CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS FOR DIOSGENIN†CONTENT IN ABUTILON INDICUM (L) SWEET

Objective: Chromatographic evaluation of steroidal saponin ‘diosgenin' from leaves of the medicinal plant by HPTLC.Methods: HPTLC analysis was performed with methanolic (MeOH) and ethanolic (EtOH) leaf extract of Abutilon indicum. HPTLC analysis was carried out with Toluene: ethyl acetate: formic acid [6:5:1, v/v/v] mobile phase and anisaldehyde-sulphuric acid reagent as spraying reagent for derivatization. Quantitative evaluation of diosgenin content in extracts was estimated using diosgenin standard curve (500-3000 ng/spot).Results: HPTLC plate scanned at 366 nm showed good resolution and band color after derivatization. The appearance of brown color spot on chromatograms confirmed the diosgenin content in samples and it was observed to be 0.4 and 0.11 % (w/w) in MeOH and EtOH extracts, respectively.Conclusions: A. indicum plant leaves are a good source of steroidal saponin diosgenin and can be used as an alternate natural source to synthesize herbal drugs to control human population, various tumor; oral contraceptives, sex hormones and other steroids. Further, the proposed HPTLC method is a faster, precise, accurate and cost effective, thus, help to the pharmaceutical companies for quantity, quality control and standardization of herbal formulations for routine analysis of diosgenin.Â

A study to correlate histopathological findings in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding

Background: Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is a common gynecological problem associated with considerable morbidity and significantly affects the patients. The aim of the study was to analyze the histopathological patterns of endometrium in patients presenting with AUB and also to determine the incidence of AUB in various age groups.Methods: This is a retrospective study, conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, in a tertiary care teaching hospital, Mumbai, India from March 2016 till date. All cases of AUB were included in the study. Data was entered in microsoft excel and managed in statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 16. Analysis was done in the form of percentages and proportions and represented as tables where necessary.Results: A total of 120 cases were analyzed. Patients’ age ranged from 22-79 years. AUB was most common among the perimenopausal females (41-50years). The most common presenting symptom was heavy menstrual bleeding (53%). Dilatation and curettage (D&C) was performed in all cases and 96 underwent hysterectomy as final resort. Endometrial proliferative pattern was the most common histopathological finding and was seen in 27% patients, followed by endometrial hyperplasia in 13.5% patients, secretory endometrium (12.7%) and disordered proliferative endometrium were seen in 10.9% patients each. Malignancy was detected in 1.7% of cases and endometrial carcinoma was the most common lesion.Conclusions: Endometrial sampling is especially indicated in women above the age of 35 years to rule out malignancy and preneoplasia. Among the females with no organic pathology, normal physiological patterns with proliferative, secretory, and menstrual changes were observed. The most common endometrial pathology in this study was endometrial proliferation

To study and compare the effectiveness of transobturator tape versus Kelly’s repair in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence

Background: To compare the effectiveness of transobturator tape (TOT) versus Kelly’s repair in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence.Methods: A retrospective experimental comparative study was conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology in Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Mumbai, India from 2015 to 2016. A cohort of 60 patients was divided in two groups of 30 each. In group 1, patients who underwent transobturator tape fixation were included. In group 2 patients who underwent Kelly’s repair and outcomes were compared with a follow up of 1 year post surgery.Results: Out of 30 patients included in group 1, 29 slings were successful and 1 had a surgical failure in terms of persistence of stress incontinence whereas 3 had persistent symptom in group 2. 2 patients in group 1 and 4 in group 2 had urinary retention in the immediate postoperative phase. Dyspareunia occurred in 1 TOT patient and 3 Kelly’s repair. None had symptoms of overactive bladder in group 1, whereas group 2 had 1 patient with overactive bladder symptoms. None developed erosion in a 1 year follow up period.Conclusions: The transobturator approach is an effective treatment of SUI with higher cure rate, low morbidity, good patient satisfaction and faster recovery

A study of peripartum cardiomyopathy in a tertiary care center in India

Background: Peripartum cardiomyopathy is an idiopathic and reversible form of dilated cardiomyopathy. The aim of the study was to study the mean age of presentation of peripartum cardiomyopathy in pregnant patients over a period of 1 year in a tertiary health care and study the maternal and fetal outcome of patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy.Methods: A retrospective observational study with total of 22 patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy was diagnosed in a total of 10,279 deliveries conducted at LTMMC, Sion hospital between September 2014 to February 2016.Results: Our study revealed that most of the affected patients were young with the mean age at presentation being 26.8±4.29 years. Most of the patients were diagnosed in the postpartum period (63.6%). the most common risk factor was pre-eclampsia (22.7%) followed by anemia (18.2%). The mean Ejection fraction at the time of presentation was 25.3±9.8%. There were 2 (9.1%) intrauterine fetal deaths and 1 neonatal death.Conclusions: There is a need for more multi-centric studies in order to understand the underlying pathogenesis and to determine the possible early interventions to help provide better pregnancy outcome

Assessment of health equity consideration in masking/PPE policies to contain COVID-19 using PROGRESS-plus framework: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION: There is increasing evidence that COVID-19 has unmasked the true magnitude of health inequity worldwide. Policies and guidance for containing the infection and reducing the COVID-19 related deaths have proven to be effective, however the extent to which health inequity factors were considered in these policies is rather unknown. The aim of this study is to measure the extent to which COVID-19 related policies reflect equity considerations by focusing on the global policy landscape around wearing masks and personal protection equipment (PPE). METHODS: A systematic search for published documents on COVID-19 and masks/PPE was conducted across six databases: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, ERIC, ASSIA and Psycinfo. Reviews, policy documents, briefs related to COVID-19 and masks/PPE were included in the review. To assess the extent of incorporation of equity in the policy documents, a guidance framework known as ‘PROGRESS-Plus’: Place of residence, Race/ethnicity, Occupation, Gender/sex, Religion, Education, Socioeconomic status, Social capital, Plus (age, disability etc.) was utilized. RESULTS: This review included 212 policy documents. Out of 212 policy documents, 190 policy documents (89.62%) included at least one PROGRESS-plus component. Most of the policy documents (n = 163, 85.79%) focused on “occupation” component of the PROGRESS-plus followed by personal characteristics associated with discrimination (n = 4;2.11%), place of residence (n = 2;1.05%) and education (n = 1;0.53%). Subgroup analysis revealed that most of the policy documents (n = 176, 83.01%) were focused on “workers” such as healthcare workers, mortuary workers, school workers, transportation workers, essential workers etc. Of the remaining policy documents, most were targeted towards whole population (n = 30; 14.15%). Contrary to “worker focused” policy documents, most of the ‘whole population focused’ policy documents didn’t have a PROGRESS-plus equity component rendering them equity limiting for the society. CONCLUSION: Our review highlights even if policies considered health inequity during the design/implementation, this consideration was often one dimensional in nature. In addition, population wide policies should be carefully designed and implemented after identifying relevant equity related barriers in order to produce better outcomes for the whole society

Pregnancy with super-obesity: an emerging pandemic

Pregnancy associated with obesity is an upcoming challenge in high risk obstetrics management. Ironically, in India though half the population is under the malnutrition zone, it is known as the diabetic capital. This is attributed to the changing lifestyles which have led to a steep rise in medical disorders like hypertension, diabetes and obesity, especially in metropolitan cities. A case of pregnancy in a super obese woman with a successful outcome is presented here

Interferon restores replication fork stability and cell viability in BRCA-defective cells via ISG15

DNA replication and repair defects or genotoxic treatments trigger interferon (IFN)-mediated inflammatory responses. However, whether and how IFN signaling in turn impacts the DNA replication process has remained elusive. Here we show that basal levels of the IFN-stimulated gene 15, ISG15, and its conjugation (ISGylation) are essential to protect nascent DNA from degradation. Moreover, IFNβ treatment restores replication fork stability in BRCA1/2-deficient cells, which strictly depends on topoisomerase-1, and rescues lethality of BRCA2-deficient mouse embryonic stem cells. Although IFNβ activates hundreds of genes, these effects are specifically mediated by ISG15 and ISGylation, as their inactivation suppresses the impact of IFNβ on DNA replication. ISG15 depletion significantly reduces cell proliferation rates in human BRCA1-mutated triple-negative, whereas its upregulation results in increased resistance to the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin in mouse BRCA2-deficient breast cancer cells, respectively. Accordingly, cells carrying BRCA1/2 defects consistently show increased ISG15 levels, which we propose as an in-built mechanism of drug resistance linked to BRCAness

Interferon restores replication fork stability and cell viability in BRCA-defective cells via ISG15

DNA replication and repair defects or genotoxic treatments trigger interferon (IFN)-mediated inflammatory responses. However, whether and how IFN signaling in turn impacts the DNA replication process has remained elusive. Here we show that basal levels of the IFN-stimulated gene 15, ISG15, and its conjugation (ISGylation) are essential to protect nascent DNA from degradation. Moreover, IFNβ treatment restores replication fork stability in BRCA1/2-deficient cells, which strictly depends on topoisomerase-1, and rescues lethality of BRCA2-deficient mouse embryonic stem cells. Although IFNβ activates hundreds of genes, these effects are specifically mediated by ISG15 and ISGylation, as their inactivation suppresses the impact of IFNβ on DNA replication. ISG15 depletion significantly reduces cell proliferation rates in human BRCA1-mutated triple-negative, whereas its upregulation results in increased resistance to the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin in mouse BRCA2-deficient breast cancer cells, respectively. Accordingly, cells carrying BRCA1/2 defects consistently show increased ISG15 levels, which we propose as an in-built mechanism of drug resistance linked to BRCAness.</p

Kinetic non-reversibility of the cracking reactions and its accounting during mathematical modeling of industrial process

The paper presents the approach to the catalytic cracking modeling with consideration of the reactions' reversibility/non-reversibility depending on the current concentrations and the cracking temperature. The thermodynamic analysis of the reactions using the quantum-chemical methods allows formulating a hydrocarbons conversion scheme at the thermal equilibrium temperature between the feedstock and the catalyst. The magnitude of the current chemical attraction of reactions is a criterion of thermodynamic non-reversibility of reactions, which is determined at each stage of the calculation. It has been shown that the change in the concentrations of conversion participants and cracking temperature have a significant effect on the catalytic cracking reactions. Thus, the cyclization reactions are non-reversible up to 512.9 °C (A[rij]=6.46 kJ/mol) during the processing of feedstock with saturated hydrocarbons to aromatics ratio is 2.1 and with further temperature increasing the contribution of reverse reactions rises. Also with increasing the saturated hydrocarbons to aromatics ratio from 2.1 to 3.2 in the feedstock, the equilibrium of the reaction shifts to low temperatures from 512.9 to 508.9 °C (A[rij]=6.497 kJ/mol). It is connected with the fact that intensification of the exotermic reactions (alkylation, condensation, coke formation) under certain conditions is possible. It is an important factor in terms of catalyst deactivation and has an effect on the desired product yield