Prevalence of anxiety, depression, and their risk factors among lung cancer patients: A cross-sectional study in a tertiary care center, Kolkata

Background: Depression and anxiety disorders are common among lung cancer patients posing serious problem of treatment interruption, thereby poor prognosis and deterioration of quality of life. Objectives: The aim of the study was to find the prevalence of depression and anxiety among lung cancer patients and their respective determinants. Materials and Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional prospective study was conducted at the Department of Pulmonary Medicine of a tertiary care hospital at Kolkata over a period of 6 months. Patients were included by complete enumeration method, and an exit interview was conducted with the help of two standardized questionnaires: WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 to assess disability and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview English Version 5.0.0 DSM-IV to detect current major depressive episode (MDE) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Collected data were entered and analyzed in SPSS 20.0 software. Results: A total of 210 patients were recruited. Nearly three-fourths of the study population (73.7%) were suffering from current GAD; a significant portion (42.1%) was suffering from current MDE. Both the disorders were diagnosed in 42.1% cases. Multivariate analyses revealed that patients who were currently unemployed or retired, time since diagnosis more than 1 month and suffering from higher degree of disability had higher risk of depression; while patients who were residing at urban area, currently not earning, financially dependent to others and suffering from higher degree of disability had greater risk of developing anxiety during the course of the disease. Conclusion: Both depression and anxiety were quite prevalent among lung cancer patients. Social and psychological supports are to be raised to achieve treatment success and a better quality of life by mitigating this problem.

Hsp90 mediates activation of the heme regulated eIF-2 kinase during oxidative stress.

The heme-regulated inhibitor (HRI), a member of the eIF-2 kinase family is crucial for regulating protein synthesis during stress. In addition to heme, stress proteins Hsp90 and Hsp70 are known to regulate HRI. The present study aims to determine the physical association of these Hsps in the regulation of HRI activation during oxidative stress using human K562 cells as a model. Extracts from the stress-induced cells were used for determining HRI kinase activity by measuring eIF-2 phosphorylation, and Hsp-HRI interaction by immunoprecipitation and immunoblot analyses. The results indicate a significant increase in both Hsp70 and Hsp90 expression during AAPH (2, 2’-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride)-induced oxidative stress. Further, their interaction with HRI, which correlates well with its increased HRI kinase activity leads to inhibition of protein synthesis. Thus, we demonstrate that Hsps play an important role in the regulation of initiation of protein synthesis during oxidative stress.

Descending thoracic aortic aneurysm presenting as left sided hemorrhagic pleural effusion.

Aneurysm of descending thoracic aorta, in majority of cases is diagnosed either by chance in routine chest imaging for some other reasons or rarely due to it's symptomatic presentation like chest pain and other mediastinal compression symptoms. In this case report we present a case of 69 year old smoker who presented with cough, hemoptysis and left sided massive painless hemorrhagic pleural effusion. Further investigation revealed a large aneurysm of descending thoracic aorta which infiltrated the left lung. We suggest descending thoracic aneurysm be included in the differential diagnosis of this sort of clinical presentation which otherwise imperative with the clinical scenario of bronchogenic carcinoma.

Systemic lupus erythematosus presenting with recurrent pleural effusion without any systemic manifestation.

Pleural effusion can be the sole presenting manifestation in about 5 percent of cases with SLE. We are reporting a case of SLE which presented with recurrent pelural effusion without other systemic manifestation.

Effect of temperature and insecticide stresses on Aedes aegypti larvae and their influence on the susceptibility of mosquitoes to dengue-2 virus.

Two major factors, higher temperatures and the application of insecticides, can drastically alter the genetic structure of a vector mosquito population. Due to these two stresses, the majority of the population gets wiped out, but the ones that withstand the stress and survive are likely to pass on survivability, and have an altered physiology. Our study shows that exposures to higher temperatures and DDT during the larval stage affects their susceptibility as adult mosquitoes to the DEN-2 virus. The overall transcription and translation status of heat shock protein (Hsp70) in virus high- and low-susceptible was the same as that in other batches. In the case of a DDT-resistant (R-7) strain two bands were obtained during RT-PCRs after heat shock. These two alleles were obtained only with HY-1 in which R-7 males were used for the crosses, suggesting that the second allele is probably male sex linked. The higher expression of Hsp70 may provide DDT-resistant strains a better chance of survival high temperature environments, particularly in homozygotes and hybrids. It was also interesting to note that these strains have a significantly lower susceptibility to the virus. Wide-spread DDT-resistance and a rise in temperature above the average temperature during summer may result in a population with a low susceptibility to the virus. Several families of heat shock proteins are known to be expressed in mosquitoes, and may have a cumulative role in determining susceptibility to the virus, which itself is governed by several genes.

Dose-dependent differential effect of hemin on protein synthesis and cell proliferation in Leishmania donovani promastigotes cultured in vitro.

Leishmania donovani requires an exogenous source of heme for growth and transformation. In in vitro culture of the free-living promastigotes, exogenously added hemin enhances cell proliferation. In this investigation, the question of the function of heme with particular reference to protein synthesis and cell proliferation has been addressed. The results of in vitro cell culture experiments demonstrated that hemin (10 microM) alone is suitable for supporting optimum level of protein synthesis, and thereby cell proliferation of promastigotes to an extent that it can replace fetal bovine serum. However, in situ labelling experiments along with Western blots revealed that high concentration of hemin (50 microM) reduced the level of protein synthesis in general and of beta-tubulin in particular with a concomitant induction of hsp90, and induced consequent morphological changes that are observed during in situ transformation of promastigotes in mammalian macrophages. These results therefore suggest that sudden exposure to high concentration of heme in mammalian macrophages may be one of the key factors that trigger promastigote to amastigote transformation in L. donovani. Furthermore, hemin with its dual characteristic could be used as a tool to understand molecular mechanism of cell proliferation and transformation in these parasites.

Detergent-mediated destaining of coomassie brilliant blue-stained SDS polyacrylamide gels.

A simple and one-step detergent-mediated destaining procedure for SDS Polyacrylamide gels for proteins is described. Suspension (5%, w/v) of a commercially available household detergent, Vim Ultra, has been found to be very efficient in destaining polyacrylamide gels without interfering with the resolution of proteins. As compared to the routinely used solvent (methanol-acetic acid-water)-mediated destaining procedure, the present method is economical and user-friendly.

Chemical modifications and dissociation characteristics of tyrosine and tryptophan residues in alpha-crystallin.

A quantitative estimation of surface accessibility of aromatic residues in alpha-crystallin from goat lens has been accomplished by chemical modifications using different specific reagents having varying sizes. Results of modification of tyrosine residues with N-acetylimidazole and tetranitromethane when combined with those of ionization studies carried out with hydroxyl ions having the smallest size reveal different classes of tyrosine residues in the native protein: 78 +/- 2 residues have been found to be easily available for modification; among the rest, 94 +/- 2 residues appear to be comparatively less exposed to the reagents while 28 +/- 2 residues are found to be completely unavailable for modification in the native protein and are modified only when the protein is denatured. Modification of tryptophan residues with H2O2 also indicates different classes of these residues available for oxidation at different concentrations of the oxidant. 34 +/- 2 residues of tryptophan are found to be easily oxidized at a lower concentration of H2O2 during the first phase of the reaction. The remaining tryptophan residues appear to be less exposed to the reagent. This is also corroborated from the studies of reactivities of these residues towards another specific but bulkier reagent, 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide. These surface exposed aromatic residues in alpha-crystallin may be considered to be vulnerable to in vivo oxidative modifications forming insoluble aggregates which may finally contribute to the formation of cataract.

Heme regulated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α kinase—a molecular indicator of haemolytic anemia.

The heme regulated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF 2α) kinase, also called the heme regulated inhibitor (HRI), is a key regulator of protein synthesis in mammalian reticulocyte. HRI is almost undetectable in blood samples of normal rabbits and it increases by 12 15 fold in the reticulocytes of anemic rabbits. In order to determine if such an increase in the quantity of HRI is gradual during anemia, and if it could be an indicator of anemia, we have carried out a detailed analysis on the expression of HRI and its eIF 2α kinase activity in rabbit reticulocyte lysates during various stages of acetylphenylhydrazine (APH) induced anemia. In a 9 day schedule of induction of anemia, using an anti HRI monoclonal antibody, HRI was detectable immediately after completion of fourth injection (day 5) and it increased gradually during the entire period reaching its maximum (24 fold) on day 9. Furthermore, when rabbits recovered from anemia due to individual response to the drug, quantity of HRI decreased significantly. Northern blot analysis results were similar to those of the Western blot. The other parameters that are generally used to monitor anemia in human patients, namely, reticulocyte count, haematocrit level and haemoglobin content although changed at the onset of anemia, did not change significantly during its progression. These results thus indicate that HRI could be a more appropriate and sensitive indicator of drug induced anemia.

Association of HSP90 with the heme-regulated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α kinase—A collaboration for regulating protein synthesis.

Among the various heat shock proteins (HSPs), members of the HSP70 and HSP90 families have drawn particular attention due to their heat shock-unrelated functions. HSP90, an ubiquitous and abundant member of the HSP90 family has been shown to be associated with a large array of protein factors. These proteins reside in the nucleus as well as in the cytoplasm and are involved in various physiological processes, such as, regulation of chromatin structure, cell cycle, cytoskelelal architecture, protein trafficking and protein synthesis. In this article, we focus our interest on the role of HSP90 in protein synthesis. Recent data obtained from a few laboratories strongly suggest that HSP90 interacts with the heme-regulated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (elF-2α) kinase, also called the heme-regulated inhibitor, and causes its activation which leads to inhibition of protein synthesis. On the basis of data reported from various laboratories, including our own, we propose a possible model on the mechanism of HSP90- mediated activation of heme-regulated inhibitor and regulation of protein synthesis.

Lens protein phylogeny: immunocrossreactivity of vertebrate lens antigens to anti-shark crystallin antibody.

Antisera prepared against total water-soluble lens proteins of the shark, Scoliodon sorrakowah were reacted with homologous antigen and analysed reaction products by immunoelectrophoresis (IE) and two dimensional crossed antigen-antibody electrophoresis (2D-CE). On IE, shark antigens formed 5 precipitin lines including 1 alpha, 3 beta and 1 gamma crystallins and on 2D-CE 3 alpha, 6 beta and 6 gamma peaks accounting for 8%, 27% and 65% antigen in the respective group were obtained from the total crystallins. Using anti-shark antisera, the immunocrossreactivity of lens proteins from 6 Chondropterygii, 23 teleosts and 16 higher vertebrates was examined by IE. It is found that beta crystallins are the most conserved and crossreact with all vertebrate classes, whereas gamma crystallin crossreactivity is specific to the class Pisces and alpha crystallins are least conserved and their crossreactivity is confined to subclass Chondropterygii. Based on IE patterns, a phylogenetic tree is constructed which demonstrates the intrafamily closeness except in case of adaptive radiation.

Isolation, purification and preliminary studies on fish eye lens glycoprotein.

Glycoprotein from the eye lens of fish, Mystus cavasius, was isolated by extraction with 1% Triton X-100 in saline. The crude extract which was found to be electrophoretically heterogeneous was fractionated on a DEAE-cellulose column. One of the fractions obtained in major amount was further resolved by column chromatography using Sephadex G-150 into two homogeneous fractions (GP-1 and GP-2]. GP-1 contained carbohydrates (11.2%) and protein (77.5%). The constituent sugars were D-glucose, D-mannose, D-galactosamine and N-acetyl neuraminic acid. The principal amino acids were aspartic acid, serine, glutamic acid, glycine and alanine. The proportions of these residues were determined.

Preliminary studies on excretory components of a virulent strain (F-2) of Pseudomonas solanacearum.

The excretory material (EM) was isolated from the culture medium of a virulent strain (F-2) of Pseudomonas solanacearum. Electrophoretic studies depicted the heterogeneous nature of EM and the presence of released lipopolysaccharide in it. Both the exopolysaccharide and the released LPS contained D-galactose as the major sugar constituent together with D-glucose, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. In addition, L-rhamnose was present as a constituent sugar of the released LPS.