Update on ocular graft-versus-host disease

Ocular graft-versus-host disease (oGVHD) occurs as a complication following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and is associated with significant ocular morbidity resulting in a marked reduction in the quality of life. With no current consensus on treatment protocols, management becomes challenging as recurrent oGVHD often refractory to conventional treatment. Most authors now diagnose and grade the disease based on criteria provided by the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference (NIH CC) or the International Chronic oGVHD (ICCGVHD) consensus group. This article will provide an insight into the diagnostic criteria of oGVHD, its classification, and clinical severity grading scales. The inflammatory process in oGVHD can involve the entire ocular surface including the eyelids, meibomian gland, corneal, conjunctiva, and lacrimal system. The varied clinical presentations and treatment strategies employed to manage them have been discussed in the present study. The recent advances in ocular surface imaging in oGVHD patients such as the use of meibography and in vivo confocal microscopy may help in early diagnosis and prognostication of the disease. Researching tear proteomics and identification of novel potential tear biomarkers in oGVHD patients is an exciting field as they may help in objectively diagnosing the disease and monitoring the response to treatment.     

CdTe QD-based inhibition and reactivation assay of acetylcholinesterase for the detection of organophosphorus pesticides

An enzyme immobilized glutathione (GSH)-capped CdTe quantum dot (QD)-based fluorescence assay has been developed for monitoring organophosphate pesticides. In principle, GSH-capped CdTe QDs exhibit higher sensitivity towards H₂O₂ produced from the active enzymatic reaction of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and choline oxidase (CHOx), which results in the fluorescence (FL) “turn-off” of the GSH-capped CdTe QDs. A “turn-on” FL of the CdTe QDs at 520 nm was recovered in the presence of organophosphate (OP). The FL changes of the GSH-capped CdTe QD/AChE/CHOx biosensor reasonably correspond to the amount of OP pesticides. The detection limit of the CdTe/AChE/CHOx biosensor towards paraoxon, dichlorvos, malathion and triazophos was 1.62 × 10⁻¹⁵ M, 75.3 × 10⁻¹⁵ M, 0.23 × 10⁻⁹ M and 10.6 × 10⁻¹² M, respectively. The GSH-capped CdTe QDs/AChE/CHOx biosensor was applied as a FL nanoprobe for assaying the enzymatic activity of AChE. The inhibited AChE was reactivated up to 94% using pyridine oximate (2-PyOx⁻), and functionalized pyridinium oximates (4-C₁₂PyOx⁻ and 4-C₁₈PyOx⁻) of varying chain lengths. It was found that the reactivation potency of the tested oximes varied with the chain length of the oximes. This biosensing system offers the promising benefit for the determination of the OP pesticides in food, water and environmental samples.

An enzyme immobilized glutathione (GSH)-capped CdTe quantum dot (QD)-based fluorescence assay has been developed for monitoring organophosphate pesticides.     

Intracranial pressure - volume response in dog subjected to repeated infusion tests: an experimental study

Several experimental studies have been made in the past to try to understand the nature of the fluid-induced changes in the intracranial pressures of the animals by infusing fluid into their craniospinal complex. The objective of the present investigation was to study the changes in the characteristics of the ventricular and epidural pressure-volume curves when a dog was subjected to repeated fluid infusion tests. The animals were subjected to three cycles of infusion tests with a time interval of either 10 min or 2 h between any two successive tests. An infusion test repeated 10 min after the preceding test exhibited a significant change in the characteristics of the ventricular fluid pressure (VFP) response but not in the epidural pressure (EDP) response. However, in the case of an infusion test which was repeated 2 h after the preceding test, it was observed that both the VFP and EDP responses remained the same as those found in the first infusion test.     

Online selling of wildlife part with spurious name: a serious challenge for wildlife crime enforcement

International Journal of Legal Medicine - We examined an online sold product “Hatha Jodi” synonym of “paired arm” for the confirmation of its biological source. It was...