Integrated Role of Nanotechnology and Pharmacogenetics in Diagnosis and Treatment of Diseases

“One size fits all” is an erroneous paradigm in drug delivery, due to side effects/adverse effects and variability observed in drug response. The variability is a result of geneotypic variations (variability in genomic constitution) which is studied in the branch of science called Pharmacogenomics. The variability in drug response is studied by multigene analysis or profiling of whole-genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and is recorded in terms of the pharmacokinetic (absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination) and pharmacodynamic (drug-receptor interaction, immune response, etc.) response of the drug. Therefore, a foray into this research area can provide valuable information for designing of drug therapies, identifying disease etiology, therapeutic targets and biomarkers for application in treatment and diagnosis of diseases. Lately, with the integration of pharmacogenomics and nanotechnology, a new facade for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases has opened up, and the prescription pattern of drugs has moved to pharmacotyping (individualized dose and dosage-form adjusted therapy) using nanoplatforms like nanobioconjugates, nanotheranostics, etc

Universal slit-lamp–mounted mobile adapter with 20 D lens for fundus photography: “Litter to glitter”

Fundus photography is an arduous task as it involves using 90 D in one hand and a smartphone attached on an eyepiece of a slit-lamp biomicroscope in the other hand. Similarly, with a 20 D lens, the filming distance is adjusted by moving the lens or mobile forward or backward, which makes it difficult to adjust and focus the image in busy ophthalmology outpatient departments (OPDs). Moreover, fundus camera costs thousands of dollars. Authors describe a novel technique of performing fundus photography with a 20 D lens and a universal slit-lamp–mounted mobile adapter made from trash. By the use of this simple, yet frugal innovation, primary care physicians or ophthalmologists without a fundus camera can easily snap a fundus photo and subject it to digital analysis by retina specialists across the world. This will help in simultaneous ocular examination and fundus photos taken via mounted 20 D on a slit lamp itself and also reduce the need for unnecessary retina referrals to tertiary eye care centers

New paradigm in combination therapy of siRNA with chemotherapeutic drugs for effective cancer therapy

Chemotherapeutics drugs play a pivotal role in the treatment of cancer. However, many issues generate by chemotherapy drugs, including unfavorable harm to healthy cells and multidrug resistance (MDR), persist and have a negative impact on therapeutic outcomes. When compared to monotherapy, combination cancer therapy has many advantages, like improving efficacy through synergistic effects and overcoming drug resistance. Combination treatment may comprise several chemotherapeutics drugs and combinations of chemotherapeutic drugs with some other therapeutic options such as surgery or radiation. Cancer treatment that utilizes co-delivery strategies with siRNA and chemotherapeutic drugs has been shown to have highly effective antitumor effects in the treatment of many cancers. However, the highly complex mechanisms of chemotherapeutic drugs-siRNA pairs during the co-delivery process have received little attention. The ideal combination of chemotherapeutic drugs with siRNA is very crucial for producing the desirable anticancer effects that would greatly enhance therapeutic efficiency. This review puts an emphasis on the logic for choosing suitable chemotherapeutic drug-siRNA combinations, which may open the way for the co-delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs and siRNA for treating cancer in the clinic. This review summarizes recent breakthrough in the area of diverse mechanism-based chemotherapeutic drugs-siRNA combinations in cancer treatment

Clinical profile of patients with the first presentation as anterior nodular scleritis — a case series

Background: The aims of this study was to report the clinical profile of five patients with features of anterior nodular scleritis as initial presentation in residents of Western Maharashtra. Material and methods: A retrospective review of medical records was done from February 2019 to December 2019. Five new anterior nodular scleritis cases were reported at the tertiary-eye care centre within two months. The slit-lamp examination, anterior-segment photographs, and laboratory data were collected and analysed. Results: A majority of cases (4/5) were presented in females. Three patients had a unilateral presentation, while 2 — had bilateral involvement. The most common presenting symptom was ocular pain and redness. Corneal involvement was seen in 1 case. Two female patients were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, one female had multinodular goitre, and the other two were idiopathic. Three patients responded very well to oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs  NSAIDs), while the rest two were managed with steroids. No patient had to be started on immunosuppressives. All the cases showed complete resolution with the treatment provided. All these patients presented at our centre in the autumn season. All these patients presented at our center in the autumn season only and no new case of anterior scleritis reported before or after this season. Conclusion: Management of scleritis may need a multidisciplinary approach as it may be the only presentation of an underlying systemic disease. It is to be considered in the differentials of red eye that presents with a substantial amount of ocular pain or with the known systemic disorder that leads to scleritis development. Also, there could be a seasonal association of anterior-nodular scleritis like episcleritis

Circular dichroism and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of pennisetin from pearl millet

The conformation and stability of pearl millet prolamin (pennisetin) were examined by using circular dichroism and C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The far UV spectrum of pennisetin in 70% (v/v) aqueous ethanol showed the presence of predominant alpha-helical structure and its occurrence in the alpha + beta class of protein. The far and near UV spectra of pennisetin in ethanol: trifluoroethanol also supported this observation. However pennisetin showed the presence of some helical structure in 8 M urea which is known to be a highly unordered structure forming solvent. A decrease in alpha helical content of native pennisetin was observed with rise in temperature from 5-75-degrees-C and this effect of temperature was found to be reversible. A C-13 NMR spectrum of pennisetin in 70% ethanol suggested a high degree of molecular mobility in ethanol. Comparison of the cross polarization spectrum with the single pulse excitation spectrum suggested pennisetin to be a heterogeneous protein

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Not AvailableTo determine the buffalo breed difference in methane emission, six animals three each of lactating Bhadari and Murrah buffalo with mean body weight of 441.87±7.95 kg and 515.40±2.54 kg were used to estimate the nutrients digestibility and methane production. Animals of both breeds were fed wheat straw-concentrate for one month and a digestion trial was conducted for 6 days. During this period gas expired by animals was collected from each animal in canisters for 24 h following SF6 technique. Gas samples (4 to 5) were collected from each animal to estimate the CH4 production. Dry matter intake of Murrah bufflo (12.26) was significantly (P<0.05) higher than Bhadawari (8.96 kg/d). The dry matter and organic matter digestibility of wheat straw-concentrate diet was similar between both Bhadawari and Murrah buffalo breeds. Crude protein digestibility tended to be higher in Bhadawari (62.27) than Murrah buffalo (57.49%). The ADF and cellulose digestibility was relatively less in Bhadawari (41.45 and 58.81) than Murrah buffaloes (45.67 and 62.44%), while NDF and hemi-cellulose digestibility was at par between both buffalo breeds. Methane production g/kg DDMI was lower (P<0.05) in Bhadwari (21.49 and 34.96) than Murrah breed buffaloes (23.26 and 41.88) on wheat straw-concentrate diet. Methane production (g/kg milk) was lower (P<0.05) for Bhadawari breed (42.78) than Murrah buffloes (49.96). It is evident from study that Bhadawari breed animal produced less methane per kg of feed intake and per kg of milk yield than Murrah breed animals.Not Availabl

Expression of Omp16 and L7/L12 <em>Brucella</em> <em>abortus</em> protective antigens as secretory fusion proteins in mammalian cells

289-295Brucella abortus is a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen infecting animals and humans. This preliminary study was designed to express two immunogenic genes of Brucella abortus as recombinant fusion proteins in mammalian cells for being studied as a vaccine candidate in mammalian hosts, especially mice and cattle, in our next study. The complete open reading frame sequences of two immune dominant genes of Brucella abortus namely, Omp16 and L7/L12 were fused with an intermediate spacer along with N-terminal fusion with secretory signal sequence from immunoglobulin M. The complete fusion gene sequence was codon optimized for expression in mammalian cells. For expression analysis, the codon optimized synthetic gene was cloned in pDsRed-Express-N1 mammalian expression vector, with C-terminal fusion with red fluorescent protein sequence. On transfection in MDBK and HEK-293 cells, appearance of red fluorescence in transfected cells indicated expression of Omp16- L7/L12 fusion proteins along with RFP. The Omp16-L7/L12 fusion construct without RFP sequence was also expressed in mammalian cells. The expressed Omp16-L7/L12 fusion proteins were confirmed through both indirect fluorescence antibody test and western blot. This preliminary study suggested that the codon optimized Omp16-L7/L12 fusion construct is ready to be studied in hosts like mice and cattle for its vaccine efficacy