A Study on Sleep-Pattern and Sleep Hygiene Behaviors Among School Going Adolescents in Semi Urban Coimbatore

Background: Sleep plays an important role in our life. Adolescents undergo several changes with puberty and have a preference for later bedtimes due to internet usage. Evidence shows that many adolescents are not ob-taining the required amounts of sleep (8-10 hours) due to inadequate sleep practices. The objectives of this research were tostudy sleep-pattern among adolescents in Semi urban Coimbatore and also to determine the sleep hygiene practices among the adolescents Methodology: This study is a school based cross-sectional study. A total of 300 adolescents from class VIII to XIIth were selected using simple random sampling. Data was collected from February to May 2018. A struc-tured questionnaire for sleep pattern and Sleep Hygiene Index was used. Results: The adolescents’ mean sleep duration was 7.49 ± 1.12 hours on weekdays and 9.32 ± 1.55 hours on weekends. Mean Sleep Pattern Index (SPI) score was 22.48±6.9 and Mean Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) score was 17.51±6.3 in our study. Conclusions: Majority of the adolescents had moderate scores of sleep pattern and sleep hygiene practices. Interventions directed towards promoting good sleep hygiene strategies are required to improve the physical and emotional health of adolescents.

Molecular characterization of a proteolysis-resistant lipase from Bacillus pumilus SG2

Proteolysis-resistant lipases can be well exploited by industrial processes which employ both lipase and protease as biocatalysts. A proteolysis resistant lipase from Bacillus pumilus SG2 was isolated, purified and characterized earlier. The lipase was resistant to native and commercial proteases. In the present work, we have characterized the lip gene which encodes the proteolysis-resistant lipase from Bacillus pumilus SG2. The parameters and structural details of lipase were analysed. The lip gene consisted of 650 bp. The experimental molecular weight of SG2 lipase was nearly double that of its theoretical molecular weight, thus suggesting the existence of the functional lipase as a covalent dimer. The proteolytic cleavage sites of the lipase would have been made inaccessible by dimerisation, thus rendering the lipase resistant to protease.

Pongamia pinnata seed cake: A promising and inexpensive substrate for production of protease and lipase from Bacillus pumilus SG2 on solid-state fermentation.

The production of a protease and a lipase from Bacillus pumilus SG2 on solid-state fermentation using Pongamia pinnata seed cake as substrate was studied. The seed cake was proved to be a promising substrate for the bacterial growth and the enzyme production. The initial pH, incubation time and moisture content were optimized to achieve maximal enzyme production. Maximum protease production was observed at 72 h and that of the lipase at 96 h of incubation. The production of protease (9840 U/g DM) and lipase (1974 U/g DM) were maximum at pH 7.0 and at 60% moisture content. Triton X-100 (1%) was proved to be an effective extractant for the enzymes and their optimal activity was observed at alkaline pH and at 60ºC. The molecular mass of the protease and lipase was 24 and 40 kDa, respectively. Both the enzymes were found to be stable detergent additives. The study demonstrated that inexpensive and easily available Pongamia seed cake could be used for production of industrially important enzymes, such as protease and lipase.

Antiulcer activity of Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Wall. against cysteamine-induced duodenal ulcer in rats.

Antiulcer activity of Andrographis paniculata was evaluated by cysteamine induced duodenal ulcer model in rats. Male albino Wistar rats were pre-administered with 200 mg/kg body wt. of hydroalcoholic extact of Andrographis paniculata (HAEAP) orally, for 30 days prior to i.p. administration of 420 mg/kg body wt. of cysteamine as a single dose. Rats pre-administered with 30 mg/kg body wt. of ranitidine served as standard drug. Ulcer index, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, mucin, glutathione peroxidase and myeloperoxidase activities, reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) ratio, glycoproteins and membrane bound enzyme activities were measured in duodenum of experimental animals. The ulcer score and myeloperoxidase activity were significantly minimized in rats treated with HAEAP. Mucin content was found to be preserved in rats treated with the extract. GSH/GSSG ratio and glutathione peroxidase activities were found to be maintained by the HAEAP. Level of lipid peroxidation products was found to be significantly low in HAEAP treated rats compared to ulcer control rats. The basolateral and brush border membrane bound enzyme activities which were depleted significantly in ulcer control rats were found to be maintained in rats pre-treated with the extract. The ulcer preventing effect was comparable to that of ranitidine treated rats. Level of glycoproteins was also found to be preserved in rats treated with the extract. The normal rats treated with the HAEAP did not show any abnormal alterations in the parameters studied. Histopathological observations also showed the ulcer preventing effect of the HAEAP. It is suggested that the ulcer preventing effect may be due to its mucin preserving and antioxidant nature.

Hepatoprotective action of ethanolic extracts of Melia azedarach Linn. and Piper longum Linn and their combination on CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

A comparison of analysis in evaluating the hepatoprotective action of ethanolic extract of M. azedarach (MAE) and P. longum (PLE) with their combination biherbal extract (BHE) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced hepatic damage is reported in albino rats. There was a marked elevation of serum marker enzyme levels in CCl4 treated rats, which were restored towards normalization in the drug (MAE and/or PLE:50 mg/kg body weight po, once daily for 14 days) treated animals. The biochemical parameters like total protein, total bilirubin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and urea were also restored towards normal levels. The combined BHE showed more significant reduction of the enzymes than MAE or PLE against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity. The results strongly indicate that BHE has more potent hepatoprotective action than MAE or PLE individually against CCl4 induced hepatic damage in rats. Among these extracts, BHE showed similar hepatoprotective action to silymarin, which was the positive control in this study.

Genetic polymorphisms in periodontal diseases: An overview.

Periodontitis is a multi-factorial disease; several risk and susceptibility factors are proposed in its natural history. Genetics is considered a susceptibility factor in relation to periodontitis. This article is a nonsystematic review of literature and focuses on the role of genetic polymorphisms in periodontal diseases.

Concomitant production of protease and lipase by Bacillus licheniformis VSG1: production, purification and characterization

This study was aimed at producing protease and lipase simultaneously on a common medium by Bacillus licheniformis VSG1, which was isolated from a tannery effluent. The effect of media composition with respect to protein source, lipid source and emulsifier on the production of protease and lipase was analysed. Both those enzymes were produced under optimized conditions like pH, temperature and incubation time. The enzyme mixture comprising of both protease and lipase was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, dialysis and gel filtration chromatography to obtain 20-fold pure enzymes. The purified enzyme mixture was characterized to determine the optimum pH and temperature of protease and lipase, the response of the enzymes to inhibitors, additives and solvents. The molecular weight of both the enzymes was determined as 40 kDa on SDS-PAGE. The concomitant production of protease and lipase and the purification of both the enzymes in a single mixture have industrial significance, as many industrial processes use both protease and lipase together.

Level of oxidative stress in the red blood cells of patients with liver cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Liver cirrhosis is associated with gastrointestinal haemorrhage and oesophageal variceal bleeding. Altered platelet functions has been reported to be a cause of bleeding complication. We carried out this study to find out the level of oxidative stress in the red blood cells of patients with liver cirrhosis. METHODS: Fifty patients admitted with the complication of liver cirrhosis (with bleeding complications, n=30 and without bleeding complications, n=20) were included in the study. Age and sex matched normal healthy volunteers (n=45) served as controls. The levels of oxyhaemoglobin and methaemoglobin were assayed in the red blood cells. Oxidative stress markers such as lipid peroxides, lipid hydroperoxides and nitric oxide were determined along with enzymatic antioxidants. Membrane bound adenosine triphosphatases, cytosolic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and NADHmethaemoglobin reductase were also measured. The levels of cholesterol and total phospholipids were assessed in red blood cell membrane. The osmotic fragility of red blood cells was monitored using different concentrations of sodium chloride. RESULTS: The level of methaemoglobin was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the red blood cells of liver cirrhotic patients with bleeding complication compared to that of non bleeding patients. The activity level of NADH-methaemoglobin reductase was significantly lower (P<0.001) compared to that of normal subjects. Levels of oxidative stress markers including nitric oxide were found to be higher in patients. The levels of enzymatic antioxidants were low except of glutathione peroxidase. The activity levels of adenosine triphosphatases were also found to be significantly lower (P<0.001) in patients compared to normal subjects. A significant alteration (P<0.05) was found in membrane cholesterol/phospholipid ratio of cirrhotic bleeders. Osmotic fragility of red blood cells was also altered in patients. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: In cirrhotic condition red blood cells are subjected to severe oxidative stress with significant alterations in the membrane properties.

Ocular complications in incident relapsed borderline lepromatous and lepromatous leprosy patients in south India.

PURPOSE: To determine the magnitude of ocular complications that present in incident cases of relapsed borderline lepromatous (BL) and lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients. METHOD: From 1991 to 1997, all new BL and LL patients who had relapsed from an earlier disease, detected by active case finding in the geographically defined area of Gudiyattam taluk, were invited for ocular examination after their leprosy status was confirmed clinically and histopathologically. RESULTS: Sixty relapsed lepromatous patients, 45 male and 15 females, were examined. Fifty-two patients had relapsed after receiving only dapsone mono-therapy, 4 after receiving paucibacillary multi-drug therapy (PB-MDT) preceded by dapsone mono-therapy and 4 after only PB-MDT. Three (5%) patients had lagophthalmos, 1 (1.6%) patients each had ectropion and trichiasis, 32 (53%) patients had impaired corneal sensation in both eyes, 2 (3.3%) patients each had corneal opacity (associated with reduced vision), corneal nerve beading, punctate keratitis, keratic precipitates, and iris atrophy, 4 (6.6%) patients had cataract associated with decreased vision, 1 (1.6%) patient had blocked naso-lacrimal duct and 13 (21.7%) patients had pterygium. Seven (12%) patients had a visual acuity of 6/18 or less, 4 (6.7%) patients had 6/60 or less and one patients had vision below 3/60. General ocular complications rather than leprosy-related ocular complications were responsible for reduced vision. Lagophthalmos was associated with increased duration of the disease (P = 0.009), Grade II deformity (P = 0.001), punctate keratitis (P < 0.001) and cataract (P < 0.001). Beaded corneal nerves were associated with lepromatous leprosy (P < 0.001) and high mycobacterial infection (P = 0.05). Patients whose initial disease was categorised as BL and LL had greater impairment of vision (P = 0.037), more iris atrophy (P = 0.013), increased keratic precipitates (P = 0.013) and more corneal nerve beading (P = 0.013), when compared with the group comprising Tuberculoid-tuberculoid (TT), Borderline-tuberculoid (BT) and Intermediate (IND). CONCLUSION: This first report on ocular complications in relapsed lepromatous patients demonstrates that general and leprosy-related ocular complications occur in these patients. However, they are not in excess of those reported in other leprosy groups. Borderline and lepromatous leprosy patients tend to have had more ocular complications than patients with tuberculoid leprosy.

Effect of vitamin-E on high fat diet induced hyperlipidemia in rats.

High fat diet intake in rats resulted in hyperlipidemia which was evidenced by elevated levels of plasma cholesterol, free fatty acids, triglycerides and increased LDLc/HDLc ratio. Vitamin E (400 mg/kg body wt/day) administration for 60 days prevented the elevations in plasma lipid levels. It reduced LDLc/HDLc ratio, lipid peroxide levels and elevated the level of reduced glutathione (GSH) in hyperlipidemic rats. Vitamin-E was non-toxic.

Effect of alpha-tocopherol on doxorubicin-induced changes in rat heart lysosomal enzymes.

Effect of doxorubicin on heart lysosomes were studied in rats with or without the administration of alpha-tocopherol. Rats were treated with doxorubicin (2.5 mg/kg body wt, iv) once a week for 8 weeks. alpha-tocopherol (400 mg/kg body wt) was co-administered orally for 2 months. Activities of acid phosphatase, beta-D-glucuronidase, cathepsin-D and beta-D-galactosidase were decreased in heart lysosomes but increased significantly in serum. A significant increase in lysosomal lipid peroxide level was noted. alpha-tocopherol co-administration reduced the lipid peroxide level as well as maintained the above mentioned enzyme activities.

Influence of alpha-tocopherol on doxorubicin-induced lipid peroxidation, swelling and thiol depletion in rat heart mitochondria.

Effect of alpha-tocopherol on doxorubicin-induced swelling in rat heart mitochondria was studied in vitro. Mitochondria was isolated from control and alpha-tocopherol treated rats. Various concentrations of doxorubicin were added to mitochondrial suspension. Swelling, lipid peroxidation and thiol depletion were measured. Concentration and time dependent increase in swelling was noted with increase in lipid peroxidation and thiol depletion in mitochondria isolated from control rats. In alpha-tocopherol treatment, thiol depletion is significantly prevented with reduced lipid peroxidation and swelling.

Effect of aspirin on isoproterenol induced myocardial infarction--a pilot study.

Effect of aspirin (1.2 mg/100 g body wt orally for 30 days) on myocardial infarction induced by isoproterenol (200 mg/kg body wt, subcutaneously for 2 days) has been studied in rats using activities of creatine kinase, aspartate amino transaminase, alanine amino transaminase and lactate dehydrogenase and levels of lipid peroxides as standard markers. Aspirin treatment is found to counteract the effect of isoproterenol on lipid peroxide formation and associated enzyme changes in serum and heart.

Effect of doxorubicin on heart mitochondrial enzymes in rats: a protective role for alpha-tocopherol.

Effect of doxorubicin on heart mitochondrial enzymes was studied in rats with or without the administration of alpha-tocopherol. Rats were treated with doxorubicin 2.5 mg/kg, ip body wt once a week for 8 weeks. Alpha-tocopherol was co-administered orally for 2 months (400 mg/kg body wt daily). TCA cycle enzyme, NADH-dehydrogenase, cytochrome-C-oxidase and Na+,K(+)-ATPase activities were found to be decreased in doxorubicin treatment. A significant decrease in protease activity was observed with a concomitant increase in mitochondrial protein level. Mitochondrial lipid peroxide level was found to be increased with a decrease in thiol content. Alpha-tocopherol co-administration was found to maintain the mitochondrial enzyme activities as well as the thiol content. The results are discussed with reference to the antioxidant nature of alpha-tocopherol.

Reversal of changes of myocardial lipids by chronic administration of aspirin in isoproterenol-induced myocardial damage in rats.

The effect of aspirin on isoproterenol-induced changes related to myocardial damage was studied in rats. Rats were treated with aspirin (1.2 mg/100 g/day) orally, daily for a period of one month. Isoproterenol (20 mg/100 g, sc, twice at an interval of 24 hr) was administered. In isoproterenol treated rats marked increase in cholesterol, free fatty acids and triglycerides in both serum and heart were observed. The phospholipid level was lowered in heart with significant increase in serum in isoproterenol treatment. Serum LDL cholesterol was found to be increased with a significant decrease in the level of HDL cholesterol with enhanced level of lipid peroxides in heart. Aspirin showed marked reversal of these metabolic changes induced by isoproterenol.

Effect of alpha-tocopherol on doxorubicin-induced changes in rat liver and heart microsomes.

Rats were treated with doxorubicin (2.5 mg/kg body wt, iv) once a week for 8 weeks. Alpha-Tocopherol (400 mg/kg body wt/day) was co-administered orally for 2 months. Cytochrome-P450 (Cyt-P450) and Cytochrome-b5 (Cyt-b5) levels decreased significantly in doxorubicin treated rats. Significant decreases were observed in glucose-6-phosphatase, Cyt-P450 and Cyt-b5 reductase activities. In vitro lipid peroxidation study showed that alpha-tocopherol significantly minimises the lipid peroxide formation by doxorubicin. There was a significant change in microsomal cholesterol and phospholipid levels. Alpha-Tocopherol co-administration reduced the alterations in xenobiotic metabolising system and microsomal lipid levels. The results were discussed with reference to drug metabolising enzymes, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant nature of alpha-tocopherol.

Lipids and lipoprotein profile in doxorubicin treated rats: influence of alpha-tocopherol administration.

The effect of doxorubicin (DXR) on the levels of heart, liver and plasma lipids and plasma lipoproteins were studied in rats. Rats were treated with DXR (2.5 mg/kg body weight weekly for 8 weeks, iv) with or without alpha-tocopherol (alpha-TPL) (400 mg/kg body wt daily for 60 days) co-administration. DXR treated rats showed increase in plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides and phospholipids. The activities of lecithin cholesterol-acyl transferase and hepatic and extrahepatic lipoprotein lipase were lowered significantly with concomitant increase in liver and heart lipid peroxide levels in DXR treatment. HDL cholesterol level was found to be decreased significantly in DXR treated rats as a result of which there was an increase of LDLc/HDLc ratio. alpha-TPL coadministration brought back the enzyme activity to near normal and reduced the level of lipid peroxides. The lipid changes were minimum in rats treated with both alpha-TPL and DXR. This study suggests that the toxicity of DXR is reflected in lipids and lipoprotein profile.

Alpha-tocopherol reduces doxorubicin-induced toxicity in rats--histological and biochemical evidences.

The beneficial effect of alpha-tocopherol on doxorubicin-induced toxicity was studied in rats. alpha-Tocopherol (400 mg/kg/day) was administered orally, daily for a period of 2 months along with/without doxorubicin (2.5 mg/kg, i v weekly once for 8 weeks). Histology showed liver necrosis, heart myocyte degeneration, glomerular and tubular degeneration, cellular infiltration and desquammation of intestinal mucosa in doxorubicin treated animals. There was a significant increase in lipid peroxide levels measured in terms of "TBA reactants" in all these organs. These changes were associated with elevated levels of serum enzymes such as transaminases, creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase. The pathological observations, were minimal in animals receiving both doxorubicin and alpha-tocopherol. The lipid peroxide levels were low with concomitant normal levels of serum and intestinal enzymes in those animals.

Effect of doxorubicin on the intestinal membranes in rats—Influence of α-tocopherol administration.

The effect of α-tocopherol on doxorubicin induced changes in intestinal brush border and basolateral membranes were studied in rats. Rats were treated with doxorubicin (2·5 mg/kg body wt.), intravenously, weekly for 8 weeks. α-Tocopherol (400 mg/kg body wt.) was given orally, daily for 2 months. Intestinal basolateral membrane bound ATPases and brush border membrane bound alkaline phosphatase activities were found to be decreased significantly in doxorubicin treated rats. The lipid peroxide level was found to be elevated with a significant depletion in membrane sulphydryl groups. In α-tocopherol coadministered animals, the enzyme activities were found to be restored with concomitant reduction in lipid peroxide levels and an increase in the membrane sulphydryl groups. The membrane cholesterol and phospholipid levels which were altered in doxorubicin treated animals were found to be maintained significantly. The results are discussed with reference to the effect of α-tocopherol on lipid peroxidation and membrane sulphydryl groups.