An anthropometric and hematological comparison of sickle cell disease children from rural and urban areas.

BACKGROUND: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a prevalent genetic disorder in India and the rural and urban areas experience distinctly different healthcare facilities. In view of this, a comparative study of SCD-SS pattern children of age 8-15 years from rural and urban areas of Wardha district of Central India was carried out using anthropometric and hematological parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data were collected using standard methods and the results showed a significant (P < 0.05) difference in the mean values for body weight, body mass index (BMI), hemoglobin, hematocrit, and white blood corpuscles (WBC). Statistical analysis of the data was done using SPSS 18.0 software. Individuals were screened by solubility test method. Sickle cell patterns (AS and SS) were determined by using electrophoresis technique. RESULT: The SCD-SS children from rural were significantly underweight than those from the urban area of Wardha district. BMI is a good indicator of nutritional status and BMI values of SCD children have less than desired. CONCLUSION: The study highlights an urgent need to conduct integrated investigations for SCD population of rural areas covering clinical, nutritional, and social aspects.

Evaluation studies of noise and air pollution during festival seasons in India.

The present research work is based on assessment of noise levels and ambient air quality at selected locations during festival seasons in Nagpur city. The noise levels were exceeding the permissible limits almost at every location during the festival period. The huge emissions of smoke arising out bursting of firecrackers have significantly resulted into air pollution; particularly in terms of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (Fine Dust). The immediate effect of increasing noise levels is impairing of hearing that may cause auditory fatigue and finally lead to deafness.

A comprehensive review of diverse issues related to sickle cell disease.

OBJECTIVE: This review was carried out to understand diverse issues in sickle cell disease (SCD), such as its prevalence, clinical manifestations, preventive measures, secondary infections, nutrition and therapies. METHODS: A deductive reasoning approach was followed to unearth the information from the published literature. Vast amount of resources (online and offline) were referred to collect and analyse the content related to SCD. The research publications were analysed following the standard content analysis procedures. RESULTS: The study results revealed a dearth of literature. The available information seems inconclusive due to the local nature of the disease, the high prevalence in the developing world where the accessibility to healthcare is a big issue. The prevalence data is scarce; the studies conducted so far reveal a very small sample size making the generalization of results difficult. CONCLUSION: The review of literature for diverse issues related to Sickle cell disease (SCD) revealed varied aspects to address the SCD related issues. Although there are reports that provide interesting insights of SCD, majority of them are inconclusive. The prevalence reported by different authors varies significantly that warrants initiation of a comprehensive SCD screening programme. The pathophysiological changes in the patients with SCD present a challenging and dynamic situation, which needs to be studied in more details. The many clinical complications reported by different authors call for a more concerted effort for additional understanding. Furthermore, the studies conducted so far are found to have very less sample size, especially in light of the prevalence estimates reported by various authors. The review indicates the important aspects of SCD that are to be addressed in urgency such as follow-up of newborns screening tests, stroke prevention, pregnancy complications, pain prevention, morbidity and mortality studies, and genetic studies for the better life of people with SCD.

Monocationic surfactant induced ultra structural changes in antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Cetrimide is a monocationic surfactant, commonly used for disinfection of hospital floors, equipments, for cleansing of burns and wounds, hand wash, etc. We evaluated whether antibiotic resistant (AR) Escherichia coli isolates from hospital settings (nosocomial pathogens) show any evidence of significant reduction in their susceptibility to cetrimide. Also the response of AR E. coli (nosocomial pathogens) to the action of cetrimide was assessed by studying the ultra structural changes induced using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). METHODS: A total of 165 clinical samples were screened for isolation of E. coli. Eighty two (49.6%) samples were positive for E. coli. Antibiotic susceptibility testing of E. coli isolates was carried out by Kirby Bauer method to isolate AR E. coli. The randomly selected AR E. coli isolate was treated with different concentrations of cetrimide and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of cetrimide was determined by broth micro dilution method. This same isolate was used for performing time kill assay and TEM study. RESULTS: The test E. coli isolate showed resistance to 12 different antibiotics. The MIC of cetrimide against AR E. coli was 312.5 microg/ml. The ultra cellular structural changes in cetrimide treated AR E. coli revealed vacuole formation, disaxilization of nuclear material, loss of cytoplasmic granularity, bleb formation and cell lysis. CONCLUSION: Ultra structural changes induced by the action of cetrimide revealed cell damaging changes in the AR E. coli to be dose and time dependent. The results showed that antibiotic resistance does not alter any change in susceptibility of E. coli to cetrimide, which was found to be still an effective disinfectant against a nosocomial pathogen E. coli.

In vitro effect of four herbal plants on the motility of Brugia malayi microfilariae.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Disease burden due to lymphatic filariasis is disproportionately high despite mass drug administration with conventional drugs. Usage of herbal drugs in traditional medicine is quite well known but largely empirical. Hence the present study was designed to screen the in vitro antifilarial effect of four herbal plants on Brugia malayi. METHODS: Motility of microfilariae of B. malayi after incubation for 48 h with aqueous/methanol extracts of Vitex negundo L. (roots), Butea monosperma L. (roots and leaves), Ricinus communis L. (leaves), and Aegle marmelos Corr. (leaves) was explored in the concentration range of 20 to 100 ng/ml for possible antifilarial effect by comparing with suitable solvent control. RESULTS: Butea monosperma leaves and roots, Vitex negundo root and Aegle marmelo leaves showed significant inhibition of motility of microfilariae as compared to controls whereas inhibitory activity demonstrated by Ricinus communis L. leaves was not significant. Antifilarial effects imparted by all these extracts were found to be a function of their relative concentrations. Inhibitory concentrations (IC(50)) for the plant extracts with significant antifilarial activity against Brugia malayi microfilariae in in vitro system have been derived to be 82, 83 and 70 ng/ml for Vitex negundo L., Butea monosperma L. and Aegle marmelos Corr. respectively. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: The present study recorded significant antifilarial effect of all plant extracts studied except for Ricinus communis L. leaves and contributes to the development of database for novel drug candidates for human lymphatic filariasis.

Anti-microfilarial activity of methanolic extract of Vitex negundo and Aegle marmelos and their phytochemical analysis.

In the present study, methanolic extracts of roots of Vitex negundo L. and extracts of leaves of Vitex negundo L., Ricinus communis L. and Aegle marmelos Corr. were explored for possible antifilarial effect against Brugia malayi microfilariae. It was observed that among the herbal extracts, root extract of Vitex negundo L. and leaves extract of Aegle marmelos Corr. at 100 ng/ml concentration showed complete loss of motility of microfilariae after 48 hr of incubation. Thin layer chromatography of the extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponin and flavonoids in the roots of Vitex negundo L. and coumarin in the leaves of Aegle marmelos Corr.

Highly crystalline faujasitic zeolites from flyash.

The process for the synthesis of flyash-based zeolites (FAZs) are presented, which basically includes alkaline treatment of flyash by a fusion method, followed by hydrothermal crystallization. Zeolite-Y has been identified, and conditions have been optimized for their synthesis by the fusion method. Optimal conditions for synthesis of Zeolite-Y are a NaOH/flyash ratio of 1.2:1, fusion temperature between 500 degrees C and 600 degrees C, crystallization time of 8-10 h and crystallization temperature between 100 degrees C and 110 degrees C. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of FAZ-Y ranges between 400 and 450 meq/100 g. The surface area of FAZs (500-600 m(2)/g) compare well with the commercial zeolites procured from Mobil Oil. Morphological characterization of FAZ using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals cubic structure, and XRD data reveal unit cells to be cubic system.