Prevalence of abnormal upper limb arterial anatomy and its correlation with access failure during transradial coronary angiography

ObjectiveThe study aimed at to find out prevalence of abnormal upper limb arterial anatomy and its correlation with access failure during transradial coronary angiography.MethodThis was a prospective observational study of 1512 patients who had undergone transradial coronary angiography (CAG). Angiographic assessment of upper limb arterial tree was performed when the angiographic guidewire or the diagnostic catheter followed an abnormal path or got stuck in its course.ResultsAbout 5.29% patients (80/1512) were noted to have abnormal upper limb arterial anatomy. The most common abnormality detected were radio-ulnar loop in 22 (1.46%) patients, tortuous upper limb arteries 19 (1.25%) and abnormal high origin of radial artery 10 (0.66%) patients. Access failure was encountered in 4.4% (67/1512) of total patients and 64.17% (43/67) access failure was due to abnormal upper limb arterial anatomy.ConclusionAbnormal upper limb arterial anatomy was the most common cause of access failure in transradial coronary angiography in this study.     

IgM nephropathy in adults: incidence and correlation with electron microscopic features

IgM nephropathy is characterised on light microscopy (LM) by variable features of normal glomeruli to mesangial hypercellularity; and immunofluorescence (IF) deposits of LgM. Our aim was to study the incidence of IgM nephropathy in adults with primary glomerular disease, with correlation to electron microscopy (EM) features. All adults presenting with proteinuria glomerular hematuria underwent renal biopsy. We excluded patients with systemic diseases and post-infectious glomerulonephritis. All the specimens were evaluated by LM, IF and EM. Our series had 146 cases. Of the 42 cases diagnosed on LM as minimal change disease, mesangial deposition of IgM was present in 11 cases. In addition there were seven cases of mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis with mesangial IgM deposition. Thus, there were a total of 18 cases of IgM nephropathy (12.3%). Only six of these 18 cases showed typical electron dense deposits in the mesangium on EM. We feel that IgM nephropathy is probably a separate pathological entity, comprising 12.3% of all adults with primary chronic glomerulopathy. Electron dense deposits are seen in only about a third of these cases.     

In vitro induction of cytotoxicity and DNA strand breaks in CHO cells exposed to cypermethrin, pendimethalin and dichlorvos

The indiscriminate use of pesticides and herbicides to increase crop productivity has aroused a great concern among the environmental and health scientists due to their adverse effects in both target as well as non-target species. Although substantial information is available regarding their environmental and ecological impact, not much is known in regard to its toxicity in the mammalian system. Therefore a study was conducted for the assessment of cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of cypermethrin (Type II pyrethroid) dichlorvos (organophosphate) and pendimethalin (dinitroaniline herbicide) in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. CHO cells were exposed to 1 μM, 10 μM, 100 μM, 1000 μM, and 10,000 μM, cypermethrin, pendimethalin and dichlorvos for 3 h and cytotoxicity was assessed by MTT assay. Their genotoxic potential was also evaluated by Comet assay. The results demonstrate that dichlorvos and pendimethalin exhibited higher extent of cytotoxicity as compared to cypermethrin. A significant (p < 0.05) concentration dependent increase in DNA damage was observed with dichlorvos (0.01 μM and above) and pendimethalin (0.1 μM and above) as evident by Comet assay parameters viz., Olive tail moment (arbitrary units), tail DNA (%) and tail length (μM). Cypermethrin induced a significant (p < 0.05) DNA damage only at higher concentrations (1000 and 5000 μM). Our data indicates that these chemicals produce cytotoxicity and DNA damage in mammalian cells and should be used with caution.     

Mutational analysis of single-stranded DNA templates active in the in vitro initiation assay for adenovirus DNA replication

Three distinct domains, A, the minimal origin, as well as B and C, the binding sites for the host nuclear factors, are required for efficient initiation of adenovirus (Ad) DNA replication at the termini. The initiation reaction was examined using partially purified nuclear extracts and various single-stranded oligomers as DNA templates. We observed that single-stranded oligomers containing Ad2 minimal origin (Ori) sequences (bp 1-18) from the I-strand of the Ad2 genome supported preterminal protein-dCMP complex formation in vitro. Using oligomers containing point mutations in the Ad2 minimal Ori sequence, six positions were identified as important to the function of the Ad2 minimal Ori sequence. Point mutations at position 7, 8, or 11 virtually abolished the ability of the oligomer to support the initiation reaction. Point mutations at position 4, 9, or 17 were found to decrease the ability of the oligomers to support the initiation reaction to 33, 67, and 58% of control, respectively. An oligomer complementary to the I-strand of the Ad2 minimal Ori was found to block initiation on minimal Ori template. A number of randomly selected nonspecific oligomers did not, in general, serve as templates for initiation with the exception of two oligomers, one of which was found to be about threefold more active than the control minimal Ori template. The biological significance of the in vitro initiation of Ad2 DNA replication on single-stranded DNA templates is discussed.     

Expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors in vestibular schwannomas and their clinical significance

Objective  

The objective was to determine the expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors in vestibular schwannomas as well as to determine predictive factors for estrogen and progesterone receptor positivity.     

Genetic Characterization of the Tick-Borne Orbiviruses

The International Committee for Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) recognizes four species of tick-borne orbiviruses (TBOs): Chenuda virus, Chobar Gorge virus, Wad Medani virus and Great Island virus (genus Orbivirus, family Reoviridae). Nucleotide (nt) and amino acid (aa) sequence comparisons provide a basis for orbivirus detection and classification, however full genome sequence data were only available for the Great Island virus species. We report representative genome-sequences for the three other TBO species (virus isolates: Chenuda virus (CNUV); Chobar Gorge virus (CGV) and Wad Medani virus (WMV)). Phylogenetic comparisons show that TBOs cluster separately from insect-borne orbiviruses (IBOs). CNUV, CGV, WMV and GIV share low level aa/nt identities with other orbiviruses, in ‘conserved’ Pol, T2 and T13 proteins/genes, identifying them as four distinct virus-species. The TBO genome segment encoding cell attachment, outer capsid protein 1 (OC1), is approximately half the size of the equivalent segment from insect-borne orbiviruses, helping to explain why tick-borne orbiviruses have a ~1 kb smaller genome.     

In-vitro cytotoxic activity of β-Sitosterol triacontenate isolated from Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew

ObjectiveTo study the isolation and characterization of the constituent responsible for the cytotoxic activity of the ethanolic extract of stem of Capparis decidua (C. decidua).MethodsThe preliminary cytotoxic effect of isolated compound (β-Sitosterol triacontenate) was investigated by MTT assay on A549 solid tumor cells.ResultsIC₅₀ value of the β-Sitosterol triacontenate was found to be 1 μM. The cytotoxic activity increased in a dose dependent manner in case of β-Sitosterol triacontenate.ConclusionsThe data therefore provide direct evidence for the role of β-Sitosterol triacontenate as a potent antimetastatic agent, which can markedly inhibit the metastatic and invasive capacity of malignant cells.     

A study of morbidity pattern,nutritional status and various defects of urban primary school children in Delhi

Summary The morbidity pattern, nutritional deficiencies and various defects of the special senses, among 2773 primary school children in an urban community of Delhi are presented. The relevant literature is reviewed briefly and the preventable causes of illness highlighted. From the Survey on Morbidity and Mortality, Growth and Development, and Nutritional Status of Children in Delhi. Post Address: Flat 32, Shankar Market, New Delhi-1.