A case of bilateral acute angle closure attack with some unusual features

A 45 year old male presented with sudden severe pain, redness and marked diminution of vision in both eyes along with corneal oedema, pigmented KPs and raised IOP. After treatment with hyper osmotic agents, IOP came down and cornea became clear. Anterior chamber was shallow bilaterally with ring synechia. Gonioscopy revealed peripheral anterior synechiae in left eye and occludable angle in the right eye. Fundus examination was within normal limit. The patient was treated with antiglaucoma medications and steroid. Trabeculectomy was done in left eye with laser PI in the fellow eye. IOP came down within normal limits on subsequent visits with residual iris sphincter damage

TO EVALUATE THE HYPOGLYCEMIC EFFECT OF THE FRUIT PULP EXTRACT OF SPONDIAS PINNATA LINN. KURZ ON EXPERIMENTAL MODEL OF DIABETES MELLITUS

ABSTRACTObjective: To study the hypoglycemic effect of the fruit pulp extract of Spondias pinnata Linn. Kurz (EESP) on an experimental model of diabetes inalbino rats.Methods: A total of 30 healthy adult Swiss albino rats of either sex weighing between 150 g and 200 g were divided into five groups containing6 animals each. All the animals were kept under fasting for 24 hrs. Animals were given free access to rat - chew and water ad libitum. Alloxanmonohydrate of 120 mg/kg in normal saline was given intraperitoneally to induce diabetes. The blood glucose was checked before alloxanization andafter 24 hrs of alloxanization by withdrawing blood from the tip of the tail of each rat under anesthesia. The animals were considered diabetic whenthe blood glucose level has raised beyond 225 mg/dl. Group A, which was control group, has received alloxan and normal saline. The standard drug,glibenclamide 2.5 mg/kg, was given orally in Group B. Group C, Group D, and Group E animals have received EESP orally at the dose of 100 mg/kg,200 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg, respectively. Blood samples were collected after treatment from rat tails vein at 0 hr, 2 hrs, 4 hrs, 8 hrs, and 14 days. Dataobtained were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey's multiple comparison test.Results: EESP has shown hypoglycemic action in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Hypoglycemic action of this ethanolic extract is comparable to that ofglibenclamide.Conclusion: This study demonstrates hypoglycemic action of EESP in the experimental model of diabetic rats.Keywords: Hypoglycemic, Spondias pinnata, Diabetes mellitus

Antibody responses to the BBV152 vaccine in individuals previously infected with SARS-CoV-2: A pilot study

Background & objectives: Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is a recommendation from the World Health Organization as the foremost preference in the current situation to control the COVID-19 pandemic. BBV152 is one of the approved vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in India. In this study, we determined SARS-CoV-2–specific antibody levels at day 0 (baseline, before vaccination), day 28 ± 2 post-first dose (month 1) and day 56 ± 2 post-first dose (month 2) of BBV152 whole-virion–inactivated SARS-CoV-2 recipients, and compared the antibody responses of individuals with confirmed pre-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection to those individuals without prior evidence of infection. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 114 healthcare professionals and frontline workers who received BBV152 vaccine from February to May & June 2021. Prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 was determined at baseline. Serum samples were used to estimate SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein-specific IgG [IgG (N)], spike protein-specific IgG [IgG (S)] and neutralizing antibodies (NAb). Results: Participants with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection after a single vaccine dose elicited IgG (N) and IgG (S) antibody levels along with NAb binding inhibition responses levels were similar to infection-naïve vaccinated participants who had taken two doses of vaccine. Interpretation & conclusions: Our preliminary data suggested that a single dose of BBV152-induced humoral immunity in previously infected individuals was equivalent to two doses of the vaccine in infection-naïve individuals. However, these findings need to be confirmed with large sized cohort studies

Role of Alanine Racemase Mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis d-Cycloserine Resistance.

A screening of more than 1,500 drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis revealed evolutionary patterns characteristic of positive selection for three alanine racemase (Alr) mutations. We investigated these mutations using molecular modeling, in vitro MIC testing, as well as direct measurements of enzymatic activity, which demonstrated that these mutations likely confer resistance to d-cycloserine

Phyllanthus spp. Induces Selective Growth Inhibition of PC-3 and MeWo Human Cancer Cells through Modulation of Cell Cycle and Induction of Apoptosis

BACKGROUND: Phyllanthus is a traditional medicinal plant that has been used in the treatment of many diseases including hepatitis and diabetes. The main aim of the present work was to investigate the potential cytotoxic effects of aqueous and methanolic extracts of four Phyllanthus species (P.amarus, P.niruri, P.urinaria and P.watsonii) against skin melanoma and prostate cancer cells. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Phyllanthus plant appears to possess cytotoxic properties with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) values of 150-300 µg/ml for aqueous extract and 50-150 µg/ml for methanolic extract that were determined using the MTS reduction assay. In comparison, the plant extracts did not show any significant cytotoxicity on normal human skin (CCD-1127Sk) and prostate (RWPE-1) cells. The extracts appeared to act by causing the formation of a clear "ladder" fragmentation of apoptotic DNA on agarose gel, displayed TUNEL-positive cells with an elevation of caspase-3 and -7 activities. The Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) level was lower than 15% in Phyllanthus treated-cancer cells. These indicate that Phyllanthus extracts have the ability to induce apoptosis with minimal necrotic effects. Furthermore, cell cycle analysis revealed that Phyllanthus induced a Go/G1-phase arrest on PC-3 cells and a S-phase arrest on MeWo cells and these were accompanied by accumulation of cells in the Sub-G1 (apoptosis) phase. The cytotoxic properties may be due to the presence of polyphenol compounds such as ellagitannins, gallotannins, flavonoids and phenolic acids found both in the water and methanol extract of the plants. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Phyllanthus plant exerts its growth inhibition effect in a selective manner towards cancer cells through the modulation of cell cycle and induction of apoptosis via caspases activation in melanoma and prostate cancer cells. Hence, Phyllanthus may be sourced for the development of a potent apoptosis-inducing anticancer agent