How Do Lipids Localize in Lewy Bodies?

Lewy bodies are the pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). While fibrillar α-synuclein (αS) is the main protein component of Lewy bodies, these structures also contain lipids. To elucidate the presence of lipids in Lewy bodies, we investigated the interaction of lipids with monomeric and fibrillar αS. In vitro, lipid membranes accelerated αS fibril formation under physiological conditions. Moreover lipids and small vesicles co-localized with supra-fibrillar structures and individual αS fibrils suggesting that aggregation initiates at the membrane. The presence of lipids in Lewy bodies may therefore be an indication that cell membranes are the major target in aggregation induced neuronal cell deat

Effect of maternal anaemia on foetal Doppler indices during third trimester of pregnancy

Background: Anaemia is amongst the most common medical disorders encountered during pregnancy all over the world. India has a high rate of anaemia in pregnant women. Anaemia has a recognizable effect on both maternal and foetal health during pregnancy and on perinatal outcome, contributing remarkably to maternal morbidity and mortality. Routine foetal monitoring is an essential investigation for such females with special emphasis on obstetrics Doppler ultrasonography. Various changes due to foetal hypoxia due to maternal anaemia can be remarkably appreciated on Doppler helping in timely management. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of maternal anaemia on foetal Doppler indices.Methods: 400 pregnant women were assessed in a cross-section observational study done in the department of Radiodiagnosis in MYH, Indore, India. These women were divided into three groups of mild, moderate and severe anaemia based on the level of haemoglobin.Results: Umbilical artery resistive and pulsatility indices were found to be increased with the increasing severity of anaemia while middle cerebral artery indices and CPR showed a decreasing trend with the increasing severity of anaemia.Conclusions: We found that severe maternal anaemia is associated with marked adaption in foetal haemodynamics. Obstetrics Doppler can be used as an accurate measure of surveillance for foetal monitoring and will help in appropriate management

Invasive aspergillosis causing small bowel infarction in a patient of carcinoma breast undergoing chemotherapy

BACKGROUND: To report a 45 year old lady presenting with proximal jejunal gangrene due to invasive Aspergillosis. The patient was undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy for advance carcinoma of breast (Stage IV). METHODS: The patient was referred to our surgical emergency for acute abdominal symptoms for 6 hours. Histopathology revealed bowel wall necrosis and vascular invasion by Aspergillus Fumigatus. Postoperative recovery was uneventful and the patient received Amphotericin-B (1 mg/kg/day) for invasive aspergillosis. Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis was confirmed by isolating Aspergillus Fumigatus from bronchoalveolar lavage and by a positive circulating galactomannan test (ELISA Assay). RESULTS: Detailed history revealed dry cough and two episodes of haemoptesis for 2 weeks. Haemogram and counts revealed anemia and neutropenia. Plain X – ray of the abdomen showed multiple air fluid levels and ultrasound of the abdomen revealed distended bowel loops. On exploration small bowel was found to be gangrenous. The patient was successfully managed by supportive treatment and conventional intravenous Amphotericin-B for 2 weeks. The lady was discharged one week after completion of antifungal therapy and one month later she underwent toilet mastectomy. The lady came to follow up for 1 year and she is currently under hormone therapy. CONCLUSION: With the emergence of new and powerful immunosuppressive, anticancer drugs and potent antibiotics the survival of transplant and critically ill patients has remarkably increased but it has shown a significant rise in the incidence of invasive opportunistic fungal infections. We conclude hat the diagnosis of invasive gastrointestinal aspergillosis may be considered in a neutropenic patient with acute abdominal symptoms

Clinical profile of dengue patients: A hospital based study

Context: For most of the patients, dengue is a self-limiting viral fever, but in some patients, it results in a life threatening conditioncalled as dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome. Objective: We attempted to determine the common and atypicalclinical and laboratory features in children suffering from dengue fever, which will help in early diagnosis and management of patientssuffering from dengue infection. Design: Hospital based descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted from January 2014 to December2014. Setting: Tertiary referral teaching hospital. Patients: All patients between 1-month and 12 years admitted in pediatric ward withsymptoms suggestive of dengue and who turn out to be positive for NS1 antigen alone or NS1 and immunoglobulin M antibody againstdengue were included in the study. Data regarding relevant history and clinical examination and outcome and relevant investigationswere collected. Results: Of 250 children included in the study, 145 (58%) were male and 105 (42%) were female. The most commonpresenting complaint was fever (92.8%), followed by abdominal pain (46.4%). The most common clinical sign was pyrexia followedby relative bradycardia (37.6%) and hypotension (26.4%). On laboratory investigation, the most common abnormality detected wasleucopenia (81.6%) followed by thrombocytopenia (69.2%). Conclusion: A high index of suspicion is required on the part of treatingpediatrician to diagnose dengue early and treat accordingly to prevent mortality due to dengue

EFFECTS OF PESTICIDES ON BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Pesticides are the biological pollutants, which are being used by the man to kill the pests for increasing the yield of many crops and insect vectors to control the spread of disease. The tremendous use of pesticides has caused severe health hazards to organisms including human beings due to climate change. Excessive use of pesticides may lead to the destruction of biodiversity. Many birds, aquatic organisms and animals are under the threat of harmful pesticides for their survival. The pesticides effects can be lessen by organizing awareness program among the farmers, special training to them regarding consequences of pesticides, their screening and monitoring methods

Impact of Nitrogen Nutrition through Organic and Inorganic Sources of Fertilizer on Growth Phenology and Yield of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

The field experiment was conducted at wheat research farm of CCS Haryana Agriculture University during Rabi season of 2019-20 to study nitrogen nutrition through organic and inorganic source of fertilizer on growth phenology, yield and quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications containing 16 treatments combination i.e T1-Control; T2-100% RDN through urea; T3- 100% RDN through FYM; T4-100% RDN through vermicompost; T5-50% RDN through urea+ 50% RDN through FYM; T6-50% RDN through urea+ 50% RDN through vermicompost; T7-25% RDN through urea+ 75% RDN through FYM; T8-25% RDN through urea 75% RDN through vermicompost; T9-100% RDN through urea + Azotobacter; T10-100% RDN through FYM + Azotobacter; T11-100% RDN through vermicompost + Azotobacter; T12-50% RDN through urea+ 50% RDN through FYM + Azotobacter; T13-50% RDN through urea+ 50% RDN through vermicompost + Azotobacter; T14-25% RDN through urea+ 75% RDN through FYM + Azotobacter; T15-25% RDN through urea+ 75% RDN through vermicompost + Azotobacter; T16- Azotobacter. Treatment T9, 100% nitrogen nutrition through chemical fertilizer (urea) with seed treatment of Azotobacter has taken significantly maximum days to emergence (5.3). Days taken to 50% spike emergence (94.7) and days taken to maturity (148.0) respectively. Similarly T9 had significantly higher grain yield (5640 kg/ha), hectoliter weight (83.167 kg/ha), grain appearance score (7.933 scale/10) and protein content (12.90 %) of wheat during the research period respectively. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i12.00

Review on: Pharmacological Activity of Caterpilllar fungus (Keeda Jadi)

In this review we focus about the pharmacology, biological characteristics and therapeutic uses of Caterpillar fungus (Keeda jari) which is also known as keeda ghaas, Yarsa gamba. It is found at high Himalayan mountains of India, Nepal and Tibet. It is found between 3500 and 5000 meters above sea level. It is an entomo-fungal combination of a larva of small moth, Hepialus armoricanus and a parasite fungus Cordyceps sinensis. Cordyceps is best known medicine for increasing physical stamina and sexual functions. It has been proven to improve liver, kidney, and lung functioning in addition to being routinely used to treat people with heart disease. Numerous investigations have shown that it possesses a wide range of biological functions and pharmacological potential despite not being harvested in a sustainable or deliberate manner

Progress in pectin based hydrogels for water purification: trends and challenges

Pectin is one of the finest natural polymer which has drawn great attention because of its applications in different fields. Due to the quintessential structure of pectin, it can be transformed into variety of useful products. It can be utilized as a blend in many polymers to make a mixture or a composite material. Owing to considerable collection in chemical conformation and cross-linking mechanism, different pectin based hydrogels have been prepared for different characteristics in pharmaceutical and bio-medical sites. Inventive properties of hydrogels like volubility, swellability, solvability and hydrophilicity make them better alternative for wastewater treatment. Recently, pectin based hydrogels have demonstrated excellent performance to eliminate various metal ions and dyes from the polluted water. The adsorption characteristics of pectin based hydrogels can be upgraded by using nanoparticles, which prompts to the development of hydrogel nano-composites. In this review article, we have summarized a comprehensive assessment in the direction of using pectin based hydrogels to remove toxic pollutants from aqueous solution. Sodium acrylate-co-N-isopropylacrylamide based pectin hydrogel has demonstrated the maximum adsorption capacities of 265.49, 137.43, 54.86, 53.86, 51.72 and 50.01 mg g−1 for the adsorption of methyl violet, methylene blue, Pb(II), Cu(II), Co(II) and Zn(II) respectively. We have also discussed the pectin structure, properties and applications in this article

Effect of epidural volume extension with colloid on dose requirement for intrathecal spinal block: a double blind prospective study

Background: Epidural volume extension (EVE) is a modification of combined- spinal epidural anaesthesia (CSEA) in which fluid is injected in epidural space after the intrathecal block. Fluid in epidural space compress subarachnoid space and causes cephalic spread of intrathecal drug to increase block height. Purpose of study is to determine efficacy of EVE on dose requirement of intrathecal bupivacaine when colloid was used for EVE.Methods: Sixty patients of ASA physical status I or II, scheduled for elective caesarean sections were recruited and randomized into two groups (30 each group). Group 1: CSEA in which spinal block is followed by 10 ml Colloid (HES 6%) in epidural space; Group 2: CSEA but no fluid in epidural space. Onset of sensory block and hemodynamic variables were measured at 5 min. intervals up to 40 minutes then at 10 min. intervals till end of surgery. Ineffective block was top- up by epidural 0.5% bupivacaine in incremental doses.Results: Median effective dose of intrathecal bupivacaine was significantly lower, 4.0 mg (95% CI 4.40-5.60) in group 1 versus 7.0 mg (95% CI 6.93-7.61) in group 2. Only 11 patients required ephedrine in group 1 versus 20 in group 2. Requirement of ephedrine was significantly lower 2.20 (±2.94) mg in group 1 versus 4.0 (±2.88) mg groups 2. Changes in haemodynamic variables from baseline were significantly lower in group 1 than those in group 2.Conclusions: EVE with colloid was effective in lowering dose requirement of spinal bupivacaine while patients hemodynamically were more stable.

A comparative study of different adjuncts to enhance the effects of intrathecal bupivacaine

Background: Spinal anaesthesia is the commonly used technique for lower abdominal surgeries. Adjuvants to bupivacaine have been used to provide good quality of perioperative and postoperative analgesia. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of subarachnoid administration of bupivacaine with clonidine, magnesium, dexmedetomidine and saline group.Methods: The prospective, comparative single blind study included 120 patients in American society of anaesthesiologist (ASA) grade I and II, scheduled for lower abdominal surgeries were allocated in four groups. Each group included 15 mg bupivacaine with various adjuvants (30 µg clonidine, 50 mg magnesium sulphate and 3µg dexmedetomidine) were compared with saline group (group S).Results: Time of onset was earlier in groups D and C but delayed in group M. The total power regains (B0) in group D (250.8±18.87), group M (235.23±24.66) and group C (242.70±25.98) were significantly delayed (p<0.05) as compare with group S (180.07±18.53). Demand of analgesia was significantly earlier in group S as compared with groups C, M and D. Similarly, the time of two segment regression was significantly earlier in group S as compared with groups C, M and D (p<0.001). Patients were hemodynamically stable in groups D, C and M as compared to Group S.Conclusions: Dexmedetomidine and clonidine were equally effective and better as compared to magnesium as an adjunct to intrathecal bupivacaine