Meena Kumari K

Manipal Academy of Higher Education | MAHE · Department of Pharmacology (KMC)

There is an immense need to inculcate research in the medical curriculum of undergraduate medical students, which will help them to interpret the evidence based literature like journal articles, analyze, interpret & to help their decision making ability. Involvement in innovative research will help them develop a holistic attitude towards the patie...

Currently, the preferred treatment for chloroquine (CQ) resistant Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) is Artemisinin combination therapy (ACT). Our aim was to assess the artemisinin based treatment outcomes in patients with Plasmodium falciparum infection. Patients with falciparum infection from a tertiary health care centre in South India were enrolled in...

Drug discovery is an awfully tenacious job that takes an enormous amount of time, resources, and money, yet yields unsubstantial results. Drug repositioning is a method for "discovering new uses for old drugs." The main objective to repurpose a drug is to extend the application line of an existing drug, thereby narrowing the productivity gap and at...

p>ABSTRACT A 47-year-old male diagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the lung and received 8 cycles of chemotherapy comprising intravenous administration of cisplatin 125 mg, pemetrexed 850 mg along with zoledronic acid 4 mg. After the completion of the 8 cycle, the liver enzymes were found to be markedly elevated, evincing zoledronic acid as the cause for...

In the year 2013, nine million people suffered from tuberculosis. Around 1.5 million people (men, woman and children) died due to tuberculosis. About 1.1 million people with HIV developed tuberculosis. The major drawbacks of tuberculosis treatment in a patient are multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis...

Calcium channels form a significant portion of ionic channels in the human body. They are responsible for various physiological functions, the most important ones being muscle contraction, cardiac contractility, cardiac conduction and maintenance of blood vessel tonicity. Hence, these channels have always been under the microscope so as to develop...

Studies regarding pattern of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in cancer chemotherapy patients are scarce in India. This study was conducted to evaluate the pattern of occurrence of ADRs due to cancer chemotherapy in hospitalized patients and to assess the causality, severity, predictability, and preventability of these reactions. This was a retrospect...

The most important and unique adverse effect of abacavir (ABC) is fatal hypersensitivity reaction (HSR). The objective of this report is to describe a case of ABC induced HSR that occurred in an Indian HIV patient during treatment. Although this adverse effect is not uncommon, it is perhaps underreported or has never been reported so far in an Indi...

Background: The goal of this study was to evaluate the cerebroprotective and cognition-enhancing activities of the aqueous Vitex trifolia (Vt) L. (Verbenaceae) leaf extract against scopolamine-induced amnesia and in normal rats. Methods: Reference or working memory and long-term memory in rodents were tested by experimental paradigms like passiv...

Background: Medical students today are tomorrow's future doctors. One of the key skills that students should develop during their graduation training is to be prepared for emergency life saving measures like cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) anytime, anywhere. The students play integral role in learning, mastering and inculcating the most pragma...

Letrozole is used as first line drug in postmenopausal women with early-stage or advanced hormone-sensitive breast cancer. Letrozole has favourable tolerability profile when administered once daily and significant adverse reactions occur rarely. The objective of this report is to describe a case of eczematous skin eruption that occurred during letr...

Maximal electroshock seizures (MES) in Wistar albino rats and pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced seizures in albino mice were used to study anticonvulsant activity of ethanolic extract of Asparagus racemosus (EEAR). The EEAR was administered orally in graded doses (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) in both the experimental models and the effects were compared...

Objective: to know the evolution of adjuvant chemotherapy treatment given and to evaluate the efficacy of two commonly used regimens. Background: Colorectal cancer in Indian population is on upward swing due to the change in dietary habits and many other factors. The treatment of colorectal cancer has changed drastically over a period of time. Meth...

To evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of Terminalia paniculata against paracetamol induced hepatic damage in rats. The plant material was shade dried, powdered and extracted with ethanol. Liv 52 and silymarin were used as standard drugs and 2% gum acacia as a control (vehicle). Alteration in the levels of biochemical markers of hepatic damage l...

Introduction-Knowledge of pharmacology to choose and prescribe drugs is a major challenge encountered by medical practitioners. A number of initiatives have been carried out to improve the teaching of pharmacology and applied therapeutics.Material & methods-A survey was conducted on medical students,pursuing pharmacology at Kasturba Medical College...

Ocimum sanctum is a widely branched, erect, stout and aromatic herb, about 75 cms high. This small herb is found throughout India and is cultivated near Hindu houses and temples. The leaves, seeds and root of this plant have been used in Ayurvedic medicine. The chemical composition of Tulsi is highly complex, containing many nutrients and other bio...

Selection of a drug for disease requires proper skill. Physicians select drug for a disease on the basis of efficacy, safety, cost and availability of medicine. Unfortunately, selection is not always done carefully as it is often based on previous experience or promotional campaigns by pharmaceutical companies. Personal drug concept deals with sele...

Alcoholic extract of Kaempferia galanga was tested for analgesic and antiinflammatory activities in animal models. Three doses, 300 mg/kg, 600 mg/kg and 1200 mg/kg of the plant extract prepared as a suspension in 2 ml of 2% gum acacia were used. Acute and sub acute inflammatory activities were studied in rats by carrageenan induced paw edema and co...

Endometriosis is a debilitating gynecological disorder with an enigmatic pathogenesis. Current treatment strategy mainly involves surgery and medications, which provide only temporary relief. Endometriosis is associated with an abnormal inflammatory response, one of the recent pathogenesis is RANTES (regulated upon activation normal T- cell express...

Objective: To evaluate the wound healing effect of aqueous extract of Crotalaria verrucosa (C. verrucosa) in rats. Methods: Three wound models including incision, excision and dead space wounds were used in this study. The parameters studied were breaking strength in incision models, granulation tissue dry weight, breaking strength and hydroxyproli...

The incidence of colorectal cancer in India is on upward swing due to the change in dietary habits. This study was done to evaluate the efficacy of two commonly used regimens. In this study, colorectal cancer patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy from 1997 -2001 were included and followed up for a period of five years. The efficacy of the com...

Clinical medicine has seen tremendous improvements during past several decades. Despite its progress in many illnesses till date, cancer is not detected at the earliest subclinical stages. Patients still are exposed to highly toxic whole body chemotherapy. However with the discovery of nanotechnology which has emerged as a new tool for early diagno...