Association of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy with Micronutrients.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common metabolic disorder that has been defined by hyperglycemia. Diabetic patients usually have high levels of oxidative stress. Mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation of blood vessels are associated with a greater need for micronutrients in diabetic patients. These micronutrients may have an association with the complications in diabetics. The purpose of this study was to show the association of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) with levels of micronutrients such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), and vitamin B12 (Vit B12). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Medicine, Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College, Meerut. A total of 130 randomly selected cases of confirmed type-2 diabetic patients were included in this study. DPN cases were identified using the Michigan neuropathy screening instrument. Out of 130 diabetic patients, 28 patients were found to have diabetic neuropathy. The level of various micronutrients was assessed and correlated with the development of DPN. RESULTS: The association of DPN with Zn (p-value of 0.02) and Vit B12 (p-value of 0.008) was found to be significant, whereas Cu (p-value of 0.57) and Mg (p-value of 0.24) were found to be insignificant.

Atrial Septal Aneurysm Presenting as Clubbing without Clinically Apparent Cyanosis.

Atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) is a localised "saccular" deformity which protrudes to the right or the left atrium or on both sides. It is a rare, but well recognised cardiac abnormality. It is usually an incidental finding or may presents as atrial arrhythmias or arterial embolism. Though it is an acyanotic congenital heart disease but it may result in significant right to left shunt and cyanosis. We describe a patient of ASA with atrial septal defect who presented with clubbing and right to left shunt without clinically apparent cyanosis.

Effect of untreated sewage effluent irrigation on heavy metal content, microbial population and enzymatic activities of soils in Aligarh.

The study pertains to the impact of domestic and industrial sewage water irrigation on the chemical, biological and enzymatic activities in alluvial soils of Aligarh District. Results showed that soil enzymatic [dehydogenase (DHA), acid and alkaline phosphatase, urease and catalase] activities in the soils increased up to 14 days of incubation and thereafter inhibited significantly. The enzymatic activity were in the order sewage effluent > partial sewage effluent > ground water irrigated soils. Increase in soil enzymatic activities up to 2nd week of incubation was due to decomposition of organic matter. Maximum inhibition of enzymatic activities, after 14 days of incubation were found in sewage effluent irrigated soils and minimum in ground water irrigated soils. Similar trend was also seen for microbial population. Soil enzymatic activities and microbial population were significantly and positively correlated with soil organic matter. Results also indicated that the microbial population and enzymatic activities in sewage irrigated soils decreased continually with irrigation period. The average concentration of total heavy metals in sewage irrigated soils and partial sewage irrigated soils increased and was 3 and 2 times higher for Zn; 4.5 and 1.7 times higher for Cu; 3.8 and 2.4 times higher for Cr; 5.7 and 3.5 times higher for Pb; 3.5 and 2.2 times higher for Cd and 2.7 and 2.0 times higher for Ni respectively than that of ground water irrigated soils. Results also showed that though total heavy metals concentration increased with period of sewage irrigation but the concentration of diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) extractable heavy metals in partial sewage irrigated and sewage irrigated soils remained almost same, which might be due to deposition of heavy metals in crops grown on the soils.