Anti-Diabetic Activity of Melothria Heterophylla (Lour.) Cogn. in Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Rats

ABSTRACT Melothria heterophylla (Lour.) Cogn. (Cucurbitaceae) widely distributed in India and used ethnically by tribal people in India for controlling blood sugar. This promotes us to undertake a study to examine the possible antidiabetic activity of the plant extracts in normal and streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. A single dose study was studied in the normal rats for 12hrs. Oral glucose tolerance test was performed in normal rats after receiving glucose orally (2gm/kg). Diabetes was induced with streptozotocin (50mg/kg, i.p.) and a dose of 300mg/kg of Petroleum ether (PEMH), Methanol (MEMH) and Aqueous (AEMH) extracts were then administered orally to experimental diabetic rats for 21 days. Glibenclamide was used as standard reference. Fasting blood glucose levels, changes in body weight and liver weight, serum albumin, serum urea, total protein, total lipid profile, haemoglobin, SOD, GSH and TBARS were evaluated. Single dose study of extracts on normal rats showed a significant decrease in the fasting blood glucose levels when compared with the normal control rats. Oral glucose tolerance test clearly indicate that MEMH and PEMH extracts shown a significant reduce in the blood glucose levels, AEMH extract showed little effect. In diabetic rats, treatment with the PEMH, MEMH and AEMH showing significant reduction in the fasting blood glucose levels, serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides, LDL-C and VLDL-C levels. A significant escalation is seen in the levels of HDL-C, haemoglobin, body weight and liver weight. Whereas the antioxidant levels of SOD, GSH and TBARS improved than the untreated diabetic rats. The study reveals that the plant extracts of Melothria heterophylla showed significant antidiabetic activity in normal fasted rats, OGTT in normal rats and in STZ induced diabetic rats

A retrospective study on the prevalence of urinary tract infections in a tertiary care hospital in Sangareddy district of South India

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTI) affect the portion of the urinary tract including kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra, and are among the commonly acquired nosocomial infections. Diagnosis based on the culture and sensitivity profile of the organism is highly beneficial for appropriate antimicrobial therapy of the individual.Methods: A retrospective study of culture isolates obtained from urine samples from different departments of a tertiary care hospital was performed in the period January 2018 to March 2020 in the district of Sangareddy, Telangana, India.Results: A total 204 samples of 1886 exhibited significant growth of organisms i.e., ≥105 colony-forming units of bacteria per millilitre (CFU mL-1). The most common pathogen isolated was Escherichia coli (47.05%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (15.68%), Staphylococcus aureus (10.78%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10.78%), Enterobacter spp. (7.84%) and, Candida albicans (7.84%). The presence of Gram-negative organisms was found to be more than Gram-positive organisms among the samples cultured. Resistance was found to be more towards Amoxicillin (57.14%), followed by oxacillin (34%), cefotaxime (23.62%), clarithromycin (12.08%), erythromycin (12.08%), azithromycin (9.34%), linezolid (3.84%) and vancomycin (2.19%).Conclusions: Increasing levels of antimicrobial resistance by uropathogens emphasize the importance of therapy based on the culture and sensitivity of the organisms. Many uropathogens exhibit multi-drugs resistance. Regular surveillance and monitoring are useful in controlling the increasing resistance

Purification and Characterization of a Mitogenic Lectin from Cephalosporium, a Pathogenic Fungus Causing Mycotic Keratitis

Ophthalmic mycoses caused by infectious fungi are being recognized as a serious concern since they lead to total blindness. Cephalosporium is one amongst several opportunistic fungal species implicated in ophthalmic infections leading to mycotic keratitis. A mitogenic lectin has been purified from the mycelia of fungus Cephalosporium, isolated from the corneal smears of a keratitis patient. Cephalosporium lectin (CSL) is a tetramer with subunit mass of 14 kDa, agglutinates human A, B, and O erythrocytes, and exhibits high affinity for mucin compared to fetuin and asialofetuin but does not bind to simple sugars indicating its complex sugar specificity. CSL showed strong binding to normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to elicit mitogenic activity. The sugar specificity of the lectin and its interaction with PBMCs to exhibit mitogenic effect indicate its possible role in adhesion and infection process of Cephalosporium

Smartphone for retinal imaging – Case series in resource-limited rural settings

Purpose: There is a clinical need for a cost-effective, reliable, easy-to-use, and portable retinal photography. The use of smartphone fundus photography for documentation of retinal changes in resource-limited settings, where retinal imaging was not previously possible, is studied here. The introduction of smartphone-based retinal imaging has resulted in the increase in available technologies for fundus photography. On account of the cost, fundus cameras are not readily available in ophthalmic practice in developing countries. Because smartphones are readily available, easy to use, and also portable, they present a low-cost alternative method in resource-limited settings. The aim is to explore the use of smartphones (iphones) for retinal imaging in resource-limited settings. Methods: A smartphone (iphone) was used to acquire retinal images with the use of +20 D lens in patients with dilated pupils by activating the video mode of the camera. Results: Clear retinal images were obtained in different clinical conditions in adults and children, including branch retinal vein occlusion with fibro-vascular proliferation, choroidal neo-vascular membranes, presumed ocular toxoplasmosis, diabetic retinopathy, retinoblastoma, ocular albinism, and hypertensive retinopathy. Conclusion: New inexpensive, portable, easy-to-operate cameras have revolutionized retinal imaging and screening programs and play an innovative role in research, education, and information sharing

Case Report on Phenytoin-Induced Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Toxic epidermal necrolysis is a cutaneous drug reaction which is a severe adverse effect that predominantly involves the skin and mucous membrane. Phenytoin is an anti-epileptic medication that belongs to the hydantoin class. Here we are going to present a case of 50-year-old male patient with phenytoin induced toxic epidermal necrolysis. The outcome of this study was to determine the severity of the adverse reaction and its management to improve the patient condition.   Keywords: Toxic epidermal necrolysis, phenytoin, erythromatous, adverse drug reaction, body surface area

OCULAR FINDINGS OF HIV/AIDS PATIENTS AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH CD4 COUNT

BACKGROUND Ocular involvement in HIV/AIDS includes various clinical presentations including both anterior and posterior segment, most of the manifestations are those of the posterior segment. The severity of these posterior segment changes increases with decreased CD4 count. Aim of the study is to look for severity of ocular manifestations in correlation with CD4 count. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross sectional study of ocular changes in 360 cases of HIV/AIDS patients between October 2016-May 2018. All patients underwent thorough ophthalmic evaluation including BCVA, Anterior segment examination with slit lamp biomicroscopy and posterior segment examination with Indirect ophthalmoscopy, CD4 count was noted and patients were categorised based on CD4 count and correlation of severity of ocular manifestations with CD4 count done with statistical software SPSS. RESULTS Out of 360 patients, 267 were on HAART. 54.4 % were males and 45.6% females. Maximum number of patients were in the age group of 31-40 years. Ocular manifestations were present in 252(70%) patients. Most common manifestation was HIV retinopathy (18.8%) followed by dry eye (6.9%), cataract (5.5%), CMV retinitis (5.2%), choroiditis (3.6%). CMV retinitis, choroiditis and orbital cellulitis were common in patients with CD4+count<50. Severity of ocular manifestations involving posterior segment and orbital cellulitis increased with decrease in CD4 count. There was statistically significant association between severity of ocular manifestations with CD4 count (P<0.001), and vision with CD4 count (P<0.001). CONCLUSION Patients with low CD4 count are at increased risk of acquiring severe manifestations such as posterior segment changes and orbital cellulitis. Complete ocular evaluation is must in all patients with HIV/AIDS for early diagnosis and treatment of sight threatening complications

Design and Activity of Novel Oxadiazole Based Compounds That Target Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase

Novel PARP inhibitors with selective mode-of-action have been approved for clinical use. Herein, oxadiazole based ligands that are predicted to target PARP-1 have been synthesized and screened for the loss of cell viability in mammary carcinoma cells, wherein seven compounds were observed to possess significant IC50 values in the range of 1.4 to 25 &micro;M. Furthermore, compound 5u, inhibited the viability of MCF-7 cells with an IC50 value of 1.4&micro;M, when compared to Olaparib (IC50 = 3.2 &micro;M). Compound 5s also decreased cell viability in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells with IC50 values of 15.3 and 19.2 &micro;M, respectively. Treatment of MCF-7 cells with compounds 5u and 5s produced PARP cleavage, H2AX phosphorylation and CASPASE-3 activation comparable to that observed with Olaparib. Compounds 5u and 5s also decreased foci-formation and 3D Matrigel growth of MCF-7 cells equivalent to or greater than that observed with Olaparib. Finally, in silico analysis demonstrated binding of compound 5s towardsthe catalytic site of PARP-1, indicating that these novel oxadiazoles synthesized herein may serve as exemplars for the development of new therapeutics in cancer

Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL) induces caspase-8-mediated apoptosis in human T-cell leukemia cell lines but not in normal CD3 and CD34 positive cells.

We have previously demonstrated immunostimulatory activity of a fungal lectin, Rhizoctonia bataticola lectin (RBL), towards normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The present study aimed to explore the anticancer activities of RBL using human leukemic T-cell lines, Molt-4, Jurkat and HuT-78. RBL exhibited significant binding (>90%) to the cell membrane that was effectively inhibited by complex glycoproteins such as mucin (97% inhibition) and asialofetuin (94% inhibition) but not simple sugars such as N-acetyl-D-galactosamine, glucose and sucrose. RBL induced a dose and time dependent inhibition of proliferation and induced cytotoxicity in the cell lines. The percentage of apoptotic cells, as determined by hypodiploidy, was 33% and 42% in Molt-4 and Jurkat cells, respectively, compared to 3.11% and 2.92% in controls. This effect was associated with a concomitant decrease in the G0/G1 population. Though initiator caspase-8 and -9 were activated upon exposure to RBL, inhibition of caspase-8 but not caspase-9 rescued cells from RBL-induced apoptosis. Mechanistic studies revealed that RBL induced cleavage of Bid, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and activation of caspase-3. The expression of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-X was down regulated without altering the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins--Bad and Bax. In contrast to leukemic cells, RBL did not induce apoptosis in normal PBMC, isolated CD3+ve cells and undifferentiated CD34+ve hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). The findings highlight the differential effects of RBL on transformed and normal hematopoietic cells and suggest that RBL may be explored for therapeutic applications in leukemia