Examining the role of Duration of illness on the level of mental disability in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Recent literature considers duration of illness (DI) and duration of untreatedillness (DUI) as important factors influencing outcome in many psychiatric conditions. The aimof the present article is to analyze the relationship between DI and DUI, and pharmacologicalresponse in the different psychiatric disorders with particular emphasis on neurodegenerativeaspects. An updated review of the current literature was conducted through PubMed in orderto compare different studies focused on DI and DUI, and treatment response in major psychosesand in depressive/anxiety disorders. A significant body of evidence shows that a prolongedDI and DUI is associated with brain abnormalities and poor treatment response, particularly inschizophrenia. Nevertheless, an increasing number of studies point toward a similar conclusionin mood and anxiety disorders as well, even though fewer studies have been published in thisfield. The present study was undertaken to assess and compare the disability in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) using Indian Disability Evaluation Assessment Scale (IDEAS). Results indicated Significant disabilityin work and global score was seen in patients of obsessive-compulsive disorder with duration of illness >5 yr. it was concluded that these illnesses affect all areas of daily functioning leading to greaterdisability, and thus increasing the burden on the family, pose greater challenge for therehabilitation of patients and their inclusion in the mainstream of the family and society. Furtherstudies on a larger sample need to be done to confirm the finding. Keywords: obsessive-compulsive disorder, Indian Disability Evaluation Assessment Scale, duration of illness, disability

A study of dengue and hepatopathy

Background: Dengue is a major international health concern that is prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical countries. It is 2nd most common arthropod borne disease in India. There are certain clinical features that are associated with Dengue in addition of the classical features. Previously organ impairment has been only considered under set up of severe disease. On the recent years, several studies have suggested the possibility of early involvement of the liver in dengue. Further due to its atypical presentation often dengue missed out as a differential diagnosis.Methods: A total of 50 patients were selected to be a part of study after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Only those patients were included in the study who had classical features of dengue- fever with chills, body ache, headache, rash, bleeding manifestations and thrombocytopenia and had a positive ELISA test i.e. IgM antibodies against dengue virus. Patients who had malaria and enteric fever were excluded from the study. All patients were subjected to a detailed history and a thorough clinical examination. A complete blood count, liver function tests, renal function tests, chest X-ray and USG abdomen were also done.Results: An analysis of 50 patients suffering from dengue showed liver dysfunction was present in all patients. Vomiting was an important symptom present upto 70% of patients. SGOT levels were higher than SGPT levels. Hepatosplenomegaly and ascitis were also present in significant number of patients. An analysis of these patients revealed that patients typically demonstrate high grade fever, body ache, rash, thrombocytopenia and bleeding tendency, there were other features such as liver dysfunction including a preferential rise of SGOT, hepatosplenomegaly, ascitis, pleural effusion and leucopoenia.Conclusions: This study showed that dengue fever was seen in the third decade and that AST and ALT levels were raised in the majority of these patients. It was also found that AST levels were more than ALT levels. So, AST and ALT can be a useful early marker to assess the severity of the disease which can thus lead to early recognition of high risk cases. The presence of raised liver enzymes in all patients, ascitis, hepatosplenomegaly, elevation of SGOT more than SGPT, should be kept in mind when evaluating patients with suspected dengue

Poly(vinyl alcohol) and functionalized ionic liquid based smart hydrogel for doxorubicin release

Limitations associated with the traditional cancer therapies prompt the scientific community to develop effective, safer, smarter, and targeted drug carriers that improve the efficiency of the drug carrier, reduce the adverse effects of the drug on the healthy cells, and help in preventing the cancer recurrences. This research aims to design a stimuli-responsive, self-healable, adhesive, and injectable polymeric hydrogel with an ester-functionalized ionic liquid as one of the additives to improve the efficiency of the anticancer drug in encapsulation and localized delivery. The designed polymeric hydrogel responds to intracellular biological stimuli (e.g., acidic pH of cancerous cells and temperature), changes the morphology through changing the shape and size of the gelator within the hydrogel matrix, and releases encapsulated doxorubicin (DOX) at the tumor site efficiently. Molecular interactions, gel morphology, and mechanical strength of the hydrogel were characterized through various analytical techniques, including small-angle neutron scattering. Adhesive properties of the polymeric hydrogel were measured by lap-shear strength tests and the biocompatibility and cellular drug uptake study on human breast cancer (MCF-7) and human cervical carcinoma cells (HeLa). The in vitro cytotoxicity and drug release study showed that the hybrid hydrogel is more effective at killing the cancerous cells, and the targeted release of DOX occurred at intracellular acidic pH. The polymeric hydrogel provides an efficient therapeutic approach for the encapsulation and release of the drug. Overall, the study offers a proof of concept to test the feasibility of the hydrogel system whether the hydrogel formulation helped or hindered the total cellular DOX trafficking

Fluorescence based studies on the interaction and characterization of surface-active ionic liquids with polarity sensitive intramolecular charge transfer probe

Surface-active ionic liquids (SAILs) are of tremendous interest in recent times due to their improved application in the field of food, detergent, and health. The modulated fluorescence behavior of an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) probe, trans‐ethyl‐p‐(dimethylamino) cinnamate (EDAC), in presence of five different SAILs with varying head groups (viz. imidazolium, pyridinium, and morpholinium) and different alkyl chain length (decyl, dodecyl, and tetradecyl) was monitored by steady state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Extreme sensitivity of EDAC fluorescence was used to characterize different physicochemical properties of the SAILs, including critical micelle concentration, static polarity, and empirical solvent polarity scale, ET(30) of the microenvironment. The estimated parameters are in good agreement with the literature reports and measured independently from other complimentary experiments discussed here. Time‐resolved fluorescence experiments show a significant retardation in different nonradiative decay channels of EDAC, when compared to that in aqueous phase, indicating a preferential association of the probe in presence of SAILs. The results indicate that the physicochemical properties of SAILs can be tuned by controlling the nature of both the cations and as well as the chain length of the alkyl group. These properties also show significant modulation in solutions with varying SAIL concentration, particularly in the pre- and post-micellar region. The results, particularly the surface-active properties and the self-assembly behavior presented in this study, are expected to provide new knowledge towards the design and development of novel SAILs with specific industrial and biological applications

Structure and stability of biodegradable polymer nanoparticles in electrolyte solution

The structure and stability of biodegradable hydrophobic [Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)] and amphiphilic [Poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether-block-poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PEG-PLGA)] polymer nanoparticles in aqueous electrolyte solution have been investigated by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and ζ-potential measurements. The results show that PLGA forms stable, spherical nanoparticles (size ~ 90 nm, ζ ~ −50 mV) in the aqueous solution. The stability of PLGA nanoparticles rapidly decreases in the presence of NaCl, leading to the formation of micron-sized aggregates even at low salt concentrations (~50 mM), because of the suppression of the stabilizing electrostatic repulsion in the presence of salt. However, the presence of NaCl even at high concentrations (~500 mM) is unable to destabilize the spherical PEG-PLGA nanoparticles (size ~ 35 nm, ζ ~ −15 mV), mostly due to the additional steric repulsion barrier of hydrated PEG shell around the PLGA core, preventing nanoparticles aggregation. Such high stability of PEG-PLGA nanoparticles could be useful for ultra-small nanocarriers (sub-40 nm) applications like deep penetration in tumor tissues, etc

pH-Dependent Interaction and Resultant Structures of Silica Nanoparticles and Lysozyme Protein

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and UV–visible spectroscopy studies have been carried out to examine pH-dependent interactions and resultant structures of oppositely charged silica nanoparticles and lysozyme protein in aqueous solution. The measurements were carried out at fixed concentration (1 wt %) of three differently sized silica nanoparticles (8, 16, and 26 nm) over a wide concentration range of protein (0–10 wt %) at three different pH values (5, 7, and 9). The adsorption curve as obtained by UV–visible spectroscopy shows exponential behavior of protein adsorption on nanoparticles. The electrostatic interaction enhanced by the decrease in the pH between the nanoparticle and protein (isoelectric point ∼11.4) increases the adsorption coefficient on nanoparticles but decreases the overall amount protein adsorbed whereas the opposite behavior is observed with increasing nanoparticle size. The adsorption of protein leads to the protein-mediated aggregation of nanoparticles. These aggregates are found to be surface fractals at pH 5 and change to mass fractals with increasing pH and/or decreasing nanoparticle size. Two different concentration regimes of interaction of nanoparticles with protein have been observed: (i) unaggregated nanoparticles coexisting with aggregated nanoparticles at low protein concentrations and (ii) free protein coexisting with aggregated nanoparticles at higher protein concentrations. These concentration regimes are found to be strongly dependent on both the pH and nanoparticle size

Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Study of Interplay of Attractive and Repulsive Interactions in Nanoparticle–Polymer System

The phase behavior of nanoparticle (silica)–polymer (polyethylene glycol) system without and with an electrolyte (NaCl) has been studied. It is observed that nanoparticle–polymer system behaves very differently in the presence of electrolyte. In the absence of electrolyte, the nanoparticle–polymer system remains in one-phase even at very high polymer concentrations. On the other hand, a re-entrant phase behavior is found in the presence of electrolyte, where one-phase (individual) system undergoes two-phase (nanoparticle aggregation) and then back to one-phase with increasing polymer concentration. The regime of two-phase system has been tuned by varying the electrolyte concentration. The polymer concentration range over which the two-phase system exists is significantly enhanced with the increase in the electrolyte concentration. These systems have been characterized by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments of contrast-marching the polymer to the solvent. The data are modeled using a two-Yukawa potential accounting for both attractive and repulsive parts of the interaction between nanoparticles. The phase behavior of nanoparticle–polymer system is explained by interplay of attractive (polymer-induced attractive depletion between nanoparticles) and repulsive (nanoparticle–nanoparticle electrostatic repulsion and polymer–polymer repulsion) interactions present in the system. In the absence of electrolyte, the strong electrostatic repulsion between nanoparticles dominates over the polymer-induced depletion attraction and the nanoparticle system remains in one-phase. With addition of electrolyte, depletion attraction overcomes electrostatic repulsion at some polymer concentration, resulting into nanoparticle aggregation and two-phase system. Further addition of polymer increases the polymer–polymer repulsion which eventually reduces the strength of depletion and hence re-entrant phase behavior. The effects of varying electrolyte concentration on the phase behavior of nanoparticle–polymer system are understood in terms of modifications in nanoparticle–nanoparticle and polymer–polymer interactions. The nanoparticle aggregates in two-phase systems are found to have surface fractal morphology

Size-Dependent Interaction of Silica Nanoparticles with Different Surfactants in Aqueous Solution

The size-dependent interaction of anionic silica nanoparticles with ionic (anionic and cationic) and nonionic surfactants has been studied using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The surfactants used are anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cationic dodecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB), and nonionic decaoxyethylene <i>n</i>-dodecylether (C₁₂E₁₀). The measurements have been carried out for three different sizes of silica nanoparticles (8, 16, and 26 nm) at fixed concentrations (1 wt % each) of nanoparticles and surfactants. It is found that irrespective of the size of the nanoparticles there is no significant interaction evolved between like-charged nanoparticles and the SDS micelles leading to any structural changes. However, the strong attraction of oppositely charged DTAB micelles with silica nanoparticles results in the aggregation of nanoparticles. The number of micelles mediating the nanoparticle aggregation increases with the size of the nanoparticle. The aggregates are characterized by fractal structure where the fractal dimension is found to be constant (<i>D </i>≈ 2.3) independent of the size of the nanoparticles and consistent with diffusion-limited-aggregation-type fractal morphology in these systems. In the case of nonionic surfactant C₁₂E₁₀, micelles interact with the individual silica nanoparticles. The number of adsorbed micelles per nanoparticle increases drastically whereas the percentage of adsorbed micelles on nanoparticles decreases with the increase in the size of the nanoparticles

Tuning Nanoparticle–Micelle Interactions and Resultant Phase Behavior

The evolution of the interaction between an anionic nanoparticle and a nonionic surfactant and their resultant phase behavior in aqueous solution in the presence of electrolyte and ionic surfactants have been studied. The mixed system of anionic silica nanoparticles (Ludox LS30) with nonionic surfactant decaethylene glycol monododecylether (C12E10) forms a highly stable clear phase over a wide concentration range of surfactant. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and dynamic light scattering data show that the surfactant micelles adsorb on the surface of the nanoparticle, resulting in micellar-decorated nanoparticle structures. With the addition of a small amount of electrolyte into this system, the stability gets disturbed substantially and turns to a two-phase (turbid) system. The evolution of interaction in this system has been examined, and it was found that micelle-induced long-range depletion attraction (modeled by a double Yukawa potential) between nanoparticles leads to their aggregation. Interestingly, the addition of anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in this two-phase system transforms it to a transparent one-phase state, suppressing the depletion-mediated aggregation of nanoparticles. This is attributed to the formation of anionic C12E10–SDS mixed micelles, and it is their repulsive micelle–micelle interaction that disrupts the depletion phenomenon. On the other hand, the addition of cationic surfactant dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) to the turbid LS30–C12E10 electrolyte system shows no change in the turbidity arising from an aggregated nanoparticle system. The driving interaction, in this case, is different from that of the surfactant-mediated depletion attraction; it is due to the attraction between the nanoparticles mediated by the presence of oppositely charged DTAB micelles between them, resulting in a charge-driven bridging aggregation of nanoparticles. Each of these multicomponent systems has been investigated using contrast variation SANS measurements for different contrast conditions where the role of individual components (nanoparticle or surfactant) in the mixed system has been selectively studied. These results thus show that nanoparticle–surfactant micelle interactions can be tuned by the presence of electrolyte and/or choice of surfactant combination