Apoptotic properties of polysaccharide isolated from fruiting bodies of medicinal mushroom Fomes fomentarius in human lung carcinoma cell line

AbstractMushrooms are known to complement chemotherapy and radiation therapy by countering the side effects of cancer. Recently, there has been great interest in isolation of novel bioactive compounds from mushrooms due to their numerous health beneficial effects. Chemically water-extractable polysaccharide (MFKF-AP1β), with a molecular weight of 12kDa, was isolated from fruiting bodies of mushroom Fomes fomentarius. In this research, we investigated the anti-tumor effects of MFKF-AP1β on human lung carcinoma A549 cells. Results showed that MFKF-AP1β markedly inhibited A549 cell growth in a dose-dependent manner based on the amount of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released and morphological alterations. In addition, MFKF-AP1β induced cellular apoptosis by causing single-stranded DNA breakage, as evidenced by apoptosis assay. Furthermore, MFKF-AP1β (25–100μg/ml) significantly induced single-stranded DNA breakage in A549 cells, as shown by comet assay.Taken together, our results demonstrate that MFKF-AP1β has strong anti-tumor effects mediated through induction of apoptosis. Therefore, MFKF-AP1β could be useful in lung chemotherapy

Challenges and opportunities in mixed method data collection on mental health issues of health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic in India

Background: The present paper describes the key challenges and opportunities of mixed method telephonic data collection for mental health research using field notes and the experiences of the investigators in a multicenter study in ten sites of India. The study was conducted in public and private hospitals to understand the mental health status, social stigma and coping strategies of different healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.Methods: Qualitative and quantitative interviews were conducted telephonically. The experiences of data collection were noted as a field notes/diary by the data collectors and principal investigators.Results: The interviewers reported challenges such as network issues, lack of transfer of visual cues and sensitive content of data. Although the telephonic interviews present various challenges in mixed method data collection, it can be used as an alternative to face-to-face data collection using available technology.Conclusions: It is important that the investigators are well trained keeping these challenges in mind so that their capacity is built to deal with these challenges and good quality data is obtained

Factors associated with stigma and manifestations experienced by Indian health care workers involved in COVID-19 management in India: A qualitative study

Healthcare personnel who deal with COVID-19 experience stigma. There is a lack of national-level representative qualitative data to study COVID-19-related stigma among healthcare workers in India. The present study explores factors associated with stigma and manifestations experienced by Indian healthcare workers involved in COVID-19 management. We conducted in-depth interviews across 10 centres in India, which were analysed using NVivo software version 12. Thematic and sentiment analysis was performed to gain deep insights into the complex phenomenon by categorising the qualitative data into meaningful and related categories. Healthcare workers (HCW) usually addressed the stigma they encountered when doing their COVID duties under the superordinate theme of stigma. Among them, 77.42% said they had been stigmatised in some way. Analyses revealed seven interrelated themes surrounding stigma among healthcare workers. It can be seen that the majority of the stigma and coping sentiments fall into the mixed category, followed by the negative sentiment category. This study contributes to our understanding of stigma and discrimination in low- and middle-income settings. Our data show that the emergence of fear of the virus has quickly turned into a stigma against healthcare workers

Exosomes as Emerging Pro-Tumorigenic Mediators of the Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype

10.3390/ijms20102547INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES201

Exosomes as Emerging Pro-Tumorigenic Mediators of the Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype

Communication between cells is quintessential for biological function and cellular homeostasis. Membrane-bound extracellular vesicles known as exosomes play pivotal roles in mediating intercellular communication in tumor microenvironments. These vesicles and exosomes carry and transfer biomolecules such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. Here we focus on exosomes secreted from senescent cells. Cellular senescence can alter the microenvironment and influence neighbouring cells via the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), which consists of factors such as cytokines, chemokines, matrix proteases and growth factors. This review focuses on exosomes as emerging SASP components that can confer pro-tumorigenic effects in pre-malignant recipient cells. This is in addition to their role in carrying SASP factors. Transfer of such exosomal components may potentially lead to cell proliferation, inflammation and chromosomal instability, and consequently cancer initiation. Senescent cells are known to gather in various tissues with age; eliminating senescent cells or blocking the detrimental effects of the SASP has been shown to alleviate multiple age-related phenotypes. Hence, we speculate that a better understanding of the role of exosomes released from senescent cells in the context of cancer biology may have implications for elucidating mechanisms by which aging promotes cancer and other age-related diseases, and how therapeutic resistance is exacerbated with age

FETOMATERNAL OUTCOME OF GESTATIONAL DIABETES MELLITUS IN PRIMIGRAVIDA DELIVERED AT TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Objective: To determine the Prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in primigravida and their feto-maternal outcome who delivered at tertiary care hospital in western Rajasthan. Methods: A retrospective chart review study will be conducted on primigravida delivered at the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, MDM Hospital Dr. S. N. Medical College, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India from May 2022 to December 2022. Results: The prevalence of GDM in primigravida was 6.42%, maximum occurrence between 34 and 36 weeks of gestation (53.3%). 8.8% of GDM patients had a preterm delivery, out of these 8 women polyhydramnios were seen in 4 women. 49% had lower segment cesarean section and 3% had instrument delivery. preeclampsia was seen in 25.56%, urinary tract infection in 10%, preterm labor was seen in 8.89%, premature rupture of membrane was seen in 5.56% of the study population. 10% of babies were low birth weight. The incidence of congenital anomalies was seen in 6.6%. Intrauterine death was seen in 2 babies who had congenital anomalies. Conclusion: GDM is associated with adverse complications in both the mother and fetus