Childhood-Onset systemic lupus erythematosus: a cohort study

Objective: To determine the clinical and immunological characteristics and short-term outcome of children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Study Design: A descriptive cohort study.Place and Duration of Study: Paediatric Rheumatology Clinic, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 2011 to December 2015.Methodology: Clinical and immunological profile and short-term outcome of children less than 16 years of age admitted in the paediatric ward, with the diagnosis of SLE was studied. Demographic data, clinical presentation, laboratory findings, immunological profile and treatment regimens of these children were evaluated.Results: Thirty-two children, satisfying the criteria of American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for SLE, were enrolled during the study period of five consecutive years. A female predominance was observed with 28 (87.5%) patients being female (F:M 7:1). Mean age at symptom onset was 10.5 +2.7 years; and 8.8 +2.1 years in females and males, respectively. The mean age at diagnosis was 11.3 +2.8 years in females and 9.4 +1.9 years in males. Prolonged fever was the most common non-specific symptom found in 27 (84%), followed by pallor in 13 (41%) patients. Twenty-two (69%) children were found to be anemic and 18 patients (56%) having signs of arthritis at presentation. Renal involvement was observed in 15 (47%) patients. The most common laboratory finding was anemia, found in 22 (69%) of cases. The most common immunological markers were serum anti-neutrophil antibodies (ANA), positive in 28 (88%) patients, followed by anti double-stranded DNA antibodies, raised in 26 (81%) of cases. Out of 32, 12 patients were lost to follow-up. Of the remaining 20 children who were followed for four years, ten (50%) went into remission.Conclusion: Childhood-onset SLE encompasses a wide variety of manifestations with a female preponderance. Fever, arthralgia and pallor are the most frequent clinical manifestations among the children. Hemolytic anemia (HA) is the most common laboratory abnormality, with ANA and anti ds-DNA antibodies positivity in the majority of padiatric patients

Physiological and anthocyanin biosynthesis genes response induced by vanadium stress in mustard genotypes with distinct photosynthetic activity

The present study aimed to elucidate the photosynthetic performance, antioxidant enzyme activities, anthocyanin contents, anthocyanin biosynthetic gene expression, and vanadium uptake in mustard genotypes (purple and green) that differ in photosynthetic capacity under vanadium stress. The results indicated that vanadium significantly reduced photosynthetic activity in both genotypes. The activities of the antioxidant enzymes were increased significantly in response to vanadium in both genotypes, although the purple exhibited higher. The anthocyanin contents were also reduced under vanadium stress. The anthocyanin biosynthetic genes were highly expressed in the purple genotype, notably the genes TT8, F3H, and MYBL2 under vanadium stress. The results indicate that induction of TT8, F3H, and MYBL2 genes was associated with upregulation of the biosynthetic genes required for higher anthocyanin biosynthesis in purple compared with the green mustard. The roots accumulated higher vanadium than shoots in both mustard genotypes. The results indicate that the purple mustard had higher vanadium tolerance

Sarcoidosis with Arteriovenous Malformation in a 15-Year-Old Girl - The Rarest of the Rare

Introduction: Sarcoidosis is an uncommon multi-system disorder with many possible complications. Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are a rare vascular complication of sarcoidosis.CASE DESCRIPTION: A 15-year-old girl presented to the Pediatric Clinic at AKUH with pulmonary, hepatic, joint, and skin manifestations. Physical examination and investigations pointed toward sarcoidosis, including raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), and alanine transaminase (ALT). An incidental finding of pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM) was noticed on echocardiography. She responded to oral corticosteroids, her ACE and ALT levels improved. There was lack of indication for pulmonary angio-embolization for her PAVM. On a 3-year follow-up, her condition improved and she is clinically well.DISCUSSION: Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation is an extremely rare complication of sarcoidosis, especially among the pediatric population. Hence, this is the first reported case of its kind. The relation between sarcoidosis and PAVM is difficult to establish; however, there are some theories. This condition may be treated depending on the symptoms. Since our patient did not have any significant symptoms of PAVM, she was treated for the underlying disease, i.e., sarcoidosis.CONCLUSION: While dealing with patients having multi-system disorders like sarcoidosis, one must be very vigilant so as not to miss out on any complication. Regular follow-up visits should be scheduled to rule out new complications and to monitor the past ones

Influence of entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae, alone and in combination with diatomaceous earth and thiamethoxam on mortality, progeny production, mycosis, and sporulation of the stored grain insect pests

The stored grain insects cause great damage to grains under storage conditions. Synthetic insecticides and fumigants are considered as key measures to control these stored grain insect pests. However, the major issue with these chemicals is grain contamination with chemical residues and development of resistance by insect pests to these chemicals. Biological control is considered as a potential alternative to chemical control especially with the use of pathogens, alone or in combination with selective insecticides. The present study was conducted to evaluate the synergism of Metarhizium anisopliae with diatomaceous earth (DE) and thiamethoxam against four insect pests on the stored wheat grains. In the first bioassay, the M. anisopliae was applied at 1.4 × 104 and 1.4 × 106conidia/ml alone and in integration with two concentrations (250 and 500 ppm) of tested DE. The tested fungus when combined with DE and thiamethoxam possessed synergistic impact as compared to their individual efficacy. Adult mortality increased with respect to increased exposure interval and doses. In the second bioassay, M. anisopliae was applied at 1.4 × 104 conidia/ml individually and in combination with three concentrations (0.50, 0.75, and 1.00 ppm) of thiamethoxam. Results concluded that M. anisopliae integrated with DE and thiamethoxam provides more effective control of stored grain insect pests

Biocontrol of Aspergillus flavus on Peanut Kernels Using Streptomyces yanglinensis 3-10

The bacterium, Streptomyces yanglinensis 3-10, shows promise in the control of many phytopathogenic fungi. In this study, S. yanglinensis and its antifungal substances, culture filtrate (CF3-10) and crude extracts (CE3-10), were evaluated for their activity in reducing growth and aflatoxin AFB1 production by Aspergillus flavus, both in vitro and in vivo on peanut kernels. The results showed that in dual culture conditions, S. yanglinensis reduced the mycelial growth of A. flavus about 41% as compared to control. The mycelial growth of A. flavus was completely inhibited on potato dextrose agar amended with CF3-10 at 3% (v/v) or CE3-10 at 2.5 μg/ml. In liquid culture experiments, growth inhibition ranged from 32.3 to 91.9% with reduction in AFB1 production ranging from 46.4 to 93.4% using different concentrations of CF3-10 or CE3-10. For in vivo assays, CF3-10 at 0.133 ml/g (v/w) or CE3-10 at 13.3 μg/g (w/w) reduced the postharvest decay of peanut kernels by inhibiting visible growth of A. flavus leading to an 89.4 or 88.1% reduction in AFB1 detected, respectively. Compared with the controls, CF3-10 and CE3-10 in A. flavus shake culture significantly reduced expression levels of two AFB1 biosynthesis genes, aflR and aflS. Furthermore, electron microscopy observation showed that CF3-10 (2%, v/v) caused hyphae growth to be abnormal and shriveled, cell organelles to degenerate and collapse, large vacuoles to appear. These results suggest that S. yanglinensis 3-10 has potential as an alternative to chemical fungicides in protecting peanut kernels and other agricultural commodities against postharvest decay from A. flavus

Nutrient Indexing of Different Olive Cultivars under Rainfed Conditions

The diagnosis and recommendation integrated system (DRIS) approach assesses plants’ nutrient status by comparing crop nutrient ratios with optimum values from a high-yielding group (DRIS norms). Furthermore, in this study, twenty-one grids were selected using GPS for soil sampling from a 1-hectare olive orchard field with a grid size of 20 × 20 m. Using standard laboratory procedures, soil samples were analyzed for macronutrients (N, P, and K ranging from 0.06–0.17%, 1.44–5.56%, and 31.94–120.32 mg kg−1) and micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn and B ranging from 25.16–82.3, 1.09–1.8, 26.96–65.69, 0.01–4.5 and 0.48–1.06 mg kg−1), respectively, and in plant samples for macronutrients (N, P and K ranging from 0.63–1.93, 0.01–0.16 and 0.75–1.37%) and micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn and B ranging from 152.5–621.5, 8.5–17, 18–34 and 43.5–113 mg kg−1), respectively. The critical ranges were investigated in terms of their relationship to the population’s yield level. DRIS norms derived from olives were able to detect nutrient deficiency and excess

Evaluation of Rhizospheric-Pseudomonas spp. for the management of Meloidogyne incognita in tomato

Root knot nematodes are commercially important plant parasites of many vegetable crops in Pakistan. This study investigate antagonistic effect of Pseudomonas spp. against M. incognita on tomato crop. Ten tomato cultivars were screened against RKN infection. Roma was found the most resistant against infection of M. incognita while money maker was found the most susceptible. Gall or egg mass number/indices are more resistant to RKN. Pseudomonas strains inoculated in the infected tomato plants reduced galling index and also improved the growth of the plant. So, it was obvious that bio-control agents also act as PGPR by stimulating plant growth and inducing resistance through the increase of total phenolic contents and salicylic acid. Tomato cv. Roma showed the greatest increase of total phenol contents and salicylic acid exhibiting tolerance against M. incognita infestation. Tomato cv. Roma showed significantly resistant response against root-knot nematode diseases. Pseudomonas showed significant antagonistic potential against M. incognita in tomato plant

Association of detoxification enzymes with butene-fipronil in larvae and adults of Drosophila melanogaster

Insecticide resistance is a major challenge in successful insect pest control as the insects have the ability to develop resistance to various widely used insecticides. Butene-fipronil is a novel compound with high toxicity to insects and less toxicity to the non-target organisms. In the present study, the effect of butene-fipronil alone and in combination with three enzyme inhibitors, piperonyl butoxide (PBO), diethyl maleate (DEM), and triphenyl phosphate (TPP), was carried out on larvae and adults of Drosophilia melanogaster. Our results indicated that the co-toxicity indices of butene-fipronil + PBO, butene-fipronil + TPP, and butene-fipronil + DEM mixtures were 437.3, 335.0, and 210.3, respectively, in the second-instar larvae, while 186.6, 256.2, and 238.5, respectively, in the adults, indicating synergistic effects. Interestingly, butene-fipronil increased the expression of CYP28A5 in the larvae; CYP9F2, CYP304A1, CYP28A5, and CYP318A1 in the female adults; and CYP303A1 and CYP28A5 in the male adults. Furthermore, high-level expression of Est-7 was observed in the female adults compared to larvae and male adults. Our results suggest that there is no difference in butene-fipronil metabolism in larvae and male and female adults of D. melanogaster</em

Influence of Bacterial Secondary Symbionts in Sitobion avenae on Its Survival Fitness against Entomopathogenic Fungi, Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum

The research was focused on the ability of wheat aphids Sitobion avenae, harboring bacterial secondary symbionts (BSS) Hamiltonella defensa or Regiella insecticola, to withstand exposure to fungal isolates of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum. In comparison to aphids lacking bacterial secondary symbionts, BSS considerably increased the lifespan of wheat aphids exposed to B. bassiana strains (Bb1022, EABb04/01-Tip) and M. brunneum strains (ART 2825 and BIPESCO 5) and also reduced the aphids' mortality. The wheat aphid clones lacking bacterial secondary symbionts were shown to be particularly vulnerable to M. brunneum strain BIPESCO 5. As opposed to wheat aphids carrying bacterial symbionts, fungal pathogens infected the wheat aphids lacking H. defensa and R. insecticola more quickly. When treated with fungal pathogens, bacterial endosymbionts had a favorable effect on the fecundity of their host aphids compared to the aphids lacking these symbionts, but there was no change in fungal sporulation on the deceased aphids. By defending their insect hosts against natural enemies, BSS increase the population of their host society and may have a significant impact on the development of their hosts

Trichoderma spp. Genes Involved in the Biocontrol Activity Against Rhizoctonia solani

ChileRhizoctonia solani is a pathogen that causes considerable harm to plants worldwide. In the absence of hosts, R. solani survives in the soil by forming sclerotia, and management methods, such as cultivar breeding, crop rotations, and fungicide sprays, are insufficient and/or inefficient in controlling R. solani. One of the most challenging problems facing agriculture in the twenty-first century besides with the impact of global warming. Environmentally friendly techniques of crop production and improved agricultural practices are essential for long-term food security. Trichoderma spp. could serve as an excellent example of a model fungus to enhance crop productivity in a sustainable way. Among biocontrol mechanisms, mycoparasitism, competition, and antibiosis are the fundamental mechanisms by which Trichoderma spp. defend against R. solani, thereby preventing or obstructing its proliferation. Additionally, Trichoderma spp. induce a mixed induced systemic resistance (ISR) or systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in plants against R. solani, known as Trichoderma-ISR. Stimulation of every biocontrol mechanism involves Trichoderma spp. genes responsible for encoding secondary metabolites, siderophores, signaling molecules, enzymes for cell wall degradation, and plant growth regulators. Rhizoctonia solani biological control through genes of Trichoderma spp. is summarized in this paper. It also gives information on the Trichoderma-ISR in plants against R. solani. Nonetheless, fast-paced current research on Trichoderma spp. is required to properly utilize their true potential against diseases caused by R. solani