Protective Role of Curcumin against N-Nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA)-Induced Toxicity in Rats

The present investigation was aimed at studying the possible role of curcumin against N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA)-induced toxicity in albino rats. Administration of NDEA to rats at a concentration of 0.1 mg/ml in drinking water ad libitum for 21 days produced toxicity in them, which was evident from histopathological changes in the rat livers, and increased levels of blood serum enzyme markers, i.e. aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase. In addition, the levels of oxidative stress markers like lipid peroxidation (LPO), protein carbonyl (PCC), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity were elevated and the total glutathione (GSH) content was reduced in the livers. The administration of curcumin to rats at concentrations of 10, 20, and 40 mg/ml in drinking water along with 0.1 mg/ml of NDEA for 21 days effectively suppressed NDEA-induced toxicity and also resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in the levels of blood serum enzyme markers (AST, ALT, ALP, and LDH). Moreover, LPO, PCC, and GST activity were reduced and the GSH level was increased upon the administration of curcumin along with NDEA. The results obtained for the comet assay in rat hepatocytes and blood lymphocytes showed a significant dose-dependent decrease in the mean tail length. The micronucleus assay performed on rat hepatocytes also showed a dose-dependent reduction in the frequency of micronucleated cells along with curcumin administration. These results suggest that curcumin has a protective role against NDEA-induced toxicity in albino rats.     

Peritonitis – the Eastern experience

Peritonitis is a common emergency encountered by surgeons the world over. This paper aims to provide an overview of the spectrum of peritonitis seen in the East. Studies dealing with the overall spectrum of secondary peritonitis in various countries of this region were identified using Pubmed and Google. These were analyzed for the site and cause of perforation and the mortality. It was observed that perforation of duodenal ulcers was the most the commonly encountered perforations. These are followed by small bowel and appendicular perforations. Colonic perforations were uncommon. The overall mortality ranges between 6–27%.     

Duodenogastric reflux after choledochoduodenostomy

Duodenogastric reflux (DGR) has been implicated in several disease processes. The present study was carried out to document the incidence and evaluate the clinical significance of DGR after choledochoduodenostomy (CDD). A total of 13 patients who had undergone cholecystectomy with a standard side-to-side CDD for choledocholithiasis or chronic pancreatitis were studied by symptom evaluation, scintigraphy, endoscopy, and gastric mucosal histology at least 6 months after surgery. The scintigraphic findings were then compared with those of 10 patients who had undergone cholecystectomy alone. Only two patients (15%) had mild dyspeptic symptoms. The incidence of DGR after CDD was 69% compared to 20% in the cholecystectomy alone group (P < 0.05). In the majority of patients the DGR was only mild to moderate and the severity correlated well with the degree of endoscopic gastritis, but not with the clinical symptoms or histological findings. These results indicate that while CDD is associated with a high incidence of DGR, its occurrence does not produce significant clinical symptoms.     

Pancreas-sparing duodenectomy for trauma.

The application of pancreas sparing duodenectomy (PSD) in extensive duodenal trauma has not been fully explored. We report 3 caes of duodenal trauma in whom PSD was performed successfully and with good results.     

Restless legs syndrome: diagnosis and review of management options

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is one of the commonest movement disorders affecting sleep and also daytime functioning. The prevalence may be 8%–10% of the white Caucasian population. The diagnosis is simple and is based on a well-validated clinical questionnaire, yet misdiagnosis is common and the condition remains underdiagnosed and consequently inappropriately treated, often causing great distress to the sufferers. In spite of robust evidence for effective treatment of RLS, patients may often be told to “put up with the symptoms” and suffer the consequence of years of poor sleep which may lead to major lifestyle changes. This review addresses the diagnostic issues, the differential diagnosis, and the evidence base for treatment of the common condition.     

Spirometry as an objective tool for nasal patency

Spirometry can be used as an objective tool for measuring nasal patency. it is sensitive, easy to perform, comfortable to patient The only limitation being that it only can be done in institution.     

APPRAISAL OF SURGICAL AND ENDOSCOPIC MANAGEMENT OF CHOLEDOCHOLITHIASIS

One hundred and ten patients with common bile duct (CBD) stones were treated in the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology at SGPGIMS, Lucknow, India between January 1989 and December 1992. The primary modality of treatment was surgery in 62 patients (group I) and endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) in 48 (group II). The two groups were well matched with respect to clinical features and presence of medical risk factors. Surgical clearance of CBD stones was achieved in 58 patients (93.5%; group Ia). Four patients (7%) had retained stones following surgery (group Ib). In group II, the CBD was cleared by endoscopic means in 20 out of 48 patients (42%) and was categorized into group IIa. In the remaining patients ES was followed by CBD exploration (group IIb). Significantly higher morbidity was seen in patients needing CBD surgery following attempted endoscopic clearance, because of ES-related complications, such as bleeding, cholangitis, septicaemia and numerous others. Use of ES to treat CBD stones on a routine basis was therefore not found to be any better than one-time surgical exploration.     

An autopsy case of sudden death in a patient with sickle cell disease

An autopsy finding of sudden death due to disseminated intra-vascular sickling of RBCs in a young adult male from Madhya Pradesh while undergoing army recruitment rally, is reported because of its rarity in this part of the country.     

Phase-sensitive cardiac tagging--REALTAG.

Fully inverting spins, instead of merely saturating them, provides superior contrast for tagging procedures. The resulting improvement in tag contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) yields higher-precision tag detection. Also, thinner slices and hence reduced tag separations can be employed, providing displacement and strain measurements with better spatial resolution. Alternatively, the improved tag contrast can be used to obtain cine images covering a greater portion of the cardiac cycle. The use of standard magnitude reconstruction for images of these inversion tags causes rectification of the negative-valued signals from the tags, confounding the image interpretation. Therefore, a phase-sensitive reconstruction scheme of the inverted tags must be employed. Here we demonstrate the implementation of inverted tags with phase-sensitive reconstruction in a ramped-flip-angle, steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequence.