Diabetic wound infections caused by conventional antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains are fast emerging, leading to life-threatening situations (e.g., high costs, morbidity, and mortality) associated with delayed healing and chronic inflammation. Electrospinning is one of the most widely used techniques for the fabrication of nanofibers (NFs), induced by a high voltage applied to a drug-loaded polymer solution. Particular attention is given to electrospun NFs for pharmaceutical applications (e.g., original drug delivery systems) and tissue regeneration (e.g., as tissue scaffolds). However, there is a paucity of reports related to their application in diabetic wound infections. Therefore, we prepared eco-friendly, biodegradable, low-immunogenic, and biocompatible gelatin (GEL)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) electrospun NFs (BNFs), in which we loaded the broad-spectrum antibiotic cephradine (Ceph). The resulting drug-loaded NFs (LNFs) were characterized physically using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry (for drug loading capacity (LC), drug encapsulation efficiency (EE), and drug release kinetics determination), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) (for thermostability evaluation), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (for surface morphology analysis), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) (for functional group identification). LNFs were further characterized biologically by in-vitro assessment of their potency against S. aureus clinical strains (N = 16) using the Kirby–Bauer test and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, by ex-vivo assessment to evaluate their cytotoxicity against primary human epidermal keratinocytes using MTT assay, and by in-vivo assessment to estimate their diabetic chronic wound-healing efficiency using NcZ10 diabetic/obese mice (N = 18). Thin and uniform NFs with a smooth surface and standard size (<400 nm) were observed by SEM at the optimized 5:5 (GEL:PVA) volumetric ratio. FTIR analyses confirmed the drug loading into BNFs. Compared to free Ceph, LNFs were significantly more thermostable and exhibited sustained/controlled Ceph release. LNFs also exerted a significantly stronger antibacterial activity both in-vitro and in-vivo. LNFs were significantly safer and more efficient for bacterial clearance-induced faster chronic wound healing. LNF-based therapy could be employed as a valuable dressing material to heal S. aureus-induced chronic wounds in diabetic subjects.

Background and objective: Leukemia is one of the fatal diseases and their morbidity and mortality rates increases day by day all over the world. This piece of research study was designed in order to find out the prevalence of different types of leukemia in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan during January 2015 to December 2016. Material and Method: The retrospective research study was carried out at Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine (IRNUM) Peshawar. A data of 400 admitted patients of leukemia were evaluated. Result: It was observed that acute leukemia (80%) was more prevalent than chronic leukemia (20%). Amongst types of leukemia, Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) 49.5% (n=198) was more prevalent than Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) 31.25% (n=125), Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) 10% (n=40) and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) 9.25% (n=37) was less prevalent in this study. It was also found that leukemia was more prevalent in male patients 64.5% (n=258) as compared to females 35.5% (n=142) and male to female ratio was 1.8:1. Most of the patients were under the age of 20 years. Conclusion: Acute leukemia was more prevalent than chronic leukemia during this study in this part of the country and needs to be address. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.18(2) 2019 p.222-227

Migraine is a neurological disorder characterized by severe headaches, visual aversions, auditory, and olfactory disorders, accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Zolmitriptan (ZMT®) is a potent 5HT1B/1D serotonin receptor agonist frequently used for the treatment of migraine. It has erratic absorption from the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), but its oral bioavailability is low (40–45%) due to the hepatic metabolism. This makes it an ideal candidate for oral fast dissolving formulations. Hence, the current study was undertaken to design and develop oral fast-dissolving films (OFDFs) containing ZMT for migraine treatment. The OFDFs were formulated by the solvent casting method (SCM) using Pullulan (PU) and maltodextrin (MDX) as film-forming agents and propylene glycol (PG) as a plasticizer. The strategy was designed using Box–Behnken experimental design considering the proportion of PU:MDX and percentage of PG as independent variables. The effectiveness of the OFDF’s was measured based on the following responses: drug release at five min, disintegration time (D-time), and tensile strength (TS). The influence of formulation factors, including percent elongation (%E), thickness, water content, moisture absorption, and folding endurance on ZMT-OFDFs, were also studied. The results showed a successful fabrication of stable ZMT-OFDFs, with surface uniformity and amorphous shape of ZMT in fabricated films. The optimized formulation showed a remarkable rapid dissolution, over 90% within the first 5 min, a fast D-time of 18 s, and excellent mechanical characteristics. Improved maximum plasma concentration (C max) and area under the curve (AUC 0–t) in animals (rats) treated with ZMT-OFDFs compared to those treated with an intra-gastric (i-g) suspension of ZMT were also observed. Copolymer OFDFs with ZMT is an exciting proposition with great potential for the treatment of migraine headache. This study offers a promising strategy for developing ZMT-OFDFs using SCM. ZMT-OFDFs showed remarkable rapid dissolution and fast D-time, which might endeavor ZMT-OFDFs as an auspicious alternative approach to improve patient compliance and shorten the onset time of ZMT in migraine treatment.

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Fast drug-dissolving systems have been introduced to mediate the drugs which are difficult to swallow or having poor water solubility. Rizatriptan benzoate is a drug recommended for the patients of migraine which effect one out of every 5 women and 15 men globally. But least bioavailability (40%–50%) and reduced on set action always increases the demand of a drug carrier in order to overcome these limitations. Here in pullulan mediated fast drug-dissolving systems was developed by using rizatriptan benzoate as a model drug. While rizatriptan loaded pullulan nanofiber mat was prepared via electrospinning. Physiochemical outcomes (SEM, FTIR, and XRD) revealed good compatibility of pullulan nanofibers and rizatriptan thoroughly distributed on electrospun NFs matrix. Wetting time (1 s) and dissolutions time (3 s) suggests burst release of the drug from the polymers matrix as dissolution time is directly proportional with release profile. Further, this was confirmed by UV-release profile studies and maximum release was found within 30 s. In vitro release kinetics were analyzed by fitting the results with higuchi and korsmeyer models.