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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health problem with an estimated prevalence ranging from 5% to 13% over South Asian region. CKD care and the need for provision of care for the management of end-stage renal disease are an increasingly growing need in India with rising rates of CKD, especially those attributable to uncertain etiologies in certain regions of India. There is a wide disparity between nephrology care services and availability between geographical regions of the kidney with the representation of nephrologists and nephrology care centers more in the Southern and Western regions than in the rest of the country. The Northeastern region of the country is poorly presented in terms of both availability as well as the accessibility of nephrology care services. Better integration and provision of care are the sole need of the hour., Competing Interests: None

Introduction: Food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) is a preferred tool for longitudinal dietary assessment and has been recently validated in patients on hemodialysis in other countries. As dietary habits vary vastly across regions, this study was planned to develop and validate a novel dialysis FFQ in northern India., Materials and Methods: Dietary recall data from patients on hemodialysis available from the previous year were used for identifying food items for inclusion in the FFQ. A nutrient database was created to estimate energy, protein, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium content of the foods included in the food list. The FFQ was validated against a 2-day dietary recall method (one predialysis, one on the dialysis day) in patients on maintenance hemodialysis in a tertiary care hospital in Lucknow, northern India., Results: Dietary recall data from 78 patients on hemodialysis were used for the generation of the FFQ. A total of 84 patients completed the validation study. All the nutrients measured by the FFQ correlated significantly with the means of the 2-day dietary record (r values 0.31-0.76) both in crude- and energy-adjusted intakes. De-attenuation further improved the correlation (0.35-0.80). Bland-Altman plots showed higher estimates by FFQ than by dietary recall. Cross-classification analysis showed correct classification in the exact or adjacent quintile (average 60%) by both methods and 2% gross misclassification. Weighted kappa showed fair agreement for energy intake and slight agreement for others., Conclusion: This novel semiquantitative FFQ is a valid tool for measuring energy and nutrient intakes in hemodialysis patients., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Indian Journal of Nephrology.)

Background: To discover a new agent which possesses dual property of analgesic and antimicrobial activity, thereby reducing the burden of polypharmacy. Phyllanthus amarus was screened for its analgesic and antimicrobial activities., Objectives: The objective was to evaluate the analgesic and antimicrobial activity, of P. amarus ethanolic extract (PAEE)., Materials and Methods: The ethanolic extract of P. amarus was prepared using Soxhlet apparatus. An in vivo study using Swiss albino mice was done to screen the central and peripheral analgesic activity of P. amarus extract. The extract was administered at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight orally. The peripheral analgesic activity was assessed using acetic acid induced writhing test. The central analgesic activity was assessed using Eddy's hot plate apparatus. An in vitro study was carried out to study the antimicrobial activity of the above extract using selected species of Streptococcus mutans, and S. salivarius. The antimicrobial activities were determined using the agar well method., Results: The ethanolic extract of P. amarus showed significant (P < 0.05) peripheral and central analgesic activity. In vitro antimicrobial screening indicated that the ethanolic extract had shown a zone of inhibition against S. mutans and S. salivarius in the agar wells., Conclusion: This study showed that PAEE exhibited significant analgesic and antimicrobial activities.

Context: Local drug delivery (LDD) systems have been proposed for the treatment of periodontitis. Curcumin could be a suitable agent as LDD for the treatment of periodontitis., Aim: To formulate, evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity and to assess the duration of the action and the efficacy of 2% curcumin gel in the treatment of experimental periodontitis in Wistar albino rat model., Settings and Design: Twenty-one Wistar albino rats were randomly assigned to three groups. Periodontitis was induced using ligature model. Group 1: Control; group 2: Plain gel, and group 3: 2% curcumin gel., Materials and Methods: About 2% curcumin gel was prepared. The anti-inflammatory activity and duration of action was assessed. Silk ligature 5-0 was used to induce periodontitis. Gingival index (GI) and probing pocket depth (PPD) were measured. Treatment was done. The rats were sacrificed. Morphometric analysis was performed using stereomicroscope and ImageJ software., Statistical Analysis Used: Analysis of variance followed by Bonferroni's test, Wilcoxon's test for inter-group comparison, Mann-Whitney test for P value computation was used. The observations are mean ± standard deviation and standard error of the mean. P < 0.01 when compared to control was considered as statistically significant., Results: About 2% curcumin gel showed 42.98% inhibition of edema and peak activity was noted at 24 h. There was statistically significant change in the GI and PPD. Morphometric analysis did not show any significant difference between groups. No toxic effects were seen on oral administration of 2000 mg/kg of curcumin., Conclusions: About 2% curcumin gel was effective in the treatment of experimental periodontitis.

Background & Objectives: A large number of plants have been recognized to be effective in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Persistent hyperglycaemia is associated with decreased function of immune system and cerebral ischaemia mainly due to increased oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Andrographis paniculata is a medicinal plant widely used in folk medicine for various purposes. In this study the effect of chronic administration (7 days) of methanolic extract of A. paniculata leaves was studied in rats with experimentally induced diabetes, nootropic and immunostimulant activities were evaluated. The effect of acute administration of methanolic extract of A. paniculata leaves was also studied for cerebroprotective activity., Methods: Type 2 diabetes was induced in rats by streptozotocin (STZ) (65 mg/kg) + nicotinamide (150 mg/kg). Various biochemical parameters were estimated using standard methods., Results: A significant (P<0.05) increase in cognitive function was observed in both normal and type 2 diabetic rats. Nootropic activity in terms of per cent reduction in latency period was more in type 2 diabetic rats. A significant increase in blood lymphocyte count, splenic lymphocyte count and peritoneal macrophage count was observed in both normal and type 2 diabetic rats. Immunostimulant activity was observed more in type 2 diabetic rats. The per cent decrease in cerebral infarction was more in type 2 diabetic rats when compared to normal rats. The per cent increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels was more in type 2 diabetic rats., Interpretation & Conclusions: The antioxidant activity of the methanolic extract of A. paniculata leaves was evident by decreased tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and increased SOD levels. These properties may be responsible for the observed cerebroprotective activity. The methanolic leaf extract of A. paniculata showed significant immunostimulant, cerebroprotective and nootropic activities in normal and type 2 diabetic rats.

Pain following any surgical procedure is difficult to combat by man. Analgesics can be given for some amount of symptomatic relief. The need for a long lasting local anaesthetic is with the intention to reduce the most severe nature of pain, and decrease the analgesic consumption. This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of, Bupivacaine over Lidocaine for minor oral surgical procedures. The popularly used lidocaine works for 3 to 3.9 hours. This is not sufficient since the most severe nature of pain is felt six to eight hours post surgery, where as Bupivacaine has duration of action of seven to eight hours. Hence the post operative pain experienced following administration of bupivacaine was found to be considerably lesser in degree than compared to the lidocaine group. To avoid severe pain and discomfort to the patient following any minor oral surgical, the use of bupivacaine is recommended.

To assess whether majority of the public and medical professionals do understand the field Oral & Maxillo-Facial Surgery. To find this, a questionnaire was devised based on P. Ammerally et al. 200 members of the public with educated background and 100 general medical practitioners participated in this study. The results revealed that majority of the public needed more information on the field where as the General medical practitioners were aware, but lacked information about the majority of activity in the field.