Controlled Intracellular delivery of molecules using Nanoparticle-mediated Photoporation

Intracellular drug delivery has been of interest in recent years after the development of drugs targeting intracellular components. Delivery of exogenous material into cytosol has a variety of applications including cellular studies, therapies and diagnostics. Nanoparticle-mediated photoporation is novel platform technology, which enables intracellular delivery through transient cell membrane pore formation. In this thesis, we have explored the effects of changes in cellular microenvironment on cellular responses. Specifically, we highlight the role of nanoparticle and associated transient parameters, investigate cell responses to the presence of serum during photoporation and, provide operating conditions for enhanced macromolecular delivery for in vitro applications.Ph.D

Assessment of Oral Health Status among Orphanage Children (Underprivileged Population): A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: An orphan is a child under 18 year who has lost both parents or has been abandoned by them. Such children are deprived of the parental love and care and get little health care as well as their oral cavity is  generally neglected. AIM: To assess the dental caries experience, oral hygiene status and periodontal status among the orphanage children in Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, India. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A cross sectional study among 485 orphan children of various institutes ranged from 12 to 16 years where WHO oral health assessment form 2013 was used and chi- square test and descriptive statistics test  were used for statistical analysis by using SPSS 22.0 software. RESULTS: It was seen that 73.4% were having dental caries and  the mean DI-S scores, CI-S scores and OHI-S scores were 1.41 ±0.47,  1.07 ±0.47 and 2.48 ±0.92 respectively. The prevalence and severity of gingival bleeding was found to be more  i.e.64.7% among them. CONCLUSION: Majority of orphan children were suffering from oral problems. Oral health fraternity should actively involve with other parts of the community in order  to maintain oral care of this group

Helicobacter pylori Infection and Recurrent Abdominal Pain in Children

The association of Helicobacter pylori infection with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) was studied in 65 children aged between 3 and 12 years. Cases with a specific cause for abdominal pain were excluded from the study. All the patients were subjected to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and antral biopsy. The biopsy specimens were subjected to rapid urease test, histopathological examination, and culture to document the presence of H. pylori in the gastric mucosa. All the patients were put on H. pylori eradication drugs for 10 days. About 69 per cent of the children had histopathological evidence of antral inflammation. Helicobacter pylori detection rate was 77 per cent. About 83 per cent of patients had complete symptomatic relief when followed over a period of 6 months. The study concludes a possible association of H. pylori with recurrent abdominal pain in children and all these patients should be considered for H. pylori eradication

Effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on altered perception of One's own face

BACKGROUND: Chronic orofacial pain (COP) patients often perceive the painful face area as "swollen" without clinical signs; such self-reported illusions of the face are termed perceptual distortion (PD). The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying PD remain elusive. OBJECTIVE: To test the neuromodulatory effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on PD in healthy individuals, to gain insight into the cortical mechanisms underlying PD. METHODS: PD was induced experimentally by injections of local anesthetic (LA) around the infraorbital nerve and measured as perceived size changes of the affected area. Participants were randomly allocated to inhibitory rTMS (n = 26) or sham rTMS (n = 26) group. The participants rated PD at baseline, 6 min after LA, immediately, 20 and 40 min after rTMS. The rTMS (inhibitory and sham) was applied to face (lip) representation area of primary somatosensory cortex (SI) as an intervention at 10 min after the LA, when the magnitude of PD is large. As inhibitory rTMS, continuous theta-burst stimulation paradigm (50 Hz) for 40s was employed to inhibit cortical activity. RESULTS: We demonstrated a significant decrease in the magnitude of PD immediately and 20 min after the application of inhibitory rTMS compared with sham rTMS (P < 0.006). In two control experiments, we also showed that peripheral muscle stimulation and stimulation of a cortical region other than the lip representation area had no effect on the magnitude of the PD. CONCLUSIONS: Inhibitory rTMS applied to a somatotopical-relevant cortical region modulates PD of the face in healthy individuals and could potentially have therapeutic implications for COP patients