Cobalamin and Folic Acid Status in Relation to the Etiopathogenesis of Pancytopenia in Adults at a Tertiary Care Centre in North India

Background. Pancytopenia has multiple etiologies like megaloblastic anemia, aplastic anemia, leukemia, and various infections. We investigated the clinical, etiological and hematological profile including bone marrow morphology of patients with pancytopenia in relation to their vitamin B12 and folic acid status at a tertiary care referral hospital in north India. Methods. A total of 140 consecutive patients with pancytopenia were selected from June 2007 to December 2008. Bone marrow examination and other tests were carried out as warranted, including serum cobalamin and folate assays using liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC MS/MS). Results. The study population consisted of 92 males and 48 females with a mean age of 32.8 years. Megaloblastic anemia 60.7%, aplastic anemia (7.8%), and leukemia (9.2%) were common causes. Infectious causes (16.4% of all cases) included leishmaniasis, HIV–AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Severe cobalamin deficiency (B12 < 100 pg/mL) was seen in 81% of all patients including 91.6% of patients with MA. In contrast, only 7.14% of all pancytopenic patients were folate deficient. Folate deficiency (<5 ng/mL) was seen in just 5% MA patients. Combined cobalamin and folate deficiency was seen in 5 patients (3.51%). Conclusion. Cobalamin deficiency was found to be more common in our setting and is largely underdiagnosed in the age of folate supplementation. Infectious diseases like tuberculosis, leishmaniasis, and increasingly HIV are important and treatable causes of pancytopenia. This is in contrast with the developed nations where the bulk of disease is due to malignancy or marrow aplasia

Heterostructures of tin and tungsten selenides for robust overall water splitting.

Layered transition metal selenides have garnered increased attention in recent times as non-noble metal bifunctional electrocatalysts for electrochemical water splitting. Tungsten diselenide @ tin diselenide heterostructures in the present study significantly increase the electrochemical performance of oxygen evolution reaction with a low overpotential of 250 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and high stability for 16 h (8.9 % loss), hydrogen evolution reaction with a low overpotential of 180 mV at 10 mA cm−2 with a 21.9% loss in 16 h. The overall water splitting using a lab-size electrolyzer shows a low cell voltage (1.52 V @ 10 mA cm−2) and high durability for 50 h (15.2% loss @ 10 mA cm−2 and 4.4% loss @ 50 mA cm−2). As a result, the heterostructures have demonstrated their ability to handle multiple challenges in energy conversion systems due to their unique properties. © 2022 Elsevier Inc

Antiproliferative activity of marine stingray Dasyatis sephenvenom on human cervical carcinoma cell line

AbstractBackgroundVenoms comprise mixtures of numerous bioactive compounds that have a wide range of pharmacologic actions. Toxins from venomous animals have attracted the attention of researchers because of their affinity for primary sites responsible for lethality and their efficacy at extremely low concentrations. The venoms of marine stingrays have not been extensively studied and limited data is available on them. The present study aims to evaluate the antiproliferative and biochemical properties of the venom obtained from a species of marine stingray (Dasyatis sephen) on human cervical cancer cell line HeLa.MethodsThe antiproliferative effect of D. sephen venom was determined by MTT assay, and the oxidative stress was determined by lipid peroxidation method along with assessment of changes in the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant status. We observed intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels by DCFH-DA method, mitochondrial membrane potential alterations by rhodamine 123 staining and apoptotic morphological changes by acridine orange/ethidium bromide dual staining method.ResultsD. sephen venom enhances lipid peroxidative markers such as thiobarbituric acid reactive substance, conjugated diene, and lipid hydroperoxide in HeLa cell lines. Stingray venom enhances the ROS levels, which is evidenced by the increased 2–7-diacetyl dichlorofluorescein fluorescence. Further, D. sephen venom treatment altered the mitochondrial membrane potential in HeLa cells. Additionally, we observed increased apoptotic morphological changes in D. sephen venom-treated groups. ConclusionsDasyatis sephen venom exhibits potent antiproliferative effect on HeLa cell line and upon further purification it could be a promising antiproliferative agent

Additional file 1: of Antiproliferative activity of marine stingray Dasyatis sephen venom on human cervical carcinoma cell line

Scientific classification and image of D. sephen. (DOCX 105 kb

Er3+ doped titania photoanode for enhanced performance of photo-electrochemical water splitting devices

The origin of enhanced performance of properties of erbium (Er3+)-doped TiO2 photoanodes used in photo-electrochemical cell (PEC) water-splitting devices and power-conversion efficiency in DSSC devices is presented. Particularly, the dielectric measurements of Er3+-TiO2 conclude that the optimised concentration of Er (0.2% mol)-TiO2 has a better conductivity compared to undoped TiO2. The fabricated PEC devices with Er (0.2% mol)-doped TiO2 photoanode exhibited the higher current density of (9 μA-cm−2) at 1.2 V vs RHE potential which is ≈50% higher than that measured for PEC with undoped-TiO2. This enhancement is corroborated with the EIS measurements presenting lower charge transfer resistance values for devices with Er (0.2% mol)-TiO2