11ß Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase - 1 activity in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a comparative study.

BACKGROUND: A comparative study of 11 ß HSD 1 activity in type 2 diabetes mellitus subjects with respect to fasting blood glucose and other metabolic parameters was conducted. METHODS: A case control experimental study was performed enrolling thirty type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and thirty age, gender and BMI matched controls using cortisone acetate test. RESULTS: The rise of serum cortisol after oral 25 mg cortisone acetate from baseline (dexamethasone suppressed level) is higher in subjects with type 2 diabetes and is associated with exercise, BMI, SGOT but not daily calorie intake, lipid parameters and thyroid status. Fasting blood glucose after overnight 1 mg oral dexamethasone is a strong predictor of 11HSD1 activity, irrespective of presence of type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSION: 11ß HSD 1 activity is higher in type 2 diabetes mellitus subjects, especially those who are lean. Future 11 ß HSD 1 inhibitors targeting metabolic syndrome, will be most useful in those with increased fasting blood glucose. The role of DHEAS and vitamin D status needs to be explored.

Freezing transitions in a system of two-dimensional octupolar multipoles.

We have investigated the fluid-solid freezing transitions in a system of axially symmetric particles confined to a two-dimensional plane and interacting via purely repulsive octupolar interaction potential varying as the seventh power of the inverse interparticle separation. Both the one-component and two-component cases have been considered. The classical density functional theory of freezing has been employed to study the relative stability of the triangular solid phase of the system with respect to the fluid phase of the system using the structural inputs calculated by solving the Rogers-Young integral equation theory. Considering the freezing of the fluid into substitutionally disordered solid, in the case of binary mixtures, we observe that the temperature-composition phase diagram is a spindle for moderate particle asymmetries in the range 0.90-0.75. Further increasing the asymmetry to 0.70 results in the coexistence of the fluid phases of two different compositions.

Tale of two rare diseases.

Idiopathic Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) phenotype is variable &various genes have been decribed in association with IHH. We describe association of IHH with mosaic trisomy 13. A 20 year old male presented with lack of development of secondary sexual characters, normal height, micropenis, small testes, gynaecomastia, absence of axillary and pubic hairs, hyposmia, synkinesis, bilateral horizontal nystagmus and high arched palate. Investigations showed low gonadotropin, low total testosterone, LH after stimulation with 100 mcg tryptorelin sc was 11.42 mU/mL at 40 min. MRI of hypothalamo-pituitary region showed normal olfactory bulb and tract but shallow olfactory sulcus. Karyotype showed homologous Robertsonian translocation of chromosome 13. This case fits classical IHH except for LH rise on stimulation. Features of Patau syndrome which is associated with trisomy 13 are absent in our case. Mosaic trisomy 13, which can otherwise be rare incidental finding, has not been described in association with IHH. Causal association of novel mutation on chromosome 13 leading to aforementioned phenotype cannot be rule out.

Gastric adenocarcinoma associated with lymphangitis carcinomatosa, adrenal metastasis with ectopic ACTH syndrome and malignant common bile duct stricture.

Ectopic adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) syndrome (EAS) commonly occurs secondary to neuroendocrine tumours and small cell carcinoma of lung. EAS has also been reported in association with gastric carcinoids. But, the occurrence of EAS secondary to gastric adenocarcinoma has rarely been reported. A 45-year-old male patient from Bangladesh presented with abdominal pain, jaundice and hyperpigmentation. Extensive work-up revealed poorly differentiating mucin-secreting adenocarcinoma of stomach with lymphangitis carcinomatosa of lung, bilateral adrenal metastasis and malignant common bile duct (CBD) stricture. Laboratory reports were suggestive for ectopic ACTH production. Most of these features are very rare in adenocarcinoma of stomach, and all these rare events occurring in a single patient is probably the rarest.

Acute pancreatitis in a case of falciparum malaria--a rare presentation.

Various complications including multiorgan failure is not uncommon in Falciparum malaria. But acute pancreatitis is a very rare complication in falciparum malaria. We describe here such a patient who suffered from acute pancreatitis and multiorgan failure.

Antibacterial activity of some medicinal plant extracts.

Antibacterial activity of hot aqueous and methanolic extracts prepared from six plants (Terminallia chebula, Terminallia bellerica, Phyllanthus emblica, Punica granatum, Lawsonia alba and Mikania micrantha) used in traditional folk medicines of India were screened against five pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 2940, Bacillus subtilis MTCC 441, Escherichia coli MTCC 739, Proteus vulgaris MTCC 426 and Enterobacter aerogenes MTCC 111). The highest antibacterial potentiality was exhibited by the methanolic leaf extract of T. chebula, followed by the aqueous fruit extract of T. bellerica. The leaf extract of T. chebula can be considered to be as equally potent as the most effective antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin, gentamycin, kanamycin, ofloxacin and cephalexin. A sensitivity test performed with commonly used sensitivity test disks resulted in the appearance of multiple drug resistance phenotypes of the bacteria tested. A comparison of data in the inhibition zones of pathogenic bacteria showed that gentamycin, ofloxacin, kanamycin and tobramycin were effective against all of the bacterial strains tested.

Detection of HPV DNA in cervical carcinomas by PCR and hybrid capture assay.

HPV DNA was detected in exfoliated cervical cells of 73% (85/116) cervical cancer patients by PCR using HPV consensus primers and by hybrid capture assay (HC II) (Digene Corp., USA) in 77 of the 85 cases found HPV positive by PCR. Presence of HPV 16/18 DNA were investigated in the 79 cases by PCR using type specific primers. HPV 16 was detected in 31 (39%) patients, HPV 18 in 7 (8.8%), both HPV 16 and 18 in 19 (24%) and HPVs other than 16/18 in 22 (27.8%) cases. Age and clinical stages had no significant effect on HPV prevalence. Double infection of HPV 16 and 18 was significantly (p<0.05) high in the older patients (56 years or more) compared to younger group. Results indicated that cervical cancers in India are strongly associated with high-risk type HPV infection. HC II assays and PCR results for detection of HPV in cervical smears were comparable.