Bioremediation of lead and nickel contaminated soil by Eudrilus eugeniae and the characterization of synthesized nanoparticles

Bionanotechnology has emerged for developing a green and ecofriendly technology for recycling the non-destructive waste materials and cleaning the environment .the present study focuses on the bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated soil and safe disposal of heavy metals and minerals with the help of earthworms , namely Eudrilus eugeniae as an ecofriendly technique. The characterization studies were conducted on these heavy metal nanoparticle in soil by Dynamic Light Scattering to determine the particle size; Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy to analyze the free elements present and X-ray Diffraction study to determine the toxic chemical compounds and minerals present in the soil. Bioremediation of lead and nickel contaminated study using Eudrilus eugeniae was found very efficient. The study shows that the lead and nickel levels have reduced to the safety standard levels. Eudrilus eugeniae were able to accumulate lead and nickel contaminants in their tissue and reduce them to nano-sized particles

A comparative evaluation of oxidative status of erythrocytes in normal and sickle cell disease patients

 It is well established that G6PD deficient individuals are subjected to high oxidative stress and, hence, stiffening of the cell membrane due to oxidation of important membrane proteins. This effect is pronounced in RBCs where G6PD is the sole producer of NADPH, an essential cofactor in the antioxidant defense mechanism. A different approach is to evaluate oxidative stress as the analysis of antioxidant concentrations. GSH can be oxidized, mainly to glutathione disulfide (GSSG), or can form glutathionylated proteins (PSSG). The measurement of GSG, GSSG give fundamental information on the intracellular redox status. Analytical methods based on spectrophotometry, HPLC, capillary electrophoresis, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry have been reported for the determination of glutathione in biological samples. Our study has concluded that the HPLC method to measure the concentration of reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione in the normal (healthy) and Sickle Cell Disease patients. Erythrocyte glutathione depletion has been linked to hemolysis and oxidative stress. Our study revealed that the total antioxidant status in steady-state sickle cell disease (SCD) patients and compared it with some healthy individuals and related it to certain hematological parameters and their recent clinical history. 15 (males & females) adult SCD patients and 15 age-matched controls were studied. And we hypothesized that altered glutathione and glutamine metabolism play a role in this process. Total glutathione (oxidized & reduced) were assayed in erythrocytes of 15 SCD patients and 15 healthy volunteers. Erythrocyte glutathione levels were significantly lower in SCD patients than in healthy volunteers. The ratio of erythrocyte GSH: GSSG correlated inversely to the oxidized levels of the erythrocytes. &nbsp

Degradation of Leaf Litter by Composting and its Effect on Growth of Solanum

Compost is the stable, humus-like product resulting from the biological decomposition of organic matter under controlled conditions. Compost is a rich source of vitamins, hormones, enzymes, macro and micro nutrients which when applied to plants help in efficient growth. The major thrust of this investigation was focused on the biodegradation of the leaf litter to produce compost. The present study has been carried out to analyze enzymes, physicochemical characteristics, and micro and macro nutrients present in the compost at regular interval of time and also a comparative study was done on the effect of compost on growth parameters namely germination percentage, root length, shoot length and number of leaf count in Solanum lycopersicum after 30th day of planting. The results of the study revealed that the enzyme activities (amylase, cellulase, protease and invertase) and total macronutrients (N, P, K ) and micronutrients (Mn and Cu) showed elevated levels in compost than control. The compost applied plant (Solanum lycopersicum) showed increased germination percentage, root length, shoot length and number of leaves than the compost untreated plant. Hence based on the studies performed it was concluded that this quality of compost obtained from the degradation of leaf litter by microorganism is an effective biofertilizer which would facilitate the increased uptake of the nutrients by the plants resulting in higher growth and yield

Efficacy and Safety of Luliconazole (1%) Cream Versus Clotrimazole (1%) Cream in Tinea Infections of Skin: A Comparative Study

INTRODUCTION : Dermatophytosis is a common superficial fungal infection of the skin occurring in 20-25% population worldwide. Currently, topical azoles and allylamines are used for the treatment of tinea infections of skin with disadvantages like long duration of therapy, poor compliance and a high relapse rate. Luliconazole is a newer topical imidazole antifungal applied once daily and inhibits the ergosterol biosynthesis more effectively because the reservoir property in the stratum corneum is greater for luliconazole.The present study was done to compare the efficacy and safety of topical luliconazole versus topical clotrimazole in tinea infections of skin. METHODS : It is an open labeled randomized comparative trial carried out in OPD of Dermatology. Patients diagnosed with tinea corporis/tinea cruris were assigned to group 1 or 2 to receive 1% luliconazole cream OD for 2 weeks or 1% clotrimazole BD for 4 weeks. Skin scrapings were taken for mycological assessment. Clinical assessment, KOH mount and culture was done at each visit. Clinical and mycological cure were assessed at each visit. Efficacy parameters were analyzed using Mann Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed rank rest. RESULTS : Totally 158 patients were screened, 104 were randomized , 4 withdrew consent after randomization , hence each group had 50 patients. At the end of first week, luliconazole 1% group showed significant improvement in clinical cure and mycological cure ( p<0.05) than 1% clotrimazole group. Mycological cure was high in luliconazole group(p<0.05). Relapse was high in clotrimazole group( p <0.05). CONCLUSION : Topical luliconazole was better in achieving faster mycological and clinical cure with lower relapse

Pregnancy in Takayasu arteritis - maternal and fetal outcome

Background: Takayasu arteritis is a rare medical disorder of primary vasculitis of unknown etiology. It affects reproductive age women. It is rare disease and associated with serious maternal and fetal complications and long term morbidity.Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients with diagnosed Takayasu arteritis, to know the impact of disease on maternal status and evaluate fetal outcome. The objective of this study was to know the maternal and fetal outcome in pre-diagnosed cases of Takayasu arteritis. The necessity of accurate measurement of pulse and blood pressures in all the limbs in a suspected case of hypertension in antenatal women at any period of gestation and TYPE the disease accordingly. 3. To evaluate the typing of TA on maternal and fetal outcome.Results: All the 4 patients with TA had medical complication like hypertension in the form of chronic hypertension and pre eclampsia that needed good monitoring of BP in all 4 limbs.Conclusions: As the typing of disease increased, more medical and obstetric complications were noticed

Correlation between prolidase activity and spatial memory functions in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

The aim of the present study is to investigate the association of prolidase activity in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rat model with hippocampus-dependent spatial memory functions in chronic hyperglycemic conditions. Towards this, a single dose of STZ (30mg/kg, i.p) was administered to four-month-old female Sprague Dawley rats and hyperglycemia was confirmed in all the STZ treated rats. To assess the spatial memory, at the time intervals of 9 days, 30 days and 90 days post STZ administration, the animals were subjected to Barnes maze task. Prolidase activity and glucose concentration in the serum were measured at these time points. With prolonged duration of hyperglycemia, severe impairment in spatial memory functions was seen in STZ-rats which was co-relatable with reduction in prolidase levels (P&lt;0.05) thus suggesting that the alterations in synaptic integrity due to prolidase mediated extracellular matrix remodeling as the possible mechanism of memory defects seen in chronic diabetes