Direct agglutination test with urine samples for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis

A new direct agglutination test (DAT) for use with urine samples for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has been developed and compared with the conventional DAT with serum samples and our previously reported enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with urine samples (urine ELISA). The new DAT, in which anti-human IgG was used as enhancing antibody, was tested with urine samples from 75 VL patients and 225 non-VL patients and healthy people. The sensitivity of the new DAT (90.7%), was almost the same as that of the conventional DAT (91.0%) and the urine ELISA (93.3%). The specificity of the new DAT (96.4%) was nearly identical with that of the urine ELISA (97.3%). A urine-based DAT has several advantages over the conventional DAT: sample collection is non-invasive and it can process larger numbers of samples with smaller amounts of antigen.     

Automated Computational Detection of Interstitial Fibrosis,Tubular Atrophy,and Glomerulosclerosis

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Measles among under-9-month-olds in rural Bangladesh: its significance for age at immunization

Any decision to modify measles immunization strategies away from the use of the conventional vaccine given to children at 9 months of age to the adoption of recently proposed vaccine strains that can be given to 4-6-month-olds will depend on the age distribution of severe cases of measles in the community. Reported are the results of an analysis of two community-based measles surveillance systems in rural Bangladesh, which found that 17% of all measles cases reported for under-5-year-olds in a nonvaccinated population involved infants aged less than 9 months. In a vaccinated population from the same area, 31% of all measles cases reported for under-5-year-olds occurred among under-9-month-olds. Using a rather restrictive definition for measles-related deaths (those occurring within 6 weeks of the onset of the rash), the proportion of measles-related deaths that occurred before 9 months of age was 13% of all such deaths that were reported.     

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy: an approach without pneumoperitoneum

Summary Diagnostic pneumoperitoneum, which has been considered the first step of any laparoscopic procedure, is no longer an absolute necessity. We devised an alternative to pneumoperitoneum or abdominal insufflation by upward and outward traction on the anterior abdominal wall with a hanger lifting method using subcutaneous wiring. Fairly good room was produced intraabdominally, which was enough in which to perform the cholecystectomy procedure. We have successfully performed 40 cases of laparoscopic cholecystectomy with this procedure. No complication was experienced with this method and, moreover, excess instrumentation and complications related to pneumoperitoneum were avoided.     

Phytopharmacological evaluation of ethanol extract of Sida cordifolia L. roots

Objective

To investigate the phytochemical screening (group determination) and selected pharmacological activities (antioxidant, antimicrobial and analgesic activity) of the plant Sida cordifolia Linn (S. cordifolia).

Methods

Eighty percent concentrated ethanol extract of the roots was used. To identify the chemical constituents of plant extract standard procedures were followed. In phytochemical screening the crude extract was tested for the presence of different chemical groups like reducing sugar, tannins, saponins, steroids, flavonoids, gums, alkaloids and glycosides. The antioxidant property of ethanolic extract of S. cordifolia was assessed by DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Analgesic activity of the extract was tested using the model of acetic acid induced writhing in mice. Diclofenac sodium is used as reference standard drug for the analgesic activity test. Antibacterial activity of plant extract was carried out using disc diffusion method with five pathogenic bacteria comparison with kanamycin as a standard.

Results

Phytochemical analysis of the ethanolic extract of the roots of S. cordifolia indicated the presence of reducing sugar, alkaloids, steroids and saponins. In DPPH scavenging assay the IC₅₀ value was found to be 50 µg/mL which was not comparable to the standard ascorbic acid. The crude extract produced 44.30% inhibition of writhing at the dose of 500 mg/kg body weight which is statistically significant (P>0.001). The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract of the roots of S. cordifolia showed no antimicrobial activity against five types of microorganisms. The experiment was conducted only with five species of bacteria as test species, which do not at all indicate the total inactivity against micro-organisms.

Conclusions

The obtained results provide a support for the use of this plant in traditional medicine but further pharmacological studies are required.     

Morphometric and Meristic Characteristics and Some Aspects of Reproductive Biology of Spiny Eel,Mastacembelus armatus (Lacepede, 1800)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences - Various body measurements of spiny eel, Mastacembelus armatus (Lacepede, 1800) were positively correlated...     

Interleukin-2 promotes survival and neurite extension of cultured neurons from fetal rat brain

We investigated the effects of interleukin-2 (IL-2) on the survival and morphology of primary cultured neurons from fetal rat brain. Addition of recombinant human IL-2 significantly supported the survival of brain neurons in high cell density culture, but did not show any effect on the neuronal survival in low cell density culture. In addition, IL-2 significantly promoted the neurite elongation and branching of hippocampal neurons in low cell density culture. These results suggest that IL-2 supports neuronal survival indirectly and promotes neuritogenesis by directly acting on brain neurons.     

Nigella sativa L. seeds modulate mood,anxiety and cognition in healthy adolescent males

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Previous studies conducted on animals linked consumption of Nigella sativa L. seeds (NS) to decreased anxiety and improved memory. The present study, which was carried out at a boarding school in Bangladesh, was designed to examine probable effect of NS on mood, anxiety and cognition in adolescent human males.

Materials and methods

Forty-eight healthy adolescent human males aged between 14 to 17 years were randomly recruited as volunteers and were randomly split into two groups: A (n=24) and B (n=24). The treatment procedure for group A and B were one capsule of 500 mg placebo and 500 mg NS respectively once daily for four weeks. All the volunteers were assessed for cognition with modified California verbal learning test-II (CVLT-II), mood with Bond–Lader scale and anxiety with State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) at the beginning and after four weeks of either NS or placebo ingestion.

Results and discussion

No parameter showed statistically significant variation between A and B in measurements in the beginning, but after 4 weeks of one capsule of NS 500 mg intake, there was statistically significant variation of mood within group B but there was not statistically significant variation between group A and B. No significant variation was found in state anxiety within groups and between group A and B but in case of trait anxiety, significant variation was found within group B but not between group A and B. In case of CVLT II, there was significant variation within B in immediate short-term recall at trial 4 and 5 whereas this difference was found only in case of trial 5 between group A and B. Within group B, short term-free recall, long-term free recall and long-term cued recall had statistical difference whereas between group A and B long-term free recall and long-term cued recall had statistical difference. No parameters had significant variation within group A after placebo intake for 4 weeks.

Conclusions

Over the 4 weeks study period, the use of NS as a nutritional supplement been observed to- stabilize mood, decrease anxiety and modulate cognition positively. However, long term study is suggested before using NS extensively.     

Immune responses of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) clones: I. Non-specific responses

The importance of genetic variation in the non-specific immune responses of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) clones was investigated. Fully inbred clones (IC) of Nile tilapia, produced using gynogenesis and sex reversal, and crosses between these lines (outbred clones) were used in this study. Non-specific immune responses were compared between the ICs, including serum lysozyme activity and phagocytosis, and significant differences were observed between the different groups. Their natural resistance to Aeromonas hydrophila infection was also assessed by bacterial challenge. A positive correlation was observed between the level of infection obtained and the non-specific immune parameters measured. Cumulative mortalities of fish obtained in the study showed that when a IC susceptible to A. hydrophila was crossed with a resistant IC, the resulting progeny exhibited intermediate levels of resistance to that of their parents.