A study of metastatic lesions of cervical lymphadenopathy by fine needle aspiration cytology

Background: cervical lymphadenopathy is a common clinical presentation in many diseases. Metastatic lymphadenopathy is common in old age group patient. FNAC is simple, cost effective, reliable and rapid method for diagnosis of metastatis in cervical lymphnodes. FNAC not only give the diagnosis but also give the clue regarding the origin of primary tumor.Methods: Total 144 cases of metastatic lesions of cervical lymphnode were studied from Aug.13 to July 14 by FNAC in cytology section of pathology department in P.D.U. medical college, Rajkot, (Gujarat) India.Result: Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common metastatic lesions of cervical lymphnode comprising (75 %). Metastatic lesions of cervical lymphnode occur more commonly after age of 40 years and more common in male. In anterior cervical lymphnodes, level I and II lymphnodes usually involved where primary was in mouth – buccal mucosa,tongue and level V lymphnodes (supraclavivular lymphnode) involved where primary was in lung.Conclusion: FNAC is a cost effective, reliable, rapid and inexpensive method for diagnosis of lymphadenopathy. Cytology of Metastatic lesions in cervical lymph nodes gives clue to nature & origin of tumors.

COMPARATIVE PHARMACOGNOSTICAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF VARIOUS SPECIES OF THE CONTROVERSIAL DRUG ‘PUNARNAVA'

Objective: Punarnava is a controversial drug i.e. its true botanical identity has not been ascertained, and several different species are used as Punarnava. It is a part of many medicinally important traditional formulations. Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India describes three different species–Roots of Boerhaavia diffusa, Trianthema portulacastrum and Boerhaavia verticillata. The present work deals with the microscopic, macroscopic and phytochemical comparison of the roots of these species of Punarnava, so as to differentiate them and establish their quality parameters.Methods: Roots of these three species were collected, and their comparative morphological, microscopical (transverse section, powder study) and the phytochemical (screening, tannin estimation) study was performed.Results: Roots of Boerhaavia diffusa showed morphological characteristics which clearly distinguished it from the other species. They showed the presence of well developed and stratified cork, abnormal vascular bundles which were discontinuous, and a central cavity, presumably formed due to the disintegration of tissues. Boerhaavia verticillata showed the presence of xylem bundles arranged in the form of a ‘X'-shaped cross in the central region. Thick-walled cork cells and pitted xylem vessels were present only in Boerhaavia diffusa root powder, whereas bundles of fibrovascular tissue were present only in the powder of Boerhaavia verticillata. Tannin content was found to be highest in Boerhaavia diffusa roots.Conclusion: The present investigation will help herbal industries and traditional medicinal practitioners to detect adulteration of the medicinally important immunomodulator Boerhaavia diffusa by Trianthema portulacastrum and Boerhaavia verticillata, which are considered to have no immunomodulatory activity.Â

Revision in the first steps of the biosynthesis of the red antibiotic prodigiosin: use of a synthetic thioester to validate a new intermediate.

Funder: Frances and Augustus Newman FoundationFunder: Emmanuel College, University of CambridgeFunder: Cambridge Commonwealth TrustA biosynthetic pathway for the red-antibiotic, prodigiosin, was proposed over a decade ago but not all the suggested intermediates could be detected experimentally. Here we show that a thioester that was not originally included in the pathway is an intermediate. In addition, the enzyme PigE was originally described as a transaminase but we present evidence that it also catalyses the reduction of the thioester intermediate to its aldehyde substrate

Substrate flexibility of the flavin-dependent dihydropyrrole oxidases PigB and HapB involved in antibiotic prodigiosin biosynthesis

In the biosynthesis of the tripyrrolic pigment prodigiosin, PigB is a predicted flavin-dependent oxidase responsible for formation of 2-methyl-3-amylpyrrole (MAP) from a dihydropyrrole. To prove which dihydropyrrole is the true intermediate, both possibilities, 5a (resulting from transamination of the aldehyde of 3-acetyloctanal) and 6 (resulting from transamination of the ketone), were synthesised. Only 5a restored pigment production in a strain of Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 blocked earlier in MAP biosynthesis. PigB is membrane-associated and inactive when its transmembrane domain was deleted, but HapB, its homologue in Hahella chejuensis, lacks the transmembrane domain and is active in solution. Two colorimetric assays for PigB and HapB were developed, and the HapB-catalysed reaction was kinetically characterised. Ten analogues of 5a were synthesised, varying in the C2 and C3 side-chains, and tested as substrates of HapB in vitro and for restoration of pigment production in Serratia ΔpigD in vivo. All lengths of side-chain tested at C3 were accepted but only short side-chains at C2 were accepted. The knowledge that 5a is an intermediate in prodigiosin biosynthesis and the ease of synthesis of analogues of 5a makes a range of prodigiosin analogues readily available by mutasynthesis.We acknowledge the Frances and Augustus Newman foundation, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the B.B.S.R.C. (award codesBB/N008081/1 and BB/K001833/1) for funding this research

Clinical and etiological profile of thrombocytopenia in adults: A tertiary-care hospital-based cross-sectional study

Background: The etiologies of thrombocytopenia are diverse. Various studies on thrombocytopenia are done in the past have related to specific etiologies. Objectives: This study attempts to determine the common etiologies of thrombocytopenia in adult patients admitted to Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad. Patients with thrombocytopenia more than 18 years of age at admission between 1 October and 31 October 2013 were followed up during their stay in hospital, diagnosis were made, and bleeding manifestations and requirement of platelet transfusion were recorded. Results: From the 412 patients studied, dengue was diagnosed in 28.6% of patients followed by malaria in 22.8%, chronic liver disease in 15.2%, hypersplenism in 12.3%, septicemia in 6.3%, gestational thrombocytopenia and disseminated intravascular coagulation in 5.5%, immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in 3.1%, megaloblastic anemia in 1.9%, human immunodeficiency virus in 1.4%, drug-induced thrombocytopenia in 1.2%, leukemia in 0.7%, and aplastic anemia in 0.48%. Bleeding secondary to thrombocytopenia was seen in 46 (11.2%) patients; of them, 28 were diagnosed with dengue fever, 4 with chronic liver disease, 3 with sepsis, 2 with hematological malignancies, and 9 with ITP. The common bleeding manifestations were gum bleed, purpura, petechial rash, and bruising. All the cases with platelet count o5,000/mL had bleeding manifestations secondary to thrombocytopenia. From the patients studied, 79.3% had fever associated with thrombocytopenia. Platelet transfusion was given to 87 patients: of these, 46 (52.8%) were transfused because of bleeding and 41 (47.1%) were given prophylactic transfusion. Conclusion: Dengue fever was the most common cause of thrombocytopenia and the most common etiology found in patients who had bleeding secondary to thrombocytopenia with gum bleed as a common manifestation. There was no definitive trigger value of platelet for platelet transfusion, and transfusion because of bleeding and prophylactic transfusion were given in almost similar proportions of patients

Spectrophotometric Determination of Cefetamet Pivoxil Hydrochloride and Pitavastatin Calcium in Tablet Dosage form

Two simple, rapid, specific and accurate analytical methods for the estimation of cefetamet pivoxil hydrochloride and pitavastatin calcium in bulk drug and in their tablet formulations are described. These methods are based on difference spectrophotometry, wherein the measurement is done at maximum 221 nm and minimum 275 nm for cefetamet whereas at maximum 240 nm and minimum 259 nm for pitavastatin. The Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range of 1-35 μg/ml and 1-25 μg/ml and the molar absorptivities were 1.3×104 lit mol−1 cm−1 and 2.4×104 lit mol−1 cm−1 for cefetamet pivoxil hydrochloride and pitavastatin calcium, respectively. The proposed methods were validated and successfully applied to the estimation of drugs in tablet formulations