Gall bladder dysfunction in chronic diabetics (type 2): an ultrasonography based prospective study

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is commonest endocrine disorder now a days and its prevalence is continuously rising in India due to spread of modern life style so its associated complications are also increasing. Gall bladder is one of the commonly affected organs in chronic diabetics, most probably due to autonomic neuropathy which adversely affects gall bladder motility and provokes bile stasis.   Methods: This institution based prospective study had been performed among 100 chronic diabetics; randomly selected from diabetic clinic of department of medicine, people’s college of medical science and research centre, Bhopal M.P. India. Only those patients selected for study who have type 2 diabetes mellitus more than 5 yr and have well controlled sugar levels. 100 controls/volunteers were selected for comparative evaluation. All patients and volunteers had undergone abdominal ultrasonography for any existing hepatobiliary pathology and to measure fasting and post fatty meal gall bladder volume.Results: Among 100 chronic diabetics seventy-six (76%) patients didn’t show any hepatobiliary abnormality however cholelithiasis was seen in thirteen (13%) patients, cholecystitis in five (5%) patients and sludge was seen in six (6%) patients.  In group of 100 controls ninety-one (91%) didn’t show any hepatobiliary pathology however cholelithiasis was detected incidentally in four (4%) persons, cholecystitis in two (2%) persons and sludge in three (3%) persons.  Significant difference is observed in fasting gall bladder volume of chronic diabetics and controls (p value- 0.001). Major difference is also observed in percentage of gall bladder contraction among chronic diabetics and controls (p value- 0.001).Conclusions: Higher fasting gall bladder volume and decreased percentage of contraction both are observed in patients of chronic diabetes mellitus attributed to autonomic neuropathy. Prolonged stasis of bile leads to complications e.g. cholelithiasis, cholecystitis and sludge deposition as late outcome. Hepatobiliary ultrasonography in chronic diabetics can be used as screening tool for early diagnosis of complication and to avoid its serious consequences when presents in emergency and undergone for surgery.

Molekularna karakterizacija cjelovite kodirajuće sekvencije gena MBL1 u indijskog vodenog bivola (Bubalus bubalis)

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a member of the collectin protein family that binds a broad range of microorganisms and activates the lectin-complement pathway of innate immunity. A number of mutations have been found in both the coding as well as the non-coding regions of the MBL1 gene in various species, of which several variations affected the assembly of MBL1, thus leading to a low level of plasmic MBL and innate immune dysfunctions. In the present study, we have reported molecular cloning and characterization of the complete coding sequence of the MBL1 gene in the Indian buffalo breed Murrah. A 951 bp fragment of the MBL1 gene was amplified, cloned and sequenced. Multiple sequence alignment with other buffalo and cattle breeds revealed that the Murrah buffalo MBL1 CDS was 98.1-99.6% homologous to other buffalo breeds, and 98.3-98.5% similar to cattle breeds at nucleotide level. It was 96.8-98.8% homologous to buffalo breeds and 96.8-97.2% similar to cattle breeds at amino acid level. The amino acid sequence of the Murrah buffalo MBL1 contained two non-synonymous amino acid substitutions (L204P and S180P). Further, PCR-RFLP was performed to screen 50 Murrah buffalo for the presence of SNPs, g.855G>A in intron I and g.2686T>C, as well as g.2651G>A in exon 2 region of the MBL1 gene. The ApaI/intron I PCR-RFLP assay revealed a polymorphic pattern with three genotypes viz., AG (90%), GG (8%) and AA (2%), with allelic frequencies 0.94 for G and 0.06 for A. HaeIII/exon 2 PCR-RFLP assay exhibited the presence of three genotypes, namely, TC (66%), TT (32%) and CC (2%) with allelic frequencies 0.15 for T and 0.85 for C. StyI/exon 2. PCR-RFLP assay showed a monomorphic pattern for g.2651G>A with GG genotype only. We further examined the association of these SNPs with milk production traits and somatic cell score (SCS), and found no significant difference for any of the traits. Since the present study has formulated the results on the basis of a relatively small sample size, further studies with a larger sample size are required to validate the effects of polymorphisms.Lektin koji veže manozu (MBL), član je porodice proteina kolektina koja veže veliki broj mikroorganizama i aktivira lektinski put komplementa prirođene imunosti. U različitim vrstama pronađene su brojne mutacije u kodirajućim i nekodirajućim regijama gena MBL1. Za nekoliko je mutacije utvrđeno da utječu na strukturu gena MBL1, što dovodi do snižavanja razine MBL-a i prirođenog poremećaja imunosnog sustava. U ovom je istraživanju provedeno molekularno kloniranje i karakterizacija cjelovitog slijeda gena MBL1 u indijskog vodenog bivola pasmine Murrah. Fragment s ukupno je 951 bp gena MBL1 umnožen je kloniran i sekvenciran. Višestruko poravnanje sekvencija s drugim pasminama bivola i goveda otkrilo je da je kodirajuća sekvencija gena MBL1 bila 98,1 – 99,6 % podudarna s drugim pasminama bivola i 98,3 – 98,5 % podudarna s drugim pasminama goveda na nukleotidnoj razini. Na razini aminokiselina ustanovljena je podudarnost od 96,8 do 98,8 % s pasminama bivola i 96,8 – 97,2 % s pasminama goveda. Sekvencija aminokiselina MBL1 u vodenih bivola pasmine Murrah sadržavala je dvije nepodudarne supstitucije aminokiselina (L204P i S180P). Osim toga proveden je PCR-RFLP kako bi se 50 bivola pasmine Murrah analiziralo na prisutnost jednonukleotidnih polimorfizama (SNP), g. 855G > A u intronu I i g. 2686T > C, kao i g. 2651G > A, u eksonu 2 regije gena MBL1. Test ApaI/intron I PCR-RFLP otkrio je polimorfni obrazac s tri genotipa: AG (90 %), GG (8 %) i AA (2 %) s učestalošću alela od 0,94 za G i 0,06 za A. Test HaeIII/exon 2 PCR-RFLP pokazao je prisutnost triju genotipova: TC (66 %), TT (32 %) i CC (2 %) s učestalošću alela od 0,15 za T i 0,85 za C. Test StyI/exon 2 PCR-RFLP pokazao je monomorfni obrazac za g. 2651G > A, samo s genotipom GG. Osim navedenog istražena je i povezanost SNP-ova s proizvodnim svojstvima mlijeka i omjerom somatskih stanica (SCS). Nije pronađena znakovita razlika ni za jedno svojstvo. S obzirom na to da se ovo istraživanje temelji na malom broju uzoraka, potrebna su istraživanja koja će uključiti veći broj životinja kako bi se provjerili učinci polimorfizama

Incidence and profile of neurological disorders in alcohol dependents

Background: Alcohol is one of the most abused substances in the world. Alcohol has been known to produce toxic effects in almost every organ system in the body, many of these medical conditions can be attributed to the direct toxic effect of alcohol and its metabolites, whereas others are indirect sequelae that may result from nutritional deficiency particularly thiamine. A neurological complication of alcohol dependence is extremely common and affects every level of neuroaxis including the Brain-Peripheral nervous system-Muscle. Aim & Objective: To quantify the number of different neurological disorders in alcohol-dependent patients and to the established relationship between the frequency of these disorders with type, duration, amount, and frequency of alcohol intake. Method & Material: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 100 alcoholics who came to tertiary care centers of central India in the 1-year duration. Demographic data, questions related to their alcohol consumption, and Neurological examination of all patients were done as pre-decided protocol. Informed consent was obtained from all patients. Data was entered and analyzed using appropriate software. Result: Study participants were mostly (70%) in the age group of 21 to 40 years, 87% resided in the urban area, 81% were Hindu. 78% were educated up to class 8th and 76% were employed with any kind of jobs. There were 64% of cases that had any kind of neurological manifestation, 20% had peripheral neuropathy and less than 10% has severe manifestation Korsakoff’s psychosis, and cerebellar degeneration. Conclusion: Neurological manifestations were common among alcohol dependents, but it variably depends on the amount, pattern, chronicity, and type of alcohol consumption. There is a need for further studies that specifically point out alcohol-related nervous manifestations

Plants as bitter

The plants containing bitters (bitter substances) are exclusively used due to their intensively bitter tastes, they increases the appetite and stimulates digestion by acting on the mucous membranes of the mouth. Also increases the flow bile, stimulate repair of gut wall lining and regulate the secretion of insulin and glucagons. They reflectively induce stimulation on the salivary gland and the secretion of gastric juice. The bitter taste recognizes at the very moment of excitation. The taste buds are situated at the root of the tongue, and keep the bitter taste some time afterwards ('after-taste'). These are then sending the signal to the brain, which by reflexes than affect the swelling of the secreting mucous membranes. The bitters have therefore positive influence on the digestive processes, then it lead to an improvement on appetite as well as an amelioration of the food intake. The bitters plants are generally showing antidiabetic and tonic action.Keywords: Bitter plants, Alkaloids, Glycosides, Antidiabetic, Bitterness value

Invasive cranial mycosis our experiences

Fungi can cause serious cranial infections in immunocompromised and diabetic patients. Common pathogens mainly include Aspergillus and Mucor. These organisms cause tissue invasion and destruction of adjacent structures (e.g. orbit, ethmoid, sphenoid, maxillary & cavernous sinuses). Mortality and morbidity rate is high despite combined surgical, antifungal and antidiabetic treatment. We present our experience of six cases with such infection

OPTIMIZATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROSPHERES OF BERBERINE HYDROCHLORIDE USING BOX-BEHNKEN DESIGN

Objective: The current work sought to optimize Berberine hydrochloride (BBH)-loaded microspheres by examining the link between design parameters and experimental results. Methods: BBH-loaded microspheres were prepared by using the water-in-oil emulsion cross-linking process and optimized with a three-factor, three-level Box-Behnken design (BBD). Grafted gum polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) ratio (w/w) (A), Revolutions per minute (RPM) (B), and Span 20 (%) (C) were independent variables. The dependent variables were Percent Entrapment Efficiency (% EE) (R1), Percent Drug Loading (% DL) (R2), and Particle Size (µm) (R3). The generated polynomial equations and response surface plots were used to relate the dependent and independent variables. Microscopic examination, %EE, and % DL were determined to evaluate the optimized formulation. Fourier transforms infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy studies and stability studies of optimized formulation were also carried out. Results: The optimized formulation (FMS6) had a polymer content of 2% w/v [Grafted gum (36.96): PVA (63.04)], a span 20 (0.78 %), and a prepared at the speed of 1225.92 rpm. The observed responses were close to the improved formulation's predicted values. The particle size, % EE, and % DL were found to be 1.10 µm, 82.79% and 16.48%, respectively. FT-IR spectroscopy study indicated that the drug was entrapped in microspheres. Conclusion: BBD provides a systematic approach to optimize the BBH microsphere preparation process. Additionally, the stability study results confirmed that FMS6 is not only the ideal formulation but also stable, ensuring its suitability for practical applications