Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by progressive muscular paralysis reflecting degeneration of motor neurones in the primary motor cortex, corticospinal tracts, brainstem and spinal cord. Incidence (average 1.89 per 100,000/year) and prevalence (average 5.2 per100,000) are relatively uniform in Western countries, although foci of higher frequency occur in the Western Pacific. The mean age of onset for sporadic ALS is about 60 years. Overall, there is a slight male prevalence (M:F ratio~1.5:1). Approximately two thirds of patients with typical ALS have a spinal form of the disease (limb onset) and present with symptoms related to focal muscle weakness and wasting, where the symptoms may start either distally or proximally in the upper and lower limbs. Gradually, spasticity may develop in the weakened atrophic limbs, affecting manual dexterity and gait. Patients with bulbar onset ALS usually present with dysarthria and dysphagia for solid or liquids, and limbs symptoms can develop almost simultaneously with bulbar symptoms, and in the vast majority of cases will occur within 1–2 years. Paralysis is progressive and leads to death due to respiratory failure within 2–3 years for bulbar onset cases and 3–5 years for limb onset ALS cases. Most ALS cases are sporadic but 5–10% of cases are familial, and of these 20% have a mutation of the SOD1 gene and about 2–5% have mutations of the TARDBP (TDP-43) gene. Two percent of apparently sporadic patients have SOD1 mutations, and TARDBP mutations also occur in sporadic cases. The diagnosis is based on clinical history, examination, electromyography, and exclusion of 'ALS-mimics' (e.g. cervical spondylotic myelopathies, multifocal motor neuropathy, Kennedy's disease) by appropriate investigations. The pathological hallmarks comprise loss of motor neurones with intraneuronal ubiquitin-immunoreactive inclusions in upper motor neurones and TDP-43 immunoreactive inclusions in degenerating lower motor neurones. Signs of upper motor neurone and lower motor neurone damage not explained by any other disease process are suggestive of ALS. The management of ALS is supportive, palliative, and multidisciplinary. Non-invasive ventilation prolongs survival and improves quality of life. Riluzole is the only drug that has been shown to extend survival

Cross genome comparisons of serine proteases in Arabidopsis and rice

BACKGROUND: Serine proteases are one of the largest groups of proteolytic enzymes found across all kingdoms of life and are associated with several essential physiological pathways. The availability of Arabidopsis thaliana and rice (Oryza sativa) genome sequences has permitted the identification and comparison of the repertoire of serine protease-like proteins in the two plant species. RESULTS: Despite the differences in genome sizes between Arabidopsis and rice, we identified a very similar number of serine protease-like proteins in the two plant species (206 and 222, respectively). Nearly 40% of the above sequences were identified as potential orthologues. Atypical members could be identified in the plant genomes for Deg, Clp, Lon, rhomboid proteases and species-specific members were observed for the highly populated subtilisin and serine carboxypeptidase families suggesting multiple lateral gene transfers. DegP proteases, prolyl oligopeptidases, Clp proteases and rhomboids share a significantly higher percentage orthology between the two genomes indicating substantial evolutionary divergence was set prior to speciation. Single domain architectures and paralogues for several putative subtilisins, serine carboxypeptidases and rhomboids suggest they may have been recruited for additional roles in secondary metabolism with spatial and temporal regulation. The analysis reveals some domain architectures unique to either or both of the plant species and some inactive proteases, like in rhomboids and Clp proteases, which could be involved in chaperone function. CONCLUSION: The systematic analysis of the serine protease-like proteins in the two plant species has provided some insight into the possible functional associations of previously uncharacterised serine protease-like proteins. Further investigation of these aspects may prove beneficial in our understanding of similar processes in commercially significant crop plant species

ANALYSIS OF ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS SPONTANEOUSLY REPORTED TO ADVERSE DRUG MONITORING CENTRE OF A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL–PROSPECTIVE STUDY

Objective: To assess ADRs with reference to causative drugs, organ systems involved and seriousness of reactions.Methods: A prospective study conducted over a period of 1 y. The spontaneous adverse drug reactions reported between July 2016 and July 2017 at AMC centre BRIMS, Bidar were analyzed using Naranjo's scale. Causality assessment of suspected drugs involved, system affected, and seriousness of reactions was assessed.Results: GIT system was most commonly involved, followed by generalized features, skin and appendages, CNS i. e, extrapyramidal system and dizziness, hearing and vestibular systems.Conclusion: Majority of the ADRs reported were mild to moderate severity and 20% can be categorized as severe reactions, which needed to treat under hospitalizatio

Performance analysis of coconut enterprises facilitated through agribusiness incubators

Agribusiness incubators (ABI) catalyze entrepreneurship development by facilitating technology and institutionalized services. The study addresses the performance analysis of enterprises promoted through coconut sector ABIs working in Kerala. Primary and secondary data collected from 30 randomly selected ABI graduated entrepreneurs in business were used to characterize the enterprises. The results indicated that 56 per cent of enterprises joined ABIs at the nascent stage and were able to receive government funding under different subsidy schemes. Majority of enterprises (72%) shared features of micro-enterprises in terms of the number of persons employed (01-10) and annual turnover less than ` 25 lakh. Most of the micro-enterprises (66%) functioned as sole proprietary firms, whereas small enterprises were registered as limited company/partnership firms (20%). Virgin coconut oil (VCO) was the major product in 40 per cent of enterprises followed by coconut chips (20%), coconut chocolates (10%), desiccated coconut (07), neera and tender coconut water-based drinks (07%). Performances of two purposively selected enterprises producing VCO and coconut chips were undertaken using break-even analysis. Production and sales of both VCO and coconut chips were more than the calculated BEP values of 1000 litres and 500 kg respectively. This indicated that both enterprises operated at profitable levels. The findings suggest that the entrepreneurs who completed the business incubation program had greater success in their business irrespective of the business size. This can be attributed to their greater access to technologies and entrepreneurship development programmes under the ABI

Characterization of mango (Mangifera indica L.) genotypes based on physio-chemical quality attributes

Evaluation of fruit crops has been successfully utilized for studying the performance of varieties under different agro climatic regions time to time. In the present study cultivars were characterized on the basis of their physico-biochemical attributes. “Mallika” and “Neelgoa” were found superior in terms of fruit weight (321.87 g), size (12.55 cm, 8.13 cm), pulp weight (257.91 g) and pulp stone ratio (7.71) respectively. “Mallika” excelled in terms of sugar (20.82), while “Amrapali” in carotenoids (8.38 mg/100 g). Among them, Mallika (22.41?B) possessed the high-est amount of total soluble solids while lowest amount in Langra (16.90 ?B) whereas maximum titrable. The study shows the potential of Amrapali in terms of its quality, being late can meet the demand for later period when no other cultivar is available

Influence of pre-harvest application of gibberellin and brassinosteroid on fruit growth and quality characteristics of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia (Burm.) Nakai) cv. Gola

Quality of fruit crop is an important parameter to decide the acceptability of the product. The present study consists of seventeen year old pear (Pyrus pyrifolia (Burm.) Nakai) trees subjected to seven treatments viz., GA3 (50 ppm,100 ppm), BR (0.5 ppm, 1.0 ppm), and GA3 + BR (50 ppm + 0.5 ppm and 100 ppm + 1 ppm) and water as control, sprayed thrice at 15 days intervals starting from petal fall stage. Each treatment was replicated thrice with one tree served as a treatment unit. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design. The fruits treated with GA3 @ 50 ppm (T1) showed the highest fruit length (6.98 cm), breadth (6.81 cm), weight (175.9 g) and volume (171.16 cc). An improvement in terms of fruit quality was observed either alone or in combined application of GA3 and BR. The application of BR @ 1 ppm (T4) recorded the highest TSS (12.91°Brix) and lowest titrable acidity (0.42%) while the highest ascorbic acid content (6.95 mg / 100 g) and non reducing sugar (0.44%) was estimated under GA3 @ 100 ppm + BR @ 1 ppm (T6). Total sugar (7.88%) and reducing sugar (7.45%) was observed highest in GA3 @ 50 ppm + BR @ 0.5 ppm (T5). Based on this research combined application of GA3 + BR had a positive effect and therefore can be recommended for spray on pear in order to obtain higher yield and better quality

Design, Synthesis, Characterization and Evaluation of Newer Potent Apolipoprotein E4 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.

ApoE4 with increased risk of AD makes it a potential drug target for designing natural drug candidates for Alzheimer’s disease. Reviewing research articles and journals, six Pharmacophore features consisting of three hydrogen bond donor (HBD) and three hydrophobic spheres (HYP) was identified as the best model for designing ApoE4 inhibitors. Based on which a virtual library of 50 compounds (LK 1-LK50) were designed, docked against protein PDB ID 1 GS9 using Autodock Tools® 1.5.2 and all found to have good predictive activity with good docking scores. All the designed molecules are also optimized by Drug likeness properties such as Lipinski rule of five and ADMET properties using OSIRIS® Property explorer and MolInspiration® software confirming that these molecules are accepted to be orally bioavailable. Lead compound to be synthesized was chosen from the 10 active hit molecules and its analogs are synthesized as LS 1, LS 2, LS 3, LS4, LS 5 and the chemical nature of the synthesized compounds were characterized by spectral studies such as IR ,Mass, NMR and LC-MS analysis. The synthesized compound LS 4 was found to be effectively inhibit ApoE4 and hence it is further subjected for invitro screening by MTT ASSAY and neuroprotective effect against L-DOPA-Aβ42 induced toxicity SH-5YSY.Compound LS 4 showed less toxicity at minimum concentration and strong neuroprotective effect. The amyloid induced toxicities were rescued more prominently by newly designed ApoE4 inhibitor LS 4 at 1.567 μg/ml of 93.81% viability in SH-SY5Y cells

CARDIOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF LEAVES OF KIGELIA AFRICANA ON ISOPRENALINE INDUCED MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

Kigelia Africana is an herbal medicinal plant and it is used to cure different disorders. The present study was involved in cardioprotective activity of leaves of Kigelia Africana on ISO induced myocardial injury. Male wistar rats are divided into five groups of six animals each. All the grouped rats were pre-treated with the extract and standard (propranolol 10 mg/kg) either s.c. or orally for eight days. Then, they were given 5.25 and 8.5 mg/kg isopreterenol s.c. on two consecutive days. Early treatment with extract of Kigelia Africana 100mg/kg, 200 mg/kg showed significant decrease in level of serum marker enzymes aspartate transaminase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), changes in the oxidative stress markers like lipid peroxidase (LPO), glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) caused by ISO (5.25 and 8.5 mg/kg). The defence action of leaves of Kigelia Africana concluded by observing histopathology and are more consistent at 200mg/kg. Hence, we conclude that pre-treatment with extract of leaves of Kigelia Africana more barrier aganist the ISO induced myocardial injury

Fatty acid composition of serum and tissue lipids in male Indian desert gerbils (Meriones hurrianae; Jerdon) and Wistar rats

Serum lipids and fatty acid composition of total lipids, phospholipids and cholesterol ester fractions of serum, liver, heart and testes of male Indian desert gerbils (Marianas hurrianae; Jerdon) were analysed and compared with Wistar rats.Triglycerides in serum and liver were similar in gerbils and rats, Significant differences in the distribution of polyunsaturated fatty acids in different lipid fractions were observed between gerbils and rats. Total lipids, phospholipids and cholesterol  ester fractions in rats contained higher levels of arachidonic acid than in gerbils