Borderline ovarian tumours-patterns of recurrence and fertility outcome

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the factors affecting recurrence and prognosis in patients with borderline ovarian tumours and to assess the fertility outcome in women treated with conservative surgery.Methods: Fifty-six patients diagnosed with borderline ovarian tumours during the period between January 2005 and December 2009 in Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Thiruvananthapuram were included. Patients were followed till December 2012.Results: Median follow up period was 52.5 months. The mean age at diagnosis was 33.5 yrs. Histopathology was serous in 41.1%, mucinous in 57.1%, and endometrioid in 1.8%. 48 patients (85.7%) had stage I disease, 2 patients (3.6%) had Stage II disease and 6 patients (10.7%) had stage III disease at diagnosis. 11 patients (19.6%) had bilateral tumours of which 7(63.6%) were serous and 4 were mucinous. 27 patients (48.2%) underwent fertility sparing surgery of which 13 patients underwent cystectomy and 14 underwent ovariotomy. 29 patients (51.78 %) underwent complete surgery including hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo oopherectomy and omentectomy. 14.3% of patients had microinvasive disease and 14.3 % had micro papillary disease on histopathology. 9 patients (16.1 %) had peritoneal implants of which 1 was invasive and 8 were non-invasive. Recurrence rate in the entire study group was 30.4%, 14.28% among patients undergoing complete surgery, 28.57% among patients undergoing adnexectomy and 69.2% among patients undergoing cystectomy.Conclusions: Univariate analysis showed a significant association between micropapillary histology, peritoneal implants and recurrence. On multivariate analysis, only peritoneal implants were found to be independently associated with recurrence

DETAILED VIEW ON REPURPOSED DRUGS, TRACKING OF VACCINES,AND BRIEF VIEW ON PROPHYLACTIC NANOMEDICINES AS AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH AND PATIENT CARE FOR COVID-19

In December 2019, a rare case of pneumonia was reported in Wuhan, China. This was later analyzed and known to have similar characteristics as viral pneumonia caused by a novel coronavirus. Later, on 11 February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially named the disease as COVID19. The Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) ought to taint both the upper respiratory tract and the lower respiratory tract. This COVID-19 is spreading quickly with an immense rise in cases around the world. This infection's mechanism stays obscure, and the medications explicit for the infection were not grown at this point. Infection is highly contagious. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) is one of seven kinds of crown infection, including the one which causes severe maladies like Middle East respiratory disorder (MERS) and abrupt, intense respiratory syndrome(SARS). Since its revelation, the infection has spread and has caused anxiety and fear among people. Recent vaccines are tracked, and clinical trials can bring an immediate protocol on a medication approach. By including different therapeutic approaches, it is easier to combat the disease quickly. With very low mortality and high transmission rate, new approaches to vaccines and nanomedicines bring down the spread. Controlled patient care is also crucial. On 11 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease as 'global pandemic’. COVID-19, therefore, poses a significant threat to global public health. This article reviews the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and diagnostic methods. The review also focuses on repurposed drugs, traced vaccines, and a quick view of prophylactic nanomedicines as an alternative for COVID 19. For this review, the complete database has been collected from various search engines such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier, etc., from the year 2001-2020 using the following keywords

Solution structure and DNA-binding properties of the phosphoesterase domain of DNA ligase D

The phosphoesterase (PE) domain of the bacterial DNA repair enzyme LigD possesses distinctive manganese-dependent 3′-phosphomonoesterase and 3′-phosphodiesterase activities. PE exemplifies a new family of DNA end-healing enzymes found in all phylogenetic domains. Here, we determined the structure of the PE domain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa LigD (PaePE) using solution NMR methodology. PaePE has a disordered N-terminus and a well-folded core that differs in instructive ways from the crystal structure of a PaePE•Mn2+• sulfate complex, especially at the active site that is found to be conformationally dynamic. Chemical shift perturbations in the presence of primer-template duplexes with 3′-deoxynucleotide, 3′-deoxynucleotide 3′-phosphate, or 3′ ribonucleotide termini reveal the surface used by PaePE to bind substrate DNA and suggest a more efficient engagement in the presence of a 3′-ribonucleotide. Spectral perturbations measured in the presence of weakly catalytic (Cd2+) and inhibitory (Zn2+) metals provide evidence for significant conformational changes at and near the active site, compared to the relatively modest changes elicited by Mn2+

Rituximab and COVID-19 infection in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases – A real-world study from India

Introduction: Safety of rituximab (RTX) in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRDs) has been a concern during this ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Delayed worsening of COVID symptoms, increased hospital stays, and mortality has been reported among those infected post-RTX. This study describes the occurrence and course of COVID-19 infection among AIRD Indian patients who received RTX during this pandemic. Patients and Methods: Adult patients (≥18 years) with any AIRD, who received RTX between October 2019 and May 2021, were enrolled in this study. Patients satisfying the inclusion criteria were telephonically enquired about contracting confirmed COVID-19, its course, treatment, and outcome. Baseline parameters, immunoglobulin G level, vaccination, and comorbidity status before RTX were compared between the COVID-19 infected and noninfected patients to determine factors affecting the outcome. Results: Out of 1081 patients admitted during the study period, 218 patients received RTX. The mean age of these patients was 40.1 ± 14.2 years and comprised mostly of women (81.7%). Rheumatoid arthritis followed by lupus and anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies-associated vasculitis was the predominant AIRD. Among the patients contacted (207/218 [94.9%]), 11 (5.3%) patients reported confirmed COVID-19 infections. Out of these, three (27.3%) had severe COVID-19 and one patient succumbed to it. Others became symptom-free after a mean duration of 14.4 ± 4.7 days of onset of symptoms. No significant difference among the baseline parameters observed predicted COVID-19 susceptibility. Conclusion: Among our AIRD patients treated with RTX, occurrence, and mortality of COVID-19 infection was low. Younger age of our patient cohort and female predominance might have contributed in reducing the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Balancing trade-offs between biotic and abiotic stress responses through leaf age-dependent variation in stress hormone cross-talk

In nature, plants must respond to multiple stresses simultaneously, which likely demands cross-talk between stress-response pathways to minimize fitness costs. Here we provide genetic evidence that biotic and abiotic stress responses are differentially prioritized in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves of different ages to maintain growth and reproduction under combined biotic and abiotic stresses. Abiotic stresses, such as high salinity and drought, blunted immune responses in older rosette leaves through the phytohormone abscisic acid signaling, whereas this antagonistic effect was blocked in younger rosette leaves by PBS3, a signaling component of the defense phytohormone salicylic acid. Plants lacking PBS3 exhibited enhanced abiotic stress tolerance at the cost of decreased fitness under combined biotic and abiotic stresses. Together with this role, PBS3 is also indispensable for the establishment of salt stress- and leaf age-dependent phyllosphere bacterial communities. Collectively, our work reveals a mechanism that balances trade-offs upon conflicting stresses at the organism level and identifies a genetic intersection among plant immunity, leaf microbiota, and abiotic stress tolerance.status: publishe