A Clinicopathologic Study of Urinary Bladder Lesions Amongst North Indian Population: An Experience From a Tertiary Care Centre.

BACKGROUND: Urinary bladder cancer (UBC) is amongst the most common urological malignancies. AIM: To study different types of urinary bladder lesions in the north Indian population and to correlate various clinical and pathological findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present prospective study was conducted on 100 cases undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) and/or radical cystectomy over a period of 2.5 years followed by histopathological examination. Liquid-based cytology for malignant cells in urine was also performed. Immunohistochemistry was employed for tumor typing wherever needed. RESULTS: A total of 100 cases were studied. Male to female ratio was 15.7:1 and most of the patients were in the sixth decade (40%). Painless hematuria was the commonest clinical presentation (60%) and smoking was the commonest risk factor (80%). The most common lesion was infiltrating urothelial carcinoma seen in 72 cases followed by papillary urothelial neoplasm of low malignant potential (PUNLMP) seen in eight cases. Grade and depth of invasion were assessed and correlated. Several variants of infiltrating urothelial carcinoma such as squamous differentiation, glandular differentiation, microcystic, clear cell, nested, and micropapillary were also identified. Clinical, cystoscopic and histopathological findings were correlated in all the cases. CONCLUSION: Infiltrating urothelial carcinoma high grade was the most common bladder lesion identified and muscle invasion was more common with higher-grade lesions. A decade-younger age group was found to be more affected in the present series. Urine cytology for malignant cells is useful for early diagnosis of cancer. Immunohistochemistry is an important ancillary adjunct.

Profiling of heavy metal and pesticide residues in medicinal plants.

Application of medicinal plant to cure ailments has been practiced by several civilizations. Nowadays, contamination of heavy metals and pesticide residues in medicinal plant is a serious concern, due to toxic effects on human health. The present study was designed with an aim to quantify the heavy metals and pesticide residues in the 20 medicinal herbs, frequently sold in the local market as raw material without any quality assurance. The concentrations of the elements are as follows: copper (2.42-19.14 µgg-1), cadmium (0.01-2.10 µgg-1), chromium (17.63-58.63 µgg-1), iron (7.61-322.6 µgg-1), and lead (13.00-54.47 µgg-1), whereas total metal concentration ranged between 44.73 and 385.15 µgg-1. Among the organic pesticides, HCH (1.63-6.44 µgg-1) and DDT (0.63-7.14 µgg-1) isomers were found to be present in medicinal plant material. Result showed that lead and chromium concentrations in the herbs were above the permissible limits set by WHO. These herbs should be regularly checked for quality assurance before using raw or as a herbal formulation to avoid chronic exposure of metal and pesticides to human being.

Toxicity assessment of effluent from flash light manufacturing industry by bioassay tests in Trigonella foenumgracum.

A rapid bioassay test was conducted to study heavy metal accumulation and biochemical changes in Trigonella foenumgracum (methi) irrigated with 25, 50, 75 and 100% of effluent from flash light manufacturing industry at 60 days after sowing. Total metal concentration in effluent samples was: Cr = 0.12 < Cd = 0.18 < Pb = 0.24 < Cu = 2.68 mg l(-1) whereas, metals were not detected in control. An increase in photosynthetic pigments of exposed plant was noticed up to 50% concentrations of the effluent followed by a decrease at higher concentration as compared to their respective control.An enhanced lipid peroxidation in the treated plants was observed, which was evident by increased level of antioxidants: proline, cysteine, malondialdehyde and ascorbic acid content. The treated plants accumulated metals in the following order: Cu > Pb > Cr > Cd in the roots and shoots.

Accumulation of metals in selected macrophytes grown in mixture of drain water and tannery effluent and their phytoremediation potential.

Phytoremediation is an emerging, ecofriendly and economically feasible technique for the restoration of heavy metals contaminated environment. In the present investigation, five native macrophytes growing naturally in a drain receiving tannery effluent viz Bacopa monnieri, Eichhornia crassipes, Hydrilla verticillata, Ipomoea aquatica and Marsilea minuta were evaluated for their heavy metal (Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb) accumulation potential in field conditions at Unnao, U.P., India. The results showed that metal accumulation by these macrophytes differed among species and tissue parts. The concentration of Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb in the root tissues were estimated in the range 3.38-45.59,1.01-16.85,1.81-4.43 and 1.02-4.24 microg g(-1) d.wt., whereas the corresponding shoot values were 8.79-48.81, 1.01-8.67, 0.84-2.89 and 1.02-2.84 for Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb respectively. Among the studied plants the translocation factor (TF) ranged between 1.07-2.60, 0.75-3.83, 1.44-2.57 and 0.49-3.76 for Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb, respectively. The highest metal TF was found in M. minuta (2.60, 3.83 and 2.57) for Cr, Cu and Ni respectively, whereas Pb was best translocated (3.76) by B. monnieri. Roots and shoots of the studied macrophytes showed a value of greater than 1 for metal enrichment coefficient. Findings suggest that E. crassipes can be used for phytoremediation of Cu and Ni whereas M. minuta and H. verticillata can be applied for the removal of Cr and Pb respectively from the contaminated water bodies.