Need for Testing and Supplementation of Vitamin D3 After Release of COVID-19 Lockdown in Patients with Increased Musculoskeletal Pain

AimsTo evaluate vitamin D3 levels in patients who presented with increased musculo-skeletal pain after release of lockdown period when compared to pre-lockdown status.IntroductionDuring this COVID pandemic, many countries have implemented lockdown measures and people have to work from home and many students and workers have to restrict themselves to home. During this period, their outdoor activities were limited. After the partial release of this lockdown many of them started to have some kind of physical activity and started experiencing body pains. We evaluated such patients for vitamin D3 levels and symptoms of fibromyalgia.MethodsThis is a retrospective analysis of patients from age group 18–60 presented to outpatient department or on telephonic consultation after partial release of lockdown. All patients who had mild back ache before lockdown and had symptoms exaggerated during this lockdown release were included. All patients were investigated for vitamin D3, PTH, thyroid profile, liver functional and kidney functional tests.ResultsOut of 120 patients presented to us in a period of 3 months, 31 patients had increased symptoms when compared to pre-lockdown status. 20 out of 31 patients had low vitamin D3 levels. 14 patients also developed symptoms of fibromyalgia.ConclusionThere might be many reasons for increased pain during lockdown, but we focussed specially only on vitamin D3 because of its association with increased symptoms of COVID-19. This is a gentle reminder to test for vitamin D3 levels and supplement if found deficient.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43465-021-00376-8.     

Tissue repair plays pivotal role in final outcome of liver injury following chloroform and allyl alcohol binary mixture.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the interaction profile of chloroform (CHCl(3))+allyl alcohol (AA) binary mixture (BM)-induced acute hepatotoxic response. Plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was measured to assess liver injury, and 3H-thymidine (3H-T) incorporation into hepatonuclear DNA was measured as an index of liver regeneration over a time course of 0-72 h. Male Sprague-Dawley (S-D) rats received single ip injection of 5-fold dose range of CHCl(3) (74, 185 and 370 mg/kg) in corn oil (maximum 0.5 ml/kg) and 7-fold dose range of AA (5, 20 and 35 mg/kg) in distilled water simultaneously. The doses for BM were selected from individual toxicity studies of CHCl(3) alone [Int. J. Toxicol. 22 (2003) 25], and AA alone [Reg. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 19 (1999) 165]. Since the highest dose of each treatment (CHCl(3)- 740 and AA- 50 mg/kg) yielded mortality due to the suppressed tissue repair followed by liver failure, this dose was omitted for BM. The levels of CHCl(3) (30-360 min) and AA (5-60 min) were quantified in blood and liver by gas chromatography (GC). The liver injury was more than additive after BM compared to CHCl(3) alone or AA alone at highest dose combination (370+35 mg/kg), which peaked at 24 h. The augmented liver injury observed with BM was consistent with the quantitation data. Though the liver injury was higher, the greater stimulation of tissue repair kept injury from progressing, and rescued the rats from hepatic failure and death. At lower dose combinations, the liver injury was no more than additive. Results of the present study suggest that liver tissue repair, in which liver tissue lost to injury is promptly replaced, plays a pivotal role in the final outcome of liver injury after exposure to BM of CHCl(3) and AA.     

Bioequivalence evaluation of two marketed brands of stavudine 40 mg capsules in healthy human South African volunteers.

Stavudine (d4T), a thymidine nucleoside analogue has been effectively used for treatment of patients infected with HIV. A randomized, two-way, crossover study was conducted in 24 fasting, healthy, Caucasian male volunteers to compare plasma pharmacokinetic (PK) profile and single-dose tolerability of a new d4T formulation (Stavir, Cipla Ltd, India; 40 mg capsule, test, T) with that of reference (R) formulation (Zerit), Bristol-Myers Squib, NJ, USA; capsule, 40 mg). Each volunteer received T and R formulation separated by at least 10 days of drug free wash-out period. Plasma concentrations of d4T, determined upto 24h post-dose by a validated LC-MS/MS assay were utilized to assess PK parameters such as maximum observed plasma concentration (Cmax), time to Cmax (tmax), and area under plasma concentration curve (AUC(infinity)). The primary plasma PK parameters, Cmax, and AUC(infinity), of anti-retroviral were comparable for either of the formulations. tmax was achieved within an hour suggesting rapid absorption of d4T from both formulations. Geometric mean ratios (GMR) (percentage reference) of AUC(infinity) and Cmax, and their 90% confidence intervals (CI) were 106.32 [102.52-110.26] and 102.32 [90.25-116.00], respectively. As the 90% CI of GMR were entirely within 80-125% for log-transformed parameters, two formulations were considered bioequivalent, in the extent and rate of absorption. Both formulations exhibited similar tolerability under fasting conditions.     

Synthesis of some novel oxazolidinone-thiazole hybrids as potential antimicrobial,antioxidant and UV mediated DNA damage protecting agents

In search of a new class of biologically active agents, some novel oxazolidinone-thiazole hybrids 4a–m have been synthesized and characterized on the basis of a combined use of infrared, NMR (¹H, ¹³C) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. All compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial, antioxidant and ultraviolet mediated DNA damage protective activity. Among the series, compound 4i emerged as the most potent antimicrobial agent, particularly, against Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in comparison to the standard drugs, Ciprofloxacin (antibacterial) and Amphotericin-B (antifungal). Other promising antimicrobial agents including the compounds 4f–h. In addition, all compounds 4a–m were found to show very high DNA damage protecting ability under ultraviolet irradiation. The antioxidant study revealed that the compounds 4d and 4j were found as the most potent antioxidants as compared to ascorbic acid, a reference compound considered in the study.