Prevalence of Bacterial Vaginosis and Its Association With Preterm Birth in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Chennai: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background The most common preventive cause of premature labour is ascending infections. This study was conducted to evaluate the association between bacterial vaginosis (BV) and preterm labour in antenatal women and determine the significance of using the Amsel criteria to screen for BV. Methods This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted among 100 antenatal mothers in the second trimester attending the antenatal OPD at a tertiary care hospital in Chennai from October 2019 to September 2021 after obtaining clearance from the institutional ethics committee and written informed consent from the study participants. Data were entered in Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA) and analysed in SPSS (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results According to the Amsel criteria, BV was detected in 21 women (21%). Neither maternal age nor parity had an effect on the study group. There was a statistically significant relationship (p < 0.05) between the mode of delivery, preterm labour, and the study group. Of the 21 positive BV cases, 95% were positive for clue cells and only 5% were positive for gram-negative bacteria. Consequently, BV was found to be associated with early labour. There is no association between BMI and BV (p > 0.005). Conclusion In the current study, BV was shown to be associated with preterm labour. Our study underscores the significance of the Amsel criteria as a valuable tool for screening BV in antenatal women.

Biosynthesis, characterization, and evaluation of bioactivities of leaf extract-mediated biocompatible gold nanoparticles from Alternanthera bettzickiana.

The objective of the study was to synthesize gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) using leaf extract of Alternanthera bettzickiana (A. bettzickiana). The biosynthesized Au NPs were characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Zeta potential and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Morphologically, the Au NPs showed spherical shaped structures. Size distribution of Au NPs calculated using Scherrer's formula, showed an average size of 80-120 nm. Au NPs were studied for invitro anti-bacterial and cytotoxic activities. Au NPs exhibited significant anti-microbial activity against Bacillu subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Micrococcus luteus, and Enterobacter aerogenes by agar well diffusion method. The cytotoxic effect of the biogenic synthesized Au NPs against A549 human lung cancer cell lines provided a vigorous evidence of anticancer activity of Au NPs. Further, the toxicity study of the green synthesized Au NPs on Danio rerio (Zebra fish) embryo was evaluated. This study reports that colloidal Au NPs can be synthesized by simple, non-hazardous methods and that bio-synthesized Au NPs have significant therapeutic properties.