c-ANCA Positive Necrotizing Crescentic Glomerulonephritis with Linear Immunoglobulin Staining

Necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis is found in anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) disease (Type 1), immune complex (Type 2) deposition and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic (ANCA)-related disease (Type 3). ANCA positive glomerulonephritis is typically characterized on renal biopsy as pauci-immune, with mild or absent glomerular staining for immunoglobulin, or complement staining by immunofluorescence. Rare cases of concomitant p-ANCA plus linear immunofluorescence pattern staining have been discussed, however none with prior association with c-ANCA. We report a case of systemic c-ANCA pulmonary-renal syndrome with anti-GBM-disease-typical linear staining on renal biopsy immunofluorescence

Neuroimaging of Unusual Glioblastoma Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Background: Gliosarcoma refers to an uncommon astrocytic tumor of the central nervous system. These tumors include both glial and mesenchymal components by definition, and are extremely malignant. Gliosarcomas are particular to tumors with distinct gliomatous and sarcomatous constituents, and are distinguished from gliobastomas which have undergone mesenchymal metaplasia. Gliosarcomas encompass 2-8% of all glioblastoma cases and tend to occupy the supratentorial regions of the brain, especially the temporal lobe. Rare infratentorial lesions including the cerebellar hemisphere, intraventricular, and multi-focal tumors have also been reported. Accurate neuroimaging diagnosis is critical and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and spectroscopy can be useful to differentiate from inflammatory disease. Methods: We report a 38 year-old Caucasian male with a right parietal lobe glioblastoma. The patient presented with new onset tonic-clonic seizures lasting approximately five minutes associated with postictal confusion and incontinence. The patient had conventional brain MRI scans including DTI. MRI data was processed to obtain tractography and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps. MR images were examined for location and extent of tumor as well as invasion, destruction or displacement of brain parenchyma and white matter tracts. Results: Noncontract CT revealed no abnormality and emergent MR imaging shows a ring-enhancing lesion measuring 3.1x2.2x3.1 cm at the junction of the right parieto-occipital region. The lesion abuts the dural surface, characteristic of gliosarcoma. Extensive surrounding edema causing complete effacement of the posterior horn of the right lateral ventricle, parietal effacement of the anterior floor of the right ventricle, and a 1.2 cm right to left midline shift were observed. Mild diffuse enhancement in the region of the splenium of the corpus callosum was likely compatible with seizure activity. Increased signal intensity of axial FLAIR image was seen in this area after four weeks. Fractional anisotropy is reduced at the tumor site suggesting an aggressive and invasive lesion. Diffusion tensor tractography shows destruction of white matter tracts compatible with destruction rather than invasion of parenchyma. Histopathology confirms gliobastoma multiforme, demonstrating mixed glial and sarcomatous components. However, GFAP was strongly positive in both areas and a reticulin stain was not increased in the sarcomatorus areas excluding the sarcomatous variant of glioblastoma. Conclusion: We report the imaging findings of a rare gliosblastoma radiographically presenting as a gliosarcoma due to its location along the dural surface, but with lack of pathologic findings. Gross total tumor resection was performed and the patient and is undergoing adjuvant radiation therapy with concurrent chemotherapy

Physicochemical properties of free and calcium alginate immobilized alkaline pectin lyase from Bacillus cereus

305-314Purified pectin lyase from Bacillus cereus was successfully immobilized in alginate beads with a high binding efficiency of 84.55%. The optimal immobilization was achieved using 2.5% (w/v) alginate concentration. Both free and immobilized enzyme showed optimum pH of 10.0 and temperatures of 40 and 45°C respectively. Pectin lyase gave maximum activity at a substrate concentration of 0.5% w/v for free and 0.75% w/v for the immobilized enzyme and relatively similar Vmax values were obtained for both free (3.3 µmol/min) and immobilized pectin lyase (3.6 µmol/min). The Km for the immobilized pectin lyase (0.19 mg/ml) was slightly higher than that of the free (0.16 mg/ml) enzyme. The maximum inhibition of 50.2% was observed in the presence of Hg2+ ion for free pectin lyase and immobilized enzyme showed maximum inhibition of 67.32% in the presence of Na+ ion with statistically significant p-value (p th cycle. Furthermore, during storage at 4°C, immobilized pectin lyase retained relative activity of 79.77% and free enzyme retained 63.63% relative activity upto 35 days of storage, this indicated that the immobilization improved stability of the enzyme

Metastatic cystic melanoma of unknown primary masquerading as sarcoma: Report of a rare occurrence

Malignant melanoma of unknown primary is rare. Cystic malignant melanoma is again rare. Metastatic malignant melanoma with unknown primary presenting as a cystic mass in the anteromedial compartment of the thigh masquerading as soft tissue sarcoma has not been reported so far. We report one such rare occurrence in a 63-year-old male and review pertinent literature to increase awareness regarding such unusual presentations of malignant melanoma among radiologists and clinicians

Isolation of lipase producing thermophilic bacteria: Optimization of production and reaction conditions for lipase from Geobacillus sp.

Lipases catalyze the hydrolysis and the synthesis of esters formed from glycerol and long chain fatty acids. Lipases occur widely in nature, but only microbial lipases are commercially significant. In the present study, thirty-two bacterial strains, isolated from soil sample of a hot spring were screened for lipase production. The strain TS-4, which gave maximum activity, was identified as Geobacillus sp. at MTCC, IMTECH, Chandigarh. The isolated lipase producing bacteria were grown on minimal salt medium containing olive oil. Maximal quantities of lipase were produced when 30 h old inoculum was used at 10% (v/v) in production medium and incubated in shaking conditions (150 rpm) for 72 h. The optimal temperature and pH for the bacterial growth and lipase production were found to be 60°C and 9.5, respectively. Maximal enzyme production resulted when mustard oil was used as carbon source and yeast extract as sole nitrogen source at a concentration of 1% (v/v) and 0.15% (w/v), respectively. The different optimized reaction parameters were temperature 65°C, pH 8.5, incubation time 10 min and substrate p-nitrophenyl palmitate. The Km and Vmax values of enzyme were found to be 14 mM and 17.86 μmol ml-1min-1, respectively, with p-nitrophenyl palmitate as substrate. All metal ions studied (1 mM) increased the lipase activity

Isolation, characterization and identification of pesticide degrading bacteria from contaminated soil for bioremediation

In this study, malathion and chlorpyrifos degrading bacteria were isolated from agricultural soil samples taken from the Himachal region in India. A total of 52 organisms were isolated which were further screened for their efficiency for chlorpyrifos and malathion degradation. Screening was done by checking the growth on Nutrient Agar, Mineral Salt Medium and MacConkey agar plates containing chlorpyrifos and malathion; 37 isolates showed growth in these. Biomass assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination were carried out for the selection of most efficient bacterial isolates. Out of the seven isolates which showed good biomass assay and MIC, only three isolates (PDM-2, PDM-15 and PDM-20) were selected for further studies. These were characterized by various biochemical tests, Gram staining, indole test, methyl red test, Voges-Proskauer test, citrate utilization test and carbohydrate fermentation test. Out of three isolates, PDM-15 showed good resistance against the antibiotics such as erythromycin, chloramphenicol, ampicillin and penicillin and identified as Kocuria assamensis. Degradation of 71.3% of chlorpyrifos and 85% of malathion was observed by the gas chromatography. Therefore, the Kocuria assamensis can be used in the bioremediation of pesticide-contaminated soil