Herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia--a clinical trial of aspirin in chloroform for anodyne

Pain associated with Herpes Zoster (HZ) and Post-herpetic Neuralgia (PHN) has been a challenging task to manage with ease. Topical aspirin dissolved in chloroform is an effective means of reducing pain due to HZ and PHN in most patients. The locus of pain origin and analgesia induced by topical aspirin is supposed to be at cutaneous free nerve ending pain receptors. The present study was conduced in fifty two patients of HZ and PHN. Pain intensity before and after the application of drug was measured with help of Sort Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SE-MPQ). Most of the patients experienced relief of pain within 1-5 minutes after the aspirin-chloroform application. Maximum relief was achieved in about 30-40 minutes and persisted for 5-6 hrs. In the beginning 3-4 applications were required but frequency decreased gradually as the pain abated.     

Cell-mediated immune response in mice treated with steroidal contraceptives.

The splenomegaly assay (Simonsen, 1962) was standardized using different strains of rats and mice. Male Wistar rat (donor)-female Swiss mouse (host) was found to be the suitable combination that could be employed in subsequent experiments to study the potential of contraceptive steroids to alter CMIR. The index of splenomegaly appeared to increase in case of mice treated with combination oral contraceptives (Ovulen, Ovral or Enovid). The differences observed, however, neared significance only in the case of Ovral (0-05 less than P less than 0-1). Neither chlormadinone acetate nor megestrol acetate significantly altered the index of splenomegaly.     

Growing problem of methicillin resistant staphylococci--Indian scenario

In the present study MRSA prevalence increased from 12% in 1992 to 80.83% in 1999. Indian literature shows that MRSA incidence was as low as 6.9% in 1988 and reached to 24% and 32.6% in Vellore and Lucknow in 1994 and was of the same order in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore in 1996 and in Rohtak and Mangalore in 1999. However, in some of the centres it was as high as 87%. All the MRSA isolates in India including in the present study were sensitive to vancomycin and resistance to netilmycin appears to be low among MRSA isolates in India. All the MRSA isolates were also found to be sensitive to teicoplanin in the present study. Like in other Indian studies, resistance to cotrimoxazole, erythromycin, gentamicin, other penicillins and cephalosporins appeared to be a common feature for MRSA isolates in the present study.     

Conceptual and methodologic challenges of assessing the short-term efficacy of Guggulu in obesity: data emergent from a naturalistic clinical trial

An open comparative trial was conducted in 58 adult obese patients (Body Mass Index > or = 25 kg/square metre). Group I (n = 27), non-drug, was advised diet (1200-1600 cals) and a brisk walk for 30 minutes. Group II, in addition, received Guggulu (Medohar) 1.5-3 gms/day for 30 days. Mean difference in weight loss between Guggulu and non-drug group was 0.32 kg (ns) on day 15 and 0.58 kg on day 30 (ns). The mean weight reduction in patients (> 90 kgs) was 1.92 kg (ns) and 2.25 kg (ns) higher in Guggulu group. All patients weighing > 90 kg lost weight in Guggulu group whilst 3 in non-drug group did not lose weight. Guggulu was tolerated well. The data from this pilot study suggest a synergistic diet-Guggulu interaction over 30 days in patients weighing > 90 kgs which needs to be confirmed in a large placebo controlled study.     

In vivo mammalian brain imaging using one- and two-photon fluorescence microendoscopy

One of the major limitations in the current set of techniques available to neuroscientists is a dearth of methods for imaging individual cells deep within the brains of live animals. To overcome this limitation, we developed two forms of minimally invasive fluorescence microendoscopy and tested their abilities to image cells in vivo. Both one- and two-photon fluorescence microendoscopy are based on compound gradient refractive index (GRIN) lenses that are 350-1,000 microm in diameter and provide micron-scale resolution. One-photon microendoscopy allows full-frame images to be viewed by eye or with a camera, and is well suited to fast frame-rate imaging. Two-photon microendoscopy is a laser-scanning modality that provides optical sectioning deep within tissue. Using in vivo microendoscopy we acquired video-rate movies of thalamic and CA1 hippocampal red blood cell dynamics and still-frame images of CA1 neurons and dendrites in anesthetized rats and mice. Microendoscopy will help meet the growing demand for in vivo cellular imaging created by the rapid emergence of new synthetic and genetically encoded fluorophores that can be used to label specific brain areas or cell classes.     

Fatal renal failure as the first manifestation of sarcoidosis diagnosed on necropsy in a young man: a case report

Renal involvement as the first manifestation of sarcoidosis is rare and has never been reported in India. This report describes a 35 year old man who was admitted to the emergency department with a clinical diagnosis of acute on chronic renal failure, secondary to obstructive uropathy. Postmortem examination unexpectedly revealed disseminated sarcoidosis.     

Analysis of immune responses against T- and B-cell epitopes from Plasmodium falciparum liver-stage antigen 1 in rodent malaria models and malaria-exposed human subjects in India

Liver-stage antigen 1 (LSA-1) is a potential vaccine candidate against preerythrocytic stages of malaria. We report here the immunogenicity of linear synthetic constructs delineated as T(H)-cell determinants from the nonrepeat regions of Plasmodium falciparum LSA-1 in murine models and human subjects from areas where malaria is endemic in Rajasthan State, India. Seven peptide constructs (LS1.1 to LS1.7) corresponding to predicted T-cell sites from both the N- and C-terminal regions and peptide LS1R from a repeat region of PfLSA-1 were synthesized to analyze the cellular immune responses. These linear peptides were also tested for humoral responses in order to determine if there were any overlapping B-cell epitopes in the predicted T-cell sites. Most peptides induced cellular responses in peptide-immunized BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice as measured by proliferation and cytokine analysis. Cross-reactive T-cell recognition of P. falciparum-based peptides in Plasmodium berghei-immune animals was evaluated, but only one peptide, LS1.2 (amino acids 1742 to 1760) triggered T-cell proliferation and interleukin-2 and gamma interferon secretion in P. berghei-immune splenocytes of BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice as well as in Thamnomys gazellae (natural host of P. berghei ANKA). In an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with the peptides, only one peptide, LS1.1, was recognized by anti-P. berghei liver-stage serum. Three peptides (LS1. 1, LS1.2, and LS1.3) of the eight peptides tested in this study were recognized by a relatively large percentage of P. falciparum-exposed human subjects; the reactivities ranged from approximately 45% for LS1.3 to approximately 60% for LS1.1 and LS1.2. Interestingly, all of the eight putative T-cell determinants were also recognized by the sera collected from malaria patients, although the response was variable in nature. These T(H)- and B-cell epitopes may be of potential value for preerythrocytic antigen-based malaria subunit vaccine formulations.