Chronic pelvic pain in women: comparative study between ultrasonography and laparoscopy as diagnostic tool

Background: Chronic pelvic pain is a major cause of morbidity among the reproductive age group women. The study on patients of chronic pelvic pain aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography and laparoscopy in these patientsMethods: The study was conducted on 100 patients of chronic pelvic pain attending the gynaecology outdoor and were subjected to thorough clinical examination followed by ultrasonography and laparoscopic examination.Results: Maximum number of cases of chronic pelvic pain belonged to 25-30 years, were parous with mean duration of pain of 15.2 months. The most common complaint was vaginal discharge (70%) followed by menstrual irregularity. On clinical examination, pelvic tenderness was observed in majority (60%) of cases. USG examination showed chronic pelvic inflammatory disease in 43% cases followed by myoma (8%), ovarian cyst (5%), endometriosis (6%), pelvic congestion (5%) and no abnormal pathology in 25% cases. On laparoscopic examination, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease was present in 47% cases followed by endometriosis (11%), pelvic congestion (8%), myoma (8%), adhesions (7%) while 13% cases showed normal findings.Conclusions: Laparoscopy is more effective than ultrasonography as a diagnostic tool in patients of chronic pelvic pain.

Infective Larvae of Brugia malayi Induce Polarization of Host Macrophages that Helps in Immune Evasion

Filarial parasites suppress, divert, or polarize the host immune response to aid their survival. However, mechanisms that govern the polarization of host MΦs during early filarial infection are not completely understood. In this study, we infected BALB/c mice with infective larvae stage-3 of Brugia malayi (Bm-L3) and studied their effect on the polarization of splenic MΦs. Results showed that MΦs displayed M2-phenotype by day 3 p.i. characterized by upregulated IL-4, but reduced IL-12 and Prostaglandin-D2 secretion. Increased arginase activity, higher arginase-1 but reduced NOS2 expression and poor phagocytic and antigen processing capacity was also observed. M2 MΦs supported T-cell proliferation and characteristically upregulated p-ERK but downregulated NF-κB-p65 and NF-κB-p50/105. Notably, Bm-L3 synergized with host regulatory T-cells (Tregs) and polarized M2 MΦs to regulatory MΦs (Mregs) by day 7 p.i., which secreted copious amounts of IL-10 and prostaglandin-E2. Mregs also showed upregulated expression levels of MHC-II, CD80, and CD86 and exhibited increased antigen-processing capacity but displayed impaired activation of NF-κB-p65 and NF-κB-p50/105. Neutralization of Tregs by anti-GITR + anti-CD25 antibodies checked the polarization of M2 MΦs to Mregs, decreased accumulation of regulatory B cells and inflammatory monocytes, and reduced secretion of IL-10, but enhanced IL-4 production and percentages of eosinophils, which led to Bm-L3 killing. In summary, we report hitherto undocumented effects of early Bm-L3 infection on the polarization of splenic MΦs and show how infective larvae deftly utilize the functional plasticity of host MΦs to establish themselves inside the host