Synthesis,Characterization, and in Vitro Stability of Chitosan-Methotrexate Conjugates

Pharmaceutical Research -     

Raising monospecific antibodies by use of protein components prestained with Remazol Brilliant Blue and separated by disc electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gel

We have reported (Clin Chem 29: 42-44, 1983) that prestaining with Remazol Brilliant Blue permits direct visualization of serum components on disc electrophoresis, and apparently purifies the proteins well. Here we have cut out the bands corresponding to the prestained albumin and transferrin after disc electrophoresis of normal human serum proteins, eluted some individual proteins into saline, and assessed their purity by immunoelectrophoresis and two-dimensional crossed immunoelectrophoresis against polyvalent antihuman serum. These two techniques indicated purity of these antigens. We inoculated rabbits with the eluates containing the pure antigens, and tested the resulting antibodies for monospecificity by immunoelectrophoresis, rocket electrophoresis, and single radial immunodiffusion. From the results we conclude that the antibodies raised against each component were monospecific, and that this is a simple, economical, rapid, and reliable method for obtaining a pure fraction of serum protein for use as an antigen.     

Gnathic osteoblastoma: clinicopathologic review of seven cases with long-term follow-up

The clinical, radiographic and histopathologic features of seven cases of osteoblastoma of the jaw bones were analyzed. The mandible was involved in six cases and a periosteal presentation of the tumor was noted in three cases. Six tumors were symptomatic with pain being the common presentation. The radiographic appearance of the intraosseous tumors varied from well-defined radiolucencies to poorly-defined mixed lesions. A small periosteal tumor was undetectable radiographically. Histopathologically, the tumors exhibited variation in woven bone formation, osteoblastic rimming, lesional maturation as well as interaction of the tumor with surrounding host tissue. Intraosseous tumors were managed with aggressive surgical curettage and periosteal tumors were resected and the underlying bone was curetted down to normal host bone. Follow-up of cases ranged from 2 years to 18 years with no recorded recurrences. Gnathic osteoblastomas offer a unique diagnostic challenge as they resemble other tumors of the jaws including the cementoblastoma, cemento-ossifying fibroma, cemento-osseous dysplasia and most importantly the gnathic osteosarcoma. We stress on the need to correlate the histopathologic findings with clinical and radiographic features to reach an accurate diagnosis.     

Contact lens compliance among a group of young,university-based lens users in South India

Purpose:

To investigate the rate of compliance with the soft contact lens care and maintenance procedures with a focus on contact lens wearing habits, cleaning and disinfecting procedures, and maintenance of lens care accessories in a group of young, university-based contact lens wearers

Methods:

Two hundred and sixteen young soft contact lens wearers with an age range of 18-22 years were selected conveniently from the student population of Manipal University, Manipal, India. After receiving informed consent from the participants, their level of compliance with contact lenses was assessed using a questionnaire.

Results:

The mean (±SD) age of the participants was 21.86±2.35 years. Out of 216 subjects, only 34% of the lens users were identified to be compliant with the least level of compliance observed in the maintenance of lens care accessories. Conventional users showed significantly (p=0.001) better level of compliance compared to disposable wearers and so did the users who acquired their lenses from clinicians (p=0.001) compared to over-the-counter lens receipt. The gender (p=0.496) and years of experience in contact lens use (p=0.142) did not show any statistically significant difference in the level of compliance.

Conclusion:

This study demonstrated that non-compliance with lens care procedures among a group of young, university-based soft contact lens wearers is common. The results indicated that all subjects had some degree of non-compliance and the least level of compliance observed in the care of lens accessories.