Radiological study to determine the association of proximal femoral geometry in hip fractures

Background: In literature there is scarcity of documentation to test the relationship of radiological geometry of proximal femur with incidence and patterns of hip fractures especially in Indian population. In this study radiological parameters like femoral neck length (FNL), hip axis length (HAL), neck shaft angle (NSA), femoral neck diameter (are measured in standardized digital pelvis radiograph of patients with hip fractures presented at a tertiary care hospital and efforts were made to establish a relationship of these parameters with the pattern of hip fractures in Indian population. Methods: Total of 72 patients attending orthopaedics outpatient clinic or admitted into the hospital with proximal femoral fractures were included in the study. Thorough history and clinical examination data were obtained. Radiographs and necessary investigations were done and FNL, HAL, NSA was calculated. Analysis was done using SPSS package version 26. Results: Among the 72 patients included in the study, the mean age of the patients is 65 years with a SD of 13.64. The mean FNL was 2.452 cm with a SD of 0.471. The mean HAL was 11.1547cm and SD of 1.062. The mean NSA was 124.56degree with a SD of 3.339. The distribution of NSA is statistically insignificant at p<0.05. The mean NSA of extracapsular fracture and Intracapsular fracture in 51-60 years is 123.1956 and 125.7750 with SD of 2.58782 and 3.99555 is respectively. The p=0.151 and is statistically significant. Conclusions: In our study, we concluded that the HAL is significantly increased for intracapsular fractures than for Extracapsular fractures in old age group of 51-60 years. In our study, we could not establish any significant correlation between FNL, HAL and NSA in any age group for any fracture type

Incidence of brain metastases in patients with early HER2-positive breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab and pertuzumab

The addition of pertuzumab (P) to trastuzumab (H) and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has decreased the risk of distant recurrence in early stage HER2-positive breast cancer. The incidence of brain metastases (BM) in patients who achieved pathological complete response (pCR) versus those who do not is unknown. In this study, we sought the incidence of BM in patients receiving HP-containing NAC as well as survival outcome. We reviewed the medical records of 526 early stage HER2-positive patients treated with an HP-based regimen at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), between September 1, 2013 to November 1, 2019. The primary endpoint was to estimate the cumulative incidence of BM in pCR versus non-pCR patients; secondary endpoints included disease free-survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). After a median follow-up of 3.2 years, 7 out of 286 patients with pCR had a BM while 5 out of 240 non-pCR patients had a BM. The 3-year DFS was significantly higher in the pCR group compared to non-pCR group (95% vs 91 %, p = 0.03) and the same trend was observed for overall survival. In our cohort, despite the better survival outcomes of patients who achieved pCR, we did not observe appreciable differences in the incidence of BM by pCR/non-pCR status. This finding suggests that the BM incidence could not be associated with pCR. Future trials with new small molecules able to cross the blood brain barrier should use more specific biomarkers rather than pCR for patients' selection

NEUROPROTECTIVE ACTIVITIES AND REPAIR MECHANISMS OF GINKGO BILOBA EXTRACT EGB 761 ON NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS AND CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM INJURIES

With an increasing number of neurodegenerative diseases and brain injuries, the focus of the research using synthetic and herbal medicines with an aim of treating the existing problems in neuroscience is increasing. The availability of natural resources, knowledge about ancient herbs, and the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders and brain injuries are essential to developing herbal supplements with the ability to treat brain diseases and injuries. Despite the abundance of synthetically developed drugs for brain health, the need for herbal and natural supplements is ever-rising due to the adverse long-term side effects of synthetic drugs. Ginkgo biloba — an Asian plant that is known to possess various neuroprotective properties — has been used as a medicine, even before 1505 AD. Ginkgo biloba extract EGB761 has been shown to treat and manage impaired nervous system disorders. The current review discusses the neuroprotective properties of Ginkgo biloba and its repair mechanisms against subarachnoid hemorrhage, CNS injuries like traumatic brain injury, ischemic brain injury, early brain injury, spinal cord injury, hypoxia, neuronal apoptosis, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, neuroplasticity, neurogenesis, synaptogenesis and its free radical scavenging activity and neuroleptic properties for a nutritional approach to manage neurodegenerative disorders and central nervous system injuries

A quantitative analysis of total carbohydrate content from the salivary expectorants in young children

Background: In this postfluoride era, the concentration of fermentable carbohydrate in saliva after food intake is important to determine the risk of developing dental caries. Aim: The aim of this study is to estimate the total carbohydrate content of salivary expectorants following consumption of commercially processed snacks. Design: Thirty children aged 6–8 years were selected for estimation of total carbohydrate content of salivary expectorants using modified calorimetric anthrone-sulfuric acid-glucose reaction. The test foods analyzed were as follows: Test food A – potato chips, Test food B – glucose biscuits, Test food C – Oreo biscuits, Test food D – cake, and Test food E – cornflakes. The data obtained were analyzed using student's t-test and ANOVA. Results: The difference between the mean carbohydrate values of salivary expectorants of various processed test food groups at 0 and 10 min was statistically significant (P ≤ 0.001). After 10 min interval, cornflakes were found to have highest total carbohydrate content in salivary expectorant (5.186 mg/ml). Conclusion: The foods with high starch content such as cornflakes and potato chips exhibited higher total carbohydrate content, thus depicting lower salivary clearance rate

MicroRNA-509-3p inhibits cellular migration, invasion, and proliferation, and sensitizes osteosarcoma to cisplatin

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary pediatric malignancy of the bone having poor prognosis and long-term survival rates of less than 30% in patients with metastasis. MicroRNA-509 was reported to be downregulated in OS. We and others previously published that miR-509-3p can strongly attenuate cellular migration/invasion and sensitize ovarian cancer to cisplatin. Here, we show that overexpression of miR-509-3p inhibited migration of primary OS cell lines U2OS, HOS, and SaOS2 as well as metastatic derivatives 143B and LM7. miR-509-3p overexpression also inhibited proliferation and invasion of HOS and 143B cells and sensitized cells to cisplatin. Luciferase reporter assays using 3′-UTRs of predicted miR-509-3p targets associated with metastatic phenotypes revealed ARHGAP1 could be one of the downstream effectors of miR-509-3p in HOS. To find the global impact of miR-509-3p overexpression and cisplatin treatment we performed Reverse Phase Protein Analysis (RPPA). AXL, which has been reported to play a critical role in cisplatin resistance and confirmed as direct target of miR-509-3p was downregulated upon miR-509-3p treatment and further down-regulated upon miR-509-3p + cisplatin treatment. We propose that the miR-509-3p/AXL and miR-509-3p/ARHGAP1 axes have the potential to uncover new druggable targets for the treatment of drug resistant metastatic osteosarcoma