In vivo studies on evaluation of potential toxicity of unspent tannins using albino rats (Rattus norvegicus)

The present study emphasizes the effect of unspent tannins on liver, kidney and heart of albino rats. Oral administration of unspent tannins at three different concentrations was made for a period of seven days. Carbon tetrachloride served as positive control. Tissues were removed carefully followed by sacrifice and were subjected to sectioning and H&E staining. Histopathological examination of the sections showed, major tissue damage with the highest concentration of tannins (1500 mg/kg body weight) irrespective of their nature and source, followed by moderate damage with the 1000 mg/kg bw and zero damage with 500 mg/kg bw. However, complete damage was observed with the tissues of positive control group. Lipid peroxidase assay using post-mitochondrial supernatant of liver, kidney and heart showed appreciable levels of malondialdehyde release at higher concentrations of tannins.     

Physical Activity and Physical Function Improved Following a Community-based Intervention in Older Adults in Georgia Senior Centers

ABSTRACT

We evaluated a community-based physical activity intervention in Georgia senior centers. Participants were a convenience sample that completed the pre-test only (n = 592), or the pre-test, the intervention, and a post-test (n = 418, 98% aged 60 and older, mean age = 75, 83% female, 56% black). The 4-month physical activity intervention, based on the Health Belief Model, included 16 sessions that focused on educator-led chair exercises, promotion of walking, using a pedometer, and recording daily steps. Pre- and post-tests assessed physical activity and physical function, categorized as poor, moderate, or good (Short Physical Performance Battery). Following the intervention, participants improved their physical function (good physical function at pre-test vs. post-test: 16.5% vs. 25.3%, P ≤ 0.001), increased minutes of physical activity by 26% (P ≤ 0.001) and step counts by 29% (P ≤ 0.0001, sub-sample, n = 95), and decreased reports of “it's not safe” as a barrier to physical activity (P ≤ 0.05). Increased physical activity (P ≤ 0.01) was associated with improved physical function following the intervention. The results of this evaluation provide an evidence base for the effectiveness of this community intervention for improving physical activity and physical function in older adults.     

Acute Lower Respiratory Infection in Childhood and Household Fuel Use in Bhaktapur,Nepal

Background: Globally, solid fuels are used by about 3 billion people for cooking. These fuels have been associated with many health effects, including acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in young children. Nepal has a high prevalence of use of biomass for cooking and heating.Objective: This case–control study was conducted among a population in the Bhaktapur municipality, Nepal, to investigate the relationship of cookfuel type to ALRI in young children.Methods: Cases with ALRI and age-matched controls were enrolled from an open cohort of children 2–35 months old, under active monthly surveillance for ALRI. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on family characteristics, including household cooking and heating appliances and fuels. The main analysis was carried out using conditional logistic regression. Population-attributable fractions (PAF) for stove types were calculated.Results: A total of 917 children (452 cases and 465 controls) were recruited into the study. Relative to use of electricity for cooking, ALRI was increased in association with any use of biomass stoves [odds ratio (OR) = 1.93; 95% CI: 1.24, 2.98], kerosene stoves (OR = 1.87; 95% CI: 1.24, 2.83), and gas stoves (OR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.05, 2.50). Use of wood, kerosene, or coal heating was also associated with ALRI (OR = 1.45; 95% CI: 0.97, 2.14), compared with no heating or electricity or gas heating. PAFs for ALRI were 18.0% (95% CI: 8.1, 26.9%) and 18.7% (95% CI: 8.4%–27.8%), for biomass and kerosene stoves, respectively.Conclusions: The study supports previous reports indicating that use of biomass as a household fuel is a risk factor for ALRI, and provides new evidence that use of kerosene for cooking may also be a risk factor for ALRI in young children.     

Reproducibility and validity of an interviewer-administered semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to assess dietary intake of urban adults in southern India

We report on the reproducibility and validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) developed for southern India. One hundred and two adult subjects aged ≥20 years drawn from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study participated. The FFQ was developed based on local foods and habits, and was administered three times at 0, 6 and 12 month periods (called FFQ1, FFQ2 and FFQ3) to assess the reproducibility. To test the validity of the FFQ, multiple 24-h recalls collected at 2-monthly intervals for a period of 1 year and the estimated energy intake/basal metabolic rate (EI/BMR) ratio were used. The ‘EpiNu’ in-house food and nutrient database was used to compile dietary intakes, which were analyzed for statistical analysis. The intraclass correlation coefficient for all three FFQs ranged from 0.72 for carbohydrates to 0.45 for folate. The de-attenuated Pearson correlation for the energy adjusted nutrients between FFQ3 and 24-h recalls ranged from 0.73 for carbohydrates to 0.35 for calcium. Bland and Altman plots for energy intake between the two methods showed the limits of agreement ranged from 768 to ?1358 calories/day (±2 standard deviations). Misclassification was low for most of the nutrients. Under-reporting of the energy intake (EI/BMR ratio<1.2) was higher in females than males. This FFQ appears to be a robust tool to measure dietary intakes in southern India.     

Violence against women, symptom reporting, and treatment for reproductive tract infections in Kerala state, Southern India

In this article we examine factors associated with women's self-reports of reproductive ill health symptoms and factors associated with seeking and receiving treatment for the symptoms. We focus on indicators of women's societal position, especially empowerment (indicated by experience of and attitudes toward violence against women), autonomy, and education. We used data from the National Family Health Survey-2 from Kerala state in Southern India. Based on our results we suggest that violence against women, whether actually experienced or internalized as acceptance of its justification, is associated with increased ill health symptoms, and the acceptance of violence is associated with decreased chance of treatment. Women's higher formal education appeared to reduce treatment seeking for reproductive ill health, perhaps due to the stigma associated with sexually transmitted disease (STD) in this cultural setting. Women's work participation had no significant impact, nor did indicators of women's economic and personal autonomy.     

Phacoemulsification with Intraocular Lens Implantation in Pediatric Uveitis: A Retrospective Study

Purpose: To analyze the outcome of phacoemulsification with primary posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL) implantation without primary posterior capsulorhexis in older children with uveitis.

Methods: Retrospective study of children with uveitis who underwent phacoemulsification with IOL implantation between January 2006 and May 2014.

Results: Twenty-one eyes of 16 children were included. Mean age at cataract surgery was 10.9 years. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis was associated in 37.5%, tuberculosis in 18.7%, Vogt Koyanagi Harada disease in 6.2%, and idiopathic uveitis in 37.5%. Anterior uveitis occurred in 8/21 eyes, intermediate uveitis in 9/21 eyes, and panuveitis in 4/21 eyes. Mean follow-up was 29.9 months. Posterior capsule opacification occurred in 15 eyes, glaucoma in two eyes, choroidal neovascular membrane in one eye, and cystoid macular edema in five eyes. At the last follow up, 19/21 eyes had improved vision and 14 had 20/40 or better vision.

Conclusion: Tight perioperative inflammatory control with immunosuppression may result in good vision after phacoemulsification and IOL implantation without posterior capsulorrhexis in older children with uveitic cataract.     

Antineoplastic activity of Solidago virgaurea on prostatic tumor cells in an SCID mouse model

Solidago virgaurea (goldenrod) has traditionally been used as an anti-inflammatory herbal medicine for the treatment of various symptoms, including prostatic diseases. The plant has also been reported to have antibacterial, spasmolytic, and carminative properties. During the course of our screening for antineoplastic activities in various herbal plants, we found that the extract of S. virgaurea exhibits strong cytotoxic activities on various tumor cell lines. The active component mostly resides in the leaves of the plant and is soluble in water. When the extract was fractionated by a Sephadex G-100 column, the active fraction corresponded to a molecular weight of approximately 40,000. This cytotoxic activity is effective on various tumor cell lines, including human prostate (PC3), breast (MDA435), melanoma (C8161), and small cell lung carcinoma (H520). To examine the effect of the cytotoxic activity on tumor cells in vivo, we used the rat prostate cell line (AT6.1) and an SCID mouse model. AT6.1 cells were injected into the flank of SCID mice, and then the G-100 fraction of S. virgaurea was administered intraperitoneally or subcutaneously every 3 days. The size of the tumor was measured for up to 25 days. The growth of the tumor was significantly suppressed by the G-100 fraction at 5 mg/kg without any apparent side effects. Therefore, S. virgaurea is considered to be promising as an antineoplastic medicine with minimal toxicities.     

A review on polyols: new frontiers for health-based bakery products

Polyols or sugar alcohols, a group of reduced calorie sweeteners, are the natural and nutritive sweeteners. These are neither sugars nor alcohols; rather they are a group of low-digestible carbohydrates which can be used instead of sucrose. They occur naturally in foods and come from plant products such as fruit and berries. They are used in food as sweeteners and bulking agents. Polyols have slightly reduced sweetness and caloric values compared to sucrose. Polyols available as either in solid crystalline form or syrups are emerging as a sugar replacer as well as a sugar substitute. Low sugar or low calorie is a top ranked market trend for bakery sector. Polyols offer the baker a versatile range of ingredients to boost the available portfolio of products. They would provide the functional benefits to bakery goods when the sugars used are replaced with polyols. This review focuses on some recent studies carried out on sucrose replacement with polyols in baked products.     

Separation and Identification of Phenolic Acid and Flavonoids from Nerium indicum Flowers

Four major compounds were separated and identified from the methanol extracts of Nerium indicum flowers (Arali) using HPLC and mass spectral data. Through mass data, the chemical structures were elucidated as: trans5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (1), quercetin-3-O- rutinoside (2), luteolin-5-O-rutinoside (3) and luteolin-7-O-rutinoside (4). In addition, the cis isomers of 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid in Nerium indicum flowers were confirmed by Mass, HPLC and UV. The structures of these compounds confirmed with the help of liquid chromatography mass spectrometry.