Isolation and Antibacterial Test of Garlic Oil

Garlic oil is known to have medicinal effect on hypertension, heart desease, anemia and various infections. The active principles are reported to be allicin, diallil disulfide, allilpropyl disulfide, scorduun, selenium and germanium in addition to the presence of anticoagulant, anuhaemolytic and arulthrombotic agents. The methods applied for isolation and other conditions during the isolation affect the yield or the compositions of the oil, for instance with steam distillation the allicin will decompose whereas extraction at room temperature will yield oil with allicin as the main component. In the present study isolation was conducted by extraction with ethylacetate or ethanol and the oil obtained was tested for their antibacterial capacity. Tests against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli indicated that the isolated oil were active. On the other hand, commercial garlic extract (KGE) and garlic oil capsule (GOC) gave negative test. This may have been due to either insufficient concentration. of the biologically active component present in the commercial drugs or different method of extraction process. investigation with thin layer chromatography (TLC) of the drugs On silica gel plate ustngn-hexane and ethyl acetate as eluents showed six components in the GOC and none in KGE whereas for the isolated oil 13 components were identified with iodine vapour. Although the oils indicated antibacterial activity, it is somehow less active compared with oxytetracycline which is used as reference

Antibacterial Activity of Fractionated Sandalwood Oils

Sandalwood oil was prepared through water distillation of sandalwood (Sansalum album L) sawdust. The inhibitory activity of the oil was tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. This antibacterial active oil was further fractionated through column chromatography into five fractions. Larger antibacterial activity, expressed as inhibitory diameter ( ID ), was observed in the prepared sandalwood oil and its fractions compared to sandalwood oil originated from Kupang and sanialol from International Flavors and Fragrance ( IFF ). The inhibitory diameter of the isolated sandalwood oil against S. aureus and B. cereus were 8.75 and 8.20 mm respectively. While the IV of sandalwood oil from Kupang and santalol IFF against S aureus were 7.20 and 7.23 mm, and against B. cereus 6.62 and 7.35 mm respectively. The ID of the sandalwood oil fractions against S aureus ranged between 7.32 - 9.93 mm, and the largest inhibition was shown by fraction -2. Against Bicereus the IV ranged between 7.64 - 11.12 mm., and the largest inhibition was shown by fraction - 1. Suggested possible structures for sandalwood oil fractions were based on the infra red spectra of the oils and sandalwood oil components

Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for resection of metastatic adenocarcinoma as an acceptable alternative

Adenocarcinomas commonly metastasize to the lungs and can be resected using open thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). This study reviews metastatic resections in primary adenocarcinoma patients, using both thoracotomy and VATS. We aim to compare long-term prognoses to test the efficacy and viability of VATS. A retrospective review of primary adenocarcinoma patients who underwent resection of pulmonary metastases from 1990 to 2006 was carried out. Information was obtained by chart review. Endpoints analyzed were disease-free interval (DFI), survival time, and recurrence-free survival (RFS). In a total of 42 (16 male, 26 female; median age 58.5 years) primary adenocarcinoma patients, 21 patients underwent first pulmonary metastatic resection using VATS (7 male, 14 female; median age 57 years) and 21 using thoracotomy (9 male, 12 female; median age 59 years). Primary adenocarcinomas were mainly 27 colorectal (64%) and 11 breast (26%). Two VATS (10%) and three open patients (14%) had local recurrences of the original cancer. Median postoperative follow was 13.3 months [interquartile range (IQR) 4.5–32.8 months] for VATS and 36.9 months (IQR 19.3–48.6 months) after thoracotomy. Median DFI–1 was 22.3 months (IQR 13.5–40.6 months) for VATS patients and 35.6 months (IQR 26.7–61.3 months) for open patients. Second thoracic occurrences were noted in six VATS patients (median DFI–2 9.2 months), and in seven open patients (median DFI-2 21.5 months). Third thoracic occurrences were noted in one VATS patient (DFI-3 18.7 months) and in one thoracotomy patient (DFI-3 21.8 months). Odds ratio of recurrence showed 12.5% less chance of developing recurrence in VATS patients. Five-year RFS was 53% in VATS and 57% in thoracotomy patients. VATS has become a viable alternative to open thoracotomy for resection of pulmonary metastases. In cases of primary adenocarcinoma, VATS showed no increase in number of thoracic recurrences, and comparable RFS. Short-term follow-up is encouraging; long-term follow-up will be needed to confirm these results

A High-Density Genome-Wide Association Screen of Sporadic ALS in US Veterans

Following reports of an increased incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in U.S. veterans, we have conducted a high-density genome-wide association study (GWAS) of ALS outcome and survival time in a sample of U.S. veterans. We tested ∼1.3 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for association with ALS outcome in 442 incident Caucasian veteran cases diagnosed with definite or probable ALS and 348 Caucasian veteran controls. To increase power, we also included genotypes from 5909 publicly-available non-veteran controls in the analysis. In the survival analysis, we tested for association between SNPs and post-diagnosis survival time in 639 Caucasian veteran cases with definite or probable ALS. After this discovery phase, we performed follow-up genotyping of 299 SNPs in an independent replication sample of Caucasian veterans and non-veterans (ALS outcome: 183 cases and 961 controls; survival: 118 cases). Although no SNPs reached genome-wide significance in the discovery phase for either phenotype, three SNPs were statistically significant in the replication analysis of ALS outcome: rs6080539 (177 kb from PCSK2), rs7000234 (4 kb from ZNF704), and rs3113494 (13 kb from LOC100506746). Two SNPs located in genes that were implicated by previous GWA studies of ALS were marginally significant in the pooled analysis of discovery and replication samples: rs17174381 in DPP6 (p = 4.4×10−4) and rs6985069 near ELP3 (p = 4.8×10−4). Our results underscore the difficulty of identifying and convincingly replicating genetic associations with a rare and genetically heterogeneous disorder such as ALS, and suggest that common SNPs are unlikely to account for a substantial proportion of patients affected by this devastating disorder

The relation between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and inorganic selenium in drinking water: a population-based case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A community in northern Italy was previously reported to have an excess incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis among residents exposed to high levels of inorganic selenium in their drinking water.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To assess the extent to which such association persisted in the decade following its initial observation, we conducted a population-based case-control study encompassing forty-one newly-diagnosed cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and eighty-two age- and sex-matched controls. We measured long-term intake of inorganic selenium along with other potentially neurotoxic trace elements.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that consumption of drinking water containing ≥ 1 μg/l of inorganic selenium was associated with a relative risk for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis of 5.4 (95% confidence interval 1.1-26) after adjustment for confounding factors. Greater amounts of cumulative inorganic selenium intake were associated with progressively increasing effects, with a relative risk of 2.1 (95% confidence interval 0.5-9.1) for intermediate levels of cumulative intake and 6.4 (95% confidence interval 1.3-31) for high intake.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on these results, coupled with other epidemiologic data and with findings from animal studies that show specific toxicity of the trace element on motor neurons, we hypothesize that dietary intake of inorganic selenium through drinking water increases the risk for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.</p

TBK1: a new player in ALS linking autophagy and neuroinflammation.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder affecting motor neurons, resulting in progressive muscle weakness and death by respiratory failure. Protein and RNA aggregates are a hallmark of ALS pathology and are thought to contribute to ALS by impairing axonal transport. Mutations in several genes known to contribute to ALS result in deposition of their protein products as aggregates; these include TARDBP, C9ORF72, and SOD1. In motor neurons, this can disrupt transport of mitochondria to areas of metabolic need, resulting in damage to cells and can elicit a neuroinflammatory response leading to further neuronal damage. Recently, eight independent human genetics studies have uncovered a link between TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) mutations and ALS. TBK1 belongs to the IKK-kinase family of kinases that are involved in innate immunity signaling pathways; specifically, TBK1 is an inducer of type-1 interferons. TBK1 also has a major role in autophagy and mitophagy, chiefly the phosphorylation of autophagy adaptors. Several other ALS genes are also involved in autophagy, including p62 and OPTN. TBK1 is required for efficient cargo recruitment in autophagy; mutations in TBK1 may result in impaired autophagy and contribute to the accumulation of protein aggregates and ALS pathology. In this review, we focus on the role of TBK1 in autophagy and the contributions of this process to the pathophysiology of ALS

Concomitant and alternating radiation therapy (RT) and chemotherapy (CT) for inoperable, M0, non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC): a consensus report

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/31248/1/0000154.pd

Clinics in diagnostic imaging (104)

Singapore Medical Journal467359-362SIMJ