Exploring crucial structural attributes of quinolinyl methoxyphenyl sulphonyl-based hydroxamate derivatives as ADAM17 inhibitors through classification-dependent molecular modelling approaches

A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17), a Zn2+-dependent metalloenzyme of the adamalysin family of the metzincin superfamily, is associated with various pathophysiological conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. However, no specific inhibitors have been marketed yet for ADAM17-related disorders. In this study, 94 quinolinyl methoxyphenyl sulphonyl-based hydroxamates as ADAM17 inhibitors were subjected to classification-based molecular modelling and binding pattern analysis to identify the significant structural attributes contributing to ADAM17 inhibition. The statistically validated classification-based models identified the importance of the P1' substituents such as the quinolinyl methoxyphenyl sulphonyl group of these compounds for occupying the S1' - S3' pocket of the enzyme. The quinolinyl function of these compounds was found to explore stable binding of the P1' substituents at the S1' - S3' pocket whereas the importance of the sulphonyl and the orientation of the P1' moiety also revealed stable binding. Based on the outcomes of the current study, four novel compounds of different classes were designed as promising ADAM17 inhibitors. These findings regarding the crucial structural aspects and binding patterns of ADAM17 inhibitors will aid the design and discovery of novel and effective ADAM17 inhibitors for therapeutic advancements of related diseases.

Assessing structural insights into in-house arylsulfonyl L-(+) glutamine MMP-2 inhibitors as promising anticancer agents through structure-based computational modelling approaches

MMP-2 is potentially contributing to several cancer progressions including leukaemias. Therefore, considering MMP-2 as a promising target, novel anticancer compounds may be designed. Here, 32 in-house arylsulfonyl L-(+) glutamines were subjected to various structure-based computational modelling approaches to recognize crucial structural attributes along with the spatial orientation for higher MMP-2 inhibition. Again, the docking-based 2D-QSAR study revealed that the Coulomb energy conferred by Tyr142 and total interaction energy conferred by Ala84 was crucial for MMP-2 inhibition. Importantly, the docking-dependent CoMFA and CoMSIA study revealed the importance of favourable steric, electrostatic, and hydrophobic substituents at the terminal phenyl ring. The MD simulation study revealed a lower fluctuation in the RMSD, RMSF, and Rg values indicating stable binding interactions of MMP-2 and these molecules. Moreover, the residual hydrogen bond and their interaction analysis disclosed crucial amino acid residues responsible for forming potential hydrogen bonding for higher MMP-2 inhibition. The results can effectively aid in the design and discovery of promising small-molecule drug-like MMP-2 inhibitors with greater anticancer potential in the future.

Exploration of structural alerts and fingerprints for novel anticancer therapeutics: a robust classification-QSAR dependent structural analysis of drug-like MMP-9 inhibitors

Among various matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), overexpression of MMP9 has been established as a key player in a variety of cancers. Therefore, MMP9 has emerged as a promising biomolecule that may be targeted to design potent inhibitors as novel anticancer therapeutics. In this study, a large database containing 1,123 drug-like MMP-9 inhibitors was considered for robust classification-dependent fragment-based QSAR study through SARpy, Bayesian classification, and recursive partitioning analyses and were validated by both internal and external validation techniques. In a nutshell, all these classification-dependent techniques revealed some common structural alerts and sub-structural fingerprints responsible for modulating MMP-9 inhibition. These observations are in agreement with the interactions obtained from the ligand-bound co-crystal structures of MMP-9 justifying the robustness of the current study. Finally, based on these crucial structural fragments, some new lead compounds were designed and further validated by the binding mode of interaction analysis. Therefore, these findings may be beneficial in designing novel and potential MMP-9 inhibitors in the future as a weapon to combat several cancers.

Achieving Energy Efficiency and Impact of SAR in a WBAN Through Optimal Placement of the Relay Node

Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is an emerging and promising specialized area in Wireless networks that deals with crucial health-related datasets. Unlike other wireless networks, as this type of network deals with medical facts, losing it is fatal. WBAN is a highly constrained network. Reducing energy consumption and enhancing lifetime are the two most important challenges of WBANs. One way to achieve these is by deploying relay nodes optimally in WBANs. Generally, a relay node is placed at the midpoint of the line joining the source and the destination (D) nodes. We show that such simplistic deployment of the relay nodes is not the optimal deployment, which can hamper the overall lifetime of WBANs. In this paper, we have investigated the best location to deploy a relay node on a human body. We assume that an adaptive decode and forward relay node (R) can move linearly between the source (S) and the destination (D) nodes. Moreover, the assumption is that a relay node can be deployed linearly and that the body part of a human is a flat surface and hard. We have investigated the most energy-efficient data payload size based on the optimally placed relay location. The impact of such a deployment on different system parameters, such as distance (d), payload (L), modulation scheme, specific absorption rate, and an end to end outage (O ) are examined as well. It is observed that in every aspect optimal deployment of the relay node performs an important role to enhance the lifetime of wireless body area networks. Sometimes linear relay deployment is very difficult to implement, especially on the different body parts of the human body. To address these issues, we have examined the optimal region for the relay node based on a 3D non-linear system model. The paper provides guidance for both linear and non-linear relay deployment along with the optimal data payload size under various circumstances and also considered the impact of specific absorption rates on the human body.

Lattice dynamics across the ferroelastic phase transition in Ba2ZnTeO6: a Raman and first-principles study

Structural phase transitions drive several unconventional phenomena including some illustrious ferroic attributes which are relevant for technological advancements. On this note, we have investigated the ferroelastic structural transition of perovskite-type trigonal Ba₂ZnTeO₆ across T_c ∼ 150 K. With the help of Raman spectroscopy and density-functional theory (DFT)-based calculations, we report new intriguing observations associated with the phase transition in Ba₂ZnTeO₆. We observed the presence of a central peak (quasi-elastic Rayleigh profile), huge softening in the soft mode, hysteretic phonon behavior, and signatures of coexistent phases. The existence of a central peak in Ba₂ZnTeO₆ is manifested by a sharp rise in the intensity of the Rayleigh profile concomitant with the huge damping (or softening) of the soft mode (at ∼31 cm^-1) near T_c, shedding light on the lattice dynamics during the phase transition. This is further corroborated by our phonon calculations that show that the soft mode (E_g) in the high-symmetry structure involving TeO₆ octahedral rotation (with Ba and Zn translation) condenses into A_g and B_g modes in the C2/m low-symmetry phase. While most of the phonon bands split below T_c confirming the phase transition, we observed thermal hysteretic behavior of phonon modes, which signifies the first-order nature of the transition and the presence of coexisting phases as corroborated by our temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction and specific heat measurements.

235 Assessing coding of diagnosis for atypical parkinsonian syndromes

Background

Atypical Parkinsonian syndromes, including Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and Corticobasal Syndrome (CBS), are rare neurodegenerative diseases. Reports showed that the use of the health services for patients with these diseases is underestimated. The NHS uses International Classification of Disease revision 10 (ICD-10) to code health use which has led to error in patient data for these diseases, as they are relatively new entries to this system and there were changes in coding practice in 2016.

Aims

To retrospectively investigate the scale of miscoding of PSP, MSA and CBS in England since the introduction of ICD-10.

Methods

Freedom of information requests were issued to 150 NHS trusts in England to investigate their method of coding and determine the coding error rate.

Results

The coding error rates prior to, and after 2016 respectively were: 29.5%, 0% (PSP); 3.8%, 2.3% (MSA); 24.2%, 24.2% (CBS). The indexing for CBS is difficult as no specific coding exists for CBS in ICD-10.

Conclusion

The high error rate for PSP is contributed by miscoding of PSP (G23.1) as MND (G12.2), due to the coding techniques employed. These errors have largely been rectified in later versions of ICD-10 with the exception of CBS.

ggz1g17@soton.ac.uk

Robust classification-based molecular modelling of diverse chemical entities as potential SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibitors: theoretical justification in light of experimental evidences

COVID-19 is the most unanticipated incidence of 2020 affecting the human population worldwide. Currently, it is utmost important to produce novel small molecule anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs urgently that can save human lives globally. Based on the earlier SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV infection along with the general characters of coronaviral replication, a number of drug molecules have been proposed. However, one of the major limitations is the lack of experimental observations with different drug molecules. In this article, 70 diverse chemicals having experimental SARS-CoV-2 3CL^proinhibitory activity were accounted for robust classification-based QSAR analysis statistically validated with 4 different methodologies to recognize the crucial structural features responsible for imparting the activity. Results obtained from all these methodologies supported and validated each other. Important observations obtained from these analyses were also justified with the ligand-bound crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 3CL^pro enzyme. Our results suggest that molecules should contain a 2-oxopyrrolidine scaffold as well as a methylene (hydroxy) sulphonic acid warhead in proper orientation to achieve higher inhibitory potency against SARS-CoV-2 3CL^pro. Outcomes of our study may be able to design and discover highly effective SARS-CoV-2 3CL^pro inhibitors as potential anticoronaviral therapy to crusade against COVID-19.

Comparative microbiological analysis of raw fishes and sun-dried fishes collected from the Kawran bazaar in Dhaka city, Bangladesh

Along with the raw fishes, dry fishes also have a huge contribution to meet up the demand of protein in our daily meal. The assay of microbiological quality is therefore needed to ensure the public health safety. The present study was emphasized on the existence of pathogenic bacteria in raw and dry fish. A total of 50 samples of raw fishes and sun-dried fishes was accumulated aseptically for microbiological quality analysis. Isolation of bacteria was done by spread plate method. All the samples including both (raw and dry) fishes harbored bacteria and fungi up to 106 CFU/g. E. coli was found in all samples as a specific pathogen. In case of raw fishes total viable count (TVC) and total coliform count (E. coli) were recorded up to 2.5x106 CFU/g and 5.2 x104 CFU/g respectively whereas a significant load of Salmonella spp. was observed in almost all samples. Staphylococcus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. were present up to 5 x102 CFU/g and 1.8 x 102 CFU/g respectively. Likewise, total viable count (TVC), total coliform count (E. coli) and fungal load were recorded in dry fish up 3.50 x 105 CFU/g, 1.2 x103 CFU/g respectively. Fungal growth was observed in all experimental raw and dried fishes. For most of the pathogenic isolates, higher rates of resistance were found against Ceftriaxone, Penicillin, Nalidixic acid, Neomycin. On the other hand, most of the isolates were found to retain higher sensitivity against Imipenem, Ciprofloxacin, Tetracyclin and Amoxicillin. This data suggested that the dry fish harbored fewer bacteria than raw fish and sun drying method is still a useful technique for the preservation of fish.

Choroidal metastases as the initial presentation of lung cancer: A rare scenario

Clinical reports of symptomatic intraocular metastasis as the initial presentation of lung cancer are rare. We report the case of a 49-year-old female patient who presented with loss of vision due to choroidal metastases as the initial manifestation of her disseminated lung cancer. This particular patient was referred to us from ophthalmology department as a case of choroidal metastases from unknown primary. Detailed evaluation at our department helped detect the primary to be a nonsmall cell carcinoma of the right lung, which had multiple distant metastases.

Electronic structure and magnetic behaviors of exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets

The correlation of electronic structure and magnetic behaviors of layered molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanosheets, mechanically exfoliated from pristine hexagonal crystal (2H-MoS₂) have been studied. Raman spectra show the energy difference (ΔE) between two Raman peaks A _1g and [Formula: see text] was about 20.2 cm^-1, indicating the formation of mono-/bi-layered MoS ₂ nanosheets as obtained after mechanical exfoliation from pristine 2H-MoS ₂ . The absence of the reflection peak (0 0 2) in x-ray diffraction patterns confirms the formation of few-layered and mono-/bi-layered MoS ₂ nanosheets with reduced thickness. Mo 3d and S 2p  XPS core level peaks shifted to higher energy with the reduction of the number of layers in exfoliated MoS₂. As the number of layers decreased, valence band maximum position increased from 1.11 eV (pristine MoS₂) to 1.57 eV (mono-/bi-layered MoS ₂ nanosheets), whereas the surface work function (Ф) reduced from 4.85 eV (pristine MoS₂) to 4.47 eV (mono-/bi-layered MoS₂ nanosheets), as observed from UPS (He-I) measurements. UPS (He-II) spectra, as well as VB-PES spectra of mono-/bi-layered MoS ₂ nanosheets, exhibits an enhanced valence band density of states (DOS) of S 3p -derived states near Fermi level (E _f). Mo L _II-edge and S K-edge x-ray absorption near edge structure spectra of mono-/bi-layered MoS ₂ nanosheets show the splitting of different peaks that cause a noticeable change in their band structure. Magnetic M-H hysteresis loops measurement clearly demonstrates the increase of room temperature ferromagnetism from pristine to mono-/bi-layer MoS₂, due to the existence of defects ('S'-vacancies or defects at the grain boundaries region) and the increase of DOS.

Anatomical variation of the ulnar artery: clinical and developmental significance

Introduction: Variation of the ulnar artery in the upper limb is uncommon. The existence of such a variant is of particular clinical significance, as these arteries are more susceptible to trauma, and can be easily confused with superficial veins during medical and surgical procedures, potentially leading to iatrogenic distal limb ischemia. Case report: During routine dissection we observed a unilateral case of superficial ulnar artery in a 60-year-old male cadaver. It originated from the left brachial artery in the middle of the arm, near to insertion of coracobrachialis muscle. From its origin, it passed downwards in the medial part of arm behind the median nerve and forearm in a supericial plane compared to normal ulnar artery. In the hand, the supericial ulnar artery anastomosed with the palmar branch of the radial artery, creating the supericial palmar arch. Brachial artery divided into the radial and common interosseous arteries in the cubital fossa. The normal ulnar artery was absent. The existence of superficial ulnar artery is undeniably of interest to the clinicians as well as to the anatomists.

Role of Gynaecology Oncology Specialist Nurses in Improving Patient Follow-Up and Integration With the Health Care Team

Background: All advanced gynecologic cancers treated initially with a curative intent should also be referred to palliative care at the outset for symptom management. Specialist nurses can play an integral role in this process as patients feel more comfortable to relay their symptoms to nurses rather than busy clinicians. The concept of specialist nurses has been introduced in June 2016 in the Gynecologic Oncology Department in Tata Medical Center. We aim evaluate our services through this prospective audit. Aim: i: To assess whether pre and posttreatment counseling and follow-up by gynecologic oncology specialist nurses lead to better patient care in the following areas. Increased patient participation in self-reporting of PROM (patient reported outcome monitoring) and uptake of follow-up methods via e-mail, telephone etc. ii: Coordinate administration of intraperitoneal chemotherapy and follow-up. iii: Detection of posttreatment complications and symptoms by telephonic follow up and coordination with the treating team including quality of life data collection. iv: Communicating MDT decisions to patients and arrange appropriate follow-up. v: Reduction of patient follow-up appointments and distress by coordinating with other departments i.e., palliative care team and gynae/medical oncology at same visit. vi: Develop patient information leaflets and providing preoperative education Methods: Prospective audit for service evaluation. Patients follow-up was done by face to face, telephone, e-mail in the pre and postoperative period, during chemotherapy and follow-up visits by 4 specialist nurses. Results: Between June 2016 and December 2017, specialist nurses conducted follow-up of 225 patients both in preoperative and postoperative period and collected 30 day morbidity data. Preoperative health education was given to all. 36 patients were coordinated with palliative care team on same day with gynecologic visit to reduce harassment/repeat appointments. Postchemotherapy follow-up was done for 80 patients after each cycle of chemotherapy. Coordination for 19 intraperitoneal chemotherapy was done by nurses during a 9 month period. As a result of regular follow-up visits, women were more comfortable in self-reporting of symptoms to the nurse including sensitive issues like body image and sexuality even by nonface to face methods including telephone calls/e-mails and postal mails. This has led to early detection of recurrences in 4 women, participation in multicentric national/international quality of life studies (SOCQER2/ SOCQER IND) and successful organization of survivorship programs in gynecologic oncology. Conclusion: Counseling, education and building up of interpersonal relationship with specialist nurses can improve patient participation. The role of CNS is vital to the advancement of nursing practice.

Reduction in polyamine catabolism leads to spermine-mediated airway epithelial injury and induces asthma features

BACKGROUND

Airway epithelial injury is a crucial component of acute and severe asthma pathogenesis and a promising target for treatment of refractory asthma. However, the underlying mechanism of epithelial injury remains poorly explored. Although high levels of polyamines, mainly spermine, have been found in asthma and comorbidity, their role in airway epithelial injury and the cause of their altered levels in asthma have not been explored.

METHODS

We measured key polyamine metabolic enzymes in lung samples from normal and asthmatic subjects and in mice with OVA-induced allergic airway inflammation (AAI). Polyamine metabolism was modulated using pharmacologic/genetic modulators. Epithelial stress and apoptosis were measured by TSLP levels and TUNEL assay, respectively.

RESULTS

We found loss of the polyamine catabolic enzymes spermidine/spermine-N (1)-acetyltransferase-1 (SAT1) and spermine oxidase (SMOX) predominantly in bronchial epithelial cells (BECs) of human asthmatic lung samples and mice with AAI. In naïve mice, SAT1 or SMOX knockdown led to airway hyper-responsiveness, remodeling, and BEC apoptosis. Conversely, in mice with AAI, overexpression of either SAT1 or SMOX alleviated asthmatic features and reduced TSLP levels and BEC apoptosis. Similarly, while pharmacological induction of SAT1 and SMOX using the polyamine analogue bis(ethyl)norspermine (BENSPM) alleviated asthmatic features with reduced TSLP levels and BEC apoptosis, pharmacological inhibition of these enzymes using BERENIL or MDL72527, respectively, worsened them. Spermine accumulation in lungs correlated with BEC apoptosis, and spermine treatment caused apoptosis of human BEAS-2B cells in vitro.

CONCLUSIONS

Spermine induces BEC injury. Induction of polyamine catabolism may represent a novel therapeutic approach for asthma via reversing BEC stress.

Microencapsulation of a putative probiotic Enterobacter species, C6-6, to protect rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), against bacterial coldwater disease

Flavobacterium psychrophilum is the causative agent of bacterial coldwater disease (BCWD), which has a major impact on salmonid aquaculture globally. An Enterobacter species, C6-6, isolated from the gut of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), has been identified as a potential probiotic species providing protection against BCWD. This study examined the effects of alginate microencapsulation on the protective efficacy of C6-6 against BCWD in vivo when administered to rainbow trout fry orally or by intraperitoneal (IP) injection. Viable C6-6 bacteria were microencapsulated successfully, and this process (microencapsulation) did not significantly deteriorate its protective properties as compared to the administration of non-microencapsulated C6-6 bacteria. Both oral and IP delivery of C6-6 achieved significantly better protection than control treatments that did not contain C6-6 bacteria. The highest relative percent survival (RPS) resulted from IP delivery (71.4%) and was significantly greater than the highest oral RPS (38.6%). Successful intestinal colonization was not critical to protective effects of C6-6. The study showed that C6-6 administration, with or without encapsulation, was a viable choice for protecting fry from BCWD especially when administered intraperitoneally.

Learning sequence determinants of protein:protein interaction specificity with sparse graphical models

In studying the strength and specificity of interaction between members of two protein families, key questions center on which pairs of possible partners actually interact, how well they interact, and why they interact while others do not. The advent of large-scale experimental studies of interactions between members of a target family and a diverse set of possible interaction partners offers the opportunity to address these questions. We develop here a method, DgSpi (data-driven graphical models of specificity in protein:protein interactions), for learning and using graphical models that explicitly represent the amino acid basis for interaction specificity (why) and extend earlier classification-oriented approaches (which) to predict the ΔG of binding (how well). We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in analyzing and predicting interactions between a set of 82 PDZ recognition modules against a panel of 217 possible peptide partners, based on data from MacBeath and colleagues. Our predicted ΔG values are highly predictive of the experimentally measured ones, reaching correlation coefficients of 0.69 in 10-fold cross-validation and 0.63 in leave-one-PDZ-out cross-validation. Furthermore, the model serves as a compact representation of amino acid constraints underlying the interactions, enabling protein-level ΔG predictions to be naturally understood in terms of residue-level constraints. Finally, the model DgSpi readily enables the design of new interacting partners, and we demonstrate that designed ligands are novel and diverse.

Learning Sequence Determinants of Protein:protein Interaction Specificity with Sparse Graphical Models

In studying the strength and specificity of interaction between members of two protein families, key questions center on which pairs of possible partners actually interact, how well they interact, and why they interact while others do not. The advent of large-scale experimental studies of interactions between members of a target family and a diverse set of possible interaction partners offers the opportunity to address these questions. We develop here a method, DgSpi (Data-driven Graphical models of Specificity in Protein:protein Interactions), for learning and using graphical models that explicitly represent the amino acid basis for interaction specificity (why) and extend earlier classification-oriented approaches (which) to predict the ΔG of binding (how well). We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in analyzing and predicting interactions between a set of 82 PDZ recognition modules, against a panel of 217 possible peptide partners, based on data from MacBeath and colleagues. Our predicted ΔG values are highly predictive of the experimentally measured ones, reaching correlation coefficients of 0.69 in 10-fold cross-validation and 0.63 in leave-one-PDZ-out cross-validation. Furthermore, the model serves as a compact representation of amino acid constraints underlying the interactions, enabling protein-level ΔG predictions to be naturally understood in terms of residue-level constraints. Finally, as a generative model, DgSpi readily enables the design of new interacting partners, and we demonstrate that designed ligands are novel and diverse.

Long distance directional growth of dopaminergic axons along pathways of netrin-1 and GDNF

Different experimental and clinical strategies have been used to promote survival of transplanted embryonic ventral mesencephalic (VM) neurons. However, few studies have focused on the long-distance growth of dopaminergic axons from VM transplants. The aim of this study is to identify some of the growth and guidance factors that support directed long-distance growth of dopaminergic axons from VM transplants. Lentivirus encoding either glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) or netrin-1, or a combination of lenti-GDNF with either lenti-GDNF family receptor α1 (GFRα-1) or lenti-netrin-1 was injected to form a gradient along the corpus callosum. Two weeks later, a piece of embryonic day 14 VM tissue was transplanted into the corpus callosum adjacent to the low end of the gradient. Results showed that tyrosine hydroxylase (TH(+)) axons grew a very short distance from the VM transplants in control groups, with few axons reaching the midline. In GDNF or netrin-1 expressing groups, more TH(+) axons grew out of transplants and reached the midline. Pathways co-expressing GDNF with either GFRα-1 or netrin-1 showed significantly increased axonal outgrowth. Interestingly, only the GDNF/netrin-1 combination resulted in the majority of axons reaching the distal target (80%), whereas along the GDNF/GFRα-1 pathway only 20% of the axons leaving the transplant reached the distal target. This technique of long-distance axon guidance may prove to be a useful strategy in reconstructing damaged neuronal circuits, such as the nigrostriatal pathway in Parkinson's disease.

Comparative evaluation of fosinopril and herbal drug Dioscorea bulbifera in patients of diabetic nephropathy

Worldwide, diabetic nephropathy is one of the leading causes of end-stage renal failure. This hospital-based single-center prospective open-label randomized case-control interventional study was performed to evaluate and compare the native drug Dioscorea bulbifera with fosinopril in the management of diabetic nephropathy. Patients with diabetic nephropathy with proteinuria >500 mg/day or albuminuria >300 mg/ day, S Cr ≤2.5 mg/dL and hypertension controlled with a single drug were included into the study and were divided into three groups according to the interventional drugs that they were given; group A (n = 46) on fosinopril (5-40 mg/day), group B (n = 45) on Dioscorea bulbifera (500 mg BD) and group C (n = 46) on neither of these drugs. All necessary laboratory investigations needed to assess the effect of both the drugs were carried out. Patients were followed-up for six months. The study included 137 patients (M:F 2.61:1) with an age range of 19-76 years. At the sixth-month follow-up, a significant decrease in the systolic blood pressure was noted in all three groups whereas the diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly only in group B. There was significantly better control of both systolic and diastolic blood pressures in group B than in the other groups. Although fasting blood sugar was poorly controlled in the initial visit in all three groups, there was a significant decrease at the sixth-month follow-up in all three groups. Moreover, the decrease was significantly more pronounced in group B than in the other two groups. Low-density lipoprotein decreased significantly only in group B. Proteinuria, serum transforming growth factor-β, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein decreased in both group A and group B, more so in the latter, but the differences between the groups were not statistically significant. Importantly, proteinuria and serum IL-6 showed an increasing trend in group C. It can be concluded that Dioscorea bulbifera was more effective than fosinopril in controlling blood pressure, glycemia, cholesterolemia and inflammatory state in diabetic nephropathy. Both agents decreased proteinuria. However, creatinine clearance significantly decreased with both the drugs, more so with Dioscera, and thus further evaluation with a larger trial is needed.

A comparative pharmacokinetic study of a fixed dose combination for essential hypertensive patients: a randomized crossover study in healthy human volunteers

BACKGROUND

This study was aimed to investigate the relative bioavailability of fixed-dose-combination (FDC) product of amlodipine, telmisartan and hydrochlorothiazide with individual marketed products in healthy male volunteers. Control of blood pressure with fixed dose combination of the above drugs acting through different mechanism have a benefit of convenient dosing in terms of compliance, lower the dose and subsequently reduce the side effects.

METHODS

The authors investigated the relative bioavailability under a fasting state of the 3 drugs in a randomized, open-label, 2-treatment, 2-period, 2-sequence, crossover bioequivalence study with a washout period of 21 days. Plasma concentration of the analytes were assayed in timed samples with a simple, highly sensitive and rapid validated method using HPLC coupled to tandem mass spectrometry that had a lower limit of quantification of 1 ng/mL for all the 3 components.

RESULTS

Test and reference formulations gave a mean Cmax of 5.234±0.914 ng/mL and 4.991±0.563 ng/mL, 108.839±13.601 ng/mL and 114.783±12.315 ng/mL and 97.814±10.779 ng/mL and 93.731±10.018 ng/mL for amlodipine, telmisartan and hydrochlorothiazide respectively. The AUC0-t of amlodipine, telmisartan and hydrochlorothiazide was 161.484 ng.h/mL, 1 917.644 ng.h/mL and 822.847 ng.h/mL for test formulation and 162.108 ng.h/mL, 2 014.764 ng.h/mL and 829.323 ng.h/mL for reference in the fasting state.

CONCLUSION

The 90% confidence intervals for the test/reference ratio of the pharmacokinetic parameters in fasting state (mean Cmax, AUC0-t, and AUC0-∞) were within the acceptable range of 80.00-125.00. Thus, these findings clearly indicate that the FDC product is bioequivalent with the individual marketed products in terms of rate and extent of drug absorption and is well tolerated with no significant adverse reactions.

Causes of death in renal transplant recipients with functioning allograft

The survival of transplant recipients is significantly lower than age-matched controls in the general population. The aim of this study was to analyze the trends in mortality of renal allograft recipients at our centre. We retrospectively analyzed data from all patients who were transplanted between October 1988 and June 2010 and were followed at our center. Patients were considered to have death with graft function (DWGF) if death was not preceded by return to dialysis or re-transplantation. The study included 98 renal allograft recipients (male : female – 7.99 : 1). The mean recipient and donor ages were 35.06 ± 11.84 (range: 15–69) and 41.17 ± 10.44 (range: 22–60) years, respectively. Basic kidney diseases were CGN (chronic glomerulonephritis) (60.20%), CIN (chronic interstitial nephritis) (15.31%), DN (diabetic nephropathy) (8.16%), ADPKD (autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease) (2.04%) and others (14.29%). They were followed up for a mean 79.91 ± 60.05 patient-months. Mortality occurred in 25 (25.51%) patients (male : female – 4 : 1). Causes of death were sepsis/infection (36%), coronary artery disease (28%), CVA (8%), failed graft (4%), and rest unknown (24%). DWGF was 88% of total death and contributed to 78.57% of total graft loss. Overall patient survival at 1, 5, 10, and 15 years were 90.8%, 80.2%, 65.6%, and 59.1%, respectively (Kaplan–Meier analysis). Those who died exhibited significant differences in recipient's age (median 40 years vs 31 years, P=0.007), pretransplantation hypertension (HTN) (100% vs 65.75%, P<0.001), post-transplant infection (76% vs 42.47%, P=0.005), coronary artery disease (28% vs 1.37%, P<0.001), and serum creatinine at last follow up (median 2.3mg/dL vs 1.56mg/dL, P=0.003). Cardiovascular disease, in addition to infection, is an important cause of death during the first 15 years following renal transplantation even in nondiabetic recipients. Death with functioning graft is of concern.

Renal cortical necrosis in a live kidney donor

Renal cortical necrosis (RCN) is a rare cause of acute renal failure (ARF). There is no clinical case report of RCN in a live kidney donor. A 48-year-old female kidney donor developed sudden anuria five hours postnephrectomy and remained anuric for more than three months on maintenance hemodialysis. Laboratory investigations revealed the features of hemolytic uremic syndrome. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan of abdomen showed hypoattenuated subcapsular rim of renal cortex favoring diagnosis of RCN. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first clinical case report of RCN in a live kidney donor in world literature.

Renal cortical necrosis in a live kidney donor

Renal cortical necrosis (RCN) is a rare cause of acute renal failure (ARF). There is no clinical case report of RCN in a live kidney donor. A 48-year-old female kidney donor developed sudden anuria five hours postnephrectomy and remained anuric for more than three months on maintenance hemodialysis. Laboratory investigations revealed the features of hemolytic uremic syndrome. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan of abdomen showed hypoattenuated subcapsular rim of renal cortex favoring diagnosis of RCN. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first clinical case report of RCN in a live kidney donor in world literature.

Observation of superparamagnetism to flux closure behaviour in ZnO nanoparticle agglomerates

In this paper we have tried to understand the nature of magnetism in ZnO nanoparticle samples with an intrinsic 50 ppm trace of Fe impurity. When the samples are annealed we observe formation of nanoparticle agglomerates and the size increases with annealing temperature. When the sample is annealed at 600 °C we observe superparamagnetic behaviour, and the magnetic hysteresis along with the coercive field below the blocking temperature is almost independent of the cooling field. When the sample is annealed at 900 °C we observe reduction of saturation magnetization but the magnetic hysteresis and the coercive field are now dependent on the cooling field, indicating magnetic correlation and ordering within the agglomerated nanograins. We propose a simple model that explains the reduction of magnetization as being due to a vortex-state-like flux closure formation.

The high prevalence of chronic kidney disease-mineral bone disorders: A hospital-based cross-sectional study

Mineral bone disorder (MBD) is an important complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, there are limited data on the pattern of MBD in Indian CKD population. The aim of this study was to describe spectrum of MBD in patients with CKD in our center. This was a hospital-based cross-sectional observational study. Patients with stage 4 and 5 CKD were included in this study. Those receiving calcium supplement, vitamin D or its analogues, and calcimimetic were excluded. Serum/plasma levels of creatinine, albumin, calcium, phosphate, total alkaline phosphatase (TAP), intact parathormone (iPTH), and 25-OH vitaminD (25-vitD) were measured. Radiological survey of bones was carried out in all cases, and echocardiography done in selected patients. Statistical analysis was done using Sigmaplot 10.0 software. A total of 150 patients (114 males, 36 females) were included in this study. Mean age was 45.67±16.96 years. CKD stage 4 and 5D were found in 26% (n=39) and 74% (n=111) of study population, respectively. The most common underlying native kidney diseases in patients of CKD 4 and 5D were diabetic nephropathy (41.03%) and CGN (41.44%), respectively. Median (first quartile, third quartile) values for serum levels of corrected calcium (cCa), phosphate, cCaXPO4 product, TAP, plasma iPTH, and 25-vitD in stage 4 CKD were 8.36 (7.79, 8.91) mg/dL, 4.9 (3.92, 6.4) mg/dL, 41.11 (34.01, 53.81) mg(2)/dL(2), 97 (76.5, 184.25) IU/L, 231 (124.5, 430.75) pg/mL, and 12 (6.98, 23.55) ng/mL, respectively; and in stage 5D CKD were 8.36 (7.66, 8.95) mg/dL, 5.7 (4.23, 6.95) mg/dL, 46.5 (37.16, 54.47) mg(2)/dL(2), 180 (114.5, 276.25) IU/L, 288 (169.75, 625.0) pg/mL, and 18.4 (10.0, 26.4) ng/mL, respectively. Prevalence of hypocalcemia (56.41% vs. 54.95%), hyperphosphatemia (64.10% vs. 70.27%), and hyperparathyroidism (84.62% vs. 88.29%) was not different between patients with CKD 4 and 5D. However, iPTH level outside the target range and increased TAP level were significantly (P<0.001) more common in CKD stage 5D. Multiple logistic regression analysis for hyperparathyroidism revealed significant inverse correlation with cCa in CKD 5D. There were no significant differences in vitamin D status and prevalence of valvular calcification between CKD stage 4 and 5D. X-ray revealed renal osteodystrophy in 8 (5.33%) patients, while it was normal in 118 (78.67%) patients. Secondary hyperparathyroidism, hyperphosphatemia, hypocalcemia, increased TAP, and 25-OH vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency were quite common in CKD 4 and 5 patients. The commonest type of MBD in CKD 4 and 5D was secondary hyperparathyroidism.

High concentration of adenosine in human visceral leishmaniasis despite increased ADA and decreased CD73

Absence of an effective Th-1 response has been demonstrated as a major cause for the disease pathology among patients with visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Defining strategies to prevent the development of Th-2 response and/or initiate/activate effective Th-1 response may be of help to reduce the growing incidence of drug unresponsiveness. Adenosine, which is considered as an endogenous anti-inflammatory agent is generated in injured/inflamed tissues by the enzymatic catabolism of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and it suppresses inflammatory responses of essentially all immune cells. The extracellular adenosine-producing pathway comprises two major enzymes CD39 (ATP → ADP → AMP) and CD73 (AMP → Adenosine). In contrast, the adenosine-degrading pathway contains only one major enzyme adenosine deaminase (ADA). Our study shows high concentration of adenosine in diseased condition, varying expression of enzyme involved in adenosine-producing (CD73↓) and adenosine-degrading (ADA↑) pathways. These are less studied in infections like VL but are very important in terms of endogenous regulation of immune response among patients.

Non-infectious complications of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and their impact on technique survival

Data on non-infectious complications of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) are sparingly reported from different centres of the country. We studied the non-infectious complications in patients of end stage-renal disease (ESRD) undergoing CAPD. Double-cuffed straight catheter was inserted in all patients using the surgical method and CAPD was started on the 15^th day of catheter insertion. The nature of non-infectious complications was noted during follow-up in these patients. Forty-five (male 31, female 14) patients with the mean age of 54.5±11.6 years were studied. Diabetic nephropathy was the most common (59.5%) cause of ESRD. Overall, non-infectious complications were noted in 18/45 (40%) cases. Ultrafiltration failure was the most common (15.5%) followed by incisional hernia (6.6%), exit site leak (4.4%), hydrothorax (4.4%), catheter malposition (4.4%), scrotal swelling (2.2%) and hemoperitoneum (2.2%). Patients with ultrafiltration failure were either shifted to hemodialysis or underwent renal transplantation. The remaining (62%) non-infectious complications did not affect the catheter survival and CAPD could be continued. Non-infectious complications occurred in 40% of our CAPD patients and ultrafiltration failure was the most common (15.5%). A majority (62%) of the complications did not affect catheter survival.

Design and gamma scintigraphic evaluation of colon specific pectin-EC pellets of secnidazole prepared by powder layering technology

The aim of the present study was to prepare a colon targeted pellet formulation of secnidazole and to evaluate the formulation in vitro and in vivo by a gamma scintigraphy method. Pectin/ethyl cellulose in different ratios and in different coating labels with plasticizer was used to prepare secnidazole pellets by a powder layering technique. The formulations were tagged with 99mTC-DTPA, a tracer in gamma scintigraphy to evaluate its transit behavior in rabbits. Morphology and compatibility were studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy, IR spectroscopy and Differential Scanning Calorimetry were used for the characterization of prepared pellets. The in-vitro study suggested that pectin (59%) esterification and ethyl cellulose 45cps at 20% coating label led to an optimum bacterial enzyme dependent released behavior. The optimized formulation was subjected to an in-vivo transit study. Scintigraphy images clearly indicated that the formulation can delay the drug release prior to the colon. The average time of gastric emptying and colon arrival was 57 min and 6.08 h, respectively. The coated pellets prepared by powder layering technology successfully released drug in the colon indicating that site specificity has been achieved with pectin 59% esterification and ethyl cellulose 45 cps at 1:2 ratio with 20% coating label.

Cytoarchitectural and surface ultrastructural analysis of the olfactory epithelium of Oreochromis nilotica (Linnaeus)

The olfactory organ of Oreochromis nilotica was studied by means of light and scanning electron microscopes. The oval shaped olfactory apparatus consists of 19-20 lamellae radiating from a central raphe. The receptor epithelium occupies the restricted area of the middle swollen region of the lamellae and is framed with receptor cells (both ciliated and microvillous) and rod cells. The larger part of the lateral surface of the olfactory lamella is covered with non-receptor epithelium, which is made up of stratified epithelial cells and mucous cells. The functional significance of various cells lining the olfactory epithelium of this fish are discussed.

Inflammatory glaucoma

Glaucoma is seen in about 20% of the patients with uveitis. Anterior uveitis may be acute, subacute, or chronic. The mechanisms by which iridocyclitis leads to obstruction of aqueous outflow include acute, usually reversible forms (e.g., accumulation of inflammatory elements in the intertrabecular spaces, edema of the trabecular lamellae, or angle closure due to ciliary body swelling) and chronic forms (e.g., scar formation or membrane overgrowth in the anterior chamber angle). Careful history and follow-up helps distinguish steroid-induced glaucoma from uveitic glaucoma. Treatment of combined iridocyclitis and glaucoma involves steroidal and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents and antiglaucoma drugs. However, glaucoma drugs can often have an unpredictable effect on intraocular pressure (IOP) in the setting of uveitis. Surgical intervention is required in case of medical failure.

Method of Literature Search:

Literature on the Medline database was searched using the PubMed interface.