Trichoscopic findings in cicatricial alopecias and hair shaft disorders and its application in histopathology

Background: Many studies have been published on dermoscopy of hair and scalp disorders in the past few years, but these have been mainly carried out in western countries. Indian skin is mainly type IV and V and has its own unique set of problems and pathological findings. Hence, we conducted a study at our institute to study the dermoscopic patterns of various cicatricial alopecias.Methods: This was a descriptive study conducted in the Dermatology outpatient department, Skinaccess clinics, Nashik, between August 2014 to June 2016. The most common and characteristic feature seen in patients with cicatricial alopecia was hair follicle effacement seen in all 24 patients (100%). Hair follicle plugging was seen in 6 (25%) patients with DLE, and one patient with idiopathic scarring. Hyperkeratotic perifollicular scaling was seen in 2 patients with lichen plano pilaris. Perifollicular hyperpigmentation was seen in one patient of discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) and 2 patients with idiopathic scarring. Hair casts were seen in 2 patients with lichen plano pilaris, and in one patient with idiopathic scarring. Patchy depigmentation was seen in 4 patients with discoid lupus erythematosus, 3 patients with idiopathic scarring, and one patient with lichen plano pilaris.Results: The most common and characteristic feature seen in patients with cicatricial alopecia was hair follicle effacement seen in all 24 patients (100%). Hair follicle plugging was seen in 6 (25%) patients with DLE, and one patient with idiopathic scarring. Hyperkeratotic perifollicular scaling was seen in 2 patients with lichen plano pilaris. Perifollicular hyperpigmentation was seen in one patient of discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) and 2 patients with idiopathic scarring. Hair casts were seen in 2 patients with lichen plano pilaris, and in one patient with idiopathic scarring. Patchy depigmentation was seen in 4 patients with discoid lupus erythematosus, 3 patients with idiopathic scarring, and one patient with lichen plano pilaris.Conclusions: Hair follicle effacement is a characteristic dermoscopic feature of cicatricial alopecia. Hair follicle plugging, patchy depigmentation and red dots are seen in DLE. In lichen plano pilaris the dermoscopic findings of blue dots, white dots and perifollicular scaling were found to be useful for making an accurate diagnosis. Perifollicular scaling and tufting of hair is characteristically seen in patients with folliculitis decalvans. Dermoscopy is very useful in differentiating cicatricial from non-cicatricial alopecias. A biopsy obtained from the peripheral edge of the patch is more likely to show diagnostic features than the central portion. Dermoscopic guided biopsies were shown to yield definitive pathological diagnosis in 95% of the cases. Hair shaft disorders can be easily diagnosed by dermoscopy, without the need for hair

ALTERATION IN SERUM ZINC AND COPPER CONCENTRATIONS AND EFFECT OF ORAL THERAPEUTIC SUPPLEMENTATION OF ZINC ON TRANSFUSION DEPENDANT BETA THALASSEMIA MAJOR PATIENTS

Zinc is one of the essential micronutrients in human and act as a cofactor for more than 300 enzymes and plays an essential role in human growth and development. It has been observed that there was low serum zinc and elevated  copper level in β-thalassemia major compared with normal. Zinc deficiency is considered one of the main factors contributing to growth, cardiovascular diseases, and puberty disorders in β-thalassemic patients. Aim: The goal of the study was to scrutinize the impact of serum zinc and copper concentration in patients with beta-thalassemia major and also to observe the effect of zinc supplementation on transfusion dependent beta-thalassemia patients for six months. Method: 52 beta-thalassemia major patients were studied before and after supplementation of zinc for six months, and status was compared with 52 age and sex-matched healthy normal.  Serum zinc and copper concentration were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) method. Result: There was a significant depleted activity of  serum zinc level (p<0.001), and the copper level was increased significantly (p<0.001) in patients when compared with normal. After six months of supplementation of zinc, there was a significantly enhanced zinc concentration (p<0.001),and copper was marginally increased (p>0.05) when compared with normal and baselines. Conclusion: Beta Thalassemia  major children are on numerous blood transfusions all the way through their life. Due  to this  thalassemic children are at risk of secondary iron burden. This further leads to the  enhanced  oxidative stress. One of the way to may overcome this situation to supply regular zinc supplementation along with treatment, which may be helpful to manage the situation. &nbsp

Image enhancement using fusions by Wavelet Transform, Laplacian Pyramid and combination of both.

This paper represents idea of combining multiple image modalities to provide a single, enhanced image is well established different fusion methods have been proposed in literature. This paper is based on image fusion using wavelet transform, laplacian pyramid and combination of laplacian pyramid and wavelet transform method. Images of same size are used for experimentation. Images used for the experimentation are standard images and averaging filter is used of equal weights in original images to burl. Performance of image fusion technique is measured by mean square error, normalized absolute error and peak signal to noise ratio. proposed method is compared with wavelet transform method and laplacian pyramid method, from the performance analysis it has been observed that MSE is decreased in case of all three the methods where as PSNR Increased, NAE decreased in case of laplacian pyramid and Combination of laplacian pyramid and wavelet transform where as constant for wavelet transform method

Synergistic degradation of diazo dye Direct Red 5B by Portulaca grandiflora and Pseudomonas putida

Plants and bacterial consortium of Portulaca grandiflora and Pseudomonas putida showed complete decolorization of a sulfonated diazo dye Direct Red 5B within 72 h, while in vitro cultures of P. grandiflora and P. putida independently showed 92 and 81 % decolorization within 96 h, respectively. A significant induction in the activities of lignin peroxidase, tyrosinase, 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol reductase and riboflavin reductase was observed in the roots of P. grandiflora during dye decolorization; whereas, the activities of laccase, veratryl alcohol oxidase and 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol reductase were induced in the cells of P. putida. Plant and bacterial enzymes in the consortium gave an enhanced decolorization of Direct Red 5B synergistically. The metabolites formed after dye degradation analyzed by UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy and high performance liquid chromatography confirmed the biotransformation of Direct Red 5B. Differential fate of metabolism of Direct Red 5B by P. grandiflora, P. putida and their consortium were proposed with the help of gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy analysis. P. grandiflora metabolized the dye to give 1-(4-diazenylphenyl)-2-phenyldiazene, 7-(benzylamino) naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid, 7-aminonaphthalene-2-sulfonic acid and methylbenzene. P. putida gave 4-hydroxybenzenesulfonic acid and 4-hydroxynaphthalene-2-sulfonic acid and benzamide. Consortium showed the formation of benzenesulfonic acid, 4-diazenylphenol, 6-aminonaphthalen-1-ol, methylbenzene and naphthalen-1-ol. Consortium achieved an enhanced and efficient degradation of Direct Red 5B. Phytotoxicity study revealed the nontoxic nature of metabolites formed after parent dye degradation. Use of such combinatorial systems of plant and bacteria could prove to be an effective and efficient strategy for the removal of textile dyes from soil and waterways

Neurovascular unit dysfunction with blood-brain barrier hyperpermeability contributes to major depressive disorder: a review of clinical and experimental evidence

About one-third of people with major depressive disorder (MDD) fail at least two antidepressant drug trials at 1 year. Together with clinical and experimental evidence indicating that the pathophysiology of MDD is multifactorial, this observation underscores the importance of elucidating mechanisms beyond monoaminergic dysregulation that can contribute to the genesis and persistence of MDD. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are mechanistically linked to the presence of neurovascular dysfunction with blood-brain barrier (BBB) hyperpermeability in selected neurological disorders, such as stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast to other major psychiatric disorders, MDD is frequently comorbid with such neurological disorders and constitutes an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in disorders characterized by vascular endothelial dysfunction (cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus). Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are implicated in the neurobiology of MDD. More recent evidence links neurovascular dysfunction with BBB hyperpermeability to MDD without neurological comorbidity. We review this emerging literature and present a theoretical integration between these abnormalities to those involving oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in MDD. We discuss our hypothesis that alterations in endothelial nitric oxide levels and endothelial nitric oxide synthase uncoupling are central mechanistic links in this regard. Understanding the contribution of neurovascular dysfunction with BBB hyperpermeability to the pathophysiology of MDD may help to identify novel therapeutic and preventative approaches