Background: Acute coryza or common cold affects the upper airways, sometimes in association with low-grade fever and systemic symptoms, and usually presents with at least two of the following symptoms: cough, dysphonia, throat discomfort, sore throat, nasal congestion, rhinorrhoea, sneezing, headaches, myalgia and fever. A triple combination of analgesics, decongestants and antihistamines provides better relief for multiple symptoms in common cold and allergic rhinitis according to various studies. A combination of Paracetamol as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic, Chlorpheniramine maleate, an anti-histaminic and Phenylephrine as a nasal decongestant is popular in the treatment of common cold. Hence the present study was planned to evaluate efficacy and safety of this combination in treatment of common cold.Methods: This was a phase IV, open-labelled, multicentric study in 159 patients. Efficacy assessment was done by analyzing the reduction in mean TSS at each follow-up visit and safety assessment was done by analyzing the adverse events during the study.Results: There was reduction in mean TSS from 6.62 (day 1) to 3.56 (day 3) and 0.69 (day 5). Most of the patients had >50% reduction in total symptom score at visit 3 and 58.49% patients had complete relief from the symptoms at the end of study. Out of 159 patients, 26 i.e. 16.36% experienced adverse events. Sedation and drowsiness (6.29%) were the most common adverse event seen in patients.Conclusions: A fixed dose combination of Chlorpheniramine maleate, Paracetamol, and Phenylephrine is safe and effective in the treatment of common cold.

Background: The Pharmacovigilance Programme of India envisages that "All" health care professionals will play an important role in making the program a success. Nurses and midwives have better population outreach as compared to physicians alone. The objectives were to assess the knowledge of pharmacovigilance among the nurses of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: The study was conducted from the month of March 2015 to July 2015. Nurses were provided pre-structured questionnaire for filling after explaining the aim and objectives of the study. Responses were pooled and analyzed. Results: 100 nurses returned completed forms. 63% respondents had heard about the term pharmacovigilance. 41% of these could correctly define it. All the respondents had heard about adverse drug reaction (ADR), 39% could correctly define it. 35% of the participants were of the opinion that both doctors and nurses should report ADR. 76% were not aware of any National Programme of Pharmacovigilance. 72% of nurses claimed to be aware of common ADRs of the drugs they routinely administered by them. 81% of the nurses were not routinely informed to be on lookout for specific drug reactions by the treating physicians. 91% of nurses were of the opinion that periodic pharmacovigilance training will benefit ADR reporting with 58% favoring yearly workshops. Conclusion:The present study focused on the major lacunae in efficient ADR reporting. Nurses being a major stakeholder in healthcare delivery, can be mobilized in the field of ADR reporting, which currently is not the norm, albeit with adequate training.

Background: Prior studies have estimated prevalence of CKD among non-institutionalized adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) at 34.5–42.3%, with most CKD cases identified as early stage (stage 1 or 2). Diabetes affects many organs, and complications due to high blood glucose are an important cause of disability, reduced quality of life, and premature death. (8) There is paucity of data regarding efficacy and safety of teneligliptin in T2DM with chronic kidney disease (CKD) especially in Indian population and therefore this study was planned. Methods: This was a phase IV, multi-centric, open labelled, non-comparative, user initiated study done in 405 patients diagnosed with CKD due to uncontrolled T2DM. Patients were given samples of Teneligliptin 20 mg at initial visit at day 1 and asked to take one tablet daily for a total of 90 days. Glycemic and renal profile during initial and follow up visit was used for efficacy evaluation. Patients were instructed to keep a diary to record daily symptoms and adverse events if any for safety evaluation. Results: Teneligliptin reported significant mean reduction in FPG and PPBG by 40.4 and 57.5 mg/dl respectively. At 12 weeks, statistically significant 0.9% reduction in HbA1c was noted. Effects on renal parameters were also found significantly positive in this study, with reduction of Sr. creatinine by around 4% and reduction in the BUN of around 9%. There was decrease in mean urinary albumin and UACR and increase in mean eGFR, though it was not statistically significant. Among all the patients, 6.41% of patients experienced adverse event. Hypoglycemia was the most common adverse event seen in 4.44% of patients followed by constipation (1.23%) and gastritis (0.74%). Conclusion: The study reported significant improvement in glycaemic control, serum creatinine and BUN with teneligliptin.

Early treatment can reverse and retard the complications associated with hypertension. The main aim of the ABSTRACT Background: Beta blockers have been used in the treatment of hypertension, since last four decades and are widely accepted as the first-line treatment for hypertension. Nebivolol, a third generation β-blocker has highest β1 selectivity and is devoid of intrinsic sympathomimetic activity. Along with peripheral vasodilatation and nitric oxide (NO)-induced benefits such as antioxidant activity and reversal of endothelial dysfunction, nebivolol promotes better protection from cardiovascular events. The objective of the study was to compare the effects of atenolol and nebivolol on both blood pressure and lipid profile in patients of mild to moderate hypertension. Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, parallel, open labelled study. Patients were recruited from the medicine out-patient department (OPD) and cardiology OPD. A total of 100 patients were enrolled in the study. 50 patients were allocated to atenolol group and 50 patients to nebivolol group. BP and baseline investigations such as lipid profile were performed. Tests to determine lipid profile were performed on the first visit (Week 0) and at 24 weeks. Continuous variables between the two treatment groups were analyzed by unpaired t-test. Efficacy endpoints within the group were analyzed by using paired t-test.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in India and worldwide. Hypercholesterolemia plays a pivotal role in atherogenesis which gave rise to universally accepted cholesterol diet-CVD hypothesis. Statins are the most potent and commonly used drugs for treating hypercholesterolemia. With atorvastatin, because of the long lasting active metabolites, half-life of HMG-CoA reductase inhibition reaches 20 to 30 hours. Thus, it is conceivable that alternate-day atorvastatin treatment might be effective in maintaining the lipid-lowering efficacy. Methods: In this prospective, randomized, open labelled, parallel group study, 100 participants with serum low density cholesterol (LDL-C) level 100 mg/dL-190 mg/dL were recruited. Group A received 20 mg atorvastatin on alternate day and group B received 20 mg atorvastatin daily for 12 weeks. Follow up visits were scheduled at 6 and 12 weeks at which fasting serum LDL-C, serum TC, serum TG, serum HDL were estimated. Creatinine phosphokinase (CPK), aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) estimations were also done and participants were examined for occurrence of myalgia, jaundice or any other adverse effect.