Rare Mediastinal Hydatid Cyst.

Hydatid disease is a parasitic disease caused by the larval form of Echinococcus granulosus. Most common sites are liver, lungs, and brain. The disease is rarely present in the mediastinum. We report the rare instance of a 52-year-old female who presented with hydatid disease in the uncommon location of posterior mediastinum.

Lipid abnormalities in streptozotocin-diabetes: Amelioration by Morus indica L. cv Suguna leaves.

AIM: To observe the influence of mulberry (Morus indica L. cv Suguna) leaves on lipid abnormalities in STZ-diabetic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Treatment with dried mulberry leaf powder for a period of 8 weeks in hyperglycemic and hyperlipidemic STZ-diabetic rats. RESULTS: Mulberry leaves regulated fasting blood glucose, ameliorated the abnormalities in lipid profile as indicated by significant (P<0.01) decrease in serum triglycerides, phospholipids, cholesterol and plasma free fatty acids by 50, 6, 31 and 22% respectively in STZ- diabetic rats compared to diabetic control rats which had significantly (P<0.01) raised levels of triglycerides, phospholipids, cholesterol and free fatty acids than the normal control rats. A marked increase in fecal bile acids (154%) was observed in mulberry treated diabetic rats compared to the diabetic control group indicating conversion of cholesterol to bile acids. In addition, mulberry supplementation significantly lowered LDL-C (67%) and VLDL-C (44%) levels and increased HDL-C (53%) and also decreased atherogenic index (58%) significantly when compared to the diabetic control group. CONCLUSION: Besides the diabetic rats, mulberry leaves affected lipid profile in normal rats also indicating hypolipidemic effect as a result of the synergistic action of bioactive compounds.