Upper gastrointestinal mucosal lesions in chronic renal failure.

The upper gastrointestinal mucosa was studied endoscopically in 182 patients (140 males, 42 females) with chronic renal failure prior to hemodialysis. Endoscopy revealed normal mucosa in 77 patients (42.3%), inflammatory mucosal lesions in 88 (48.4%), peptic ulcer in 16 (8.8%; duodenal 15, gastric 1) and Barrett's ulcer in one patient. Upper gastrointestinal bleeding was noted at presentation in 16 (8.8%) cases and was associated with erosive gastritis, duodenitis and duodenal ulcer in 11, 3 and 2 patients respectively. Thus patients with chronic renal failure had a high prevalence of inflammatory mucosal changes.     

Effect of platelet-activating factor inhalation on nonspecific bronchial reactivity in man

Bronchial hyperactivity is a recognized hallmark of asthma, characterized by an exaggerated bronchial response to numerous mediators, including histamine. It is also well recognized that bronchial hyperresponsiveness is increased following allergen exposure, although no particular mediator has been shown to induce this response. The recent observation that PAF can induce increased nonspecific bronchial reactivity in normal subjects emphasizes its importance as an inflammatory mediator. In this report we sought to further elucidate the role of PAF in airway hyperreactivity by comparing the effect of PAF on methacholine-induced airway responsiveness in six non-asthmatic subjects. Nonspecific airway responsiveness was not significantly increased following PAF inhalation at 6 hours nor was it increased at 1, 2, 7, or 14 days. Further elucidation of the potential role of PAF in explaining changes in airway reactivity is necessary.     

Bacteremia after upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

During 24 months, 200 upper gastrointestinal endoscopies were performed on 193 patients. Blood cultures were obtained before and five and 30 minutes after the procedure using thiol (50 ml) and trypticase soy broth (100 ml) media. The mean endoscopic time was 34 minutes. Sixteen patients developed bacteremia (8%). Twelve groups of microorganisms were detected in positive blood cultures: Streptococcus (5 species), Lactobacillus sp, Veillonella alcalescens, Staphylococcus aureus, Staph epidermidis, Propioni-bacterium acnes, Corynebacterium acnes, and Bacillus subtilis. Seven patients had positive blood cultures at five and 30 minutes, eight at five minutes, and one at 30 minutes only. There was no clear correlation of bacteremia with the age or previous history of the patient, biopsy, active bleeding, endoscopic time, or findings. A follow-up study of all patients for six months to two years indicated no complications related to endoscopy and/or bacteremia.     

Oligodeoxynucleoside phosphoramidates and phosphorothioates as inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus

Modified oligodeoxynucleotides complementary to RNA of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) were tested for their ability to inhibit virally induced syncytium formation and expression of viral p24 protein. The modifications of oligomers include replacement of backbone phosphodiester groups with phosphorothioates and various phosphoramidates. All oligomers were found to be active. Oligomers with complete replacement of phosphodiesters with phosphoramidate or phosphorothioate groups were more active at the micromolar range than were unmodified oligomers of the same sequence. In addition, modified and unmodified homooligonucleotides also showed inhibition of HIV-1 replication. It is suggested that different classes of oligonucleotides may inhibit HIV replication by different mechanisms.     

Immune and Inflammatory Determinants Underlying Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology

Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology - This study examines the link between peripheral immune changes in perpetuation of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) neuropathology and cognitive deficits. Our...     

Assistive Framework for Automatic Detection of All the Zones in Retinopathy of Prematurity Using Deep Learning

Journal of Digital Imaging - Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a potentially blinding disorder seen in low birth weight preterm infants. In India, the burden of ROP is high, with nearly 200,000...     

Human pregnancy levels of estrogen and progesterone contribute to humoral immunity by activating TFH/B cell axis

Circulating T_FH (cT_FH) cells express CXCR5, PD-1, and, when activated, ICOS, and release IL-21. According to the production of IFN-γ, IL-4, and IL-17 and expression of FoxP3, these cells are also classified as cT_FH1, cT_FH2, cT_FH17, and cT_FR cells, respectively. This CD4⁺T-cell subset is pivotal to efficient humoral immunity, and pregnancy appears to favor IgG production. Here, not only pregnancy amplified the in vivo production of anti-HBsAg IgG in HBV immunized women, but the frequency of cT_FH cells was directly correlated with estradiol levels. In vitro, pregnancy-related dose of 17-β-estradiol (E2) directly increased the percentage of different cT_FH subsets. While E2 and progesterone (P4) increased the proportion of differentiated T_FH cells derived from naïve CD4⁺T-cells, only E2 amplified the release of IL-21 in those cell cultures. In addition, E2 and P4 increased the proportion of memory B cells and plasma cells, respectively. In SEB-activated B/T_FH cell co-cultures, E2, in the presence of P4, increased the production of total IgG. Finally, among the hormones, P4 was stronger in upregulating the percentage of IL-10⁺T_FR cells. Collectively, our findings suggested that E2 and P4 cooperate in the humoral immune response by favoring the expansion of different cT_FH and B cell subsets.     

Blood plasma separation in elevated dimension T-shaped microchannel

In recent years, microfluidic chips have proven ideal tools for biochemical analysis, which, however, demands a unique and compatible plasma separation scheme. Various research groups have established continuous flow separation methods in microfluidic devices; however, they have worked with relatively small dimension microchannels (similar to the blood cell diameter). The present work demonstrates separation of plasma by utilizing the hydrodynamic separation techniques in microchannels with size of the order of mm. The separation process exploits the phenomenon, which is very similar to that of plasma skimming explained under Zweifach-Fung bifurcation law. The present experiments demonstrates for, the first time, that applicability of the Zweifach-Fung bifurcation law can be extended to dimensions much higher than the suspended particle size. The T-microchannel device (comprising perpendicularly connected blood and plasma channels) were micro-fabricated using conventional PDMS micro-molding techniques. Three variables (feed hematocrit, main channel width, and flow rate distributions) were identified as the important parameters which define the device’s efficiency for the blood plasma separation. A plasma separation efficiency of 99.7 % was achieved at a high flow ratio. Novel concepts of 2-stage or multiple plasma channel designs are also proposed to yield high separation efficiency with undiluted blood. The possible underlying principle causing plasma separation (viz. aggregation and shear thinning) are investigated in detail as part of this work. The results are significant because they show nearly 100 % separations in microchannels which are much easier to fabricate than previously designed devices.     

Convalescent plasma therapy for severe Covid-19 in patients with hematological malignancies

BackgroundData on convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) in patients of hematological malignancies with severe Covid-19 is scarce.ObjectiveTo study 14-day mortality in patients who received CPT.Patients & methodsRetrospective multicentre observational study conducted in 4 centres treating haematological malignancies across Delhi-national capital region. Total 33 haematological malignancies patients with severe Covid-19 who received CPT were analysed.ResultsThe median age of the study cohort was 62 years (18–80 years). Twenty one percent patients had 1 comorbidity, 18 % had 2 comorbidities and 6% patients had 3 and 5 comorbidities each. Twenty four patients were on active therapy. Sixty nine percent of patients required ICU stay. Twenty five patients received plasma therapy within 7 days (early) of diagnosis of Covid-19 infection. Median day of plasma infusion from date of diagnosis of Covid-19 infection was 4 days (range: 2–25 days). Patient who had early initiation of plasma therapy had shorter duration of hospitalisation (12.7 vs 24.3 days, p = 0.000). Overall mortality in the cohort was 45.5%. There was no effect of disease status, active therapy, presence of comorbidity on mortality. There was no difference in the mortality in patients receiving early vs late initiation of plasma therapy or in patients receiving one versus two plasma therapy.ConclusionsWe provide a large series of patients with hematological malignancies and role of CPT in this group.