Procoagulant activity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids taken from the site of tuberculous lesions

Procoagulant activity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids taken from the site of tuberculous lesions. P. Selvaraj, N. Venkataprasad, V.K. Vijayan, R Prabhakar, P.R Narayanan. ©ERS Journals Ltd 1991. ABSTRACT: We wanted to determine the procoagulant activity (PCA) of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids, in order to understand the macrophage-mediated lung injury at the site of tuberculous lesion. Alveolar lavage fluids taken from the site of a lesion (radiologically abnormal site (RAS)) and an unaffected site (radiologically normal site (RNS)) of active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients (n=7) and inactive (cured) patients (n=9) were studied for their PCA producing potential. The observed results were not significant using Mann-Whitney test, and thus all increases/decreases reported below are trends/ tendencies only. An increased PCA was seen in 4 out of 7 cell-free lavage supernatants of active- TB taken from the site of lesion (RAS), compared to only 1 out of 9 in inactive- TB. The PCA producing potential of the alveolar macrophages of RAS and RNS of active-TB patients was enhanced when the alveolar macrophages were cocultured with autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes under in vitro condition. Stimulation with purified protein derivative (PPD) of M. tuberculosis showed a variable (increased or decreased) PCA production. Peripheral blood monocytes and total mononuclear cells (monocytes + lymphocytes) of active-TB patients stimulated with or without PPD showed increased PCA production, compared with normal individuals and inactive-TB patients. The present study suggests that increased production of PCA by the alveolar macrophages, in collaboration with lymphocytes and other cells at the site of tuberculous lesions will result in fibrin formation. The deposition of fibrin in the alveoli may lead to further lung injury

Alveolar macrophages in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Total and HLA-DR positive alveolar macrophages were enumerated in the broncho-alveolar lavage fluids of active pulmonary tuberculosis, inactive pulmonary tuberculosis (treated cases), nontuberculous lung disease patients and normal healthy individuals. A significantly increased number of macrophages was found in the patient groups than the normal individuals: however, there was no difference in HLA-DR positive cells. Among the different patient groups, smokers had more macrophages as well as more HLA-DR positive macrophages than non-smokers and normal subjects Total number of alveolar macrophages of the active tuberculosis non-smoker group was significantly higher than the inactive tuberculosis non-smoker group and normal individuals. On the contrary, a slightly decreased number of HLA-DR positive cells was seen in the non-smoker group of active-TB patients. The present study suggests that infection and smoking induce the accumulation of macrophages in the lung. The implication of these findings in relation to tuberculosis is discussed

Evaluation of analgesic activity of Toxicodendron radicans in animal model using wistar albino rats

Background: Pain forms an integral part of many clinical conditions management is of great importance in every field of medicine. The core of medicine is to preserve and restore patient’s health and to minimize their suffering. Toxicodendron radicans (rhus toxicodendron) is a homoeopathic remedy with anti-inflammatory activity used for various arthritic pain. Rhus toxicodendron is commonly used in skin, mucus membrane affections, pain in joints, tendons, rheumatism in cold season, cellulitis and infection, fever. During the recent exponential rise in the use of alternative medicines and increasing integration into the health service little research has been done on alternative medicine in the context in which it is practiced.Methods: Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups. group 1 received control (normal saline), group 2 received vehicle (alcohol with distilled water in ratio 1:4), and group 3 received standard (diclofenac-10 mg/kg), group 4 and 5 consist of 2 test groups-rhus toxicodendron 30x and 200c respectively. Analgesic activity was assessed using Hot water tail immersion method and Eddy’s hot plate method. Preliminary pilot study was done with 4 doses rhus toxicodendron 6x, 12x, 30x, 200c respectively. Data was analysed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey Kramer multiple comparison test. P value <0.05 was considered as significant.Results: In Eddy’s hot plate method, rhus toxicodendron 30 showed increase in paw withdrawal time which was statistically very significant at the end of 1 hr compared to the control group whereas statistically rhus toxicodendron 200 showed extremely significant analgesic property. In hot water tail immersion method rhus toxicodendron 30 showed increase in tail withdrawal time at the end of 1hr compared to the control group which was significant statistically.Conclusions: This study shows that toxicodendron radicans homoeopathic formulations possess significant analgesic property

Isolation of tubercle bacilli from sputum samples of patients in the field studies by the cetylpyridinium chloride-sodium chloride & sodium hydroxide methods

A total of 125 sputum specimens, collected in the field, were homogenised, aliquoted in sterile universal containers and randomly allocated to the cetylpyridinium chloride - sodium chloride (CPCNaCl) method and sodium hydroxide ( NaOH) method for culture of tubercle bacilli. After storage for 8 days at ambient temperature in the field laboratory at Thiruvallur, the aliquots were transported to the main laboratory at Madras where they were processed for culture by the respective methods. The yield of positive cultures in the CPC-NaCl (31/125) method was only marginally better than that in the NaOH method (27/125) (95% Cl being-3.4 to 9.8%), while the contamination of cultures was significantly less in the CPC-NaCl method ( 3/125) than in the NaOH method (12/125) (95% Cl being 2.2 to 12.2%). As the CPC-NaCl method has advantages over the NaOH method in reducing contamination, in augmenting the yield of positive cultures and also in its simplicity, it can be applied in field studies

Correlations due to localization in quantum eigenfunctions of disordered microwave cavities

Non-universal correlations due to localization are observed in statistical properties of experimental eigenfunctions of quantum chaotic and disordered microwave cavities. Varying energy {E} and mean free path {l} enable us to experimentally tune from localized to delocalized states. Large level-to-level Inverse Participation Ratio (IPR I_{2}) fluctuations are observed for the disordered billiards, whose distribution is strongly asymmetric about . The density auto-correlations of eigenfunctions are shown to decay exponentially and the decay lengths are experimentally determined. All the results are quantitatively consistent with calculations based upon nonlinear sigma-models.Comment: 4 pages, LaTex, 5 .jpg figures. This paper with 5 embedded postscript figures available (PS,PDF) at http://sagar.physics.neu.edu/preprints

Correlation between endothelial dysfunction, inflammatory status, oxidative stress and total (nitrite/ nitrate) in subjects with diabetes mellitus type 2

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a systemic metabolic disorder associated with Endothelial dysfunction and increased systemic inflammatory state with oxidative stress leading to increased Cardiovascular risk. This study planned to correlate the level of Endothelial dysfunction with oxidative stress and inflammatory status.Methods: Study was conducted in 60 Diabetes Mellitus subjects of both genders with duration of more than two years. Endothelial dysfunction assessed as Augmentation Pressure and Augmentation Index generated from Radial artery waveforms by tonometer using Spygmocor PWA system. Plasma Total Nitrite/ Nitrate, High sensitive C - Reactive Protein, Malondialdehyde and Glutathione were measured.Results: Out of total 60 Diabetes Mellitus subjects 16 subjects were with Coronary Artery Disease. There was no significant difference in High sensitive C - Reactive Protein, Glutathione, Malondialdehyde and Total Nitrite/ Nitrate between Diabetes Mellitus with Coronary Artery Disease and without Coronary Artery Disease, however significant difference (p=0.02) was observed Augmentation Pressure between Diabetic alone (12.8±5.19 mm of Mercury) and diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease (16.13±33.47 mm of Mercury) and Augmentation Index (p=0.04) between Diabetic alone (29.8±5.68 mm of Mercury) and diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease (40.01±5.74). As endothelial function is age dependent the subjects were divided into three age groups (20-40 years, 40-60 years and more than 60 years). High sensitive C - Reactive Protein, Glutathione, Malondialdehyde, Total Nitrite/ Nitrate and Augmentation Index did not differ in the three age groups while Augmentation Pressure (p=0.0096) showed significant difference between age group 20-40 years (10.59±3.24) and age group more than 60 years (15.83±3.92).Conclusions: There is significant endothelial dysfunction observed in Diabetes Mellitus subjects and Diabetes Mellitus with coronary artery disease showed greater endothelial dyfunction. Thereby concluding that Diabetes Mellitus subjects were at higher risk for development of coronary artery disease and as endothelial dysfunction is an early event, it may have some prognostic value

Early bactericidal action of pulsed exposure to rifampicin, ethambutol, isoniazid & pyrazinamide in pulmonary tuberculosis patients

The bactericidal action of two therapeutic regimens on Mycobacterium tuberculosis was assessed by viable counts in serial sputum samples in 49 pulmonary tuberculosis patients being treated with rifampicin (R), etbambutol (Emb), isoniazid (I) and pyrazinamide (Z) together in a single dose thrice weekly (REmbIZ3) or with REmb and IZ on alternate days (REmb3IZ3alt). In both groups of patients, there was a significant reduction (P < 0.02) in the colony forming units (cfu) of M. tuberculosis per ml of sputum during the first two days of treatment itself. This early bactericidal action (EBA) as well as the reduction in counts during the subsequent days of treatment were similar (P > 0.2) for both REmbIZ3 and REmb3IZ3alt regimens indicating that splitting up REmbIZ into REmb on one day and IZ on the next day in short course chemotherapy (SCC) regimens may not affect the bactericidal action of the regimens

From chaos to disorder: Statistics of the eigenfunctions of microwave cavities

We study the statistics of the experimental eigenfunctions of chaotic and disordered microwave billiards in terms of the moments of their spatial distributions, such as the Inverse Participation Ratio (IPR) and density-density auto-correlation. A path from chaos to disorder is described in terms of increasing IPR. In the chaotic, ballistic limit, the data correspond well with universal results from random matrix theory. Deviations from universal distributions are observed due to disorder induced localization, and for the weakly disordered case the data are well-described by including finite conductance and mean free path contributions in the framework of nonlinear sigma models of supersymetry.Comment: 5 pages + 2 JPG figure