HEPATOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF BERBERISARISTATA ROOT EXTRACT AGAINST CHEMICAL INDUCED ACUTE HEPATOTOXICITY IN RATS

Objective: To study the effects of root extract of Berberis aristata in rat model of acute hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). CCL4 is commonly used hepatotoxin in the experimental studies of liver diseases. Liver damage induced by CCL4 involves biotransformation of free radicals derivatives, increased lipid peroxidation and excessive cell death. Berberis aristata root extract, berberine chloride†is known to possess multiple pharmacological activities including anti-microbial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, cholesterol lowering, anti cancer and anti-oxidant effects. The present study was conducted to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of berberine in chemical induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Material & Methods: The experimental protocol was approved be the IAEC. Adult wistar rats aged 7-9 weeks were injected intraperitoneally with 50 percent CCl4 as 1:1 mixture in liquid paraffin. Berberine was administered i/p before or after CCl4 treatment in various groups. Twenty-four hours after CCl4 injection, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase(ALP) activities, total serum bilirubin levels and liver weight were measured. Histological changes of liver were examined with microscopy. Results: Serum ALT, AST, ALP activities significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner in both pre-treatment and post-treatment groups with berberine. Histological examination showed lowered liver damage in berberine-treated groups. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that berberine possesses hepatoprotective effects against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity and that the effects are both preventive and curative. Berberine should have potential for developing a new drug to treat liver toxicity. Key words: CCl4, Berberine, hepatoprotective activity, antioxidantÂ

Neurocysticercosis with initial clinical presentation of acute cysticercal meningitis coexisting with anterior chamber intraocular cysticercosis: a case report from a rural institute in India

Acute cysticercal meningitis coexisting with intraocular cysticercosis is an extremely infrequent clinical presentation of neurocysticercosis. We report a 26 year old male, who presented with signs and symptoms of acute eosinophilic cysticercal meningitis with intraocular cysticercosis in the anterior chamber of left eye. Diagnosis was confirmed with demonstration of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) eosinophilia, cysticercus specific IgG antibodies by CSF ELISA, sterile bacterial, mycobacterial and fungal CSF cultures, cystic lesions containing characteristic scolices consistent with neurocysticercosis on neuroimaging and histopathological demonstration of cysticercus cellulosae larva viscoexpressed from the eye. The importance of having high index of clinical suspicion highlighted along with need of examining cerebrospinal fluid with Wright-Giemsa stain so as not to miss cerebrospinal fluid eosinophilia and diagnosis of this extremely under-reported clinical entity, when there is concurrent presence of brain and other extracerebral lesions consistent with cysticercosis

Human protein reference database—2006 update

Human Protein Reference Database (HPRD) () was developed to serve as a comprehensive collection of protein features, post-translational modifications (PTMs) and protein–protein interactions. Since the original report, this database has increased to >20 000 proteins entries and has become the largest database for literature-derived protein–protein interactions (>30 000) and PTMs (>8000) for human proteins. We have also introduced several new features in HPRD including: (i) protein isoforms, (ii) enhanced search options, (iii) linking of pathway annotations and (iv) integration of a novel browser, GenProt Viewer (), developed by us that allows integration of genomic and proteomic information. With the continued support and active participation by the biomedical community, we expect HPRD to become a unique source of curated information for the human proteome and spur biomedical discoveries based on integration of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data

Histopathological pattern of endometrium in infertility patient: One year prospective study in tertiary care center of rural India

Infertility is defined as difficulty in conceiving children after regular and unprotected coitus for at least one year. Many investigative measures are available now a day to identify the cause of infertility so clinician can assess the chance of achieving pregnancy in couples. Morphology of endometrium is very useful indicator of ovarian function. Our study aims to see the different pattern of endometrium histologically in female infertility patient. We tried to assess the significance anovulatory cycle and incidence of tuberculous endometritis. Study was done in pathology department of UPUMS, Saifai, Etawah. Eighty-four (84) cases of primary and secondary infertility were included in this study. Endometrial biopsy tissues were processed and stained with hematoxylin and eosin stain according to the standard procedure. Out of 84 cases 48(57%) were of primary infertility and 36 (42.85%) were of secondary infertility. Majority of the infertility patient fell in age group of 21 to 30 years. Out of 84 cases 42 (50%) cases showed proliferative endometrium and 33(39.2%) cases showed secretory endometrium. Tuberculous endometritis seen in 2 (2.3%) cases. In present study percentage of anovulatory endometrium was 52.5%, endometrial biopsy is cost-effective, safe and efficient diagnostic tool in cases of both primary and secondary infertility

Statistics pertaining to HPRD growth, experimental types for protein–protein interactions and a breakdown of PTMs

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Human protein reference database—2006 update"</p><p>Nucleic Acids Research 2005;34(Database issue):D411-D414.</p><p>Published online 28 Dec 2005</p><p>PMCID:PMC1347503.</p><p>© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved</p> () Growth of HPRD over the last 3 years with respect to protein entries, protein–protein interactions and PTMs. () Distribution of protein–protein interactions in HPRD based on the type of the experimental method. () Distribution of various types of PTMs in HPRD. The percentage of the respective PTM is indicated only when it is greater than or equal to 2