Evaluation of antioxidant potential of melatonin in periodontitis: a prospective clinic-biochemical study

Background: The present study was done with an objective to evaluate the effect of melatonin as an antioxidant in patients suffering from periodontitis.Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Periodontics, Rural Dental College, Loni. Patients of chronic periodontitis, of age between 18 to 65 years of either gender ready to give informed consent to participate in the study were included. Postoperative patients, patients having night duties, drivers and those using heavy machinery, pregnant women, lactating mothers, patients with any clinically significant systemic disease and patients on any other drugs were excluded from the study. Patients were divided into three Groups. Group A included patients who underwent SRP (Scaling and Root Planning) alone, Group B included patients who underwent SRP & supplemented with Vitamin E 200 IU daily at night for 4 weeks. Group C included patients who underwent SRP & supplemented with tablet melatonin 3 mg daily at night for 4 weeks. Estimation of Malondialdehyde (MDA) for serum lipid peroxidation8, Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) was done on day 0, day 30, day 60 and day 90.Results: A total 240 patients were enrolled in the study. It was demonstrated that there was considerable oxidative stress in periodontitis patients, as established by high serum MDA levels, which was reduced significantly by melatonin reflecting its antioxidant potential. Pretreatment levels of SOD and GPx also were low, which were improved with the treatment of melatonin far better than with vitamin E.Conclusions: Melatonin acts as an antioxidant in the patients of periodontitis which has positive effect on biochemical parameters of periodontitis, conferring a new facet to the management of periodontitis and an attempt to impede the disease progression

Evaluation of Effect of Melatonin on Hematological Parameters in Patients of Periodontitis

Introduction: Considering the immunity enhancing property of melatonin, a study on the evaluation of the effect of melatonin on the hematological parameters in patients suffering from Periodontitis.  Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Periodontics, Rural Dental College, Loni. Patients of chronic Periodontitis, of age between 18 to 65 years of either gender ready to give informed consent to participate in the study were included. Postoperative patients, patients having night duties, drivers and those using heavy machinery, pregnant women, lactating mothers, patients with any clinically significant systemic disease and patients on any other drugs were excluded from the study. Patients were divided into two Groups. Group B received scaling and root planning (SRP) and melatonin 3 mg per day were compared to Group A which received SRP only. The Total Leukocyte count, Differential Leukocyte count and Erythrocyte sedimentation rate of each patient was studied at a baseline, 1st (30 days) visit, 2nd (60 days) visit and 3rd (90 days) visit. Results: Both the groups consisted of 80 subjects each. Group A consisted of 71.25% male and 28.75% female patients. There were 56.25% male and 43.75% female patients in Group B. With respect to visit 3, the TLC was statistically lower in Group B. The neutrophil count of Group B was significantly lower during visit 3 as compared to Group A. The lymphocyte count of Group B was significantly lower than that of Group A during the visit 1, and also significantly higher during visit 3 on comparison with Group A. There was no statistically significant difference in the groups with respect to eosinophil and basophil count. The Monocyte count of Group B was statistically lower when compared to that of Group A. There was no statistically significant difference between ESR of Group A & Group B.  Conclusions: It can be concluded that melatonin has a positive effect on TLC and differential count of patients of periodontitis, conferring a new facet to the management of periodontitis and an attempt to impede the disease progression. Keywords: Melatonin; Hematological parameters; Periodontitis; Total Leukocyte count; Differential Leukocyte count; Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; Scaling and Root Planning

Evaluation of antioxidant potential of melatonin in periodontitis with a focus on vitamin C

Background: The present study was done with an objective to evaluate the effect of melatonin as an antioxidant, with a focus on vitamin C, in patients suffering from periodontitis.Methods: This study was conducted jointly in the Department of Periodontics, Rural Dental College, and Department of Pharmacology, PIMS, Loni. Patients suffering from chronic periodontitis, of age between 18 to 65 years of either gender were included in the study, after obtaining a written informed consent. Patients were divided into three Groups. Group A included patients who underwent scaling and root planning (SRP) alone, Group B included patients who underwent SRP and supplemented with vitamin E 200 IU daily at night for 4 weeks. Group C included patients who underwent SRP and supplemented with tablet melatonin 3 mg daily at night for 4 weeks. Estimation of vitamin C was done on day 0, day 30, day 60 and day 90.Results: A total 240 patients were enrolled in the study, 80 in each group. Statistical analysis was done using ‘Z’ test of difference between two sample means for comparison of vitamin C among the three groups. It was observed that, there was a highly significant increase in mean values of vitamin C in group C when compared with group A and group B at 1st, 2nd and 3rd visits (p<0.01).Conclusions: Melatonin acts as an antioxidant in the patients of periodontitis which has positive effect on biochemical parameters of periodontitis, conferring a new facet to the management of periodontitis and an attempt to impede the disease progression

Evaluation of Effect of Melatonin on Hematological Parameters in Patients of Periodontitis

Introduction: Considering the immunity enhancing property of melatonin, a study on the evaluation of the effect of melatonin on the hematological parameters in patients suffering from Periodontitis.&nbsp; Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Periodontics, Rural Dental College, Loni. Patients of chronic Periodontitis, of age between 18 to 65 years of either gender ready to give informed consent to participate in the study were included. Postoperative patients, patients having night duties, drivers and those using heavy machinery, pregnant women, lactating mothers, patients with any clinically significant systemic disease and patients on any other drugs were excluded from the study. Patients were divided into two Groups. Group B received scaling and root planning (SRP) and melatonin 3 mg per day were compared to Group A which received SRP only. The Total Leukocyte count, Differential Leukocyte count and Erythrocyte sedimentation rate of each patient was studied at a baseline, 1st (30 days) visit, 2nd (60 days) visit and 3rd (90 days) visit. Results: Both the groups consisted of 80 subjects each. Group A consisted of 71.25% male and 28.75% female patients. There were 56.25% male and 43.75% female patients in Group B. With respect to visit 3, the TLC was statistically lower in Group B. The neutrophil count of Group B was significantly lower during visit 3 as compared to Group A. The lymphocyte count of Group B was significantly lower than that of Group A during the visit 1, and also significantly higher during visit 3 on comparison with Group A. There was no statistically significant difference in the groups with respect to eosinophil and basophil count. The Monocyte count of Group B was statistically lower when compared to that of Group A. There was no statistically significant difference between ESR of Group A &amp; Group B.&nbsp; Conclusions: It can be concluded that melatonin has a positive effect on TLC and differential count of patients of periodontitis, conferring a new facet to the management of periodontitis and an attempt to impede the disease progression. Keywords: Melatonin; Hematological parameters; Periodontitis; Total Leukocyte count; Differential Leukocyte count; Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; Scaling and Root Planning

Advanced data acquisition system implementation for the ITER Neutron Diagnostic use case using EPICS and FlexRIO technology on a PXIe platform

In the framework of the ITER Control Breakdown Structure (CBS), Plant System Instrumentation & Control (I&C) defines the hardware and software required to control one or more plant systems [1]. For diagnostics, most of the complex Plant System I&C are to be delivered by ITER Domestic Agencies (DAs). As an example for the DAs, ITER Organization (IO) has developed several use cases for diagnostics Plant System I&C that fully comply with guidelines presented in the Plant Control Design Handbook (PCDH) [2]. One such use case is for neutron diagnostics, specifically the Fission Chamber (FC), which is responsible for delivering time-resolved measurements of neutron source strength and fusion power to aid in assessing the functional performance of ITER [3]. ITER will deploy four Fission Chamber units, each consisting of three individual FC detectors. Two of these detectors contain Uranium 235 for Neutron detection, while a third "dummy" detector will provide gamma and noise detection. The neutron flux from each MFC is measured by the three methods: . Counting Mode: measures the number of individual pulses and their location in the record. Pulse parameters (threshold and width) are user configurable. . Campbelling Mode (Mean Square Voltage): measures the RMS deviation in signal amplitude from its average value. .Current Mode: integrates the signal amplitude over the measurement perio

Outcomes of seizures, status epilepticus, and EEG findings in critically ill patient with COVID-19

OBJECTIVE: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has a myriad of neurological manifestations and its effects on the nervous system are increasingly recognized. Seizures and status epilepticus (SE) are reported in the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), both new onset and worsening of existing epilepsy; however, the exact prevalence is still unknown. The primary aim of this study was to correlate the presence of seizures, status epilepticus, and specific critical care EEG patterns with patient functional outcomes in those with COVID-19. METHODS: This is a retrospective, multicenter cohort of COVID-19-positive patients in Southeast Michigan who underwent electroencephalography (EEG) from March 12th through May 15th, 2020. All patients had confirmed nasopharyngeal PCR for COVID-19. EEG patterns were characterized per 2012 ACNS critical care EEG terminology. Clinical and demographic variables were collected by medical chart review. Outcomes were divided into recovered, recovered with disability, or deceased. RESULTS: Out of the total of 4100 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, 110 patients (2.68%) had EEG during their hospitalization; 64% were male, 67% were African American with mean age of 63 years (range 20-87). The majority (70%) had severe COVID-19, were intubated, or had multi-organ failure. The median length of hospitalization was 26.5 days (IQR = 15 to 44 days). During hospitalization, of the patients who had EEG, 21.8% had new-onset seizure including 7% with status epilepticus, majority (87.5%) with no prior epilepsy. Forty-nine (45%) patients died in the hospital, 46 (42%) recovered but maintained a disability and 15 (14%) recovered without a disability. The EEG findings associated with outcomes were background slowing/attenuation (recovered 60% vs recovered/disabled 96% vs died 96%, p \u3c 0.001) and normal (recovered 27% vs recovered/disabled 0% vs died 1%, p \u3c 0.001). However, these findings were no longer significant after adjusting for severity of COVID-19. CONCLUSION: In this large multicenter study from Southeast Michigan, one of the early COVID-19 epicenters in the US, none of the EEG findings were significantly correlated with outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Although seizures and status epilepticus could be encountered in COVID-19, the occurrence did not correlate with the patients\u27 functional outcome

Probiotics: Eat What You Like And Let The Food Fight It Out Inside

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Pigeonpea Baseline and Early Adoption Surveys in South Asia, Insights from TL-II (Phase 1) Project in India.

Pigeonpea is an important pulse crop particularly in the semi-arid tropics of India contributing towards the nutritional security and also generates significant income to small and marginal farmers. Its share in India’s pulse production is around 16%. India is the largest pigeonpea producing country in the world accounting for nearly 67% of the total production. Being a major pigeonpea consumer in the world, India imports around 0.6 million tons of pigeonpea per year to meet the domestic needs from Africa, Nepal and Myanmar. Area and production of pigeonpea in India showed a steady growth until recently. However, the productivity in the country has stagnated between 700 and 800 kg ha-1. Recent initiatives like National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Accelerated Pulse Production Programme (A3P) and enhancement of minimum support price created more interest in pigeonpea growers in the country. Pigeonpea is one of the mandate crops of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and this premier international institute has been contributing significantly to the genetic improvement and crop management in India and Africa during the last four decades. The generous support received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has provided ICRISAT an opportunity to work more intensively with its research and development partners to demonstrate the potential of new technologies to enhance the yields, raise the profitability and revive the interest of the farmers in pigeonpea crop in India and the strategy chosen is farmer participatory varietal selection (FPVS). This report synthesizes the efforts made under the Tropical Legumes-II Project during the short period of three years (2007-10) in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra for pigeonpea crop improvement in India. Overall, the FPVS results established that the new improved varieties outyielded the respective check varieties in the two states. The diffusion and adoption of these varieties increased significantly in the targeted districts. From the past lessons learnt, the report re-focuses on further efforts needed during the second phase of the project to achieve greater success and impact