STUDY DESIGN: In this retrospective cohort study, we included children aged 5-20 years who received regular outpatient care at a large academic medical center between January 1996 and April 2016. BMI was expressed as age- and sex-specific percentiles and BP as age-, sex-, and height-specific percentiles. Linear mixed models incorporating linear spline functions with 2 breakpoints at 9 and 12 years of age were used to estimate the changes in BMI and BP percentiles over time during age periods: <9, 9-<12, and >12 years of age.
RESULTS: Among 5703 children (24.8% black, 10.1% Hispanic), Hispanic females had an increased rate of change in BMI percentile per year relative to white females during ages 5-9 years (+2.94%; 95% CI, 0.24-5.64; P = .033). Black and Hispanic males also had an increased rate of change in BMI percentile per year relative to white males that occurred from ages 5-9 (+2.35% [95% CI, 0.76-3.94; P = .004]; +2.63% [95% CI, 0.31-4.95; P = .026], respectively). There were no significant racial differences in the rate of change of BP percentiles, although black females had higher hypertension rates compared with white females (10.0% vs 5.7%; P
MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we focus on two important drugs used for TB treatment - rifampicin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH) - and report a detailed study of RIF-loaded poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) NPs and INH modified as INH benz-hydrazone (IH2) which gives the same therapeutic effect as INH but is more stable and enhances the drug loading in PLGA NPs by 15-fold compared to INH. The optimized formulation was characterized using particle size analyzer, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The drug release from NPs and stability of drug were tested in different pH conditions.
RESULTS: It was found that RIF and IH2 loaded in NPs release in a slow and sustained manner over a period of 1 month and they are more stable in NPs formulation compared to the free form. RIF- and IH2-loaded NPs were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain. RIF loaded in PLGA NPs consistently inhibited the growth at 70% of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of pure RIF (MIC level 1 µg/mL), and pure IH2 and IH2-loaded NPs showed inhibition at MIC equivalent to the MIC of INH (0.1 µg/mL).
CONCLUSION: These results show that NP formulations will improve the efficacy of drug delivery for TB treatment.