tamils who have traditionallybeen economically disadvantaged and politically isolated, apattern which began under the colonial pattern of recruitmentand management Poverty, overcrowding, poor water and sanitationand health services were all reflected in the low health statusof estate workers and their families. However, since nationalizationin 1975, there has been considerable investment on estates and,with the introduction of a uniform health policy designed tomeet the needs of estate workers, the health status of workersand their families has dramatically improved. Interventionshave included components on housing, water supply and sanitationas well as health and child care and have been planned withthe involvement of the workers. The components which have broughtabout the improvements were specificially designed to meet theneeds of plantation workers and developed within a structurequite different from that which applies in rural peasant areas.It is possible that a separate structure responsive to the specialproblems on estates is needed if Health for All is to be a realityin plantations.     

Chlorin e6 – polyvinylpyrrolidone mediated photosensitization is effective against human non-small cell lung carcinoma compared to small cell lung carcinoma xenografts

Background

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective local cancer treatment that involves light activation of a photosensitizer, resulting in oxygen-dependent, free radical-mediated cell death. Little is known about the comparative efficacy of PDT in treating non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), despite ongoing clinical trials treating lung cancers. The present study evaluated the potential use of chlorin e6 – polyvinylpyrrolidone (Ce6-PVP) as a multimodality photosensitizer for fluorescence detection and photodynamic therapy (PDT) on NSCLC and SCLC xenografts.

Results

Human NSCLC (NCI-H460) and SCLC (NCI-H526) tumor cell lines were used to establish tumor xenografts in the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model as well as in the Balb/c nude mice. In the CAM model, Ce6-PVP was applied topically (1.0 mg/kg) and fluorescence intensity was charted at various time points. Tumor-bearing mice were given intravenous administration of Ce6-PVP (2.0 mg/kg) and laser irradiation at 665 nm (fluence of 150 J/cm² and fluence rate of 125 mW/cm²). Tumor response was evaluated at 48 h post PDT. Studies of temporal fluorescence pharmacokinetics in CAM tumor xenografts showed that Ce6-PVP has a selective localization and a good accuracy in demarcating NSCLC compared to SCLC from normal surrounding CAM after 3 h post drug administration. Irradiation at 3 h drug-light interval showed greater tumor necrosis against human NSCLC xenografts in nude mice. SCLC xenografts were observed to express resistance to photosensitization with Ce6-PVP.

Conclusion

The formulation of Ce6-PVP is distinctly advantageous as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent for fluorescence diagnosis and PDT of NSCLC.