Glutamine and Whey Protein Improve Intestinal Permeability and Morphology in Patients with Crohn’s Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background  

Increased intestinal permeability (IP) has been implicated in the etiopathogenesis, disease activity and relapse of Crohn’s disease (CD). Glutamine, the major fuel for the enterocytes, may improve IP.     

Helicobacter pylori in gallbladder mucosa in patients with gallbladder disease

Background

Helicobacter species have been found to be associated with biliary tract diseases. This prospective study was done to determine the prevalence of H. pylori in the biliary tract of patients suffering from gallbladder disease.

Methods

Forty-nine patients undergoing laparoscopic/open cholecystectomy for benign biliary tract diseases were investigated with urea breath test for H. pylori infection of gastric antrum. Bile and gallbladder tissues were studied for presence of H. pylori by rapid urease test, histopathological examination, culture and PCR analysis. Gallbladder specimens from two patients who underwent Whipple??s operation and from 10 cadavers were studied as controls.

Results

The mean (SD) age of patients was 42.4 (11.1) years. Urea breath test was positive in 17 (34.6%) cases. Rapid urease test was negative in all the cases. There was no evidence of H. pylori infection of gallbladder on histopathological examination using H&;E, Giemsa and Warthin Starry stains. H. pylori DNA were detected in 16 patients (32.6%) and none of the 12 controls by PCR analysis (p?=?0.025). The presence of H. pylori DNA in bile and/or gallbladder was associated with positive urea breath test, (p?H. pylori infection of bile and gallbladder.

Conclusions

Nearly three quarters of patients with positive urea breath test have detectable H. pylori DNA in gallbladder tissue. The significance of these findings needs to be further evaluated.     

Rare association of eventration of left hemidiaphragm with ipsilateral thyroid agenesis

Eventration is a well-known congenital malformation of the diaphragm, usually asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally on chest radiography. It is sometimes associated with a number of other congenital syndromes and anomalies. We report a rare case of eventration of left hemidiaphragm associated with gastric volvulus, ipsilateral thyroid agenesis and microphthalmia.     

Comparing Cortical Plasticity Induced by Conventional and High-Definition 4 × 1 Ring tDCS: A Neurophysiological Study

BackgroundTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) induces long-lasting NMDA receptor-dependent cortical plasticity via persistent subthreshold polarization of neuronal membranes. Conventional bipolar tDCS is applied with two large (35 cm²) rectangular electrodes, resulting in directional modulation of neuronal excitability. Recently a newly designed 4 × 1 high-definition (HD) tDCS protocol was proposed for more focal stimulation according to the results of computational modeling. HD tDCS utilizes small disc electrodes deployed in 4 × 1 ring configuration whereby the physiological effects of the induced electric field are thought to be grossly constrained to the cortical area circumscribed by the ring.ObjectiveWe aim to compare the physiological effects of both tDCS electrode arrangements on motor cortex excitability.MethodstDCS was applied with 2 mA for 10 min. Fourteen healthy subjects participated, and motor cortex excitability was monitored by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) before and after tDCS.ResultsExcitability enhancement following anodal and a respective reduction after cathodal stimulation occurred in both, conventional and HD tDCS. However, the plastic changes showed a more delayed peak at 30 min and longer lasting after-effects for more than 2 h after HD tDCS for both polarities, as compared to conventional tDCS.ConclusionThe results show that this new electrode arrangement is efficient for the induction of neuroplasticity in the primary motor cortex. The pattern of aftereffects might be compatible with the concept of GABA-mediated surround inhibition, which should be explored in future studies directly.     

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention in a case of idiopathic spontaneous coronary artery dissection

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare but important cause of acute coronary syndrome. SCAD can cause unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction, and sudden death. The diagnosis of coronary dissection is usually made by coronary angiography. Therapeutic options include medical therapy, percutaneous coronary intervention, and bypass surgery. A 23-year-old male patient presented with acute inferior wall myocardial infarction. He was taken for primary percutaneous coronary intervention and found to have long segment SCAD in the right coronary artery. He was stented with 2 drug-eluting stents; TIMI 3 flow was restored; and the patient had an uneventful, complete recovery.     

Clinical profile and response to steroids in post-fever retinitis: a nine-year experience from a referral institute in the rural hinterland of Central India

Purpose

To describe the demographics, clinical features, and treatment outcomes with systemic steroids in eyes presenting with post-fever retinitis (PFR) from Central India.

Methods

Single-center, retrospective analysis of 147 eyes of 98 PFR cases between 2011 and 2019.

Results

Mean age of the study cohort was 33.46?±?12.76 years, with 72 males and 26 females. The mean interval between the onset of fever and the diminution of vision was 21.10?±?13.54 days (range 0–60 days). The number of PFR cases increased over the nine years with 89 cases (90.1%) presenting during winters. Unilateral involvement was seen in 49 cases, while 49 had bilateral involvement. Clinical characteristics included: multifocal retinitis (n?=?122; 61.2%), hemorrhages (n?=?132; 89.8%), disc edema (n?=?57; 38.8%), anterior chamber reaction (n?=?28; 19%), and vitritis (n?=?103; 70.1%). Treatment included intravenous followed by oral steroids in 70 patients and oral steroids exclusively in 23; five patients denied treatment. The visual acuity improved from 1.09?±?0.52 LogMAR to 0.29?±?0.42 LogMAR (p?<?0.05).

Conclusion

There has been an increase in the prevalence of PFR cases over the last decade with clustering during the winters. Multifocal retinitis, retinal hemorrhages, and vitritis were the most common clinical findings in our series. The retinitis resolved with improvement in vision following steroid therapy in all eyes.

     

Chlorotrifluoroethylidenes: an efficient and convenient approach to their synthesis

A convenient one step synthesis of chlorotrifluoroalkyl olefins starting from aldehydes was developed. The stable reagent 2-((1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)sulfonyl)benzothiazole was prepared from readily available benzothiazole-2-thiol and halothane. This method comprises using stable 2-((1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)sulfonyl)benzothiazole according to the Julia procedure and presents new opportunities for the synthesis of trifluoroalkylidene derivatives.

A convenient one step synthesis of chlorotrifluoroalkyl olefins starting from aldehydes was developed.     

Effective in vitro delivery of paclitaxel by nanocargo of mesoporous polycaprolactone against triple negative breast cancer cells by minimalizing drug dose

Among the breast cancers, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has relatively poor outcomes with a lower survival rate and personalised chemotherapy is the only option available for treatment. Currently in the biomedical domain, nanomaterials with porous morphology have revealed their tremendous possibilities to be used as a nanocarrier in treating cancer by offering void space to encapsulate/entrap biological agents. However, the development of nanocarrier-based targeted therapy with high therapeutic efficacy and fewer side effects to normal cells is always a challenge. Here, we have developed nanocargos based on biodegradable mesoporous PCL (polycaprolactone) of approx. diameter of 75 nm by template removal synthesis techniques. Succeeding the comparative analysis of the nanocarriers, the efficiencies of core shell PCL-mZnO (PZ) and mesoporous PCL (HPZ) to deliver paclitaxel (Taxol/T) into breast cancer cells, is investigated. We found that HPZ nanocapsules have less cytotoxicity and drug loading efficiency of about 600 μg mg⁻¹. The Taxol-loaded nanoparticles (T-HPZ) have exhibited more cytotoxicity than Taxol alone treated cancer cells. Furthermore, T-HPZ treated MDA-MB231 cells are accumulated at G2/M phase of the cell cycle and eventually undergo apoptosis. In support of this, anchorage independent growth of MDA-MB231 cells are significantly inhibited by T-HPZ treatment. Together, our findings suggest that T-HPZ-based paclitaxel (Taxol/T) loaded nanoparticles provide a novel therapeutic option in the treatment of TNBC.

Porous-PCL-nanocapsules-Taxol is an effective nanomedicine for the treatment of triple negative breast cancer which can reduce the extent of side effects also.