T2 measurement of J-coupled metabolites in the human brain at 3T.

Proton T(2) relaxation times of metabolites in the human brain were measured using point resolved spectroscopy at 3T in vivo. Four echo times (54, 112, 246 and 374 ms) were selected from numerical and phantom analyses for effective detection of the glutamate multiplet at ~ 2.35 ppm. In vivo data were obtained from medial and left occipital cortices of five healthy volunteers. The cortices contained predominantly gray and white matter, respectively. Spectra were analyzed with LCModel software using volume-localized calculated spectra of brain metabolites. The estimate of the signal strength vs. TE was fitted to a monoexponential function for estimation of apparent T(2) (T(2)(†)). T(2)(†) was estimated to be similar between the brain regions for creatine, choline, glutamate and myo-inositol, but significantly different for N-acetylaspartate singlet and multiplet. T(2)(†)s of glutamate and myo-inositol were measured as 181 ± 16 and 197 ± 14 ms (mean ± SD, N = 5) for medial occipital cortices, and 180 ± 12 and 196 ± 17 ms for left occipital cortices, respectively.

Demographic and Risk Factor Profile in Patients of Gallstone Disease in Central India.

Background Gallbladder stones are more common in some regions of the world than others. Gallstones that are asymptomatic might be discovered as an afterthought during a regular ultrasound scan for another abdominal ailment. The changing incidence in India is mostly due to westernization and the availability of ultrasonography in both urban and rural areas, as well as increased affordability owing to changes in the socio-economic structure and the budget of investigations. This study aims to know the prevalence of gallstone disease as well as the risk factors that contribute to its development in central India. Method A single-center, cross-sectional observational study was conducted. Seventy-two radiologically diagnosed cases of gallstone disease irrespective of age, gender, and comorbid condition were included in the study. Result Seventy-two cases of gallstone were included in the research. The highest age-specific incidence of gallstone was in the fifth and sixth decades with the maximum incidence in the sixth decade. Females had a higher incidence of gallstone formation. The pain was the earliest symptom but we found that 41.67% patients had asymptomatic gallstones. A family history of gallstone disease is found positive in 69.44% of the patients who also had an increased risk of gallstone. 22.22% patient were only diabetic, 6.95% were only hypertensive and 20.83% were both diabetic + hypertensive. Comorbidity has a high prevalence of gallstone disease. Obesity has a significant link to gallstone disease, with BMI being one of the most important indicators of obesity. Conclusion The prevalence of asymptomatic gallstones is relatively high in central India. We strongly recommend ultrasonography as a screening modality in patients with older age group, female gender, high cholesterol level, family history of gallstones, sickle cell disease, increased BMI and co-morbidities like diabetes or hypertension for early detection of gallstones formation.

Hypoxic preconditioning requires the apoptosis protein CED-4 in C. elegans.

Hypoxic preconditioning (HP) is a rapid and reversible proadaptive response to mild hypoxic exposure with such a response protecting cells from subsequent hypoxic or ischemic insult. HP mechanisms are of great interest because of their therapeutic potential and insight into metabolic adaptation and cell death. HP has been widely demonstrated in the vertebrate subphylum but not in invertebrates. Here, we report that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has a potent HP mechanism that protects the organism as well as its neurons and myocytes from hypoxic injury. The time course of C. elegans HP was consistent with vertebrate-delayed HP, appearing 16 hr after preconditioning and lasting at least 36 hr. The apoptosis pathway has been proposed as either a trigger or target of HP. Testing of mutations in the canonical C. elegans apoptosis pathway showed that in general, genes in this pathway are not required for HP. However, loss-of-function mutations in ced-4, which encodes an Apaf-1 homolog, completely blocked HP. RNAi silencing of ced-4 in adult animals immediately preceding preconditioning blocked HP, indicating that CED-4 is required in adults during or after preconditioning. CED-4/Apaf-1 is essential for HP in C. elegans and acts through a mechanism independent of the classical apoptosis pathway.