Effect of Tectona grandis Linn. seeds on hair growth activity of albino mice

The seeds of Tectona grandis Linn. are traditionally acclaimed as hair tonic in the Indian system of medicine. Studies were therefore undertaken in order to evaluate petroleum ether extract of T. grandis seeds for its effect on hair growth in albino mice. The 5% and 10% extracts incorporated into simple ointment base were applied topically on shaved denuded skin of albino mice. The time required for initiation of hair growth as well as completion of hair growth cycle was recorded. Minoxidil 2% solution was applied topically and served as positive control. The result of treatment with minoxidil 2% is 49% hair in anagenic phase. Hair growth initiation time was significantly reduced to half on treatment with the extracts compared to control animals. The treatment was successful in bringing a greater number of hair follicles (64% and 51%) in anagenic phase than standard minoxidil (49%). The results of treatment with 5% and 10% petroleum ether extracts were comparable to the positive control minoxidil

Simultaneous determination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole in dried plasma and urine spots

BACKGROUND: Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) is an antimicrobial drug combination commonly prescribed in children and adults. The study objectives were to validate and apply an HPLC–MS/MS method to quantify TMP-SMX in dried plasma spots (DPS) and dried urine spots (DUS), and perform a comparability analysis with liquid matrices. RESULTS: For TMP the validated range was 100–50,000 ng/ml for DPS and 500–250,000 ng/ml for DUS; for SMX, the validated range was 1000–500,000 ng/ml for both DPS and DUS. Good agreement was noted between DPS/DUS and liquid plasma and urine samples for TMP, while only modest agreement was observed for SMX in both matrices. CONCLUSION: A precise, accurate and reproducible method was developed to quantify TMP-SMX in DPS and DUS samples