Free-roaming dog population dynamics in Ranchi, India

Rabies causes approximately 20,000 human deaths in India each year. Nearly all of these occur following dog bites. Large-scale, high-coverage dog rabies vaccination campaigns are the cornerstone of rabies elimination strategies in both human and dog populations, although this is particularly challenging to achieve in India as a large proportion of the dog population are free-roaming and unowned. Further, little is known about free-roaming dog ecology in India which makes defining optimum vaccination strategies difficult. In this study, data collected using a mobile phone application during three annual mass vaccination and neutering (surgical sterilisation of both males and females) campaigns of free-roaming dogs in Ranchi, India (during which a total of 43,847 vaccinations, 26,213 neuter surgeries and 28,172 re-sight observations were made) were interrogated, using two novel approaches to estimate the proportion of neutered dogs that were lost from the city (assumed due to mortality or migration) between campaign years. Analysis revealed high losses of neutered dogs each year, ranging from 25.3% (28.2-22.8) to 55.8% (57.0-54.6). We also estimated that the total population declined by 12.58% (9.89-15.03) over the three-year period. This demonstrates that there is a high turnover of free-roaming dogs and that despite neutering a large number of dogs in an annual sterilisation campaign, the decline in population size was modest over a three-year time period. These findings have significant implications for the planning of rabies vaccination campaigns and population management programmes as well as highlighting the need for further research into the demographics of free-roaming, unowned dogs in India.

The compatibility and stability of octreotide acetate in the presence of diamorphine hydrochloride in polypropylene syringes

Varying concentrations of octreotide acetate (Sandostatin) and diamorphine hydrochloride were prepared and stored in polypropylene syringes at 37 degrees C in the dark. The solutions were analysed for octreotide acetate content using a validated HPLC method at regular intervals over a 48-h period. The results indicate that octreotide acetate remains stable in the presence of diamorphine hydrochloride at 37 degrees C for 24 h. In addition, the solutions prepared maintained their clarity, with no signs of precipitation upon visual examination under normal light conditions.

LC determination of octreotide acetate in compound formulations of Sandostatin and diamorphine hydrochloride

The determination of octreotide acetate in compound formulations of Sandostatin and diamorphine hydrochloride by RP-LC is described. Octreotide acetate, diamorphine hydrochloride and their respective degradants, [des-Thr-ol8]-octreotide and 6-O-acetylmorphine, were baseline resolved using a Lichrospher-60 RP-select B column with a mobile phase composition of acetonitrile/phosphate buffer (pH 7.4, 20 mM) (35:65 v/v) with UV detection at 210 nm. The method is simple, selective, precise and suitable for the determination of octreotide acetate in admixture.

Pharmaceutical analysis of 8-chloroadenosine 3',5'-monophosphate

8-Chloroadenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (8-Cl-cAMP) has recently entered clinical trials as a new anticancer drug. 8-Cl-cAMP can undergo metabolism/degradation to nucleotides (8-Cl-AMP; 8-Cl-IMP), nucleosides (8-Cl-adenosine; 8-Cl-inosine) and bases (8-Cl-adenine; 8-Cl-xanthine and 8-Cl-hypoxanthine). A reversed-phase, gradient elution high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described which can resolve all the above from their non-chlorinated naturally occurring counterparts and 8-Bromo-cAMP. The assay was then utilized to perform pharmaceutical evaluations on the 8-Cl-cAMP formulation. Sterilization by filtration (0.22 micron pore size) resulted in no loss of material. Stability studies carried out in the cartridges used to continuously infuse (for 7 days) the drug to patients showed no significant degradation over 17 days. Purity determinations revealed the presence of up to nine impurities (related to adenine) and yielded a purity figure of 95.9-99.3% with considerable batch to batch variation.