Frequency of EGFR mutations in lung adenocarcinoma patients - A study from tertiary cancer center of South India.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation analysis has become an important part of the initial workup of non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NS-NSCLC) patients. This study is attempted as South Indians population is comprised of ethnic groups with diverse genetic makeup and only very limited data on EGFR mutation is available from south India. A detailed understanding of EGFR mutation profile will help in better planning of treatment strategies and resource allocation. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of EGFR mutation frequency in 350 patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of lung and its association with pathological characteristics was done. RESULTS: Out of 350 cases of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, within an age group ranging from 30 to 86 years. EGFR mutations were identified in 34.8% (n = 122) cases, out of which 35.24% (n = 43) were in non-smoker females (P = 0.001). Of the 14 cases with resistant type of EGFR mutations, nine were in smoker males and the remaining five in non-smoker females. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: Overall EGFR mutation frequency observed in our study was similar to other Indian studies. However, in our study, we observed that mutation in exon 21 was less frequent compared to other studies. A similar slightly increased frequency of rare mutations and double mutations were observed in our study. A detailed study of the molecular epidemiology of lung cancer and its association with different geographical zones of India is needed. This understanding will help in better planning of treatment strategies and resource allocation.

Acute Kidney Injury Incidence in Hospitalized Patients and Implications for Nutrition Support.

Hospitalized adult patients suffer from high rates of acute kidney injury (AKI), which puts them at risk for multiple nutrition problems. The etiology and management strategy of AKI has major implications for the management of the hospitalized patient. The purpose of this review is to understand the incidence and management of AKI in hospitalized adult patients and review the challenges to providing adequate nutrition support.

Effect of Phage Targeting Therapy of Brucellosis on Host Antibody Response in Cattle.

Brucellosis caused by Brucella organisms is a major zoonosis globally. It causes heavy losses through abortions, delayed conception, and infertility in animals. Brucella is an intracellular bacterium. Antibiotic therapy for bovine Brucellosis is expensive and may sometimes be ineffective as Brucella can become resistant. Once infected, the animal may remain carrier and shed bacteria in milk, semen, and uterine discharges spreading infection to others for a long period. The live attenuated Brucella abortus strain S19 organisms that are commonly used as a vaccine were employed to deliver a broad acting lytic brucellaphage inside the phagocytes in vivo to reach the virulent Brucella hiding intracellularly. The phage pulsed vaccine induced sustained and significantly high titers of anti-Brucella antibodies compared with the untreated animals and animals vaccinated with S19 vaccine alone as estimated by standard tube agglutination test, microagglutination test, indirect hemagglutination assay test, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The current investigation is perhaps the first systematic attempt whereby efficacy of brucellaphage pulsed vaccine preparation in induction of specific antibody response was evaluated in cattle.

A comparison of titers of anti-Brucella antibodies of naturally infected and healthy vaccinated cattle by standard tube agglutination test, microtiter plate agglutination test, indirect hemagglutination assay, and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

AIM: We determined the antibody response in cattle naturally infected with brucellosis and normal healthy adult cattle vaccinated during calf hood with strain 19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The antibody titers were measured by standard tube agglutination test (STAT), microtiter plate agglutination test (MAT), indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA), and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) as per standard protocols. RESULTS: The mean STAT titers were 1.963±0.345 in infected cattle and 1.200±0.155 in healthy vaccinated cattle. The difference was extremely significant (p<0.0001). The mean MAT titers were 2.244±0.727 in infected cattle and 1.200±0.155 in healthy vaccinated cattle. The difference was very significant (p<0.005). The mean IHA titers in infected cattle were 2.284±0.574, and those in healthy vaccinated cattle were 1.200±0.155. The difference was extremely significant (p=0.0002). However, the difference in mean iELISA titers of infected cattle (1.3678±0.014) and healthy vaccinated cattle (1.367±0.014) was non-significant. The infected animals showed very high titers of agglutinating antibodies compared to the vaccinated animals. However, it cannot be ascertained whether these antibodies are due to vaccine or response to infection. Since the infected animals had been vaccinated earlier, the current infection may suggest that vaccination was unable to induce protective levels of antibody. The heightened antibody response after infection may also indicate a secondary immune response to the antigens common to the vaccine strain and wild Brucella organisms. CONCLUSION: The brucellosis infected animals showed very high titers of agglutinating antibodies compared to the vaccinated animals.

Graphene-Rhodamine Nanoprobe for Colorimetric and Fluorimetric Hg(2+) Ion Assay.

This article reveals the first ever prospective application of Graphene-Rhodamine array (GRH) as a colorimetric and fluorimetric sensor for Hg(2+) ions. The duality of Graphene to undergo π-π and dispersive interactions with Rhodamine as well as to act as a selective adsorbent for Hg(2+) is conceptualized in this study. These interactions lead to decrease in absorbance of the dye in the presence of graphene, which is restored when kept in contact with Hg(2+) ions. The feasibility of the mechanism has been proved using EDTA as the coordinating ligand. It is noteworthy that all the optical variations occurred in the visible scale of the electromagnetic spectrum. The GRH array exhibited higher sensitivity toward the target ion with a limit of detection of 2 ppb. A perfect linear variation of absorbance at 554 nm with Hg(2+) concentration was observed in 0-1000 nM range, enabling the use of the system as a quantitative sensor for the test ion. The commendable selectivity of the array toward Hg(2+) ion has been investigated by observing the optical response in the presence of other environmentally relevant metal ions. A reversible turn off and turn on INHIBIT logic gate has been proposed which extends the scope of the designed array for the development of automated chemical systems. The fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) ability of graphene paves the backbone for the fluorimetric detection. Fluorimetric strategy yielded a much lower limit of detection of 380 ppt using this probe, which makes a significant advance in trace detection of Hg(2+) ions.