A study on the protective effects of calcium channel blockers against anoxic brain damage

Introduction It is now widely accepted that a rapid neuronal influx of Ca2+ following cerebral ischaemia! hypoxia is intimately connected with the cascade of events- including activation of enzymes which give rise to the production of reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide, thereby leading to free-radical induced damage -which reseult in neuronal injury and death. It is also known that a burst of free radical generation I occurs during re-oxygenation of the tissues following a period,ofischaernialhypoxia as also a prolonged purturbation of the membrane functions continues after the perfusion/oxygenation has been restored, which leads to continued accumulnnon of calcium intracellularly ; resulting ultimately in delayed damage and death of the neurone. Estimation of lipid peroxidation products proviqes a reliable estimate of free radical induced damage to tissues, and has been widely used for this purpose

Serum acid phosphatase level - is it a marker for diagnosis of malaria

Background: Malaria is endemic throughout most of the tropics. Technically, detection of malaria parasite may be missed due to low parasite density at sampling time and poor blood film preparation. The study was aimed to evaluate the serum acid phosphatase levels as a possible diagnostic marker for malarial infections.Methods: This study was conducted on a total of 100 subjects (40 malaria cases, 30 non-malarial cases and 30 sex and age matched healthy controls attending the department of medicine, PESIMSR, Kuppam. Venous blood sample was collected and serum acid phosphatase (ACP) level estimation was be done by enzymatic method using commercial kit (Raichem diagnostics kit).Results: Serum ACP level was highly significantly elevated in malarial group (Mean±SD) (3.14±1.22) when compared with control (1.33±0.72) and non-malarial (1.81±0.30) groups (P value <0.001.).Conclusions: In this study, there was a significant increase in the serum ACP levels in malarial patients as compared to other groups. This suggests that serum ACP levels can be used as a marker for malaria.

Paraoxonase activity in healthy population of major ethnic groups

Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the leading causes of mortality globally with varying risk across different ethnic groups. Recent evidence has suggested a role for paraoxonase, an high density lipoprotein (HDL)associated enzyme in the prevention of atherosclerosis by inhibiting the oxidative modification of low density lipoprotein (LDL). Genetic polymorphism in paraoxonase 1 (PON1) gene (Arg192 and Gln192) with varying abilities to degrade oxidized LDL is being implicated as one of the risk factors for IHD. The distribution of PON1 polymorphic forms has been found to differ among the ethnic groups but conflicting results have been reported regarding their association with IHD risk. Indians, compared to other ethnic groups have been reported to carry a higher risk of IHD but the risk factors are still not well understood. In Malaysia, the existence of three separate ethnic groups with varying IHD incidence provides an ideal opportunity to carry out this study. The purpose of this study were to find out the PON1 activities, the phenotypic polymorphism of PON1 and the level of lipid profiles among the three major ethnic groups in Malaysia and their association with varying IHD risk among them. A prospective pilot study was carried out on a total number of 150 healthy volunteers who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria from September 2003 until July 2004

Photoprotection by silk cocoons

A silk cocoon protects a silkworm during its pupal stage from various threats. We systematically investigated the role of fiber, sericin, and embedded crystals in the UV protection of a silk cocoon. Diffuse reflectance and UV absorbance were measured an