Detection of a bibenzyl core scaffold in 28 common mangrove and associate species of the Indian Sundarbans: potential signature molecule for mangrove salinity stress acclimation.

Bibenzyl derivatives comprising two benzene rings are secondary plant metabolites with significant therapeutic value. To date, bibenzyl derivatives in the Plant kingdom have been primarily identified in bryophytes, orchids, and Cannabis sativa. The metabolic cost investment by plant species for the synthesis of these bioactive secondary metabolites is rationalized as a mechanism of plant defense in response to oxidative stress induced by biotic/abiotic factors. Bibenzyl derivatives are synthesized from core phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway offshoots in plant species. Mangrove and mangrove associate species thrive under extreme ecological niches such as a hypersaline intertidal environment through unique adaptive and acclimative characteristics, primarily involving osmotic adjustments followed by oxidative stress abatement. Several primary/secondary bioactive metabolites in mangrove species have been identified as components of salinity stress adaptation/acclimation/mitigation; however, the existence of a bibenzyl scaffold in mangrove species functioning in this context remains unknown. We here report the confirmed detection of a core bibenzyl scaffold from extensive gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection analyses of 28 mangrove and mangrove associate species from the Indian Sundarbans. We speculate that the common presence of this bibenzyl core molecule in 28 mangrove and associate species may be related to its synthesis via branches of the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway induced under high salinity, which functions to detoxify reactive oxygen species as a protection for the maintenance of plant metabolic processes. This finding reveals a new eco-physiological functional role of bibenzyls in unique mangrove ecosystem.

Forecasting mangrove ecosystem degradation utilizing quantifiable eco-physiological resilience -A study from Indian Sundarbans.

Sundarbans mangrove forest, the world's largest continuous mangrove forests expanding across India and Bangladesh, in recent times, is immensely threatened by degradation stress due to natural stressors and anthropogenic disturbances. The degradation across the 19 mangrove forests in Indian Sundarbans was evaluated by eight environmental criteria typical to mangrove ecosystem. In an attempt to find competent predictors for mangrove ecosystem degradation, key eco-physiological resilience trait complex specific for mangroves from 4922 individuals for physiological analyses with gene expression and 603 individuals for leaf tissue distributions from 16 mangroves and 15 associate species was assessed along the degradation gradient. The degradation data was apparently categorized into four and CDFA discriminates 97% of the eco-physiological resilience data into corresponding four groups. Predictive Bayesian regression models and mixed effects models indicate osmolyte accumulation and thickness of water storage tissue as primary predictors of each of the degradation criteria that appraise the degradation status of mangrove ecosystem. RDA analyses well represented response variables of degradation explained by explanatory resilience variables. We hypothesize that with the help of our predictive models the policy makers could trace even the cryptic process of mangrove degradation and save the respective forests in time by proposing appropriate action plans.

Effect of Varying Nitrate Concentrations on Denitrifying Phosphorus Uptake by DPAOs With a Molecular Insight Into Pho Regulon Gene Expression.

Bacterial Pho regulon is a key regulator component in biological phosphorus-uptake. Poly-phosphate accumulating bacteria used in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) system encounter negative regulation of the Pho regulon, resulting in reduced phosphorus-uptake from phosphorus-replete waste effluents. This study demonstrates possible trends of overcoming the PhoU negative regulation, resulting in excessive PO4 3--P uptake at varying concentrations of NO3 --N through denitrifying phosphorus removal process. We investigated the Pho regulon gene expression pattern and kinetic studies of P-removal by denitrifying phosphate accumulating organisms (DPAOs) which are able to remove both PO4 3--P and NO3 --N in single anoxic stage with the utilization of external carbon sources, without the use of stored polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and without any anaerobic-aerobic or anaerobic-anoxic switches. Our study establishes that a minimum addition of 100 ppm NO3 --N leads to the withdrawal of the negative regulation of Pho regulon and results in ∼100% P-removal with concomitant escalated poly-phosphate accumulation by our established DPAO isolates and their artificially made consortium, isolated from sludge sample of PO4 3- -rich parboiled rice mill effluent, in a settling tank within 12 h of treatment. The same results were obtained when a phosphate rich effluent (stillage from distillery) mixed with a nitrate rich effluent (from explosive industry) was treated together in a single phase anoxic batch reactor, eliminating the need for alternating anaerobic/aerobic or anaerobic/anoxic switches for removing both the pollutants simultaneously. The highest poly-phosphate accumulation was observed to be more than 17% of cell dry weight. Our studies unequivocally establish that nitrate induction of Pho regulon is parallely associated with the repression of PhoU gene transcription, which is the negative regulator of Pho regulon. Based on earlier observations where similar nitrate mediated transcriptional repression was cited, we hypothesize the possible involvement of NarL/NarP transcriptional regulator proteins in PhoU repression. At present, we propose this denitrifying phosphorus removal endeavor as an innovative methodology to overcome the negative regulation of Pho regulon for accelerated unhindered phosphorus remediation from phosphate rich wastewater in India and the developing world where the stringency of EBPR and other reactors prevent their use due to financial reasons.

Phosphorus Recycling from an Unexplored Source by Polyphosphate Accumulating Microalgae and Cyanobacteria-A Step to Phosphorus Security in Agriculture.

Phosphorus (P), an essential element required for crop growth has no substitute. The global food security depends on phosphorus availability in soil for crop production. World phosphorus reserves are fast depleting and with an annual increase of 2.3% in phosphorus demand, the current reserves will be exhausted in coming 50-100 years. India and other Western countries are forced to import phosphorus fertilizers at high costs to meet their agricultural demands due to uneven distribution of phosphate rocks on earth. The present study from India, aims to draw attention to an unnoticed source of phosphorus being wasted as parboiled rice mill effluent and subsequent bio-recovery of the valuable element from this unconventional source. The research was conducted in West Bengal, India, a state with the highest number of parboiled rice mills where its effluent carries on an average ~40 mg/L of soluble phosphorus. Technology to recover and recycle this wastewater P in India in a simple, inexpensive mode is yet to be optimized. Our strategy to use microalgae, Chlorella sp. and cyanobacteria, Cyanobacterium sp., Lyngbya sp., and Anabaena sp. to sequester the excess phosphorus from the effluent as polyphosphate inclusions and its subsequent recycling as slow and moderate release phosphorus biofertilizers to aid plant growth, preventing phosphorus loss and pollution, is a contemporary venture to meet the need of the hour. These polyphosphate accumulating microorganisms play a dual role of remediation and recovery of phosphorus, preliminarily validated in laboratory scale.

Detrimental effect of expression of Bt endotoxin Cry1Ac on in vitro regeneration, in vivo growth and development of tobacco and cotton transgenics.

High levels of expression of the cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis cannot be routinely achieved in transgenic plants despite modifications made in the gene to improve its expression. This has been attributed to the instability of the transcript in a few reports. In the present study, based on the genetic transformation of cotton and tobacco, we show that the expression of the Cry1Ac endotoxin has detrimental effects on both the in vitro and in vivo growth and development of transgenic plants. A number of experiments on developing transgenics in cotton with different versions of cry1Ac gene showed that the majority of the plants did not express any Cry1Ac protein. Based on Southern blot analysis, it was also observed that a substantial number of lines did not contain the cry1Ac gene cassette although they contained the marker gene nptII. More significantly, all the lines that showed appreciable levels of expression were found to be phenotypically abnormal. Experiments on transformation of tobacco with different constructs expressing the cry1Ac gene showed that in vitro regeneration was inhibited by the encoded protein. Further, out of a total of 145 independent events generated with the different cry1Ac gene constructs in tobacco, only 21 showed expression of the Cry1Ac protein, confirming observations made in cotton that regenerants that express high levels of the Cry1Ac protein are selected against during regeneration of transformed events. This problem was circumvented by targeting the Cry1Ac protein to the chloroplast, which also significantly improved the expression of the protein.

Comparative study of syndromic and etiological diagnosis of reproductive tract infections/sexually transmitted infections in women in Delhi.

BACKGROUND: The adequacy of the World Health Organization's syndromic approach for the diagnosis and management of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially at primary health centers (PHCs) and at other levels, is still debatable in different settings in India and requires validation. OBJECTIVES: A cross-sectional study was carried out in women attending the peripheral government clinics of Delhi in order to (1) enumerate their self-reported reproductive tract infection (RTI)/sexually transmitted infection (STI) symptoms; (2) assess their clinical status; (3) determine the syndromic diagnosis of RTI/STI in symptomatic women and etiological diagnosis in both symptomatic and asymptomatic women; and (4) compare the level of agreement between self-reporting of morbidity and syndromic and etiological diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted over 26 months in 4090 women attending peripheral government healthcare centers, both rural and urban, in four zones of Delhi. They were recruited into four different study groups: group I, non-pregnant, reporting with symptoms of RTI/STI; group II, with a bad obstetric history or infertility; group III, pregnant women in any trimester attending the antenatal clinic; and group IV, the control group. Gynecological examination, followed by the collection of genital specimens and blood, were performed after informed and written consent was obtained. Every symptomatic patient was managed on the basis of algorithms of the syndromic approach as recommended by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), India. All specimens were transported to the STD Reference Laboratory, Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi and processed by standard methods to diagnose the various STDs. Laboratory reports were sent to the clinicians and appropriate treatment was instituted. Data were analyzed by applying statistical methods. RESULTS: Overall, self-reporting of morbidity was 65.0%. However, the percentage of women with some STD-related syndrome was 71.4%. The rural women were observed to have significantly more STD syndromes than their urban counterparts. The etiological diagnosis could be established in only 32.2% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the wide variation between self-reporting of morbidity and syndromic- and etiology-based diagnosis in women from both rural and urban settings. This has implications for the syndromic approach to STI case management. These observations call for a review of the diagnostic policy for RTIs/STIs by national authorities in order to avoid the overuse of antimicrobials. The study also highlights the need for the introduction and/or strengthening of facilities for simple diagnostic tests for RTIs/STIs, especially at the peripheral healthcare level.

Antimicrobial susceptibility profile of resistance phenotypes of Neisseria gonorrheae in India.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Regular monitoring of antimicrobial resistance of Neisseria gonorrheae needs to be established in the country. The aim of the study was to determine the trend of resistance phenotypes of N. gonorrheae in India, and to assess the susceptibility profile of resistance phenotypes. METHODS: Antimicrobial susceptibilities of N. gonorrheae isolates to penicillin, tetracycline, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, and spectinomycin were determined by in terms of minimum inhibitory concentrations using Etest. World Health Organization reference strains were used as control strains. Phenotypic characterization of N. gonorrheae isolates was carried out on the basis of plasmid and chromosomally mediated resistance to penicillin and tetracycline. RESULTS: Of 382 isolates, 172 (45.0%) belonged to 6 resistance phenotype i.e., penicillinase-producing N. gonorrheae (PPNG) (16.5%), tetracycline resistant N. gonorrheae (TRNG) (8.9%), PPNG-TRNG (4.7%), chromosomally mediated tetracycline resistant N. gonorrheae (11.2%), and chromosomally mediated penicillin resistant N. gonorrheae (3.7%). Chromosomally mediated penicillin and tetracycline resistant N. gonorrheae isolates were not detected. Chromosomally mediated penicillin resistant N. gonorrheae and chromosomally mediated tetracycline resistant N. gonorrheae decreased from 2002 to 2006 whereas TRNG strains increased during the study period. Ciprofloxacin resistant and ceftriaxone less sensitive strains were more frequent among the resistance phenotypes. CONCLUSIONS: The high rates of plasmid and chromosomally mediated resistance to penicillin, tetracycline along with high rates of resistance to ciprofloxacin among all the resistance phenotypes underlines the necessity for continuous surveillance of antimicrobial resistance to help in controlling the spread of gonorrhoea.

Changing trends of antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in India and the emergence of ceftriaxone less susceptible N. gonorrhoeae strains.

OBJECTIVES: To monitor the trend of antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from 2002 to 2006 in New Delhi, India under the Gonococcal Antimicrobial Susceptibility Programme and to document the emergence of any new antimicrobial resistance. METHODS: Antimicrobial susceptibility of 382 N. gonorrhoeae isolates from clinical cases in males and females to penicillin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, spectinomycin and ceftriaxone was determined by disc diffusion technique, using WHO reference strains as controls and WHO interpretative criteria. MICs were determined using Etests. RESULTS: A significant increasing trend of penicillin and ciprofloxacin resistance up to 2003 and 2004, respectively, and subsequent decrease in resistant strains with a concomitant increase in less susceptible strains, was observed. Tetracycline-resistant N. gonorrhoeae increased significantly from 6.7% in 2002 to 22.9% in 2005. Only one isolate was resistant to spectinomycin and nine isolates were less susceptible to ceftriaxone, during this 5 year period. A substantial proportion (23.3%) of strains were multiresistant. CONCLUSIONS: Emergence of ceftriaxone less susceptible N. gonorrhoeae isolates is a cause for concern, although treatment failure was not observed. An active, continuous and comprehensive programme for monitoring and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance needs to be established in many laboratories, and a search for new effective agents needs to be initiated to respond to the emergence of resistant isolates.

CD4/CD8 lymphocyte counts in healthy, HIV-positive individuals & AIDS patients.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: The enumeration of CD4 and CD8 positive cells, surrogate markers for HIV disease progression, is helpful in management and follow up of immunocompromised HIV-positive patients. In assessing the degree of immune deficiency in HIV-positive patients of a particular region, knowledge of reference range of T-cell subset counts of healthy individuals of that particular region is essential. The present cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the reference range of T-cell subsets in healthy north Indians and to compare the values with those in HIV-positives. METHODS: Blood samples from 125 HIV seronegative healthy volunteers comprising group I (88 males, 37 females) and 452 HIV- positive patients, divided into group II of asymptomatic (n=137; 93 males, 44 females) and group III of AIDS patients (n=315; 253 males, 62 females) in the age group of 17-60 yr, were analysed for enumeration of CD4+, CD8+ cells/microl by flow cytometry. RESULTS: In group I, the CD4 and CD8 levels were 687 +/- 219 and 611 +/- 288 cells/microl in males and 740 +/- 255 and 546 +/- 246 cells/microl in females. Overall, a significant depressed level of CD4 (525 +/- 207 cells/microl) and elevated level of CD8 (1174 +/- 484 cells/microl) in group II and (170 +/- 115 and 1051 +/- 586 cells/microl) respectively in group III were observed. Group II patients had highest level of CD8 cells. No asymptomatic women had CD4 count of <200 cells/microl. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Our findings on T-cell subset reference ranges of normal healthy north Indians validate the utility of determination of CD4 cell count as a useful predictor of AIDS in Indian conditions and confirm that a significant per cent of AIDS patients had CD4 cell count below 200/microl.

Changing trends in sexually transmitted infections at a Regional STD Centre in north India.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) a major public health problem in India show various trends in different parts of the country. However, there are limited data on the changing profile of laboratory proven STIs in the same clinic over the years. The present study was thus aimed to determine the changing trends of the profile of STIs and HIV seropositivity in STD clinic attendees over a 15 yr period, and also to detect change, if any, in the antimicrobial resistance pattern of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. METHODS: The STIs were diagnosed clinically and confirmed by standard laboratory techniques. Socio-demographic data were collected through pre-designed proformae. The STI profile and HIV seropositivity were compared between 1990-1993 (A), 1994-1997 (B), 1998-2001 (C) and 2002-2004 (D). Antimicrobial resistance pattern of N. gonorrhoeae was determined by standard techniques and compared between the last three periods. RESULTS: Of the 78,617 STD attendees, 12,709 (16.2%) had STIs. During period A, genital discharges and during B, C and D, genital ulcerative diseases were predominant. Syphilis was the commonest STI. There was significant rise in the cases of syphilis, herpes progenitalis and genital warts and reduction in that of chancroid, lymphogranulomavenereum (LGV), donovanosis, candidiasis, trichomoniasis and bacterial vaginosis cases. The number of cases with primary syphilis diminished significantly (P<0.001), with a concomitant rise in secondary and early latent syphilis. A rising trend was observed in the HIV seropositivity during the different periods. The association of HIV seropositivity was consistently more in patients presenting with genital ulcers specially syphilis, and rose significantly from A (0.6%) to C (8.8%), but became stationary during D. A drastic change in the antimicrobial resistance of N. gonorrhoeae from B to C and C to D and the emergence of less sensitive isolates to ceftriaxone during the later part of the study were observed. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Our study showed a definite changing trend in the profile of STIs in the clinic attendees of a major STD centre during a 15 yr period. However, the significant rise in the cases of viral STIs and syphilis contrasted with reduction in the rest.

Comparison of disc diffusion results with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: objectives: As antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae provides guidance for appropriate treatment, there is a need for simple, reliable and cost-effective method for susceptibility testing. The present study was aimed to compare the results of two methods of susceptibility testing, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values by E test with disc diffusion results by Australian Gonococcal Surveillance Programme (AGSP) method in N. gonorrhoeae isolates. METHODS: Susceptibility testing for ciprofloxacin, penicillin and ceftriaxone using AGSP method was carried out for 301 confirmed consecutive isolates of N. gonorrhoeae. MIC of ciprofloxacin, penicillin and ceftriaxone was determined by E test in 301, 198 and 128 isolates respectively. The results of the two methods were compared by using Kappa statistics. RESULTS: Moderate levels of agreement for ciprofloxacin (kappa=0.44) and penicillin (kappa=0.54) were observed between the two methods. For ceftriaxone, 96.1 and 0.8 per cent isolates were found to be susceptible and less sensitive respectively by both the methods and per cent agreement between the two methods was 96.9 per cent. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Both the methods were easy to perform and gave reproducible results. However, disc diffusion method was cost-effective and more feasible in routine diagnostic laboratories in developing countries like India.

Antimicrobial resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in selected World Health Organization Southeast Asia Region countries: an overview.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A Gonococcal Antimicrobial Susceptibility Program (GASP) under the World Health Organization South East Asia Region (WHO SEAR) is continuing in India and neighboring countries and is being coordinated by the WHO Regional Reference Laboratory (RRL), Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi. GOAL: The present communication describes the current status and trends of antimicrobial resistance patterns of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, isolated in different focal-point laboratories under GASP, as presented in WHO SEAR intercountry consultative meeting conducted in December 2001. STUDY: Seven laboratories from India and 1 each from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal presented their data for the year 2000/2001. In addition, RRL Delhi, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka presented data for the years 1995 to 2001, 1997 to 2001, and 1996 to 2000, respectively. Either National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards or calibrated dichotomous sensitivity technique was used in the different laboratories for determining antimicrobial susceptibility. RESULTS: It was observed that in the Indian laboratories, penicillin resistance varied from 20% to 79%, tetracycline resistance from 0% to 45.6%, and ciprofloxacin from 10.6% to 100%. Chromosomal, as well as plasmid-mediated resistance, was observed. The strains were reported to be less sensitive to ceftriaxone in 5 out of 7 laboratories, while none reported spectinomycin resistance. The reasons for wide variation in the results could be due to geographical strain difference in different parts of this vast country. At Sri Lanka, gonococci showed resistance towards penicillin (96.8%) and ciprofloxacin (8.2%). Bangladesh reported N. gonorrhoeae with ciprofloxacin (76%), penicillin (33%), and tetracycline (50%) resistance and decreased susceptibility to ceftriaxone (1.5%). Both the laboratories did not report any spectinomycin resistance. The resistance trends in these 2 centers and the RRL, New Delhi, showed different patterns. CONCLUSION: The report indicates the necessity for continuous surveillance of antimicrobial resistance pattern in this region of WHO for establishing antimicrobial policy guidelines for management of this common but important sexually transmitted infection (STI) pathogen, known to facilitate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. It also highlights the importance of ensuring quality assurance in the techniques in order to generate uniform data.

Preliminary studies on activity of Ocimum sanctum, Drynaria quercifolia, and Annona squamosa against Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

BACKGROUND: Despite the progressive increase of antimicrobial resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae worldwide, there are limited reports of alternative remedies from plants. GOAL: The aim of the current study was to screen 3 plants, Ocimum sanctum, Drynaria quercifolia, and Annona squamosa, for activity against Neisseria gonorrhoeae. STUDY: By disc diffusion method, extracts of these 3 plants were screened for activity against Neisseria gonorrhoeae; their antimicrobial activity was calculated as percentage inhibition and compared with penicillin and ciprofloxacin. RESULTS: The extracts of all 3 plants caused inhibition of Neisseria gonorrhoeae clinical isolates and World Health Organization (WHO) strains, more so than the multidrug resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae. CONCLUSION: Neisseria gonorrhoeae clinical isolates and WHO strains were sensitive to extracts of Ocimum sanctum, Drynaria quercifolia, and Annona squamosa. This motivates us to isolate the active component/second from the 3 plants.

Changing pattern of HIV infection in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India.

HIV seroprevalence was carried out in 42,738 individuals attending the STD Centre of a New Delhi hospital from September 1990 to December 2001. The different epidemiological parameters of the patients in Group 1 (asymptomatic HIV-seropositive individuals) and Group 2 (AIDS cases), were compared in four spans A, B, C, D. Significant rise in seroprevalence from 0.4% to 4.4% was observed with time. The patients in Group 1 were mainly 15-19 years followed by 30-44 years age group. Overall, the Male:Female ratio in Groups 1 and 2 were 3:1 and 6:1, respectively. The transmission was predominantly heterosexual in both the groups. The patients with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) emerged as the most prominent category in Group 1, showing a steady rising trend till 1999 and stabilizing thereafter. Ulcerative STIs, mainly syphilis, showed maximum association. In most of the cases, the infection was acquired by promiscuous males from female commercial sex workers or casual acquaintances and further transmitted to their spouses. Tuberculosis was the most common opportunistic infection. However, patients presented with fever, loss of weight and diarrhoea in increasing number during time D. The present study reiterates the importance of early management of STI patients and counselling of high risk groups, early partner notification and routine antenatal HIV check-up in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS infection in third world countries like India.

Mutant acetolactate synthase gene is an efficient in vitro selectable marker for the genetic transformation of Brassica juncea (oilseed mustard).

We report in this study, the successful deployment of a double mutant acetolactate synthase gene (ALSdm, containing Pro 197 to Ser and Ser 653 to Asn substitutions) as an efficient in vitro selection marker for the development of transgenic plants in Brassica juncea (oilseed mustard). The ALS enzyme is inhibited by two categories of herbicides, sulfonylureas (e.g. chlorsulfuron) and imidazolinones (e.g. imazethapyr), while the mutant forms are resistant to the same. Three different selection agents (kanamycin, chlorsulfuron and imazethapyr) were tested for in vitro selection efficiency in two B. juncea cultivars, RLM198 and Varuna. For both the cultivars, higher transformation frequencies were obtained using chlorsulfuron (3.8 +/- 0.6% and 4.6 +/- 0.9% for RLM198 and Varuna, respectively) and imazethapyr (10.2 +/- 0.7% for RLM198 and 7.8 +/- 1.2% for Varuna) as compared to that obtained on kanamycin (3.1 +/- 0.2% and 2.8 +/- 0.5% for RLM198 and Varuna, respectively). Additionally, transformation frequencies were higher on imazethapyr than on chlorsulfuron for both the cultivars indicating that imidazolinones are better selective agents than sulfonylureas for the selection of mustard transgenics.

Evaluation of beta2 microglobulin level as a marker to determine HIV/AIDS progression.

Levels of beta2 microglobulin (beta2M) were evaluated to monitor the progression of HIV disease, as an alternate economical marker to RNA viral load and CD4 cell count in resource poor situations. A cross sectional study of 32 HIV sero-negative controls (Group I), 43 asymptomatic HIV sero-positives (Group II-A), 44 HIV sero-positives with clinical and/or laboratory proven STDs (Group II-B) and 30 with AIDS indicator conditions (Group III) was carried out. beta2M levels were determined using an enzyme immuno assay. Mean +3 SD (3.04mg/l) of concentration of beta2M in sero-negative controls was chosen as threshold of abnormality. A significant rise (p<0.001) in mean beta2M levels (mg/l) from 1.87 +/- 0.39 (Group I) to 2.59 +/- 1.09 (Group IIA), 3.01 +/- 1.27 (Group IIB) to 5.16 +/- 2.48 (Group III) was observed. Higher values of beta2M in the symptomatic phase than those in the asymptomatic phase indicated that elevated levels of beta2M parallel progression of HIV disease and suggest its use as an alternate marker for determining HIV progression.

Alarming increase in ciprofloxacin- and penicillin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates in New Delhi, India.

BACKGROUND: Resistance of ciprofloxacin has been reported in several regions of the world, including India. In India, ciprofloxacin is still being used as single-dose treatment for gonorrhea. GOAL: The aim of the study was to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from patients with acute gonococcal urethritis in New Delhi. STUDY DESIGN: By means of disc diffusion, we determined the susceptibility profiles of N gonorrhoeae isolates, determined the MICs of ciprofloxacin, penicillin, and ceftriaxone, and compared our data with previous findings. RESULTS: On the basis of MIC values, 35.3% and 52.9% of strains were found to be resistant and less sensitive, respectively, to penicillin; 67.3% and 28.2% strains were observed to be resistant and less sensitive, respectively, to ciprofloxacin. Only one isolate (5.9%) was found to be less sensitive to ceftriaxone. CONCLUSION: The significant increase in ciprofloxacin resistance in the current study indicates that resistance has developed under selective antibiotic pressure.