Rabies menace and control – An insight into knowledge,attitude and practices

Background

There are very few community-based epidemiological studies on knowledge, attitude and practice about rabies prevention and control. This cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the same in an urban slum area.

Methods

A random sample of 200 people was selected from an urban slum area. A pre-tested pro-forma was used to collect the data.

Result

All study participants had knowledge of rabies transmission by dog bite compared to only 23% having knowledge about its transmission by scratches and licks. Only 40% of the participants were aware that the disease would cause fatal illness. As a first aid measure after dog bite, 66% of the participants responded that they would wash the wound with water, 24% said that they would visit a doctor and the rest responded that either they would do nothing (3%) or would adopt some unconventional methods/religious practices (7%) to prevent the development of rabies. 55.5% of participants were aware about the role of vaccine in preventing rabies.

Conclusion

The level of awareness about rabies and its control measures is not high. The attitudes and practices of the respondents reflect the lack of IEC activities, inaccessibility of treatment facilities and the lack of services that would enable community participation in rabies control.     

Congenital Anastomosis Between Left Anterior Mammary and Pulmonary Vasculatures

Several case reports have described the presence of acquired fistula connecting the left internal mammary artery to the pulmonary vasculature; however, occurrence of this type of congenital fistulas is less common. The authors present a case of a congenital left internal mammary artery-pulmonary vasculature fistula that was incidentally found during a coronary angiography in a patient who was being evaluated for coronary artery bypass surgery. The particulars of the case are discussed, and the literature is reviewed.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">TLR4</Emphasis> polymorphisms and disease susceptibility

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a central role in the regulation of the host immune system. Each TLR recognizes specific pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). TLR4 is one of the well characterized pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs) that recognizes the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria, some conserved structures from fungal to mycobacterial pathogens and some endogenous ligands. A complex signaling cascade initiates after the ligand binds to the TLR4 ectodomain, leading to the activation of multiple inflammatory genes. Genetic variations greatly influence immune responses towards pathogenic challenges and disease outcome. In this review, we summarize various reports regarding TLR4 polymorphisms and disease susceptibility.     

Toxico-pathological effects of in ovo inoculation of ochratoxin A (OTA) in chick embryos and subsequently in hatched chicks

This study was designed to investigate the toxico-pathological effects of in ovo inoculation of ochratoxin A (OTA) in chicken embryos and subsequently in the hatching chicks. Nine hundred fertile white leghorn (WL) layer breeder eggs were divided into eight groups (A-H). Group A was maintained as untreated control, whereas group B was kept as sham control (10 μL of 0.1 M NaHCO(3) solution). Before incubation, groups C, D, E, F, G, and H were injected with 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.10, 0.50, and 1.00 μg OTA/egg, respectively. At 53 hrs of incubation, crown to rump length, optic cups, and eye lens diameters were significantly (p ≤ .05) lower, whereas neural tube closure defects were higher in the OTA-treated embryos. Teratogenic defects (studied at day 9 of incubation) and embryonic mortalities were higher in the groups administered high doses of OTA. A significant increase was noted in the serum concentration of ALT, urea, and creatinine, along with higher weights of liver and kidney, in chicks hatched from OTA-contaminated eggs. These findings suggested that there are teratogenic and substantive toxicological risks in the developing chicken embryos and hatched chicks that could be exposed to OTA in ovo.     

Is blood ammonia influenced by kidney function? A prospective study

BackgroundWe have investigated whether blood ammonia is increased with worsening CKD.MethodsFifty eight subjects with a range of CKD were recruited for analysis of plasma ammonia and other electrolytes.ResultsThe concentrations of plasma ammonia were all within the normal reference range and there was no correlation between ammonia and CKD without any effect of dialysis.ConclusionsBlood ammonia is not elevated in or related to the severity of chronic kidney disease.     

Gastrointestial and respiratory activities of Acacia leucophloea

Ethnopharmacological relevance

The barks of Acacia leucophloea (Fabaceae) are used in Pakistan traditional medicine as an astringent, a bitter, a thermogenic, a styptic, a preventive of infections, an anthelmintic, a vulnery, a demulcent, an expectorant, an antipyretic, an antidote for snake bites and in the treatment of bronchitis, cough, vomiting, wounds, ulcers, diarrhea, dysentery, internal and external hemorrhages, dental caries, stomatitis, and intermittent fevers and skin diseases.

Materials and methods

A study was carried out for the possible elucidation of mechanisms justifying the traditional medicinal uses of A. leucophloea (Fabaceae) in gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. In vitro experiments were carried out over isolated rabbit jejunum and guinea-pig ileum in order to determine spasmolytic and bronchorelaxant activities, while in vivo studies were conducted in mice for antidiarrheal properties.

Results

A methanol crude extract of barks of the plant caused a concentration-dependent relaxation (0.1-3 mg/ml) of isolated rabbit jejunum preparations in a pattern similar to that of nifedipine and dicyclomine, suggesting a Ca²⁺ channel-blocking mechanism in addition to an anticholinergic effect. In guinea-pig ileum the extract caused a parallel shift in the Ach-curves without suppression of maximum contractile response, followed by a non-parallel shift with the suppression of maximum contractile response at higher concentration similar to that caused by dicyclomine. Moreover, in rabbit trachea, it also caused the relaxation of carbachol (1 μM) and high K⁺-induced contractions at a dose ranging between 0.1578 and 0.734 mg/ml and 0.46-0.94 mg/ml, respectively. These findings indicate that the extract possesses spasmolytic and bronchodilator activities, mediated possibly through blockade of Ca²⁺ channels, thus justifying its medicinal use in diarrhea and asthma. Acacia leucophloea methanol extract exhibited dose-dependent (100-500 mg/ml) protective effect against castor oil induced diarrhea.

Conclusions

The data obtained contribute to the validation of the traditional use of Acacia leucophloea bark in treating gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders, providing an hypothesis on the possible mechanisms of action.     

Seromic profiling of colorectal cancer patients with novel glycopeptide microarray

Cancer-associated autoantibodies hold promise as sensitive biomarkers for early detection of cancer. Aberrant post-translational variants of proteins are likely to induce autoantibodies, and changes in O-linked glycosylation represent one of the most important cancer-associated post-translational modifications (PTMs). Short aberrant O-glycans on proteins may introduce novel glycopeptide epitopes that can elicit autoantibodies because of lack of tolerance. Technical barriers, however, have hampered detection of such glycopeptide-specific autoantibodies. Here, we have constructed an expanded glycopeptide array displaying a comprehensive library of glycopeptides and glycoproteins derived from a panel of human mucins (MUC1, MUC2, MUC4, MUC5AC, MUC6 and MUC7) known to have altered glycosylation and expression in cancer. Seromic profiling of patients with colorectal cancer identified cancer-associated autoantibodies to a set of aberrant glycopeptides derived from MUC1 and MUC4. The cumulative sensitivity of the array analysis was 79% with a specificity of 92%. The most prevalent of the identified autoantibody targets were validated as authentic cancer immunogens by showing expression of the epitopes in cancer using novel monoclonal antibodies. Our study provides evidence for the value of glycopeptides and other PTM-peptide arrays in diagnostic measures.