Ameliorative Effects of Alcohol on Human Diabetic Volunteers – A Prospective Study.

Aims: The purpose of this study is to assess and confirm the ameliorative effects of alcohol consumption on biochemical indices of blood i.e., blood glucose, HbA1c, NO2, NO3, lipid profiles, hs-CRP (high sensitive C–Reactive protein) and membrane lipid peroxidation of diabetics. Study Design: Pre-clinical and Biochemical experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biochemistry, Acharya Nagarjuna University and Dept. of Biotechnology, K L University, Guntur, A.P and Dept. of Biochemistry, Katuri Medical College, Katuri Nagar, Guntur, A.P and Dept. of Biochemistry, Sri Krishna Devaraya University, Anantapur, A.P and Dept. of Basic Sciences, Madanapalle Institute of Technology and Science (MITS), Post Box No: 14, Angallu (V), Madanapalle, A. P., India, during 2008– 2013. Methodology: The study is conducted on 4 groups (n= 1200) of people of different ages ranging from 35 to 50 years at community health centers in Prakasam, Warangal, Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh, India. The first group consists of type-II diabetic patients who have been consuming alcohol (arithmetic mean ranging from 14.16 to 31.61ml/day) moderately for the past 3 to 10 years. The second group consists of nondiabetic, moderately alcohol consuming healthy individuals. The third group consists of patients who are type-II diabetics (who do not drink) taking medical treatment for minimum period of 1 year. The fourth group consists of non-drinking, non-diabetic healthy individuals. Relationships of alcohol intake with lipid profile, hs-CRP and HBA1c are compared among the three groups. Results: In lipid profile analysis of moderately drinking diabetic group, the HDL levels are found to be higher while the remaining factors such as total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL (P<0.05), triglycerides (P<0.01) and membrane lipid peroxidation are significantly lower. Fasting serum glucose levels are lowered, while serum nitrites and nitrates are found to be significantly higher. These differences are not found in abstainers group and Diabetic group who do not drink. Conclusion: Moderate consumption of alcohol in diabetic individuals is found to have an inverse association with the risky factors like LDL cholesterol, Triglycerides, etc. that are the etiological factors for some of the sequelae of diabetes mellitus i.e., coronary heart diseases, Retinopathy, etc. and has a direct association with the positive factors such as HDL and nitric oxide production. Experimental results are very significant and indicate that moderate consumption of alcohol has ameliorative effects on diabetics.

Pseudotumor cerebri with transient oculomotor palsy.

Pseudotumor cerebri is a clinical syndrome characterized by raised intracranial pressure with normal ventricular size, anatomy and position. Headache, vomiting and diplopia are the most common symptoms. Signs include those of raised intracranial pressure including papilledema and absence of focal neurological signs. A secondary cause is identifiable in 50% of children; the most common predisposing conditions are otitis media, viral infection and medications. Management is mainly directed towards identifying and treating the cause and measures to reduce the raised intracranial pressure. Though it is mostly a self limited condition, optic atrophy and blindness can occur. Oculomotor nerve palsy is very rarely associated with pseudotumor cerebri. We report a unique case of pseudotumor cerebri who had left Oculomotor palsy with sparing of the pupillary fibres, which resolved following treatment with oral acetazolamide.

Amphiphilic properties of polysaccharides: dextrin chains as example.

Polysaccharide chains are usually considered to be highly hydrophilic, since they contain no obvious apolar moieties. However, it is possible for even these chains to display hydrophobic character, arising out of stereochemical constraints in the chain. We had earlier shown that linear dextrin chains display amphiphilic properties, since all the hydroxyl groups are disposed on one side or face of the chain and the hydrogens disposed on the other. We provide further evidence here for this conclusion that dextrins are amphiphilic chains. In contrast, dextrans and cellulosic chains do not display amphiphilicity. Oligosaccharides that can adopt incipient helical structures might display amphiphilicity. This property might be relevant to intermolecular recognition on cell surfaces, lectin-sugar binding, antigen-antibody interactions and the like, and might be manifested more in a heteromolecular recognition process than as homomolecular self-aggregation.