RESUMO
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is an important fruit crop in Bangladesh. During surveys conducted in Dhaka and Mymensingh regions from April to June 2003, >50% of papaya plants were observed to have leaf mottling, mosaic and mild distortion, and water-soaked streaks on petioles and stem, which are typical symptoms of Papaya ring spot virus (PRSV) infection. Electron-microscopic examination of negatively stained leaf-dip preparations from 10 symptomatic samples revealed the association of flexuous virus particles that were decorated with polyclonal antibodies raised to an isolate from India (PRSV-D). The identity of PRSV associated with the papaya disease in Bangladesh was further confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis (2). By using PRSV specific primers (2), the 3'-terminal region comprising a part of the nuclear inclusion b gene, the coat protein (CP) gene, and the untranslated region were amplified and sequenced (GenBank Accession No. AY423557). The CP gene consisted of 286 amino acids and the conserved regions common to the genus Potyvirus, such as WCIEN and QMKAA, were present. Like all known PRSV sequences (1), a stretch of glutamic acid and lysine repeats (EK region) after the aphid transmission motif (DAG) also was present. Comparative CP amino acid sequence analyses revealed that the virus infecting papaya in Bangladesh, designated as PRSV-Bd, shared 89 to 92% identity with PRSV isolates from India and 88 to 93% identity with isolates from other parts of the world. To our knowledge, this is the first report of occurrence of PRSV infecting papaya in Bangladesh. References: (1) M. F. Bateson et al. J. Gen. Virol. 83:2575, 2002. (2) R. K. Jain et al. Ann Appl. Biol. 132:413, 1998.
RESUMO
Allergic rhinitis is the most frequently occurring immunological disorder. It affects men, women and children and represents significant cost in terms of suffering and loss of productivity. Allergy is termed as an excessive reaction to an environmental allergen. Pollen, mold, dust, mite and animal allergens that contact the nasal or eye lining cause sneezing, nasal congestion and itchy, watery, swollen, red eyes. Although a broad spectrum of therapeutic options is available, the treatment of allergic rhinitis appears to be far from satisfactory. A novel polyherbal formulation (PF; Aller-7/NR-A2) comprising seven medicinal herbal extracts was assessed in a multicenter clinical trial involving 545 patients (321 males and 224 females) aged 18-59 years for 12 weeks to evaluate its clinical efficacy in patients suffering from allergic rhinitis. A total of 171 patients participated in double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled studies in three centers, while 374 patients were included in the open-label studies in 11 centers. The three major symptoms (sneezing, rhinorrhea and nasal congestion) of allergic rhinitis were significantly reduced. Significant improvement was also observed in absolute eosinophil count, mucociliary clearance time, peak expiratory flow rate and peak nasal flow rate. No serious adverse events that warranted cessation of treatment were observed. Minor adverse effects were noted in both the treatment and placebo groups. Thus, this study demonstrates that Aller-7/NR-A2 is well tolerated and efficacious in patients with allergic rhinitis.