Probable autoimmune causal relationship between periodontitis and Hashimotos thyroidits: A systemic review

Periodontitis is a multifactorial disease with microbial dental plaque as the initiator of periodontal disease. However, the manifestation and progression of the disease is influenced by a wide variety of determinants and factors. The strongest type of causal relationship is the association of systemic and periodontal disease. Hashimotos thyroiditis has also been considered as one of the causes of periodontal disease. As a matter of fact, on an autoimmune basis, in Hashimotos disease and periodontal disease, we have made an attempt to derive the common mechanisms, with an evidence base. The need for this kind of review was due to the fact that the outcome of periodontal therapy did not give the expected results in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Hence, a possible link between Hashimotos thyroiditis and periodontitis was considered

Takayasu arteritis in young male

Hypertension is one of the common diseases affecting general population. The World Health Organization has concluded that hypertension is the major factor responsible for the most deaths worldwide, 12.8% per year or more than seven million. Additionally hypertension is rated third on the list of factors responsible for the burden of disease during life, as measured by disability-adjusted life-years. The study, diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in the young constitute one of the major health challenges today, because of high percentage of potentially curable chance if the cause could be found. Indeed intensive study and investigations are required to unravel the underlying cause. Here we present a case of typical Takayasu arteritis presented with swelling in the right neck and hypertension.Keywords: Hypertension, takayasu arteritis, young adultsNigerian Journal of Clinical Practice • Oct-Dec 2013 • Vol 16 • Issue

A clinical case report of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and its impact on the treatment of chronic periodontitis

Periodontitis is a multifactorial disease with microbial dental plaque as the initiator of periodontal disease. However, the manifestation and progression of the disease is influenced by a wide variety of determinants and factors. The strongest type of causal relationship is the association of systemic and periodontal disease. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis has also been considered as one of the causes of periodontal disease. This clinical case report highlights the impact of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis on the outcome of periodontal therapy.Keywords: Chronic periodontitis, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, periodontal medicineNigerian Journal of Clinical Practice • Jan-Mar 2012 • Vol 15 • Issue

A study of turbulent characteristics of atmospheric boundary layer over monsoon trough region using Kytoon and Doppler sodar

As a part of the MONTBLEX-90 observational programme, Kytoon and Doppler sodar observations were taken at Kharagpur. These data are analysed to study the turbulent characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer in terms of stability, temperature structure function (CT2 ) and velocity structure function (Cv2 ). CT2 follows a Z-4/3 law on most of the days, whereas the variation of CV2 is not systematic. CV2 and CT2 values are found to vary between 10-5-10-1 m4/3s-2 and 10-5-10-2°C2 m-2/3 respectively

Comparative study of the efficacy of herbal antioxdants oxitard and aloe vera in the treatment of oral submucous fibrosis

Objectives: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a potentially malignant disorder predominantly seen in the Indian subcontinent due to areca nut, tobacco and their products. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of oxitard and aloe vera in the management of OSMF. Material and Methods: 120 subjects with OSMF were included in the study. The patients were clinico-pathologi - cally diagnosed and divided equally in 2 groups, Group A (oxitard group) and Group B (aloe vera group). Group A was administered 2 oxitard capsules twice daily and Group B was given 5 mg aloe vera gel to be applied topically thrice daily for 3 months. Different clinical parameters were evaluated at regular intervals. Data was analyzed using the Student's paired t test and Chi-square test. P-value <0.001 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Clinical improvements in mouth opening and tongue protrusion was significant in the oxitard group (p=0.0005). Subjective symptoms of pain associated with the lesion (p=0.0003), difficulty in swallowing (p=0.0000) and speech (p=0.0001) also significantly improved in the Group A. The improvement in burning sensation was not statistically significant between the 2 groups (p=0.002). There was a mild to moderate decrease in the size of the lesion. Conclusions: Though there is no definitive treatment for the condition however, overall assessment of symptoms like mouth opening, tongue protrusion, difficulty in swallowing and speech and pain associated with the lesion showed that oxitard capsules can bring about significant clinical improvements than aloe vera gel in the treatment of OSMF

Serum Electrolyte Status and Liver Functions in Different Phases of Menstrual Cycle

ABSTRACT The menstrual cycle is characterized by cyclical fluctuations in the levels of FSH, LH, estrogen and progesterone. But the changes occur in serum electrolyte level and liver functions have not been clearly established. To compare the serum electrolyte level and liver functions in different phases of menstrual cycle.The present study was carried out on 92 healthy female medical students in the age group of 18 to 23years with normal menstrual cycle of 27-33 days. Serum electrolytes like, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium and liver function parameters like total protein, albumin and globulin levels were estimated during menstrual, Proliferative and Secretory phases of menstrual cycle using standard procedures. There was a nonsignificant changes in the level of serum calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium in different phases of menstrual cycle and total protein, albumin and globulin levels were significantly increased (p&lt;0.05) in proliferative phase of menstrual cycle. (P&lt;0.05). Nonsignificant variation in Serum electrolytes during various phases of menstrual cycle may be due to the effect of estrogen and changes in liver function may be due to the influence of progesterone during menstrual cycle

Comprehensive characterization of immune landscape of Indian and Western triple negative breast cancers.

PURPOSE: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease with a significant challenge to effectively manage in the clinic worldwide. Immunotherapy may be beneficial to TNBC patients if responders can be effectively identified. Here we sought to elucidate the immune landscape of TNBCs by stratifying patients into immune-specific subtypes (immunotypes) to decipher the molecular and cellular presentations and signaling events of this heterogeneous disease and associating them with their clinical outcomes and potential treatment options. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We profiled 730 immune genes in 88 retrospective Indian TNBC samples using the NanoString platform, established immunotypes using non-negative matrix factorization-based machine learning approach, and validated them using Western TNBCs (n=422; public datasets). Immunotype-specific gene signatures were associated with clinicopathological features, immune cell types, biological pathways, acute/chronic inflammatory responses, and immunogenic cell death processes. Responses to different immunotherapies associated with TNBC immunotypes were assessed using cross-cancer comparison to melanoma (n=504). Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and pan-macrophage spatial marker expression were evaluated. RESULTS: We identified three robust transcriptome-based immunotypes in both Indian and Western TNBCs in similar proportions. Immunotype-1 tumors, mainly representing well-known claudin-low and immunomodulatory subgroups, harbored dense TIL infiltrates and T-helper-1 (Th1) response profiles associated with smaller tumors, pre-menopausal status, and a better prognosis. They displayed a cascade of events, including acute inflammation, damage-associated molecular patterns, T-cell receptor-related and chemokine-specific signaling, antigen presentation, and viral-mimicry pathways. On the other hand, immunotype-2 was enriched for Th2/Th17 responses, CD4+ regulatory cells, basal-like/mesenchymal immunotypes, and an intermediate prognosis. In contrast to the two T-cell enriched immunotypes, immunotype-3 patients expressed innate immune genes/proteins, including those representing myeloid infiltrations (validated by spatial immunohistochemistry), and had poor survival. Remarkably, a cross-cancer comparison analysis revealed the association of immunotype-1 with responses to anti-PD-L1 and MAGEA3 immunotherapies. CONCLUSION: Overall, the TNBC immunotypes identified in TNBCs reveal different prognoses, immune infiltrations, signaling, acute/chronic inflammation leading to immunogenic cell death of cancer cells, and potentially distinct responses to immunotherapies. The overlap in immune characteristics in Indian and Western TNBCs suggests similar efficiency of immunotherapy in both populations if strategies to select patients according to immunotypes can be further optimized and implemented

Evaluation of wound healing activity of Allamanda cathartica. L. and Laurus nobilis. L. extracts on rats

BACKGROUND: Allamanda cathartica. L. is a perennial shrub used in traditional medicine for treating malaria and jaundice. Laurus nobilis. L. is a tree and has been used for its astringent, healing and diuretic properties. The objective of this study was to investigate the aqueous extracts of Allamanda and Laurus nobilis to evaluate their wound healing activity in rats. METHODS: Excision and incision wound models were used to evaluate the wound healing activity of both the extracts on Sprague Dawley rats. In each model, animals were divided into four groups of 10 animals each. In both the model, group 1 served as control and group 2 as reference standard. In an excision wound model, group 3 animals were treated with Allamanda (150 mg kg(-1 )day(-1)) and group 4 animals were treated with Laurus nobilis (200 mg kg(-1 )b.w day(-1)) for 14 days respectively. In the case of incision wound model, group 3 and 4 animals were treated with the extracts of Allamanda and Laurus respectively for 10 days. The effects of vehicles on the rate of wound healing were assessed by the rate of wound closure, period of epithelialisation, tensile strength, weights of the granulation tissue, hydroxyproline content and histopathology of the granulation tissue. RESULTS: The aqueous extract of Allamanda promoted wound healing activity significantly in both the wound models studied. High rate of wound contraction (P < .001), decrease in the period of epithelialisation (10.2 ± 0.13), high skin breaking strength (440.0 ± 4.53), significant increase in the weight of the granulation tissue (P < .001) and hydroxyproline (P < .001) content were observed in animals treated with the aqueous extract of Allamanda. Histological studies of the granulation tissue from the Allamanda treated group showed the presence of a lesser number of inflammatory cells, and increased collagen formation than the control. In Laurus nobilis treated animals, the rate of wound contraction, weight of the granulation tissue and hydroxyproline content were moderately high (P < .05). The histological study of the granulation tissue of the Laurus nobilis treated animals showed larger number of inflammatory cells, and lesser collagen when compared with the Allamanda treated group of animals. However, it was better than the control group of animals. CONCLUSION: The data of this study indicated that the leaf extract of Allamanda possesses better wound healing activity than the Laurus nobilis and it can be used to treat different types of wounds in human beings too

Dynamics of quercetin formation in onion (Allium cepa L.) during vegetation

Onion bulbs (Allium cepa L.) are good sources of flavonoids. The aim of this study was to analyse the changes in dynamics of quercetin formation in three varieties of onions (white, yellow, and red) during the vegetation period. Quercetin content was determined after acid hydrolysis (1.2 M HCl in 50% aqueous methanol) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The content of total phenolics was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR) according to LACHMAN and co-workers (2003). The content of polyphenols in onion ranged from 2893 to 6052 mg kg–1 and the content of quercetin ranged from 52.44 to 280.72 mg kg–1 in fresh matter. The highest content of polyphenols and quercetin was found in the red variety. According to statistical analysis the dynamic of quercetin formation in all cultivars had statistically moderate (P<0.05) increasing tendency. Increasing content of polyphenols was accompanied with slight increase of quercetin, but the differences remained insignificant (P<0.05)

Global distribution of the sickle cell gene and geographical confirmation of the malaria hypothesis

It has been 100 years since the first report of sickle haemoglobin (HbS). More than 50 years ago, it was suggested that the gene responsible for this disorder could reach high frequencies because of resistance conferred against malaria by the heterozygous carrier state. This traditional example of balancing selection is known as the 'malaria hypothesis'. However, the geographical relationship between the transmission intensity of malaria and associated HbS burden has never been formally investigated on a global scale. Here, we use a comprehensive data assembly of HbS allele frequencies to generate the first evidence-based map of the worldwide distribution of the gene in a Bayesian geostatistical framework. We compare this map with the pre-intervention distribution of malaria endemicity, using a novel geostatistical area-mean comparison. We find geographical support for the malaria hypothesis globally; the relationship is relatively strong in Africa but cannot be resolved in the Americas or in Asia