Paclitaxel is a promising drug in the treatment of different solid tumors. It exhibits nonlinear pharmacokinetics, particularly when administered as a constant rate infusion for shorter duration (e.g., 3 h). Because of the nonlinearity, relatively small changes in dose may lead to large changes in peak plasma concentration and total drug exposure. The study was conducted to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of different doses of paclitaxel administered intravenously as an infusion. A prospective study was conducted in 23 cancer patients aged between 28 and 74 years, treated with paclitaxel (130, 200, 230, and 260 mg/m2) over 3 h as constant rate infusion. Plasma samples were collected from all patients at 0, 1, and 3 h and for five patients at 5 and 13 h and paclitaxel concentrations were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography method. The overall mean clearance was found to be 47.5847 ± 142.028 l/h; the mean volume of distribution was 142.028 ± 73.438 l; mean elimination rate constant was 0.336 ± 0.002/h; mean half-life was 2.086 ± 0.009 h; mean area under the curve (AUC) was 5.5917 ± 2.707 mg/ml*h; and the mean of mean residence time was 2.980 ± 0.0131 h. Paclitaxel showed nonlinear kinetics and the pharmacokinetic parameters calculated were similar to those quoted in the literature. The peak plasma concentration at 130 mg dose level was 2 μ/ml, but an increase in dose was not associated with proportional increase in plasma concentration. No significant difference was found between pharmacokinetic parameters such as clearance, volume of distribution, and AUC at different dose levels.

Background:Malnutrition and inflammation are associated with morbidity and mortality in patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Ghrelin, an orexigenic peptide hormone, is speculated to be associated with nutritional and inflammatory status in MHD.Aim:To assess the serum total ghrelin levels and its possible relationship with inflammation and nutritional status in patients on MHD.Subjects and Methods:The study was conducted on 90 patients on MHD for 6 months and above (56 males, 34 females, mean age 52.6 [11.7] years; mean dialysis vintage 20.9 [12.1] months) and 70 healthy volunteers as control (5 males, 25 females, mean age 50.6 [9.7] years). Demographics were obtained for the study population, and dialysis-related data were collected for cases. Anthropometry, biochemical parameters, serum total ghrelin and inflammatory markers tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and high-sensitivityC-reactive protein (hsCRP) were assessed for cases and control. Self-reported appetite (five questions of appetite and diet assessment tool) and nutritional status (subjective global assessment-dialysis malnutrition score) were assessed for cases.Results:Ghrelin (242.5 [62.3] pg/mL vs. 80.2 [19.6] pg/mL; P < 0.001), TNF-α (39.8 [15.2] pg/mL vs. 6.5 [1.2] pg/mL; P < 0.001), hsCRP (10.2 [2.8] mg/L vs. 2.7 [0.54] mg/L; P < 0.001) were significantly elevated in cases versus control, anthropometry, and biochemical parameters were significantly decreased in hemodialysis patient. Of 90 cases, (13/90 [14.4%]) were well-nourished, (28/90 [31%]) mild to moderately malnourished, and (49/90 [54.4%]) were moderate to severely malnourished. Appetite was very good for14.4%, good and fair for 47.8%, poor and very poor for 37.8% patients. There was a significant difference in appetite with respect to nutritional status (P < 0.001). Ghrelin had positive correlation with inflammatory markers and negative correlation with nutritional status (P < 0.001).Conclusion:The study identified the association of ghrelin with appetite, nutritional, and inflammatory status of the patients on MHD.

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India is a country with different beliefs like religious, cultural, variation and economic diversity in the health care setting.  SLE is a long term disease which involves multisystem, leading to loss of immune tolerance to own antigens. The study aims to assess the knowledge regarding the risk of cardiovascular diseases among systemic lupus erythematous patient at Saveetha Medical College and Hospital. A quantitative research approach was adopted with convenient sampling technique to select 60 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus who attend at Saveetha Medical College and Hospital. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The data was organized and analyzed in term of descriptive statistics. The study findings revealed that among 60 samples, 10 (16.7%) had inadequate knowledge; 16 (26.7%) had moderate knowledge, 34 (56.7%) had adequate knowledge on systemic lupus erythematous risk. The majority of the patients with systemic lupus erythematous had moderate knowledge regarding the risk of cardiovascular.