Objective: Infertility has a serious impact on the psychosocial well-being of women in the developing world. The objective of the study was to evaluate the causes and treatment pattern of infertility patients in a tertiary care hospital. Methods:The prospective observational study focused on the sociodemographic properties of infertile patients, causes of infertility, and various treatments carried out in a tertiary care hospital, Erode, Tamil Nadu. Results:Of 200 cases, the majority was due to female factor (45.5%), followed by male factors (26%), both gender factors (25.5%), and unexplained etiology (6%). It was observed that major causes of male infertility (MI) were oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OATS -48.42%), followed by asthenozoospermia (17.89%), azoospermia (11.57%), erectile dysfunction (7.36%), oligoasthenozoospermia (5.26%), varicocele (3.15%), oligospermia (2.10%), necrozoospermia (2.10%), asthenoteratozoospermia (1.05%), and asthenozoospermia+erectile dysfunction (1.05%). In cases of female infertility (FI), the pattern of causes was polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) (29.6%), followed by tubular block (13.23%), cyst (6.66%), hypothyroidism (4.44%), endometriosis (4.44%), hormonal problems (4.44%), fibroid (3.7%), fibroid+cyst (3.7%), premature ovarian failure (2.96%), thin endometrium (2.96%), multifollicularovary (2.96%), PCOD+hormonalproblems (2.96%), and hypothyroidism+hormonal problems (2.22%). Intrauterine insemination was the most commonly assisted reproductive technology employed, followed by in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Of 200 infertile couples, 57 (28.5%) were unable to conceive within 6 months and 72 (36%) after 6 months following first consultation, 44 (22%) defaulted/lost follow-up/were still under consultation, 13 (6.5%) conceived with the help of assisted reproductive treatment, 10 (5%) conceived with the help of drug treatment, anddd 4 (2%) had spontaneous pregnancy. Conclusion:The major cause of infertility was found to be PCOD in females and OATS in males. The most commonly prescribed drugs were antioxidants for males and progesterone for females.

Background: Free radicals initiate the oxidative stress and damage the healthy cells. These damages contribute ageing, cancer, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Phenolic compounds, flavonoids and tannins are directly contributed to antioxidant activity. Objective: The present study was attempted to evaluate the phytochemicals present in various solvent extracts obtained from Leucas aspera (Willd) Link leaves (L. aspera) and its antioxidant activity using different in-vitro models. Materials and Methods: The free radical scavenging and antioxidant activity of petroleum ether, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts of L. aspera leaves were assessed by different in-vitro models include DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging capacity, total antioxidant activity, ABTS (2,2,-azinobis (3-ethylbenzoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging activity and nitric oxide radical inhibition assay, in order to ensure the pharmacological effects of the plant. Results: Petroleum ether extract (non-polar solvent) showed better antioxidant activity among the solvents with IC 50 values 18.96 μg/mL (DPPH assay), 17.22 μg/mL (total antioxidant assay), 16.00 μg/mL (ABTS assay) and 11.87 μg/mL (nitric oxide scavenging). Whereas, ethanol extract (polar solvent) exhibited better DPPH scavenging, ABTS assay and nitric oxide scavenging activity (IC 50 =19.90, 11.60 and 13.47 μg/mL respectively) compared to chloroform, ethyl-acetate and isopropyl alcohol extracts. Conclusion: The results of our current study showed, L. aspera leaf is a significant source of phytochemicals that possess antioxidant and scavenging properties. Our study findings warrants for various pharmacological activities and further research on isolation and characterization of active principle responsible for the pharmacological activity.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the potential drug interactions among hospitalized patients in cardiac and pulmonary wards in three tertiary care hospitals. Methods:A prospective, observational study was carried out for 12 months. A sample of 1150 patients were assessed for potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) using Micromedex ® -2.7 and Drugs.com. Results:A total of 1150 patients were analyzed, and it was found that 685 were cardiac and 465 were pulmonary patients. The study identified 524 (76.49%) cardiac patients and 345 (74.19%) pulmonary patients, with pDDIs higher in male cardiac (298 [56.87%]) and male pulmonary (199 [57.68%]) patients, compared to females. Incidences of pDDIs were found to be higher in the age group of 60-70 years in cardiac (193 [36.83%]) and pulmonary (146 [42.31%]) patients and incidences of interactions based on duration of 4-6 days' hospital stays in cardiac were 380 (72.53%) and 215 (62.31%) in pulmonary patients, respectively. Moreover, 51.90% of cardiac patients and 56.52% of pulmonary patients were found to be prescribed with more number of drugs (cardiac 7 drugs and pulmonary 5-6 drugs) causing higher incidences of pDDIs. Some of the most common drug interacting pair was aspirin and clopidogrel combination observed in 245 cardiac patients, whereas in the pulmonary department, it was ranitidine-theophylline combination with a frequency of 195 pDDIs. Drug-food interactions were found with atorvastatin-citrus fruits in cardiac and theophylline-caffeine in pulmonary patients. The most common drug-disease interaction was found to be isosorbide dinitrate-myocardial infarction in cardiac and diazepam-COPD in pulmonary, respectively. Conclusion:Pharmacists must take responsibility in the monitoring of drug interactions and notifying the physician and patient about potential problems. With their detailed knowledge of drugs, pharmacists have the ability to relate unexpected symptoms experienced by patients to possible adverse effects of their drug therapy.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potent neuroprotective property of ethanol extract of Ocimum sanctum (EEOS) leaf (Holy basil, Family: Labiataea) against excitotoxicity induced neurodegeneration by using monosodium-L-glutamate (MSG) in Sprague-Dawley rats. The animals received EEOS (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) and memantine (MMT, 20 mg/kg) daily for 7 days. On all the 7 days, MSG (2g/kg, i.p.) was administered one hour before drug treatment. The animals were observed for neurobehavioral performance on 1 st , 3 rd , 5 th and 7 th day. Oxidative damage and histopathological analysis were also assessed. EEOS (100 and 200 mg/kg, p.o.) and MMT (20 mg/kg, i.p.) administration significantly improved body weight and attenuated locomotor activity, rotarod performance and footfault test as compared with MSG treated group. In addition, EEOS was found to restore reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), catalase (CAT), super oxide dismutase (SOD) and Na +-K + ATPase. Conversely, the elevated level of lipid peroxidation and nitrite concentration in MSG treated group was attenuated significantly in EEOS group in comparison to MSG treated group. Histopathological evaluation showed that treatment with EEOS and MMT significantly attenuated neuronal death and increased the density of neurons after MSG treatment. Thus, these findings suggest that EEOS contains rosmarinic acid and ursolic acid in addition to other bioactive principles may have utility in the preventing and/or treating the neurodegenerative diseases and its protective effects may be due to the amelioration of excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, neurological and behavioral alterations. However, further studies are necessary to clearly define mechanism responsible.

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