Seasonal Variation in Physicochemical Parameters and Heavy Metals in Water of Upper Lake of Bhopal

Heavy metal pollution of fresh water is the single most important environmental threat to the future. Upper Lake is a freshwater lake, which is the major source of drinking water in the city of Bhopal, the capital city of M.P., the central province of India, but due to anthropogenic activities this lake is being polluted. During the investigation heavy metals and physicochemical parameters were analyzed to determine the water quality seasonally in the year of 2006 and 2007. All the physicochemical parameters except DO (6.50–6.97 mg l⁻¹), Free CO₂ (0.8–1.6 mg l⁻¹) and BOD (5.47–6.85 mg l⁻¹) were below the prescribed limit as recommended by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for drinking water standards. In case of heavy metals, Ni (0.173–0.253 mg l⁻¹) and Cr (0.047–0.087 mg l⁻¹) were found beyond the prescribed limits (0.02 and 0.05 mg l⁻¹, respectively), whereas Pb (0.057–0.087 mg l⁻¹), Cu (0.016–0.020 mg l⁻¹) and Hg (0.0006–0.0011 mg l⁻¹) were within the safe limit. This study reveals that water of upper lake is partially polluted with heavy metals. It is recommended that strict vigilance and constant monitoring are needed to maintain water quality of the lake, which is a major source of potable water for the Bhopal city.     

Measuring health related quality of life in coronary heart disease: The importance of feeling well

Background

Atrial tachyarrhythmias are associated with patent foramen ovale. The objective was to determine the anti-arrhythmic effect of patent foramen ovale closure on pre-existing atrial tachyarrhythmias.

Methods

Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases were searched between 1967 and 2010. The search was expanded using the ‘related articles’ function and reference lists of key studies. All studies reporting pre- and post-closure incidence (or prevalence) of atrial tachyarrhythmia in the same patient population were included. Random and fixed effect meta-analyses were used to aggregate the data.

Results

Six studies were identified including 2570 patients who underwent percutaneous closure. Atrial fibrillation was in fact the only AT reported in all studies. Meta-analysis using a fixed effects model demonstrated a significant reduction in the prevalence of atrial fibrillation with an OR of 0.43 (95% CI 0.26-0.71). When using the random-effects model, OR was 0.44 (95% CI 0.18-1.04) with a statistically significant trend demonstrated (test for overall effect: Z = 1.87, p = 0.06).

Conclusion

Closure of a patent foramen ovale may be associated with reduction in the prevalence of atrial fibrillation.     

TRAIL and guardian angel of genome integrity: ATM boards TRAIL blazer

Prostate cancer is a multifaceted progressive multistep disorder that arises because of accumulation of genetic and epigenetic abnormalities, which escort to the transformation of normal cells into malignant derivatives. Despite tremendous strides have been made in the understanding of prostate cancer biology, yet approaches towards cancer-targeted therapy still face confrontations in standardization. This review brings to attention, the regulators in complex genetic backgrounds to enlighten our understanding of transformation and metastasis in human systems. Recent evidence gives a clue that prostate cancer may be linked to deregulated DNA damage repair processes, as various combinations of targeted deletions in genes controlling cell-cycle checkpoints; apoptosis and DNA repair result in prostate cancer progression and aggressiveness. An insight of the orchestration between DNA damage-based molecular responses and TRAIL provides an understanding of the mechanisms that cause apoptosis and may provide rationale for the development of novel therapeutic strategies.     

Biomarkers for early detection of sickle nephropathy

Renal complications affect nearly 30-50% of adults with sickle cell anemia (SCA), causing significant morbidity and mortality. Standard renal function tests like serum creatinine and glomerular filtration rate become abnormal in this disease only when renal damage has become extensive and largely irreversible. Moreover, not all patients develop sickle nephropathy (SN). Therefore, noninvasive biomarkers that predict early onset of SN are necessary. We performed a cross-sectional analysis for nephropathy in 116 patients with sickle cell disease, analyzing urinary kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), liver-type fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP), N-acetyl-b-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β), together with conventional renal biomarkers (urine albumin and osmolality, and serum creatinine and cystatin C estimated GFR) during routine clinic visits when patients were at steady-state/baseline. We observed a distinct biomarker pattern: KIM-1 and NAG emerged as biomarkers with a strong association with albuminuria. Surprisingly, and in contrast to other acute/chronic renal disorders, NGAL, L-FABP, and TGF-β levels did not show any relationship with albuminuria in patients with SCA. Our study identifies potential biomarkers for SN, and suggests longitudinal validation of these biomarkers for early detection of SN, so that therapeutic interventions can be applied before renal damage becomes irreversible.     

Temporally structured metapopulation dynamics and persistence of influenza A H3N2 virus in humans

Populations of seasonal influenza virus experience strong annual bottlenecks that pose a considerable extinction risk. It has been suggested that an influenza source population located in tropical Southeast or East Asia seeds annual temperate epidemics. Here we investigate the seasonal dynamics and migration patterns of influenza A H3N2 virus by analysis of virus samples obtained from 2003 to 2006 from Australia, Europe, Japan, New York, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and newly sequenced viruses from Hong Kong. In contrast to annual temperate epidemics, relatively low levels of relative genetic diversity and no seasonal fluctuations characterized virus populations in tropical Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. Bayesian phylogeographic analysis using discrete temporal and spatial characters reveal high rates of viral migration between urban centers tested. Although the virus population that migrated between Southeast Asia and Hong Kong persisted through time, this was dependent on virus input from temperate regions and these tropical regions did not maintain a source for annual H3N2 influenza epidemics. We further show that multiple lineages may seed annual influenza epidemics, and that each region may function as a potential source population. We therefore propose that the global persistence of H3N2 influenza A virus is the result of a migrating metapopulation in which multiple different localities may seed seasonal epidemics in temperate regions in a given year. Such complex global migration dynamics may confound control efforts and contribute to the emergence and spread of antigenic variants and drug-resistant viruses.     

Role of CD34, vascular endothelial growth factor, and p53 in neoangiogenesis as correlated with stage of disease in colorectal carcinoma

Background

Angiogenesis is critical for the growth of colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Vascular endothelial growth factor is the most important angiogenic growth factor.

Method

Fifty cases of CRC operated at INHS Asvini were studied by using immunohistochemical labelling of the tumours by using CD34, p53, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

Results

Out of the 50 cases, 31 (62%) were positive for p53; of which 80.7% showed high expression. Significant staining (> 20% tumour cells showing positivity) was seen in 33 patients (66%), while 34% were negative. Of the 33 positive cases, 57.58% showed high-grade VEGF positivity.

Conclusion

Vascular endothelial growth factor correlated significantly with the stage and grade of disease. Intra tumours microvessel density as calculated from CD34 expression increased with the stage and grade of the CRC.     

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of radiation optic neuropathy

Radiation optic neuropathy (RON) is characterized by the rapid onset of painless irreversible vision loss in one or both eyes. We report 4 consecutive patients who presented with unilateral or asymmetric bilateral RON. All had bilateral optic nerve enhancement on MRI and were treated with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) and oral corticosteroids. In the less affected eye, 2 of the 4 patients had preservation of vision, while in the other 2 patients, vision declined. No patient showed improvement in the more symptomatic eye, and in 2 patients, there was a significant decline in visual acuity. Our findings suggest that prompt treatment with HBO and oral corticosteroids may result in visual preservation in the less affected eye despite the presence of optic nerve enhancement on MRI.     

Do epigenetic pathways initiate late onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD): towards a new paradigm

Late onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is a non-familial, progressive neurodegenerative disease and the most prominent form of dementia in the elderly. Accumulating evidence suggests that LOAD not only results from the combined effects of variation in a number of genes and environmental factors, but also from epigenetic abnormalities such as histone modifications or DNA methylation. In comparison to monogenic diseases, LOAD exhibits numerous anomalies that suggest an epigenetic component in disease etiology. Evidence against a monogenic course and for an epigenetic component include: 1) the dominance of sporadic cases over familial ones and the low estimated concordance rates for monozygotic twins; 2) gender specific susceptibility and course of disease; 3) parent-of-origin effects, and late age of onset; 4) brain chromatin abnormalities, non-Mendelian inheritance patterns, and atypical levels of folate and homocysteine; and 5) monoallelic expression patterns of susceptibility genes [1]. The epigenome is particularly susceptible to deregulation during early embryonic and neonatal periods and thus disturbances during these periods can have latent lasting effects. The Latent Early-life Associated Regulation (LEARn) model attempts to explain these consequences from a brain specific point of view. In the present review we present the evidence that support the role of epigenetics in the development of AD and explore the potential pathways and mechanisms that may be involved.