Context and Aim:Probiotics have been documented with various pleotropic effects other than improving general gut health, but the potential benefits of strain-specific Lactobacillus on wound healing are unknown. Hence, the objective of the study is to evaluate and compare the wound healing property of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus plantarum on various wound models in male Wistar rats.Subjects and Methods:Excision wound, resutured incision wound, and dead space wounds were inflicted under light thiopentone anesthesia in male Wistar rats (n = 6, in each group). The rats received one of the Lactobacillus orally as per their weight for a period of 10 days in resutured incision (assessed by wound breaking strength) and dead space wounds (granuloma dry weight, histopathology of granulation tissue, and biochemical hydroxyproline estimation), whereas in excision wounds, treatment was monitored by planimetry. Data were expressed as mean ± standard error of mean and analyzed by ANOVA followed by Tukey's multiple post hoc test. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results:L. acidophilus showed a significant difference (P < 0.05) in all the three models, namely, enhanced wound contraction and decreased days for complete epithelization in excision wound; increased breaking strength in resutured incision wound; increased granuloma dry weight and cellular infiltration in granulation tissue with marked increase in collagen content indicating wound healing.Conclusions:The study suggests that the wound healing activity of L. acidophilus if could be extrapolated to clinical situations may decrease dosage and duration of treatment and can be a potential adjuvant to reduce hospitalization with efficient recovery after injury and sustained good health.

A novel coronavirus infection coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged from Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, in December 2019 caused by SARS-CoV-2 is believed to be originated from bats in the local wet markets. Later, animal to human and human-to-human transmission of the virus began and resulting in widespread respiratory illness worldwide to around more than 180 countries. The World Health Organization declared this disease as a pandemic in March 2020. There is no clinically approved antiviral drug or vaccine available to be used against COVID-19. Nevertheless, few broad-spectrum antiviral drugs have been studied against COVID-19 in clinical trials with clinical recovery. In the current review, we summarize the morphology and pathogenesis of COVID-19 infection. A strong rational groundwork was made keeping the focus on current development of therapeutic agents and vaccines for SARS-CoV-2. Among the proposed therapeutic regimen, hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, remdisevir, azithromycin, toclizumab and cromostat mesylate have shown promising results, and limited benefit was seen with lopinavir–ritonavir treatment in hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19. Early development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine started based on the full-length genome analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. Several subunit vaccines, peptides, nucleic acids, plant-derived, recombinant vaccines are under pipeline. This article concludes and highlights ongoing advances in drug repurposing, therapeutics and vaccines to counter COVID-19, which collectively could enable efforts to halt the pandemic virus infection.

Background: Linezolid is a commonly used antibiotic and reported various drug related adverse effects mainly haematological toxicity like thrombocytopenia, leukopenia and anaemia. But a significant association between linezolid plasma concentration and drug related adverse effects are not documented yet. This longitudinal observational study aims to study the incidence of drug related haematological toxicities and its association with serum Linezolid concentration and also evaluate the clinical outcome.Methods: After obtaining informed consent, each patient (18-50years) was given linezolid (600mg/12hourly), and evaluated for haematological (haemoglobin, platelets, WBCs), renal (as serum creatinine), and hepatic (as serum transaminases status), together with an assessment of drug C min values. These evaluations were repeated once a week or in concomitance with the development of an adverse event up to the end of linezolid therapy. The parametric dependent ‘t’ test was applied (p<0.05) and normality of data were performed by Kolmogorov Smirnov test, follows normal distribution.Results: There was significant reduction in platelet count and haemoglobin value seen from baseline till end of treatment (p<0.001) and there was 13% reduction in WBC count in all patients on day 14 when compared to baseline (p<0.001) indicating haematological toxicity according to WHO toxicity grading scale. All the patients (n=8; 26.6%) who developed drug related haematological toxicity also showed comparable increase in plasma linezolid concentration (C min) >10mg/L at the end of 14days.Conclusions: The capability to monitor plasma linezolid concentration (C min; trough value) once a week may lead to a significant improvement in clinical use of the drug both in terms of efficacy and tolerability as the study observed that there is association between linezolid concentration and risk of developing drug related haematological toxicity.

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Background Presently, competency-based medical (CBME) curriculum challenges the medical educators to provide continuing education with new approaches to make learning more stimulating, motivating, and entertaining, fostering excellence in clinical practice. To address these issues, educators have advocated the use of virtual reality and mannequins to teach clinical pharmacology. Aims and Objectives To study the effect, perception, and feedback of virtual reality high-fidelity adult mannequin-based (VHFM) simulation of real-life clinical scenarios over conventional tutorials in teaching clinical pharmacology to medical students. Material and Methods An interventional study was designed for 2nd year MBBS students for a period of 6 months. The enrolled students were randomly assigned to the test group (VHFM) or control group (tutorials). The CAE Healthcare Ltd. maestro, high-fidelity prehospital mannequin (APOLLO) was used in the test group. Three sessions consisting of six different cases were discussed, and multiple-choice questions (MCQs)-based pre-test, post–test, and retest after a month were conducted in both groups and compared. The perception and feedback of faculty and students were obtained by using a modified and revalidated questionnaire. Results The test group outperformed the control group ( p <.001) in all sessions based on pre-test, post-test, and retest scores, and within-group comparisons revealed significant improvements in both groups. Students’ perceptions and feedback regarding VHFM were more enthusiastic and promising than in the tutorial group. Conclusions VHFM is student-centered, provides an active learning environment, and aids in skill development. We strongly suggest VHFM-based learning as a complement to traditional teaching strategies in pharmacology, especially for teaching clinical reasoning to medical students.