Quantification In Neurology

There is a distinct shift of emphasis in clinical neurology in the last few decades. A few years ago, it was just sufficient for a clinician to precisely record history, document signs, establish diagnosis and write prescription. In the present context, there has been a significant intrusion of scientific culture in clinical practice. Several criteria have been proposed, refined and redefined to ascertain accurate diagnosis for many neurological disorders. Introduction of the concept of impairment, disability, handicap and quality of life has added new dimension to the measurement of health and disease and neurological disorders are no exception. "Best guess" treatment modalities are no more accepted and evidence based medicine has become an integral component of medical care. Traditional treatments need validation and new therapies require vigorous trials. Thus, proper quantification in neurology has become essential, both in practice and research methodology in neurology. While this aspect is widely acknowledged, there is a limited access to a comprehensive document pertaining to measurements in neurology. This following description is a critical appraisal of various measurements and also provides certain commonly used rating scales/scores in neurological practice

Comparison of extraction methods on anthocyanin pigment attributes from mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) fruit rind as potential food colourant

The mangosteen fruit is mostly consumed for its pulp, and the rind, which accounts for more than 60 % of the total fruit weight, is discarded making it poor economic worth. The dark purple rind of mangosteen fruit is a rich source of anthocyanin pigment that can be used for food application if extracted using eco-friendly solvents. The aim of the study was to come up with an efficient, cheap and environmentally friendly method of anthocyanin pigment extraction from mangosteen fruit rind. Acidified solvent has shown to have higher recovery percentage of the pigment concentrate having higher TMAC (17,652.54 mg/L), colour density (1596.30 AU), polymeric colour (997.80 AU). Significantly highest recovery percentage (55.03), antioxidant activity measured by DPPH (2.29 l/ml), FRAP (2.83 l/ml), and ABTS (2.02 l/ml), total phenolics (32.25 mgGAE/100 g), total flavonoid content (40.02 mgQE/100 g), as well as the instrumental colour values indicating bright reddish-purple, were observed in microwave assisted extraction method with acidified solvent. By LC-MS/MS analysis, it was also evident that the rind contains a number of beneficial and health-promoting compounds, such as anthocyanins, xanthones, phenolics, flavonoids, coumarins, phoroglucinol derivatives, lignans, retinoids

A Natural Low Phytic Acid Finger Millet Accession Significantly Improves Iron Bioavailability in Indian Women

Iron deficiency and anemia are common in low- and middle-income countries. This is due to a poor dietary iron density and low iron absorption resulting from the high inhibitory phytic acid content in cereal and millet-based diets. Here, we report that a naturally occurring low phytic acid finger millet accession (571 mg 100 g-1), stable across three growing seasons with normal iron content (3.6 mg 100 g-1), increases iron absorption by 3-folds in normal Indian women. The accessions differing in grain phytic acid content, GE 2358 (low), and GE1004 (high) were selected from a core collection of 623 accessions. Whole genome re-sequencing of the accessions revealed significant single nucleotide variations segregating them into distinct clades. A non-synonymous mutation in the EcABCC phytic acid transporter gene between high and low accessions could affect gene function and result in phytic acid differences. The highly sensitive dual stable-isotope erythrocyte incorporation method was adopted to assess the fractional iron absorption. The low phytic acid accession resulted in a significantly higher iron absorption compared with the high phytic acid accession (3.7 vs. 1.3%, p < 0.05). The low phytic acid accession could be effective in preventing iron deficiency in regions where finger millet is habitually eaten. With its low water requirement, finger millet leaves low environmental footprints and hence would be an excellent sustainable strategy to mitigate iron deficiency. Keywords: bioavailability; finger millet; grain phytic acid; iron deficiency anemia (IDA); stable isotope