The standard antiepileptics, though effective in most cases of epilepsy, suffer from various limitations in the form of serious side effects, need for plasma drug concentration monitoring and interactions with a number of drugs. Recently, a number of compounds have been shown to possess antiepileptic properties and are free from most of the above mentioned drawbacks. Vigabatrin, stiripentol and progabide are potent antiepileptics and act through GABAergic system. Vigabatrin and stiripentol are effective in refractory partial epilepsy. Stiripentol is also effective in absence seizures, in contrast vigabatrin increases frequency of absence seizures. Stiripentol offers an added advantage of producing a feeling of well being. Progabide, a GABA agonist, has not been well accepted clinically because of its controversial clinical efficacy and hepatotoxicity. Lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine, fosphenytoin, flunarizine and topiramate have antiepileptic profile similar to phenytoin. The first three of these compounds act through Na+ channel, however the mechanism of flunarizine and topiramate is not clear. Fosphenytoin and oxcarbazepine are prodrugs and offer advantages of better bioavailability and less toxicity. Lamotrigine, flunarizine and topiramate are effective in partial seizures. Midazolam, a benzodiazepine, is effective even in status epilepticus refractory to diazepam and is considered drug of choice after lorazepam and phenytoin in refractory status epilepticus. Felbamate, gabapentin and allopurinol are effective in refractory generalised epilepsy. In addition, felbamate and gabapentin are also effective in refractory partial epilepsy. NMDA receptor antagonists, potassium channel openers and fluoxetine are potent antiepileptics but have been studied only in animal models. Although, the emergence of these new compounds have opened a new vista in the treatment of epilepsies but most of these compounds are under investigation and vigabatrin, lamotrigine, felbamate, oxcar-bazepine and gabapentin are most studied of these antiepileptic compounds.

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The alteration caused by aspirin treatment in various single and multiple dose pharmacokinetic parameters of cirprofloxacin has been studied in rabbits. In the single dose study, seven days of aspirin (300 mg/kg) bid pretreatment tended to prolong elimination half-life at the terminal phase (t1/2() (209.63ñ 114.10 mins Vs 312.25ñ 189.65 min, P > 0.05) and reduce the total body clearance (CL) (202.59ñ 81.45 ml/min Vs 145.11ñ 48.88 ml/min, P > 0.05) of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (5 mg/kg). In the multiple dose study, co-administration of aspirin (300 mg/kg) bid with ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (5 mg/kg) for seven days produced insignificant changes in the pharmacokinetic parameters except the average serum ciprofloxacin concentration on the seventh day (Cmax) (10.60ñ 1.50 10-2 'g/ml) as compared to (7.60ñ 1.70 10-2 'g/ml )in the control group given ciprofloxacine alone for the same duration. There is a possibility that competitive inhibition of elimination process of ciprofloxacin by aspirin may be the cause of significant increase in its serum levels.

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Centchroman serum levels were determined in six healthy female subjects after oral administration of single 30 mg tablets of Saheli (Hindustan Latex Ltd.) and Centrol (Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd.) in a double blind cross-over study. The mean peak serum centchroman concentrations of 67.55 no/ml was observed between 4-8 h from Saheli and was similar to that from Centron. The pharmacokinetic parameters of centchroman from both the tablets were comparable without significant variation. The mean relative biovailability of Centron to Saheli was 101.97%.

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Centchroman serum levels were determined in six healthy female subjects after oral administration of single 30 mg tablets of Saheli (Hindustan Latex Ltd.) and Centrol (Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd.) in a double blind cross-over study. The mean peak serum centchroman concentrations of 67.55 no/ml was observed between 4-8 h from Saheli and was similar to that from Centron. The pharmacokinetic parameters of centchroman from both the tablets were comparable without significant variation. The mean relative biovailability of Centron to Saheli was 101.97%.

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The present study is aimed at developing a method by which opiate receptor source can be enriched using bovine corpus striatum as a source of receptor. This was subjected to subcellular fractionation and marker enzyme activities were estimated in resultant fractions. Receptor in membrane fractions was assayed by membrane bound radio receptor assay using [3H] diprenorphine as radioligand. The subcellular fractionation has achieved as enrichment of 2.36 fold in microsomes and 2.11 fold in synaptosomes over homogenate. The microsomal and synaptosomal fractions put together contribued to 13.3% of total protein and 30% of total receptors. These enriched memberans can be used as starting material for solubilization for higher yield of receptor.

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The central modulatory role of substance P following its icv administration (50 'g) was studied on formaldehyde-induced paw oedema and nociception in rats. A significant accentuation of oedema volume was shown along with proalgesic effect on formaldehyde-induced inflammation. A corresponding increase was also observed in protein content of the inflammatory exudate. The study confirms the pro inflammatory effect of substance P.

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The possible relationship between coffee exposure during pregnancy and the teratopharmacological effects on the developing neonates was evaluated in the albino mice. The body weights of pups of treated dams were affected after birth and as the pups grew, their weight gains were lower compared to control. Such effect was more significant in both prepartum and perinatal treatment group [F(6)= 5.06, P< 0.021 than the prepartum treatment alone [F(6)= 3.12, P< 0.05]. Body hair appearance and eye opening were delayed in the treated groups and likewise, the prepartum and perinatal treatment was more effective. Almost all behavioural indices studied for 'locomotory behaviour' were affected by all doses of coffee but only in the perinatally treated groups and such effects were neither time- nor dose-dependent. In the 'tube restraint test', the latency to first bite was decreased and the number of bites was increased in male offspring. However, in female offspring, these effects were vice-versa. The body weight of these offspring remain declined even at the adult/adolescent age in the treated groups [F(6)= 9.69, P< 0.005]. The weight of male brain remained unaffected, but of females was decreased at 2 mg/kg dose only. The weight of liver and kidney of both sexes decreased only at the lower dose levels. The protein contents of these organs were also significantly affected by coffee treatment. These results suggest that coffee intake during pregnancy should be limited since it produces significant and lasting teratopharmacological and behavioural alterations in the offspring.

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