N-terminal ectodomain of BTNL2 inhibits T cell activation via a non-canonical interaction with its putative receptor that results in a delayed progression of DSS-induced ulcerative colitis.

Butyrophilin-like 2 (BTNL2) is a T cell inhibitory molecule that interacts with unknown binding partners to modulate the immune response in a number of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. In this study, we found that the inhibitory effects of BTNL2 on T cell activation and effector functions can be executed by its N-terminal IgV domain (BTNL2 IgV1) alone. Structure-guided mutation of key residues on BTNL2 IgV1 based on known receptor-ligand interfaces involving immunoglobulin superfamily members revealed that BTNL2 uses a non-canonical binding interface with its putative receptor. A high avidity BTNL2 IgV1 probe revealed that in an inducible model of ulcerative colitis, severe colitis was accompanied by a selective enrichment of BTNL2-receptor expressing effector-memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the Peyer's patches. Intraperitoneal administration of BTNL2 IgV1 resulted in a significant delay in the progression of DSS-induced colitis and also showed reduced activation of the BTNL2-receptor-expressing T cells in the Peyer's patches. Thus, this study demonstrates that the BTNL2-receptor-expressing T cells in the Peyer's patches participate in the disease pathogenesis and can serve as a novel therapeutic target in ulcerative colitis, which can be modulated by BTNL2 IgV1.

The Efficiency of Cervical Pap and Comparison of Conventional Pap Smear and Liquid-Based Cytology: A Review.

Cervical cancer is one of the leading health burdens globally with a huge incidence in developing countries like India. Cervical cancer has an extended premalignant stage known as cervical dysplasia or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). CIN can be grade 1, 2, or 3 depending on its severity. One of the most effective methods of cervical cancer screening and prevention is detecting these premalignant lesions by cervical cytology. Pioneered by Dr. George Nicholas Papanicolaou, the Papanicolaou (Pap) stain became an important advent for the microscopic evaluation of the exfoliated cervical cells. Over the years, this method of conventional Pap smear became more practiced and yielded excellent results, so much so that the incidence of cervical cancer actually started to decline in developed countries. However, few drawbacks started to become evident with conventional Pap smears like unsatisfactory samples due to obscuring materials, false negative results due to sampling error, and low sensitivity. To overcome these drawbacks of conventional Pap smear, liquid-based cytology (LBC) was introduced in 1996. Thereafter, many investigations and studies have been conducted by many authors to compare the efficacy of conventional Pap smear and LBC. This review puts forward the facts and results of various studies pertaining to efficacy of cervical cytology, comparing conventional Pap smear and LBC, and highlighting the pros and cons of each method based on various studies. For this review, relevant articles under the headings "Conventional PAP smear", "Cervical cancer screening", "Liquid-based cytology" and "Comparison" have been searched in PubMed/MEDLINE and Google Scholar. About 100 articles were studied, and all the facts have been highlighted. While many studies did support LBC over conventional Pap smear for screening of cervical abnormalities, some studies did not find any major difference between the two and preferred the practice of conventional Pap smear in our Indian scenario considering the low-resource setting and low price. This research highlights the various facts of the two types of cervical Pap smear and their comparison.

The Fate of Cervical Dysplastic Lesions during Pregnancy and the Impact of the Delivery Mode: A Review.

Cervical dysplasia, also referred to as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL), is the precursor lesion of cervical carcinoma. Therefore, its diagnosis is vital for early detection and inhibiting the development of cervical carcinogenesis. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common aetiology of cervical cancer and this infection mainly affects young women of childbearing age, thus affecting pregnant women as well. It is essential to know how CIN progresses in pregnant patients because the management of pregnant and non-pregnant patients is different (considering the safety of both mother and child in pregnancy). This review intends to highlight the studies which have assessed the rates of progression of CIN diagnosed in pregnancy throughout the antenatal period and the impact of the mode of delivery on CIN outcomes. We searched PubMed/MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases for relevant articles. Many studies indicate that the rate of progression of these lesions is very slow during the tenure of pregnancy; many also report postpartum regression of these lesions. Thus, in most of these patients, management can be safely implemented in the postpartum period while just keeping them under observation in the antenatal period. However, patients with high-grade CIN have a higher chance of developing invasive cancer and, therefore, require careful monitoring. There is a dispute regarding the role of the mode of delivery in determining the fate of cervical dysplasia. While some studies supported vaginal births over caesarean sections, others did not find any difference between the two in defining the outcome of the dysplastic lesions.

A smartphone-integrated low-cost, reagent-free, non-destructive dried blood spot-based paper sensor for hematocrit measurement.

The blood hematocrit (Hct) level provides vital information about a person's health. Traditional Hct measurement equipment relies heavily on infrastructure and skilled manpower, limiting its broad implementation in resource-limited contexts. Therefore, we developed a simple, reagent-free, non-destructive, smartphone-integrated paper-based device for Hct measurement by analyzing blood-spreading area on a paper substrate. Blood spreading area was found to be dependent on the Hct value, paper properties, and assay duration. This device was calibrated using a custom-made Python algorithm with 10 µl of blood, which produced a sensitivity of -1.90 ± 0.03 mm2/Hct (%) with a LOD as low as 2.17% Hct. The device linear range (8.8 to 58% Hct) is wide enough to cover the clinically relevant range of blood Hct (%). Furthermore, this Python algorithm was coupled with a user-friendly and clinically beneficial Android application (app) to establish an automated tool for quantitative estimation. Comparing the app performance with the result obtained from the gold standard hematology analyzer using blood from 87 subjects reveals a strong correlation (r = 0.99), an average bias of 0.15 with limits of agreement of -2.5 to 2.79 at 95% CI. The device exhibits an accuracy of 96.85% and acceptable reproducibility, with CV ranging from 0.8 to 7.5%. An integrated detection cum readout guiding pattern may allow this device to be suitable for simultaneous quantitative and qualitative estimation and to be employed in both developed and resource-limited clinical settings for Hct measurement in routine checkups and regular monitoring during critical care, as well as in the initial screening of large anemic populations.

Association of physical activity and stress reactivity with depression in elderly hypertensive population: A cross-sectional study from Eastern India.

Objective: Depressive disorder poses an increased risk for sudden cardiac death in elderly population with existing comorbidities. Also, few international studies suggest the association of decreased stress reactivity with symptoms of depression in old age. Our cross-sectional study has attempted to explore the relationship of daily exercise and stress reactivity with depression in elderly individuals with hypertension. Methods: Depression was assessed using Hamilton depression rating scale or HAM-D. The physical activity was assessed using the global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ), developed by WHO. Stress reactivity is calculated from various cardiovascular parameters. The relationship of physical activity and stress reactivity scores on depression was explored using regression analysis. Results: The prevalence rate of depressive symptoms in elderly hypertension population was around 40.2%. Significantly lower reactivity scores (P = 0.032) to deep breathing were evident in elderly hypertension population. After proper adjustment of the confounding factors, regression analysis depicted that decreased physical activity (Odds ratio = 4.48; 95% Confidence interval = 2.32-7.69) resulted in heavy risk of developing depressive symptoms besides old age and low educational status. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that low physical activity leads to the development of depressive symptoms and decreased stress reactivity among elderly hypertensive patients.