Genotoxic effects after in vivo exposure of vegetable extracts containing heavy metals from the Dhapa area of Calcutta, India. I. Effects of cauliflower, spinach and radish.

Several reports have indicated that the sewage-fed vegetables of the Dhapa area, near the city of Calcutta, contain a very high amount of heavy metals. Currently 800 ha of land is being utilised throughout the year to cultivate more than eight types of vegetables, with a production of about 147 tonnes per day. A major population of Calcutta consumes these vegetables grown in the Dhapa area. Recently there has been huge pressure on the State Government to ban vegetables grown in the Dhapa area for human consumption. For this reason, we have studied the genotoxic effects of some of the most commonly used vegetable extracts from the Dhapa area after in vivo acute exposure in mice as measured by chromosomal aberrations (CA) and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) to find out the minimum threshold dose to induce CA and SCE. Three different concentrations of the three most commonly used vegetable extracts (cauliflower, spinach, radish) were fed by gavage to mice for the study of CA and SCE. A significant increase in CA was observed only at the highest concentration of all the vegetable extract-treated groups when compared with the solvent control. A significant increase in SCE were observed in the middle and high doses of spinach and only the high dose of cauliflower and radish extract-treated series when compared with distilled water control. The lowest dose was equivalent to approximately 1 kg of vegetables consumed by a human (60 kg body weight) in a day. The middle and high doses of each vegetable extract were much higher than the normal amount of vegetables that a human can consume per day. So the minimum dose for inducing SCE and CA was much higher than the amount a human can consume in a day. Therefore this study indicates that these vegetables are safe for human consumption up to a certain limit, and attention should be given to reducing the heavy metal contents in the soil and sewage of the Dhapa area to thus reduce the heavy metal concentrations in the vegetables.     

Effect of hydrocele on testis and spermatogenesis

One hundred and twenty cases of big unilateral hydrocele of the tunica vaginalis testis have been studied to ascertain the effect on the structure and function of the testis, taking the normal side as control. There was no pressure effect from the hydrocele on the structure of the testis in 70 per cent, a flattening of testis in 22 per cent, and atrophy of testis in 8 per cent of cases. There was partial arrest of spermatogenesis in 10 per cent and total arrest of spermatogenesis in 8 per cent of cases. The remaining 82 per cent showed normal spermatogenesis.     

Fibromuscular dysplasia of the arteries of the leg. Apropos of 1 case

A 40 year old man presented fibromuscular hyperplasia of posterior tibial artery media, a rare lesion, and only exceptionally reported in the calves since a total of 3 cases were found in the literature.     

Methanol poisoning: a review and case study of four patients from Central Australia

Methanol intoxication, a rare and potentially lethal form of poisoning, usually results from ingestion and occasionally inhalation of methanol. Initial symptoms of blurred vision, elongated anion gap and metabolic acidosis are typically delayed and may not at first be recognised as methanol-related complaints. Once diagnosed, treatment must be prompt and definitive. As well as general supportive care, ethanol infusion, dialysis and alkalinization form the mainstays of treatment.

The cases described in this paper are compared to previous reports from other countries worldwide and contrast the variance in outcome often seen in methanol poisoning. The paper describes two tragic deaths and two lucky survivors, all of whom had consumed a cocktail of methanol and other alcoholic beverages at the same party.

The ICU nurse's role in managing the methanol-intoxicated patient relies on that person's sound knowledge of the unusual biochemical reactions occurring in the body and the need to institute definitive and supportive measures to help both patient and family recover.     

Trichinella infection and clinical disease

Trichinellosis is caused by ingestion of insufficiently cooked meat contaminated with infective larvae of <it>Trichinella</it> species. The clinical course is highly variable, ranging from no apparent infection to severe and even fatal disease. We report two illustrative cases of trichinellosis. Returning to Denmark a few days after having eaten roasted pork in the Republic of Serbia, a female patient suffered from severe vomiting, epigastric pain, diarrhoea, and later myalgia, generalized oedema, and prostration. A biopsy showed heavy infestation with <it>Trichinella spiralis</it>, 2000 larvae/g of muscle. Life-threatening cardiopulmonary, renal and central nervous system complications developed. The patient recovered after several months. Her husband, who also ate the pork, did not have clinical symptoms, but an increased eosinophil count and a single larva in a muscle biopsy confirmed infection. The epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of trichinellosis are reviewed.      

Nutritional and Antioxidant Potential of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aegle marmelos</Emphasis> Fermented Fruit Juice

Aegle marmelos fruit, leaf and bark, are traditionally used for treatment of diabetes, liver toxicity, fungal infection, microbial infection, inflammation and pyrexia. In the present study, an attempt has been made to ferment the A. marmelos fruit juice and evaluate its nutritional and antioxidant potential as well as its sensory attributes. The nutritional potential of the fermented fruit juice showed an increased level of titratable acidity and lactic acid content of 1.7 g tartaric acid/L and 7.2 mg/L respectively. The 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) and Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) scavenging activity of the fermented fruit juice was found out to be 81.10, 34.44 and 33.33 % respectively at 15 µl/mL concentration. Principal component analysis (PCA) reduced five sensory attributes (aroma, color, flavor, taste and aftertaste) to three independent components, which accounted for a 79.265 % variance (PC1, 31.278 %; PC2, 27.288 %; PC3, 20.699 %). It is concluded that the fermented fruit juice is rich in antioxidants and can be potentially used as a medicinal drink with higher nutritional potential.     

Super-Optimal NPK Along with Foliar Iron Application Influences Bioavailability of Iron and Zinc of Wheat

Deficiency of wheat grain iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) is common nutritional problem in the developing countries and thus increasing their concentrations is a major challenge. Field experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of different levels of fertilizer nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (100–200 % NPK) and foliar Fe application (3 % FeSO₄.7H₂O at 40, 60, and 75 days after sowing) on improving Fe and Zn concentrations in grain and molar ratio of phosphorus/iron (P/Fe) and phosphorus/zinc (P/Zn). Data obtained during the two year (2010–2011 and 2011–2012) field experiment reveals that foliar Fe spray along with fertilizer NPK significantly increased the grain Fe concentration by 6–15 %; whereas a sharp decrease in the grain Zn concentration under super optimal fertilization is attributed to the depressive effect of excessive phosphorus in the treatments. Molar ratio of P/Fe in wheat grains signifies the increased bioavailability of Fe in wheat grains but P/Zn increase under super-optimal NPK application calls for P management to correct the reduced level of Zn in wheat grains.     

Novel bis-tetrahydrofuranylurethane-containing nonpeptidic protease inhibitor (PI) UIC-94017 (TMC114) with potent activity against multi-PI-resistant human immunodeficiency virus in vitro

We designed, synthesized, and identified UIC-94017 (TMC114), a novel nonpeptidic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease inhibitor (PI) containing a 3(R),3a(S),6a(R)-bis-tetrahydrofuranylurethane (bis-THF) and a sulfonamide isostere which is extremely potent against laboratory HIV-1 strains and primary clinical isolates (50% inhibitory concentration [IC(50)], approximately 0.003 micro M; IC(90), approximately 0.009 micro M) with minimal cytotoxicity (50% cytotoxic concentration for CD4(+) MT-2 cells, 74 micro M). UIC-94017 blocked the infectivity and replication of each of HIV-1(NL4-3) variants exposed to and selected for resistance to saquinavir, indinavir, nelfinavir, or ritonavir at concentrations up to 5 micro M (IC(50)s, 0.003 to 0.029 micro M), although it was less active against HIV-1(NL4-3) variants selected for resistance to amprenavir (IC(50), 0.22 micro M). UIC-94017 was also potent against multi-PI-resistant clinical HIV-1 variants isolated from patients who had no response to existing antiviral regimens after having received a variety of antiviral agents. Structural analyses revealed that the close contact of UIC-94017 with the main chains of the protease active-site amino acids (Asp-29 and Asp-30) is important for its potency and wide spectrum of activity against multi-PI-resistant HIV-1 variants. Considering the favorable pharmacokinetics of UIC-94017 when administered with ritonavir, the present data warrant that UIC-94017 be further developed as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of primary and multi-PI-resistant HIV-1 infections.