Lipid profile in systemic lupus erythematosus: study from a tertiary teaching hospital of Eastern India

Background: Dyslipidemia is an independent modifiable risk factor for coronary artery disease. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have dyslipidemia and accelerated atherosclerosis; however, there is paucity of published data on the lipid profile in patients with SLE in Eastern India. This study was done to assess the prevalence and abnormality of lipid profile in patients with SLE admitted to a tertiary care teaching hospital in Eastern India.Methods: This was a hospital based prospective study evaluating SLE patients admitted to a tertiary care institution in Eastern India. 101 patients with SLE admitted consecutively and 100 age and sex matched controls were enrolled for study. Fasting total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were measured in plasma whereas very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) was calculated. Statistical analysis was done using the standard statistical techniques.Results: Out of 101 patients of SLE, 97 were female and 4 were of male gender. The age of the patients ranged from 15 to 47 years with a mean of 27.17 (±8.4) years. Dyslipidemia was found in 58(57.4%) patients. Hypercholesterolemia was found in 23 (22.7%), hypertriglyceridemia in 55 (54.4%), raised LDL-C in 24 (23.7%) cases. Raised TC, TG, and LDL-C was found in 18 (17.8%), and raised TC, TG, LDL-C and low HDL-C was found in 9 (8.9%) cases. There was significant increase in serum cholesterol, triglyceride and VLDL-C while decrease in HDL-C in SLE patients than controls (p <0.001). Statistically no difference in lipid profile was found in between groups of SLE receiving steroid and without steroid.Conclusions: Abnormal lipid profiles are very common in patients with SLE, though the patients are very young. Control of dyslipidemia can favourably affect cardiovascular related morbidity and mortality. 

Effectiveness of mindfulness based mental fitness training: an impact evaluation study

Background: Mindfulness-based mental fitness training (MBMFT) based on Vipassana is a secular, non-religious method found to be useful in reducing stress, anxiety and depression in a variety of population. Studies have revealed that an increasing percentage of population experiences high stress. The present study was conducted to evaluate impact of a mindfulness-based mental fitness training (MBMFT) programme on levels of stress and resilience among students of school in an industrial establishment.  Methods: Sixty nine students aged 18-20 years of an industrial establishment who volunteered and met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The participants were randomly divided into two groups, group I (n=35) were given 8 weeks of Mindfulness-Based Mental Fitness Training, and group II (n=34) followed the normal curricula of the school. Questionnaires were completed on psychological well-being and mindfulness by the participants initially and after 08 weeks.Results: The students who underwent MBMFT (group-I) had significantly (p<0.05) higher FFMQ scores at 08 weeks (130.10±9.69) as compared to baseline scores (122.55±12.7) and scores of the group II (117.95±10.1). Group I students also had lower perceived stress scores at the end of 08 weeks of MBMFT. Personal resilience was assessed only for Group-I using Personal Resilience Questionnaire (PRQ). The PRQ score increased significantly (p= 0.000) from mean baseline score of 157.76±10.14 to 166.31±13.01 at the end of 8 weeks.Conclusions: Mindfulness based Mental Fitness Training is an effective method which can be used to enhance the ability of personnel to combat stress. Future large scale multi centric research is required to further validate the effectiveness of MBMFT and to assess feasibility of inclusion of MBMFT as regular aspect in training institutions.

Projectisation of setting up of a dialysis centre at a zonal service hospital

Dialysis is essential for patients suffering from “End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD)” and it is observed from preliminary studies that the prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), the precursor to ESRD is 0.8% in India. The major contributing causes to CKD are diabetes and high blood pressure among many others. These diseases are increasing at an alarming rate across the country 1. With the increasing global trend of chronic non-communicable diseases and India being the world capital for diabetes and possibly hypertension. The cost of supporting the treatment of patients undergoing dialysis and suffering from ESRD is very high in the order of Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per month. Presently dialysis centres only exist at command level hospitals. Considering the anticipated delay in delivering the dialysis service to the patient in the available facility, time and distance; criticality factors involved and the hassles in availing the facility in civil hospitals, there is an inescapable need to establish haemodialysis units in service hospitals at places far away from Command hospitals where the dialysis facility is available at present. With the sparse availability of dialysis facilities for armed forces and their dependents, clientele, it was conceptualized that enhancing the availability of dialysis services at zonal service hospital level shall reduce the patient suffering and produce better health outcomes. This paper brought out the need, feasibility, process, factors involved and outcome of the proposed projectisation of dialysis facility at zonal service hospital. It is found that projectisation of establishing the dialysis setup in Build Own Operate (BOO) model in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode has potential effectiveness and efficiency for providing comprehensive dialysis services to the dependent clientele at zonal service hospitals

Nutritional status associated with metabolic syndrome

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients of different diet habits, life style. Method: 260 participants age ranging from 17 to 80 years(180 control and 180 cases) were included in this study.From qeustionnarie we took the diet chart of respondents like what they had in breakfast, lunch and dinner. Blood sampleswere taken for the routine parameters i.e., FBS and Lipid profile.Metabolic syndrome patients wereidentified according to the criteria of National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III(ATP III).Paired t-test was performed to evaluate the association between various parameters. Result: According to theNational Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) guidelines people who regularly consume high-calorie, high-fat foods like samosas, badas, aloo paranthas, puri, pakoda, and jalebi were more prone to metabolic syndrome. The waist circumference in 89.4% cases was above &gt;90cm. The amount of cholesterol was also high in90% cases (&gt;150 mg/dl) as compared to control

A Synthetic Dolastatin 10 Analogue Suppresses Microtubule Dynamics, Inhibits Cell Proliferation, and Induces Apoptotic Cell Death

We have synthesized eight analogues (<b>D1</b>–<b>D8</b>) of dolastatin 10 containing several unique amino acid subunits. Of these agents, <b>D5</b> was found to be most effective in inhibiting both HeLa cell proliferation and microtubule assembly in vitro. At low nanomolar concentrations, <b>D5</b> inhibited the proliferation of several types of cancer cells in culture. <b>D5</b> bound to tubulin with a dissociation constant of 29.4 ± 6 μM. <b>D5</b> depolymerized microtubules in cultured cells and produced mulitpolar spindles. At its half-maximal inhibitory concentration (15 nM), <b>D5</b> strongly suppressed the dynamics of individual microtubules in live MCF-7 cells. <b>D5</b> increased the accumulation of checkpoint proteins BubR1 and Mad2 at the kinetochoric region and caused G2/M block in these cells. The blocked cells underwent apoptosis with the activation of Jun N-terminal kinase. The results suggested that <b>D5</b> exerts its antiproliferative action by dampening microtubule dynamics

Complicated alcohol withdrawal - an unintended consequence of COVID-19 lockdown.

AIM: To assess the impact of COVID-19-related lockdown in India on alcohol-dependent persons. METHOD: We examined the change in the incidence of severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome presenting to hospitals in the city of Bangalore. RESULTS: A changepoint analysis of the time series data (between 01.01.20 to 11.04.20) showed an increase in the average number of cases from 4 to 8 per day (likelihood ratio test: χ2 = 72, df = 2, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: An unintended consequence of the lockdown was serious illness in some patients with alcohol use disorders