22 research outputs found
Development of a Novel Rapid Immunodiagnostic Kit Based on Flagellar 40 kDa Antigen Epitope for the Detection of Typhoid Fever in Indian Patients
To aid the clinical diagnosis of typhoid fever in India, where most hospitals and primary health centres have no facilities for culture, we report on the development of a novel and rapid immunodiagnostic kit for the direct detection of Salmonella Typhi—specific IgG antibodies against S. Typhi flagellar H antigen. The disease often does not show a specific clinical picture, and can be confused with other febrile illness such as malaria, dengue fever and Staphylococcus aureus. To overcome the problem of cross reactivity specific epitope of the flagellar H antigen was immobilised on the testing kit strip eliminating chances of cross reactivity and false positive results thereby increasing the specificity of the test. Since the immunodiagnostic kit, uses the flagellar H antigen from bacteria present in our country, the antibodies present in the serum of patients of our country will have maximum binding affinity, enhancing the sensitivity of our test kit. The immunodiagnostic kit on analysis gave a positive result with clinically diagnosed typhoid positive patient serum and negative results were obtained with the sera of clinically diagnosed malaria, abscess of Staphylococcus aureus and Visceral leishmaniasis (Kala-azar) patients
Traditional knowledge for dairy animals in Una district of Himachal Pradesh
662-668Traditional knowledge (TK), also known as indigenous knowledge (IK) or local knowledge (LK) generally refers to the matured long-standing traditions and practices of certain regional, indigenous, or local communities. India stands at number 1 in milk production as dairy master across the world. However, due to large number of animal population, distant/remote location, shortage of veterinary staff, some time, veterinary aids are not available to the farmers. In such instances, it is the traditional knowledge of the people which guides them to mitigate the sufferings of the animals. In this article, some of the ITKs are described based on oral communication with the people
Effects of a novel estrogen-free, progesterone receptor modulator contraceptive vaginal ring on inhibition of ovulation, bleeding patterns and endometrium in normal women
BACKGROUND: Progesterone receptor modulators (PRMs) delivered by contraceptive vaginal rings provide an opportunity for development of an estrogen-free contraceptive that does not require daily oral intake of steroids. The objective of this proof-of-concept study was to determine whether continuous delivery of 600–800 mcg of ulipristal acetate (UPA) from a contraceptive vaginal ring could achieve 80% to 90% inhibition of ovulation. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective, controlled, open-labeled, multicenter international trial to examine the effectiveness and safety of this prototype vaginal ring. Thirty-nine healthy women, 21–40 years old and not at risk of pregnancy, were enrolled at three clinic sites. Volunteers participated in a control cycle, a 12-week treatment period and a post-treatment cycle. Pharmacodynamic effects on follicular function and inhibition of ovulation, effects on endometrium, bleeding patterns and serum UPA levels were evaluated. RESULTS: Mean UPA levels during treatment were nearly constant, approximately 5.1 ng/mL throughout the study. Ovulation was documented in 32% of 111 “4-week treatment cycles.” A correlation was observed between serum UPA and degree of inhibition of ovarian activity. There was no evidence of hyperplasia of endometrium, but PRM-associated endometrial changes were frequently observed (41%). CONCLUSION: In this study, the minimum effective contraceptive dose was not established. Further studies are required testing higher doses of UPA to attain ovulation suppression in a higher percentage of subjects
Traditional knowledge for dairy animals in Una district of Himachal Pradesh
Traditional knowledge (TK), also known as indigenous knowledge (IK) or local knowledge (LK) generally refers to the matured long-standing traditions and practices of certain regional, indigenous, or local communities. India stands at number 1 in milk production as dairy master across the world. However, due to large number of animal population, distant/remote location, shortage of veterinary staff, some time, veterinary aids are not available to the farmers. In such instances, it is the traditional knowledge of the people which guides them to mitigate the sufferings of the animals. In this article, some of the ITKs are described based on oral communication with the people
Implementation and results of an integrated data quality assurance protocol in a randomized controlled trial in Uttar Pradesh, India
Potential Targets of 3-Hydroxy-3-Methylglutaryl Coenzyme A Reductase Inhibitor for Multiple Sclerosis Therapy
Metformin Attenuated the Autoimmune Disease of the Central Nervous System in Animal Models of Multiple Sclerosis
5-Aminoimidazole-4-Carboxamide Ribonucleoside: A Novel Immunomodulator with Therapeutic Efficacy in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis
Loss of AMPK exacerbates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis disease severity
AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an energy sensing metabolic switch in mammalian cells. Here, we report our novel finding that AMPK is lost in all immune cells of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an inflammatory disease of Central Nervous System (CNS). AMPK alpha 1 is predominantly expressed in T cells and antigen presenting cells (APCs), which are primarily involved in EAE disease progression. AMPK is lost at protein level in spleen macrophages, total T cells and their subsets (CD4, CD8 and regulatory T cells) isolated from EAE afflicted animals compared to control, without affecting its mRNA levels suggesting that the loss of AMPK protein is the result of posttranscriptional modification. To examine its pathological relevance in inflammatory disease, EAE was induced in wild type (+/+) and AMPK alpha 1 ull mice (-/-) using MOG(35-55) peptide. AMPK alpha 1(-/-) mice exhibited severe EAE disease with profound infiltration of mononuclear cells compared to wild type mice however, AMPK alpha 2 is not involved in enhancing the severity of the disease. Spleen cells isolated from AMPK alpha 1(-/-) immunized mice exhibited a significant induction in the production of IFN gamma. Our study identifies AMPK as a down regulated target during disease in all immune cells and possibly restoring AMPK may serve as a novel therapeutic target in autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved