Acute leukemia after cytotoxic treatment in a child with nephrotic syndrome

Renal involvement in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) occurs due to several factors including leukemic infiltration of the kidneys, therapy-related side effects such as tumor lysis syndrome, nephrotoxic drugs, and septicemias. A 3-year-old boy with nephrotic syndrome (NS) who was previously treated with prednisolone and cyclosporine A for 14 months after the initial diagnosis of NS, presented to the emergency department with fever, breathing difficulty, generalized edema, and body pain with pallor, without evidence of lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, petechiae, or purpura. On investigation, peripheral blood smear showed blast cells >80% and bone marrow aspiration showed complete replacement of the marrow with L1 lymphoblasts, consistent with a diagnosis of ALL. The exact mechanism of developing acute leukemia after cytotoxic treatment has not been established; the possibility must be considered that the incidence of this malignant disease is increased after cytotoxic treatment for nonmalignant diseases

Mycotoxin management through transformations – A review

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolic products of various fungi, mainly belonging to the genera Fusarium (Trichothecenes, Zearalenone), Aspergillus (Aflatoxin) and Penicillium (Ochratoxin) and can be found in almost 25% of the world’s agricultural commodities. These compounds are toxic to humans, animals and plants and therefore, efforts should be made to avoid mycotoxin contamination in food and feed. It has been estimated that at least 300 of these fungal metabolites are potentially toxic to animals and humans. In India 50% losses of agricultural commodities are due to postharvest losses. A number of physical and chemical approaches have already been taken to reduce the effect of mycotoxins, but due to certain limitations of physical and chemical strategies prompted search for other solutions to the mycotoxin hazards. Thus, there is an increasing public pressure for a safer and eco-friendly alternative to control these organisms. Consequently, a new approach is applied for managing mycotoxins through transformations that offer specific, efficient and eco-friendly way for detoxification of mycotoxins. This review aims to brings about the up-to-date management strategies mainly through transformation (genetic and bio) to pre-vent or reduce post harvest damages to the crops caused by storage fungi and the contamination of food and feed by mycotoxins. It will make aware of the new technologies or management methods for mycotoxins through transformation. The transformation methods may become the technology of choice, as they offer a specific, irreversible, efficient and environment friendly way of detoxification that leaves neither toxic residues nor any undesirable by-products

Mycotoxin management through transformations – A review

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolic products of various fungi, mainly belonging to the genera Fusarium (Trichothecenes, Zearalenone), Aspergillus (Aflatoxin) and Penicillium (Ochratoxin) and can be found in almost 25% of the world’s agricultural commodities. These compounds are toxic to humans, animals and plants and therefore, efforts should be made to avoid mycotoxin contamination in food and feed. It has been estimated that at least 300 of these fungal metabolites are potentially toxic to animals and humans. In India 50% losses of agricultural commodities are due to postharvest losses. A number of physical and chemical approaches have already been taken to reduce the effect of mycotoxins, but due to certain limitations of physical and chemical strategies prompted search for other solutions to the mycotoxin hazards. Thus, there is an increasing public pressure for a safer and eco-friendly alternative to control these organisms. Consequently, a new approach is applied for managing mycotoxins through transformations that offer specific, efficient and eco-friendly way for detoxification of mycotoxins. This review aims to brings about the up-to-date management strategies mainly through transformation (genetic and bio) to pre-vent or reduce post harvest damages to the crops caused by storage fungi and the contamination of food and feed by mycotoxins. It will make aware of the new technologies or management methods for mycotoxins through transformation. The transformation methods may become the technology of choice, as they offer a specific, irreversible, efficient and environment friendly way of detoxification that leaves neither toxic residues nor any undesirable by-products

Robust spin-ice freezing in magnetically frustrated Ho2_{2}Gex_{x}Ti2−x_{2−x}O7_{7} pyrochlore

Structural analysis of spin frustrated Ho$_2$GexTi$_{2−x}$O$_7$ (x = 0, 0.1, 0.15 & 0.25) pyrochlore oxides has been performed using high resolution x-ray diffraction pattern and low temperature synchrotron x-ray diffraction pattern. The effect of positive chemical pressure on the spin dynamics ofHo$_2$GexTi$_{2−x}$O$_7$ has been analysed through the study of static (M–T and M–H; magnetisation against temperature & magnetisation against magnetic field) and dynamical (ac susceptibility) magnetic measurements. In lower temperature regime (~2 K), such systems are predominantly governed by competing exchange (J$_{nn}$) and dipolar (D$_{nn}$) magnetic interactions. Magnetic measurements indicate that the application of increased chemical pressure in Ho$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ matrix propels the system towards diminished ferromagnetic interaction. Dipolar coupling constant remains almost unchanged but Curie–Weiss temperature $(θ_{cw})$ reduces to −0.04 K from 0.33 K (for an applied magnetic field; H = 100 Oe) with increasing x in Ho$_2$GexTi$_{2−x}$O$_7$. Positive chemical pressure establishes the dominance of Ho–Ho antiferromagnetic interaction J$_{nn}$ over dipolar interaction D$_{nn}$. Spin relaxation feature corresponding to thermally activated single ion freezing (T$_s$~15 K) is shifted towards lower temperature. This chemical pressure-driven T$_s$ shift is ascribed to the alteration in crystal field effect, which reduces the activation energy for singe ion spin freezing. The reduction in the activation energy indicates crystal field-phonon coupling in Ho$_2$GexTi$_{2−x}$O$_7$ system. The robustness in spin ice freezing (second spin relaxation feature in ac susceptibility curve) remains unaffected with increasingly chemical pressure. This spin freezing ('2 in-2 out' spin arrangement in tetrahedra) is related to quantum tunneling phenomenon, at T$_{ice}$ ~ 2 K. It indicates that majority of spins still follow the 'ice rule' in Ho$_2$GexTi$_{2−x}$O$_7$ even after the application of chemical pressure

Polyphenol MHQP as an allosteric inhibitor of Kinesin-5: Cease the molecular catwalk of “Drunken Sailor”

703-709Human Kinesin-5 (KIF-11/Eg5), a major anticancer drug target, is a plus end-directed motor protein that is involved in spindle dynamics and principally involved in mitosis. In the present study, a computer-aided rational drug discovery approach has been applied to search for potential allosteric inhibitors against Eg5. Accordingly, virtual screening of naturally occurring secondary metabolites and their commercially available synthetic derivatives indicates 2-(9b- methyl- 2,3,3a,4,5,9b-hexahydrofuro [3,2 c] quinolin-4-yl) phenol (MHQP), a hexahydrofuro [3,2-c] quinolone derivative as a potential therapeutic lead molecule against Eg5. The present study provides a structural glimpse of MHQP binding at the monastrol binding site of Eg5 with a vivid description of its plausible mode of Eg5 inhibition. Moreover, the in silico data also supports the superiority of MHQP over the well-characterized Eg5 inhibitor Arry-520 in terms of augmented binding affinity as well as to cope with Arry-520 resistant mutants of Eg5. Structure-guided mechanistic details of MHQP-induced inhibition of Eg5 and its predicted pharmacodynamics properties have been presented herein

Evidence of Griffith phase in quantum critical region of Dy2_2Ti1.8_{1.8}Mn0.2_{0.2}O7_7

We herein present the spin freezing dynamics of doped polycrystalline compound Dy$_2$Ti$_{1.8}$Mn$_{0.2}$O$_7$ using ac and dc magnetic measurements. A new relaxation peak (T*) appears in ac susceptibility measurement with the fractional inclusion of Mn at the Ti site in Dy$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$, indicating the presence of a short-range magnetically ordered state in the paramagnetic state. The evidence of the ‘Griffiths phase’-like state has been observed in the quantum critical region of Dy$_2$Ti$_{1.8}$Mn$_{0.2}$O$_7$. Arrhenius fit of freezing temperature (T*) with frequency for Dy$_2$Ti$_{1.8}$Mn$_{0.2}$O$_7$ shows that the spin relaxation at T* is thermally induced. Low-temperature structural change in lattice parameters and crystal field phonon coupling has been studied using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Debye-Grüneisen's temperature-dependent lattice-volume analysis shows the ‘crystal field’-phonon coupling emergence at a much higher temperature (70 K) in Dy$_2$Ti$_{1.8}$Mn$_{0.2}$O$_7$ in contrast to 30 K in Dy$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$. These findings make Dy$_2$Ti$_{1.8}$Mn$_{0.2}$O$_7$ a suitable system to explore the application of the spin ice phenomenon at a workable temperature