Gender differences in description of chronic musculoskeletal pain

Background: Pain is a subjective experience and different people describe their pain differently. Due to biological, psychological and sociocultural differences among different gender there is a variation in their pain experiences. Though gender differences in medical history taking have been studied it is still a concept that needs exploration. In addition the gender differences in the impact of pain on sleep function needs to be explored. Methods: A sample of 240 patients including both male and females were randomly recruited from OPD of a tertiary care hospital. The patients were asked to describe their pain in terms of quality through face to face structured interview. The number of descriptors used by every individual was noted. Specific questions regarding pain intensity on numeric pain rating scale and sleep function were also recorded. Results: 67.8% of females used more than two descriptors to explain their pain compared to 53.3% of males. The mean pain intensity reported by females was 7.28±1.24 which was significantly higher than males. 37.8% of females reported bad sleep quality as compared to 16.7% of males. Conclusions: Females report greater pain intensity and use more number of descriptors to report their pain. In addition there is higher impact of musculoskeletal pain on sleep quality in females than in males

Effects of physiotherapy in 28-year-old male with Bell’s palsy following vestibular schwannoma

Schwannomas are benign, well-encapsulated, slow growing nerve sheath tumors. Vestibular schwannomas (VS) are one of the commonest intracranial tumors that arise from the Schwann cells at cerebropontine angle. Post-surgical complications are highly prevalent where Bell’s palsy is one of the most reported problems. Bell’s palsy is a lower motor neuron condition characterized by rapid and unilateral paresis of 7th cranial nerve. A 28-year-old male was diagnosed with vestibular schwannoma followed by Bell’s palsy. Patient presented with facial muscle paresis along with the Bell’s phenomenon. Neurological examination revealed 7th cranial nerve involvement (house Brackmann scale score-VI). Various physiotherapy interventions including facial PNF, facial exercise, electrical stimulation, biofeedback through mirror exercises, facial soft tissue manipulation and ultrasound therapy were used that reduced the house Brackmann scale score to I/VI

Molecular investigations on grain filling rate under terminal heat stress in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Grain yield under post anthesis high temperature stress is largely influenced by grain filling rate (GFR). To investigate molecular basis of this trait, a set of 111 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from Raj 4014, a heat sensitive genotype and WH 730, heat tolerant cultivar was phenotyped during 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 crop seasons, under field conditions. The difference in GFR (dGFR) between the timely and late sown conditions was used as a phenotypic parameter to find association with molecular markers, as parental lines exhibited significant difference for this trait. The mapping population showed clear-cut segregation pattern for differences in GFR between timely and late sown conditions. About 75% of the progenies showed no difference while 25% showed significant difference in GFR under high temperature stress created by late sown condition. To study the association of this trait with the markers, the parental lines were screened with 300 simple sequence repeat (SSR) microsatellite markers out of which 15% (45) were polymorphic between parental lines. These polymorphic markers were utilized for genotyping a subset, comprising of 43 RILs that had clear contrasting variation for dGFR. Regression analysis revealed significant association of dGFR of RILs with two markers viz., Xbarc04 and Xgwm314 with coefficients of determination (R2) values of 0.10 and 0.06, respectively.Keywords: Grain filling rate (GFR), simple sequence repeat (SSR), heat tolerance, wheatAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(28), pp. 4439-444

Effects of adenine sulphate, glutamine and casein hydrolysate on in vitro shoot multiplication and rooting of Kinnow mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco)

In vitro shoot regeneration was carried out for Kinnow mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) through shoot tip explants obtained from in vitro germinated seedling. The medium supplemented with 2.5 mg/L benzylaminopurine (BAP) supported maximum shoot proliferation (2.45 shoots/explant). This rate was further enhanced (7.23 shoots/explant) by adding 25 mg/L glutamine, 50 mg/L adenine sulphate and 100 mg/L casein hydrolysate. From the in vitro proliferated shoots, the shoot apices and nodes were excised and sub-cultured on four different medium namely: SCM-1, SCM-2, SCM-3 and SCM-4 for six consecutive months. Problems like defoliation, chlorosis and loss of vigour in shoots were observed at different stages of subculture. These problems were successfully controlled by SCM-4 having 1.5 mg/L of BAP, 0.5% charcoal, 25 mg/L glutamine, 50 mg/L adenine sulphate and 100 mg/L casein hydrolysate. The SCM-4 also maintained the high proliferation rate throughout the subculturing process. Rooting was best induced on 2 mg/L indole-butyric acid (IBA) in combination with 0.1 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Rooting was significantly enhanced by 100 mg/L casein hydrolysate. The in vitro raised plantlets were acclimatized under culture room conditions in different potting mixture, of which the combination of garden soil, sand and vermiculite mixture in 1:1:2 ratio was found most supportive. After 30 days of acclimatization, plantlets were transferred to soil, where established plants  showed more than 90% survival.Key words: In vitro shoot regeneration, micro-shoots, enhanced shoot multiplication, subculture, acclimatization

Folk medicine used in gynecological and other related problems by rural population of Haryana

323-326Traditionally, the rural women prefer plant medicines rather than modern medicines for abortion, menstrual trouble, conception disorders, sterility, delivery problems, etc. Some ethnomedicinal observations made from the rural areas of Haryana, revealed valuable phytotherapeutic information on the various gynecological disorders. Uses of 17 plant species for menstrual disorders, 15 species for leucorrhoea, 6 species for delivery problems, 5 species for gonorrhea, 4 species for lactation troubles, 3 species for abortion and 2 species for miscarriage have been enumerated. Information on 52 plants with their botanical and vernacular names, family, prescriptions with therapeutic doses and uses are presented. Documentation of such ethnomedicinal data on biological resources will be steps for bioprospecting

A case of peripheral ameloblastoma of retromolar trigone: Histopathological and immunohistochemical profile

Peripheral ameloblastoma (PA) is a rare and unusual entity with histological characteristics similar to those of the common intraosseous ameloblastoma. In this paper, we present a case of PA in a 44-year-old male affecting the right retromolar trigone area along with its immunohistochemical profile using CK19 and Ber-EP4 markers

Recombinant horse interleukin-4 and interleukin-10 induced a mixed inflammatory cytokine response in horse peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Background and Aim: Interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 activate plethora of immune cells and induce the humoral immune response. However, recombinant version of horse IL-4 and IL-10 has not been investigated to understand their immunomodulating activities. This study aimed to produce recombinant horse mature IL-4 and IL-10 in Escherichia coli. Immune-modulating activities of recombinant horse IL-4 and IL-10 were investigated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Materials and Methods: Equine PBMCs were stimulated with recombinant IL-4 and IL-10. A proliferation of PBMCs was measured by XTT assay and cytokines induction was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis displayed a molecular weight of 15 kDa for IL-4 and 19 kDa for IL-10. Recombinant IL-4 and IL-10 significantly induced cell proliferation at 250 ng/ml. The results demonstrated that IL-4 enhanced expression of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and IL-10, while recombinant horse IL-10 induced expression of IL-6, IFN-γ, and TNF-α. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that biologically active horse IL-4 and IL-10 could be produced in E. coli

Cloning, characterization and expression analysis of <em>APETALA2</em> genes of <em>Brassica juncea</em> (L.) Czern.

604-610The APETALA2/Ethylene-Responsive Factor (AP2/ERF) is one of the largest gene families encoding several plant specific transcription factors. It plays significant roles in growth and development process, biotic and abiotic stresses, and responses to hormones. AP2 is a homeotic gene governing floral meristem specification, floral organ determination and floral homeotic gene expression in Arabidopsis. The basic structure of AP2 gene was unchanged during evolution in diploid species. The present study was undertaken to find whether AP2 has undergone any change in structure or expression pattern during evolution of allopolyploid Brassica juncea. We cloned AP2 orthologs and c-DNAs from B. juncea and B. nigra. B. juncea was found to carry three AtAP2 orthologs. Comparison of BjAP2 genes with AP2 orthologs from progenitor species, B. rapa and B. nigra showed that two of the BjAP2 genes were derived from B. rapa and one from B. nigra. BjAP2 genes have retained its characteristic AP2 domain and miR172 complementary sequences. mRNAs originated from three AP2 orthologs were detected in all the tissues examined, namely, leaf, flower buds and seedling, indicating absence of sub-functionalization of AP2 during polyploid evolution. However, one of the B. rapa copies gave alternatively spliced AP2 transcript which lacked the second exon. Consequently, the splice variant could not be translated into functional AP2 protein. Considering that miR172 suppresses translation of AP2 transcripts, the alternatively spliced transcript could still play important regulatory role by limiting the availability of miR172 molecules to bind to functional AP2 transcripts. qRT-PCR analysis of BjAP2 expression in different accessions of B. juncea with contrasting seed size indicated that BjAP2 is not a major determinant of seed size in mustard

Free radical scavenging activity, phenolic contents and Phytochemical analysis of seeds of trigonella foenum graecum

The search for sources of potent antioxidants of natural origin derived from plants is very important in the wake of decreasing resistance of human beings to various diseases. In the present study, antioxidant activity, phenolic contents and phytochemical profile of various extracts (methanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate and hexane) of seeds of Trigonella foenum graecum (fenugreek) were investigated. Ethyl acetate extract (100 μg/ml) showed highest inhibitory potential with application of DPPH scavenging (69.70%) and chelating power assay (63.44%). The differences in antioxidant activity of extracts are attributed to the presence of various phytochemicals. The IC50 values of different extracts were also calculated. There was found a positive correlation (R ≥ 0.895) between the total phenolic content and the antioxidant activity of extracts. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, phenols and tannins. Results from different parameters were in agreement with each other. The results reveal that all extracts of the fenugreek exhibit antioxidant activity. These findings suggest that the fenugreek extracts could act as potent source of antioxidants