Introduction: The prevalence of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) among Asians ≥65 years is estimated to double by 2040. This study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a single, 6-mL intra-articular injection of hylan G-F 20 in Indian patients with knee OA at 26 weeks through to 52 weeks.Methods: This study was an open-label, multicentre, phase 4 clinical trial. Enrolled patients (N=394) were ≥30 years old with Kellgren-Lawrence grade 1–3 OA; all patients received hylan G-F 20. WOMAC, SF-12, PTGA, and COGA scores, and OA medication use were evaluated at weeks 1, 4, 12, 26, 39, and 52 (initial treatment phase). At 26, 39, or 52 weeks, eligible patients could participate in a repeat treatment phase. McNemar-Bowkers, paired t-tests and ANOVA analyses were performed (alpha=0.05).Results: At 26 weeks, statistically significant changes from baseline were observed in all efficacy parameters, including the primary efficacy endpoint of WOMAC A1 (p<0.0001). Improvements continued for 52 weeks. No significant changes occurred in concomitant medication use. Eleven patients (2.8%) were re-injected at week 26 or 52. After repeat injection, statistically significant decreases were observed in WOMAC A1, WOMAC C and PTGA scores (p≤0.028). Twenty-three (5.8%) patients reported 26 local target knee AEs.Conclusion: Among Indian patients within this study, a 6-mL hylan G-F 20 injection was well tolerated and effective in treating symptomatic knee OA with significant long-term (1 year) improvement of outcomes. When needed, repeat treatment was safe and efficacious for 4 weeks.Trial Registration: Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI/2010/091/000052) www.ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/login.php.

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Diabetes mellitus is a major health problem and it is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia. Decreased utilization of glucose by the body cells and continuous raise in the plasma glucose levels are the major characteristic symptoms of diabetes. Uncontrolled hyperglycemia is associated with pathological conditions, mostly micro and macrovascular. Treatment for diabetes is aimed at the management of hyperglycemia using oral hypoglycemic agents which inhibit carbohydrate degrading enzymes, namely amylase and glucosidase. The purpose of this study was to investigate the naturally available inhibitors of amylase and glucosidase present in the peels of citrus fruits such as lemon and orange. The hydroalcoholic extract of the fruit peels were studied for their amylase and glucosidase inhibitory potential and the extract of lemon peel was found to exhibit better inhibition than the orange peel. The extracts were further evaluated for their additive effect. The combined effect of the extracts (50% inhibition achieved at 40 and 80mcg) proved to exhibit better inhibitory potential than the individual effect (50% inhibition achieved at 80 and 160mcg). Thus, from this study, it was very clear that our choice drug sources is containing potential antidiabetic principles that need to be studied further to understand the mechanism of action in detail.

Aim India contributes towards a large part of the worldwide epidemic of diabetes and its associated complications. However, there are limited longitudinal studies available in India to understand the occurrence of diabetes complications over time. This pan-India longitudinal study was initiated to assess the real-world outcomes of diabetes across the country.Methods The LANDMARC study is the first prospective, multicentre, longitudinal, observational study investigating a large cohort of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus across India over a period of 3 years. The primary objective of this ongoing study is to determine the proportion of people developing macrovascular diabetes complications over the duration of the study (36 months AE 45 days) distributed over seven visits; the secondary objective is to evaluate microvascular diabetes complications, glycaemic control and time-to-treatment adaptation or intensification. Overall, 6300 participants (aged 25-60 years) diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for at least 2 years will be included from 450 centres across India. Data will be recorded for baseline demographics, comorbidities, glycaemic measurements, use of anti-hyperglycaemic medications and any cardiovascular or other diabetes-related events occurring during the observational study period.Conclusions The LANDMARC study is expected to reveal the trends in complications associated with diabetes, treatment strategies used by physicians, and correlation among treatment, control and complications of diabetes within the Indian context. The findings of this study will help to identify the disease burden, emergence of early-onset complications and dose titration patterns, and eventually develop person-centred care and facilitate public health agencies to invest appropriate resources in the management of diabetes.

The medical affairs function represents one of the scientific interfaces in a pharmaceutical organization. Over the last two decades, medical affairs has evolved from being a support function to a strategic pillar within organizational business units. The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to unforeseen circumstances resulting in a dramatic change in external stakeholder engagements, catapulting the medical affairs function into leading the way on scientific engagements and patient-centric endeavors. The changes in stakeholder interactions and behavior as a result of the pandemic last year are likely to persist in the foreseeable future for which medical affairs professionals need to enhance existing skill sets and acquire expertise in newer domains. In this paper, the transformation of the medical affairs team to a key strategic partner and the skills required to strengthen this transition, in the next normal of a post-COVID world, is explored. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40290-021-00392-x.