High dietary salt intake activates inflammatory cascades via Th17 immune cells: impact on health and diseases.

The incidence of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) is on the rise. A high salt content in the diet was found to play a crucial role in mediating IMIDs. It was demonstrated that increased salt concentration favors the differentiation of CD4+ cells to pathogenic Th17 cells, which predispose to several inflammatory diseases by modulating the immunological milieu. In auto-immune diseases increased salt concentration causes stable induction of Th17 cells. In cancer, increased salt concentration triggers chronic inflammation and increases vascular endothelial growth factor levels. Salt-mediated proliferation of Th17 cells has been found to reduce nitric oxide production in the endothelial cells, leading to hypertension. Increased salt concentration was found to alter the intestinal flora, which favors local inflammation. This review attempts to explain the role of high salt concentration and its molecular pathways in causing IMIDs.

Association of Urinary Vitamin D Binding Protein and Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin with Steroid Responsiveness in Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome of Childhood.

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (NS) is one of the most common kidney diseases of childhood. In this study, we assessed urine Vitamin-D binding protein (VDBP) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels as a predictor of steroid responsiveness in idiopathic NS. This cross-sectional study included children with steroid-resistant NS (SRNS) (n = 28), steroid-sensitive NS (SSNS) (n = 28), and healthy controls (n = 28). Urine levels of VDBP and NGAL were measured using a commercially available ELISA kit and normalized to urine creatinine (Cr). Urine microalbumin (MALB) was measured using nephelometer, and MALB/Cr was calculated. Urine Vitamin-D binding protein (uVDBP) and urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) levels were statistically significantly higher (P < 0.001) in patients with SRNS (701.12 ± 371.64 ng/mL and 28.42 ± 15.40 ng/mL, respectively) than in patients with SSNS (252.87 ± 66.34 ng/mL and 8.86 ± 5.54 ng/mL, respectively) and normal controls (34.74 ± 14.10 ng/mL and 6.79 ± 1.32 ng/mL, respectively). Estimated glomerular filtration rate shows a significant negative correlation with MALB/Cr, uVDBP, and uNGAL. However, uVDBP and uNGAL showed a much higher discriminatory ability for differentiating SRNS from MALB/Cr. uVDBP and uNGAL at the cutoff value of 303.81 and 13.1 ng/mL, respectively, yielded the optimal sensitivity (82% and 86%) and specificity (78% and 89%) to distinguish SRNS from SSNS. Urine levels of VDBP and NGAL can predict steroid responsiveness in patients with idiopathic NS.

Removal of cadmium heavy metal ions from wastewater by electrosorption using modified activated carbon felt electrodes.

Cadmium contamination in industrial wastewater is an environmental issue posing a great threat to human and animal life. However, the available methods for the removal of cadmium at lower concentrations are limited. Such processes are often accompanied by sludge formation and lead to heavy metal wastage. This paper focuses on the application of an electrosorption process using modified activated carbon felt (MACF) electrodes for the removal and recovery of lower concentration of cadmium from a simulated wastewater sample without sludge formation. Activated carbon felt (ACF) electrodes were treated with 20% HNO3 for removing surface impurities and improving the surface area. The effect of the electrode modification was analyzed by performing various characterizations including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cyclic voltammetry. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic models have also been studied. The effect of operating parameters including pH, voltage, initial concentration and time were analyzed and optimized using Box-Behnken design and were obtained as 6.42, 1.44 V, 0.50 mg/L and 131.51 min respectively. During the regeneration of electrodes, a concentrated cadmium solution of 18.55 mg/L was obtained, which showed the possibility of cadmium recovery. The maximum cadmium removal was 60.60% at the optimized conditions, revealing the significance of electrosorption for heavy metal treatment.

Bio-modified carbon paste electrode for the detection of Pb(II) ions in wastewater.

Heavy metal pollution in water is a serious environmental concern. Lead is one of the highly toxic heavy metals, and its toxicity is due to its non-degradation characteristic in living organisms. The monitoring of Pb(II) ions concentrations in drinking water is essential for human health and a safe environment. In this work, bio-modified carbon paste electrodes were constructed with live cells and thermally dried biomass (extracted protein) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells and employed for the detection of Pb(II) ions from wastewater. The biomass and biosensor preparation and optimization, and the performance of modified biosensors in the detection of Pb(II) ions are discussed here. The effect of various parameters, like pH, biomass composition, scan rate, and metal ion concentration, were studied to obtain the best electrochemical response. Further, the active surface of the electrode and solution characteristics were studies using chronocoulometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis was done to find the functional groups present in the thermally dried biomass. From the present study, it is clear that the thermally dried protein biomass electrode has more sensitivity than the bare carbon paste electrode.

Association of neurotrophins, inflammation and stress with suicide risk in young adults.

BACKGROUND: Stress, anxiety and various neurobiological changes have been postulated to be associated with increased suicidal ideation. Hence, this study was undertaken to evaluate the serum concentrations of neurotrophins, inflammatory markers and stress concentrations as predictors of suicidal risk among young adults. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care referral center in South India from March 2014 to February 2015. We recruited 42 suicide attempters and 42 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. The serum concentrations of neurotrophins (BDNF and NT-3), inflammatory markers (hs-CRP and IL-6) were assessed. Stress severity was assessed by Presumptive Stressful Life Events scale (PSLE) and Daily Hassles and Uplifts Scale-revised (DHUS-R). Psychological distress and Suicide risk was assessed using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) respectively. RESULTS: Suicide attempters tend to show significantly lower concentrations of neurotrophins and significantly higher concentrations of inflammatory markers. We observed significant negative correlation of neurotrophins with inflammatory markers, stress, and suicide risk. In multivariate linear regression model, hs-CRP [adjusted ß=0.333, p<0.0001], PSLE [adjusted ß=0.133, p=0.029], DHUS-R [adjusted ß=0.159, p=0.018] emerged as independent predictors of suicide risk (R(2)=0.76). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that inflammation and stress scores have a moderate association with suicidal ideation.

Effects of plasticizers and surfactants on the film forming properties of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose for the coating of diclofenac sodium tablets.

Hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) 5cPs, an aqueous soluble polymer was employed for coating diclofenac sodium (DFS) tablets 25 mg for protecting the integrity of the drug yet rendering the drug to release at a faster rate on contact with the gastric environment. Proper optimization for the aqueous based film coating formulation was undertaken primarily employing plasticizers like polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400 and propylene glycol (PG). The defect free selected formulations were further subjected for studying the effects of surfactants like sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) and Tween-80 along with the plasticizers. The quality of the aqueous film coats or the plasticizer efficiency in case of PEG-400 is in the order 1.5 > 0.5 > 1.0% and for PG 1 > 4 > 3% which can be stated on the basis of less incidence of major coat defects like chipping, cracking, orange peel, roughness, blistering, blooming, picking. The quality of aqueous film coat or the surfactant efficiency in case of SLS + PEG-400 is in the order 0.3 < 0.5 < 0.1% and SLS + PG is in the order 0.5 < 0.1 < 0.3%. In case of Tween-80 + PEG-400 the order is 0.3 < 0.5 < 0.1% and Tween-80 + PG is in the order 0.3 < 0.1 < 0.5%. Elegant film formation can be stated from fewer incidences of coat defects. The obtained coated tablets eventually satisfied all the normal physical parameters like thickness, weights, and weight gain, drug content, crushing strength, percent friability, disintegration time, dissolution profile and possible drug-polymer interactions. ANOVA was undertaken followed by Dunnet multiple comparison for the dissolution profile considering uncoated as the standard. The difference was considered significant at p â©½ 0.01.

Antioxidants protect rat diaphragmatic muscle function under hypoxic conditions.

In hypoxia, mitochondrial respiration is decreased, thereby leading to a buildup of reducing equivalents that cannot be transferred to O2 at the cytochrome oxidase. This condition, called reductive stress, can paradoxically lead to enhanced formation of reactive O2 species, or a decrease in the ability of the cell to defend against an oxidative stress. We hypothesized that antioxidants would protect tissues under conditions of hypoxia. Rat diaphragm strips were incubated in tissue baths containing one of four antioxidants: N-acetyl-L-cysteine, dimethyl sulfoxide, superoxide dismutase, or Tiron. The strips were directly stimulated in an electrical field. Force-frequency relationships were studied under baseline oxygenation (95% O2-5% CO2), after 30 min of hypoxia (95% N2-5% CO2), and 30 min after reoxygenation. In all tissues, antioxidants markedly attenuated the loss of contractile function during hypoxia (P < 0.01) and also significantly improved recovery on reoxygenation (P < 0.05). We conclude that both intracellular and extracellular antioxidants improve skeletal muscle contractile function in hypoxia and facilitate recovery during reoxygenation in an in vitro system. The strong influence of antioxidants during hypoxic exposure suggests that they can be as effective in protecting cell function in a reducing environment as they have been in oxidizing environments.