The roles of FGF21 and GDF15 in mediating the mitochondrial integrated stress response

Various models of mitochondrial stress result in induction of the stress-responsive cytokines fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15). This is an adaptive mechanism downstream of the mitochondrial integrated stress response frequently associated with improvements in systemic metabolic health. Both FGF21 and GDF15 have been shown to modulate energy balance and glucose homeostasis, and their pharmacological administration leads to promising beneficial effects against obesity and associated metabolic diseases in pre-clinical models. Furthermore, endogenous upregulation of FGF21 and GDF15 is associated with resistance to diet-induced obesity (DIO), improved glucose homeostasis and increased insulin sensitivity. In this review, we highlight several studies on transgenic mouse models of mitochondrial stress and will compare the specific roles played by FGF21 and GDF15 on the systemic metabolic adaptations reported in these models

Knowledge, practices and influencing factors defining unhealthy food behavior among adolescents in India: a scoping review

Unhealthy food behaviors are the major contributing factors to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among adolescents in India. Knowledge and practices related to unhealthy eating are significant factors influencing adolescents’ food behavior. In this scoping review, we aim to map evidence and identify gaps on knowledge, practices, and the influencing factors associated with unhealthy food behavior among Indian adolescents by examining the existing literature. Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review framework and the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers’ manual were used for this review. After the screening, 33 articles were identified according to the inclusion criteria. Data extraction was performed according to the study objectives, followed by narrative summarization. The studies included a total of 20,566 adolescents. Most studies reported insufficient knowledge about healthy food choices among adolescents. Diet intake patterns among the adolescents showed a lower amount of fruits and vegetables and an increase in fried items, sugar-sweetened beverages, packaged food, and fast food in both sexes, with a broader association with peer influence (21.2%), parental unhealthy food behavior (15.1%), place of residence (6.06%), emotional status (6.06%), and mass media exposure (18.1%). The scoping review highlights the need for targeted interventions aimed at improving the knowledge and practices of Indian adolescents by promoting healthy food choices and sensitizing them about the risk of non-communicable diseases. The analysis of evidence around adolescent dietary behavior in India shows a monotonous, limited, and narrow range in scope, indicating the extended need for research

Effect of low maternal vitamin B12 status on fetal growth: A prospective cohort study in a tertiary care hospital of eastern India

Background Low birth weight is a key underlying factor in neonatal mortality, which is the leading cause of death i n children under five years of age. The causes of IUGR can be maternal, placental, fetal, genetic cause or combination of these factors. Maternal causes include age, multiparty, nutritional deficiency, medical disorders, medications, substance abuse. According to some recent studies early detection of Maternal Vitamin B12 deficiency in pregnancy and appropriate interventions are likely to reduce incidence of IUGR. Therefore we conduct a prospective observational study in a cohort of pregnant women to investigate the maternal determinant of risk of IUGR and to analyze maternal Vitamin B 12 status and role of its deficiency towards the risk of IUGR. Methods Prospective cohort study. After obtaining ethical clearance study subjects counseled about the study and informed consent obtained. In our study we found low maternal vitamin B12 is directly associated with IUGR & Low birth weight. In our study low APGAR score babies & SNCU admission is significantly higher among mothers with low serum vitamin B12. This may be due to preterm birth& IUGR

Gelucire: A versatile polymer for modified release drug delivery system

Poly ethylene glycol (PEG) ester surfactants are synthesized by reacting polyethylene glycol with fatty acid. The polyethylene glycol comprises the hydrophilic part of the surfactant and the fatty acid is the lipophilic part. By varying the molecular weight of the PEG and the fatty acid, surfactants covering wide range of hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB) values can be produced. Gelucire is the family of vehicle derived from mixtures of mono, di and triglycerides with PEG esters of fatty acids. These are available with range of properties depending on their HLB and melting point range (33–65 °C). They have a wide variety of application in oral and topical formulations. The applications of oral formulation include solubility and bioavailability enhancement, sustain drug release, taste masking and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) protection from oxygen, light and humidity. The applications of topical formulations include stabilization of creams, lotions and gels, thickener, superior penetration of drug through skin. Gelucire containing only PEG esters are generally used in the preparation of fast release formulations. Gelucire containing only glycerides or a mixture of glycerides and PEG esters are used in the preparation of sustained release formulations. Owing to their extreme hydrophobicity and low density, are considered as appropriate carriers for designing sustained release drug delivery systems. In this review manuscript, applications of various grades of gelucire are compiled in the form of tables and discussed critically. A current literature on patents on gelucire based formulations was also discussed. Keywords: Polyethyleneglycol esters, Glycerides, Mixture of glycerides, Hydrophilic lipophilic balanc

Pigment mediated biogenic synthesis of silver nanoparticles using diatom Amphora sp. and its antimicrobial activity

Light induced biosynthesis of polycrystalline silver nanoparticles (SNPs) using the aqueous extract of a diatom Amphora-46 was studied. Rapid formation of stable SNPs was observed only on exposure of the reaction mixture to light. Strong surface plasmon resonance at 415 nm due to SNP formation was confirmed by spectroscopic analysis. TEM analysis confirmed the formation of polycrystalline spherical SNPs of an average size of 20–25 nm which was further corroborated by XRD, EDAX and SAED results. Compositional analysis using EDAX showed strong characteristic signal for silver. The XRD spectra show four intense diffraction peaks at 38.48°, 44°, 64.74°, and 77.4° which correspond well to (111), (200), (220), and (311) plane of (fcc) polycrystalline SNP and the intensity of peak at (111) plane is more than the other peaks, suggesting that this plane is the predominant one. Both XRD and SAED results clearly indicated that the SNPs were polycrystalline in nature and were of high purity. The bio-molecule responsible for the reduction of silver ion was identified to be a photosynthetic pigment fucoxanthin, which is light sensitive and acts as a reducing agent. Furthermore, the synthesized SNPs possess significant antimicrobial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria. This study demonstrates for the first time, the involvement of photosynthetic pigment fucoxanthin isolated from Amphora-46 in silver nanoparticle formation through a light dependent reaction

Perception, practices, and understanding related to teenage pregnancy among the adolescent girls in India: a scoping review

Abstract Background Teenage pregnancy is a concerning public health problem in India. Misperception and misunderstanding about pregnancy and its preventive methods lead to pregnancy when adolescents are involved in unsafe sexual intercourse. This scoping review aims to discuss the evidence on the perception, practices, and understanding related to teenage pregnancy among adolescent girls in the Indian context. Method The Arksey and O'Malley scoping review framework and Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers’ Manual were used for the scoping review. The Population, Concept, and Context strategy (PCC) ensured the review questions, eligibility criteria, and search strategy. The Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: Extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) was used. A literature search was done using electronic databases by specific keywords such as “teenage”, “adolescences”, “pregnancy”, “perception”, “knowledge”, “awareness”, etc. Relevant grey literature was identified through further searching. The review included studies that fulfil inclusion criteria having female adolescent groups aged from 10 to 19 years in the Indian context between the years 2000 and 2021. Result We found 40 eligible studies; more than half of these were from southern (35%) and northern (27.5%) regions, and studies from the rest of India were very sporadically distributed. Most studies (72.5%) were published in the last 10 years. The relevant extracted data from individual studies were synthesized and presented in the two major sections, perception, practices, and the second one, understanding and experiences among teenage girls. The understanding of pregnancy and teenage pregnancy-related preventive methods was detailed analysis in about 72% of papers whereas other aspects, such as perception (22.5%), practices (25%), and experiences (7.5%) were discussed in the remaining papers related to pregnancy among adolescent girls. Conclusion Evidence in the selected studies shows that understanding and practices are the major areas that were primarily explored, where perception, practices and experiences are the topics that are relatively less investigated. Literature synthesis derives misconception, lack of understanding, and practices without knowing the consequences are the key factors responsible for early pregnancies. Future interventions like increasing awareness, providing comprehensive reproductive knowledge, convenient health care aids, and proper counselling are adequate measures for minimalising the problem. The present analysis showed that studies are limited in their scope concerning various aspects of teenage pregnancy in India, so this scoping review gives essential perspectives on future research and implementation plans and policies in this field

Prevalence and determinants of undernutrition among adolescents in India: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BackgroundUndernutrition is one of the serious health problems among adolescents in India where 253 million adolescents are in the age group of 10-19 years. Since adolescents represent the next generation of adults, it is important to understand the nutritional status of adolescents. Even though several studies have been carried out in different states in India on adolescent undernutrition (stunting, wasting /underweight), there is no study or review that estimated the national pooled prevalence of adolescent undernutrition and its determinants. Therefore, this review aims to determine the pooled prevalence and determinants of undernutrition (stunting, underweight/wasting) among Indian adolescents.MethodsA systematic review of eligible articles will be conducted using preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive searching of the literature will be made in Pub Med, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Google, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases. The quality of the articles included in the review will be evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for observational studies in meta-analyses. The pooled prevalence and odds ratio of the associated risk factors or determinants with their 95% confidence interval will be computed using STATA version 16 software. The existence of heterogeneity among studies will be assessed by computing p-values of Higgins's I2 test statistics and Cochran's Q-statistics based on chi-square with a 5% level of significance among reported prevalence. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis will be conducted based on study quality to investigate the possible sources of heterogeneity. Publication bias will be assessed through visual examination of funnel plots and objectively by Egger's regression test. This review protocol has been registered at PROSPERO (CRD42021286814).DiscussionBy collecting and summarizing information on adolescent undernutrition can be a step towards a better understanding of the prevalence of nutritional status of Indian adolescents and how the associated factors influence the prevalence of undernutrition. This review will provide directions for further research and healthcare practitioners. This summarized finding at the national level will provide impetus to build nutritional strategies and proper healthcare services to fight against undernutrition among the most ignored population

GDF15 is required for cold-induced thermogenesis and contributes to improved systemic metabolic health following loss of OPA1 in brown adipocytes

We previously reported that mice lacking the protein optic atrophy 1 (OPA1 BKO) in brown adipose tissue (BAT) display induction of the activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), which promotes fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) secretion as a batokine. FGF21 increases metabolic rates under baseline conditions but is dispensable for the resistance to diet-induced obesity (DIO) reported in OPA1 BKO mice (Pereira et al., 2021). To determine alternative mediators of this phenotype, we performed transcriptome analysis, which revealed increased levels of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), along with increased protein kinase R (PKR)-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) levels in BAT. To investigate whether ATF4 induction was mediated by PERK and evaluate the contribution of GDF15 to the resistance to DIO, we selectively deleted PERK or GDF15 in OPA1 BKO mice. Mice with reduced OPA1 and PERK levels in BAT had preserved ISR activation. Importantly, simultaneous deletion of OPA1 and GDF15 partially reversed the resistance to DIO and abrogated the improvements in glucose tolerance. Furthermore, GDF15 was required to improve cold-induced thermogenesis in OPA1 BKO mice. Taken together, our data indicate that PERK is dispensable to induce the ISR, but GDF15 contributes to the resistance to DIO, and is required for glucose homeostasis and thermoregulation in OPA1 BKO mice by increasing energy expenditure