Comparison of conventional Papanicolaou smear and liquid‑based cytology: a study of cervical cancer screening at a tertiary care center in Bengaluru

Background: Cervical cancer is the fourth commonest cancer affecting women worldwide and the second most common cancer in women aged 15-44 years. The Papanicolaou (Pap) smear has been the cornerstone of screening for cervical neoplasm for the last 50 years. Liquid-based cytology (LBC) was introduced in mid-1990s as an alternative technique to process cervical samples has many benefits over Pap. A new second generation technique, Liquiprep was introduced after a decade has the advantage of a much lower cost. However, the information available on second generation liquid based cytology is limited. The objective was to look for the efficacy of LBC and to compare it to that of conventional cytology.Methods: This hospital based comparative study was undertaken 100 women who attended gynaecology OPD during 2017 at a tertiary care hospital in Bengaluru. Two cervical smears were simultaneously prepared from each subject, one for Pap smear and another for LBC followed by colposcopy and biopsy.Results: Among the study subjects, 89% of Pap smear analysis and 100% of smears in LBC showed satisfactory smear. Cytological abnormality was detected in 11% and 21% in pap and LBC, respectively. The present study showed higher sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 75% by LBC when compared to Pap smear (55% and 100% respectively).Conclusions: The present study showed that liquid based cytology is better in detecting cervical lesions when compared to conventional smear.

Evaluation of antidepressant effect of aqueous extract of Psidium guajava leaves on Wistar albino rats

Background: Depression is one of the common mental disorder prevalent worldwide. Use of herbal medicines in the treatment of depression is becoming popular because of adverse effects of existing non herbal drugs. In this study Psidium guajava leaf aqueous extract is screened for antidepressant activity in Wistar albino rats.Methods: Wistar albino rats of both sex were used. After performing acute toxicity study, dose of test drug was fixed to 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg. Test and standard drugs were administered for 10 days orally. Standard drug used was Imipramine. Antidepressant activity was assessed using forced swim test and tail suspension test.Results: Statistical analysis was done by one way ANOVA followed by Tukey Kramer. Aqueous extract of Psidium guajava leaves showed significant antidepressant activity. Both Psidium guajava aqueous extract (PGAE)-100mg/kg and 200mg/kg showed antidepressant effect but compared to 100mg/kg dose of PGAE, 200mg/kg showed significant antidepressant activity.Conclusions: From this study it can be concluded that aqueous extract of Psidium guajava leaves has antidepressant activity

Atypical Refractory Macular Edema: Are We Missing Something?

Purpose: To report a case of bilateral refractory macular edema in a diabetic macular edema in a diabetic with an underlying systemic illness. Case Report: A 65-year-old male presented with the symptom of blurred vision in both eyes for three months. He was a known diabetic patient and was also hypertensive for the last 10 years. The corrected distance visual acuity was 20/120 in the right eye and 20/80 in the left eye. Fundus examination revealed multiple deep and superficial retinal hemorrhages, cystoid macular edema, and serous macular detachment in both eyes. With a diagnosis of diabetic macular edema in both eyes, the patient was treated with multiple intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor and steroids. Since he did not show a favorable response, the patient was further investigated and diagnosed with multiple myeloma. After undergoing treatment for the same, the patient was seen a year later and noted to have significant resolution of the macular edema and subretinal fluid in both eyes. Conclusion: In patients who suffer with atypical macular edema that is resistant to conventional treatment, it is imperative to look for underlying systemic illnesses such as immunoproliferative disorders and hematologic malignancies

Preclinical evaluation of antidepressant activity of aqueous extract of Piper betle leaves in Swiss albino mice

Background: There is a growing demand for alternative medicines derived from indigenous plants having natural antioxidants and neuroprotective actions for the treatment of many behavioural disorders such as anxiety and depression. This study was designed to screen antidepressant activity of aqueous extract of Piper betle L. leaf (betel leaf) in Swiss albino mice.Methods: Swiss albino mice of both sexes weighing 25-30grams were used in the present study. Piper betle leaves aqueous extract (PBAE) was administered to the animals at a dose of 100, 200mg/kg body weight orally for 14 days. On the 14th day, after 1 hour of PBAE administration, experiments on force swim test (FST) and tail suspension (TST) were carried out for studying the level of depression. In FST and TST, time of immobility was noted for a period of 5 minutes.Results: Data was analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey Kramer’s multiple comparison test at P = 0.05. The results were represented as Mean±SE. PBAE at a dose of 100mg/kg has shown significant antidepressant activity, as evidenced by decrease in the immobility time in both the screening tests of depression.Conclusions: Present results demonstrated that PBAE possess potent antidepressant property. The exact mechanism(s) related to the active compound(s) in Piper betle leaf extract have to be elucidated in future studies

Laparoscopy as a diagnostic tool in evaluation of female factors in infertility

Background: Infertility leads to considerable personal suffering and disruption of family life. According to United Nations "Reproductive health is a state of complete physical mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes". The objective of present study was to find out different causes of female infertility with diagnostic laparoscopy and their comparative frequency in primary and secondary infertility.Methods: It is a prospective study conducted on all infertile women and they underwent diagnostic laparoscopy for primary and secondary infertility during the study period. Couples who had not lived together for at least 12 months, and those with male factor infertility were excluded. Data were collected on a proforma, and analyzed on SPSS package for windows version 10. Frequencies were calculated for laparoscopic findings regarding primary and secondary infertility.Results: Fifty infertile women underwent laparoscopy during the study period, 35 (70%) had primary infertility while 15 (30%) secondary infertility. 10 (28.5%) patients with primary and 3 (20%) patients with secondary infertility had no visible abnormality. The common finding was tubal blockage in 10 (28.5%) and 5 (33.3%) cases of primary and secondary infertility respectively. 9 (25.7%) cases of primary infertility were detected as polycystic ovaries (PCO) and 2 (13.3%) in cases of secondary infertility. Endometriosis was found in 1 case with primary infertility and 2 (13.3%) cases with secondary infertility. Fibroid was found in 3 (8.57%) and 1 (6.6%) cases of primary and secondary infertility respectively.Conclusions: Most common causes responsible for infertility were tubal occlusion and polycystic ovary. Infertile couple should be thoroughly investigated. Laparoscopy in infertility can be used for a definitive diagnosis

Geospatial Land Evaluation of Medinapur Sub-watershed for Crop Suitability and Sustainable Crop Plan

A study was conducted to reveal the land capability and its suitability to crops in the semi-arid region of North-Eastern Karnataka state, India. Alternate crop plan was proposed with suitable interventions at soil phase level, based on the prevailing climatic regimes and soil-land limitations. Cadastral parcels of Medinapur sub-watershed overlaid on IRS-P6 LISS-IV merged Cartosat-1 satellite imagery was used for interpreting soil units. Soil profiles and morphological studies were made to classify entire sub-watershed (covering 4890.46 ha) into ten soil series and these soil series, further classified into 23 soil phase/management units. The results revealed that major area of 1163 ha (23.79%) covers the soil phase unit “KMLmC2” with deep (100-150 cm) clay textured, gently sloping (3-5 %) and moderately eroded (e2) lands. Two land capability classes (IIIes and IVes) were found in the study area with topography, soil erosion, texture, drainage and soil fertility as major limitation factors. Red gram (59.64%) and Sorghum (18.86%) covering maximum area in the sub watershed were assessed for crop suitability to land. To estimate the significance of crop suitability criteria to land, linear regression analysis was performed with assigned rank values of independent variables. Suitability of these crops was found that the 77.84 % of land was moderately suitable (S2) to redgram with limitations of rooting condition, erosion and topography, only depth showed significant contribution to redgram suitability with R2 = 0.744. Sorghum was highly suitable (S1) to 21.12 % of land and soil depth and pH were significantly contributing to suitability of sorghum with R2 = 0.746. The estimation of criteria for land suitability to Sorghum and Redgram was significant at 5 per cent level. In common soil depth resulted as major contributing factor in deciding land suitability to crops