mahmood alebouyeh

Continuous epidural analgesia (CEA) is the most common local anesthesia technique used to control pain after Total knee arthroplasty (TKA). CEA has many side effects. Continuous paravertebral block is an effective method with fewer side effects in controlling TKA pain. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of this two methods on post-TKA pain.TKA patients were randomly divided into two groups (N = 19): A) CEB: Bupivacaine 0.25% was injected epiduraly by pump at 4 ml / hr during 24 hours after surgery. B) Continuous Lumbar Paravertebral Block (CLPB): all interventions were similar to group A, but by paravertebral catheter. Basic Mobility Scale (BMS) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ( static and dynamic) four times (4, 8, 16 and 24 hours after surgery) were measured and recorded. Use of opioids and their complications were measured.Patients in the CLPB group experienced significantly less dynamic and static pain 4 and 8 hours after TKA than patients in the CEA group (p< 0.05). There was no side effects in patients in the CLPB group but,  patients in the CEA group experienced Nausea and Vomiting. No significant difference was observed for BMS and Muscular Strength in any of the follow-up stages between the two groups (P> 0.05).Continuous paravertebral block has equal efficacy in controlling pain in patients undergoing TKA surgery compared to continuous epidural block. Due to, lack of complications it can be considered as a suitable alternative in TKA patients.

Human interferons (IFNs) are key cytokines secreted by immune system. They have several effects such as antiviral and anti tumors activity, activating immune cells and healing of multiple sclerosis. The type IFNs present in humans are α, β and Υ. IFN β is a polypeptide, normally produced by fibroblasts and seems to be more species-specific than IFN . Structural properties of I FNs are important for their biologic effects. There are a few analytical techniques for separation, identification and determination of IFNs in its formulations such as mass spectroscopy, RP-HPLC and capillary electrophoresis (CE). In this study we used Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography (MEKC) as a unique mode of CE because of its capability to separate neutral as well as charged solutes. In MEKC, ionic surfactants are added to the running buffer to form micelles which have a three-dimensional structure with the hydrophobic moieties. The selectivity of MEKC can be controlled by the choice of surfactant and also by the addition of modifiers to the buffer. We used sodium tetraborate (Borax) as buffer without any modifier and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as surfactant. The validated method was used for determination of the IFN β-1b formulation which are manufactured in Iran. From 9 collected different batches, all of them had acceptable potency as claimed on their label with average 102.25 ± 10.030 %. This is the first time that a MEKC method is introduced for quantification of IFN β-1b in its pharmaceutical dosage forms. The method is reliable safe, rapid and accurate.