Accessory Scrotum (A Case Report)

A case report of accessory scrotum associated with coronal hypospadias with chordee, bifid scrotum and anal stenosis is presented. No corrective surgery was performed as the boy was too young and was asked to come after the age of cne and half years

Research Paper - Pyrogallol: A novel tool for screening immunomodulators

OBJECTIVE:To induce immunosuppression in rats by pyrogallol and to develop a novel model to screen the immunomodulatory activity of a known agent. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In order to induce immunosuppression, pyrogallol was daily administered to rats for 7 days in different doses (10, 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg, i.p.). On Day 7 and 13, the rats were sensitized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) to assess the humoral immune response. On Day 20, SRBC were injected in the subplantar region of the hind paw, and an increase in the paw volume was recorded on Day 22 to assess the cell-mediated immune responses. The phagocytosis in the peritoneal macrophages was assessed on the last day. The parameters of oxidative stress such as lipid peroxidation (LPO), reduced glutathione (GSH) content, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were assessed on the last day. In another set of experiment, the immunomodulatory activity of Rubia cordifolia (RC) (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, p.o., daily from Day 1 to Day 22) was screened in rats in whom immunosuppression was induced by a minimum effective dose of pyrogallol (50 mg/kg). RESULTS: The dose of 25 mg/kg of pyrogallol suppressed only the humoral immunity (P<0.05), while 50 and 100 mg/kg dose significantly (P<0.01) impaired all the parameters i.e. humoral immunity, cell-mediated immunity and phagocytosis (P<0.01). It also caused a dose-dependent increase in the LPO levels, depletion of GSH, and decrease in activities of SOD and CAT. The treatment with the alcoholic extract of Rubia cordifolia significantly prevented the influence of the minimum effective dose of pyrogallol (50 mg/kg) on all immunological parameters and concurrently prevented the changes in the marker parameters of oxidative stress. The dose of 100 mg/kg was found to be optimum for this purpose. CONCLUSION: Fifty mg/kg (i.p., daily for 7 days) appears to be the minimum dose of pyrogallol, which can induce significant immunosuppression in rats. The correlation analysis indicated that pyrogallol-induced immunosuppression is related to oxidative stress. In addition, it was found that the immunomodulatory activity of a known agent could be successfully screened by this method. Thus, pyrogallol can be used as an experimental tool to induce immunosuppression while screening the immunomodulatory activity of any agent

Orbital floor dermoid: An unusual presentation

Dermoid cysts are developmental abnormal arrangement of tissues and are often evident soon after birth. Its occurrence in the orbit is relatively rare. We report a case of orbital floor dermoid in an 18-year-old female patient who presented with progressive, painless swelling in the lower eyelid associated with mild proptosis of three months duration. The lesion was excised completely, and histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of dermoid cyst

Orbital floor dermoid: An unusual presentation

Dermoid cysts are developmental abnormal arrangement of tissues and are often evident soon after birth. Its occurrence in the orbit is relatively rare. We report a case of orbital floor dermoid in an 18-year-old female patient who presented with progressive, painless swelling in the lower eyelid associated with mild proptosis of three months duration. The lesion was excised completely, and histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of dermoid cyst

Prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor desidustat improves anemia in erythropoietin hyporesponsive state

Many anemic chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients are refractory to erythropoietin (EPO) effects due to inflammation, deranged iron utilization, and generation of EPO antibodies. This work assessed the effect of desidustat, an inhibitor of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) prolyl hydroxylase (PHD), on EPO-refractory renal anemia. Sprague Dawley rats were made anemic by cisplatin (5 ​mg/kg, IP, single dose) and turpentine oil (5 ​mL/kg, SC, once a week). These rats were given recombinant human EPO (rhEPO, 1 ​μg/kg) and desidustat (15 or 30 ​mg/kg) for eight weeks. Separately, rhEPO (1–5 ​μg/kg) was given to anemic rats to sustain the normal hemoglobin levels and desidustat (15 ​mg/kg) for eight weeks. In another experiment, the anemic rats were treated rhEPO (5 ​μg/kg) for two weeks and then desidustat (15 ​mg/kg) for the next two weeks. Dosing of rhEPO was thrice a week, and for desidustat, it was on alternate days. Desidustat inhibited EPO-resistance caused by rhEPO treatment, decreased hepcidin, IL-6, IL-1β, and increased iron and liver ferroportin. Desidustat reduced EPO requirement and anti-EPO antibodies. Desidustat also maintained normal hemoglobin levels after cessation of rhEPO treatment. Thus, novel prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor desidustat can treat EPO resistance via improved iron utilization and decreased inflammation

Design and synthesis of novel 3-hydroxy-cyclobut-3-ene-1,2-dione derivatives as thyroid hormone receptor ß (TR-ß) selective ligands

Design and synthesis of a novel 3-hydroxy-cyclobut-3-ene-1,2-dione derivatives are reported and their in vitro thyroid hormone receptor selectivity has been evaluated in the thyroid luciferase receptor assay. The 3-[3,5-dichloro-4-(4-hydroxy-3-isopropylphenoxy)-phenylamino]-4-hydroxy- cyclobut-3-ene-1,2-dione 21 has shown selectivity towards thyroid hormone receptor ß. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved