Effect of supplementation with iron fortified biscuits on the hemoglobin status of children in rural areas of Shimoga, Karnataka.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of iron fortified biscuits, in high and low dosages, on the hemoglobin levels of anemic school going children aged 6 to 12 y. METHODS: The nutrition intervention was conducted in primary schools located in villages at Shimoga district, Karnataka. School children aged 6 to 12 y who were anemic, with hemoglobin level <11.5 g/dl were considered for the nutrition intervention. The sampling design undertaken was quasi experimental with pre and post stages of outcome. The children enrolled were divided into two groups. One group received high dosage of iron fortified biscuits (30 mg of elemental iron/6 biscuits) and the second group received a relatively lower dosage of iron fortified biscuits (1.8 mg of elemental iron/6 biscuits) for a period of 120 d. The hemoglobin levels were estimated pre and post fortified biscuit supplementation by cyanomethemoglobin method. RESULTS: There was an increase in the mean hemoglobin level of children which was found to be higher in group I (high iron fortified biscuits) (1.06 g/dl) compared to group II (low iron fortified biscuits) (0.41 g/dl), significant at 0.01 level (t = 3.84**). CONCLUSIONS: In the current nutrition intervention, both high and low iron fortified biscuits led to a significant enhancement in the body weight and hemoglobin status of anemic school children in a rural setup. The nutrition intervention clearly highlights biscuits as an ideal fortification vehicle for addressing anemia.

Gastroprotective potentials of the ethanolic extract of Mukia maderaspatana against indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in rats.

This study investigated the protective effects of the ethanolic extract of Mukia maderaspatana against indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in rats. Gastric ulceration was induced by single intraperitoneal injection of indomethacin (30 mg/kg b.wt.). M. maderaspatana extract produced significant reduction in gastric mucosal lesions, malondialdehyde and serum tumour necrosis factor-α associated with a significant increase in gastric juice mucin content and gastric mucosal catalase, nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 levels. The volume and acidity of the gastric juice decreased in pretreated rats. The plant extract was evaluated in the gastric juice of rats, untreated has showed near normal levels in pretreated rats. The M. maderaspatana was able to decrease acidity and increase the mucosal defence in the gastric area, therefore justifying its use as an antiulcerogenic agent. Ranitidine significantly increased pH value and decreased pepsin activity and gastric juice free and total acidity. The anti-ulcer effect was further confirmed histologically.

Effect of Semecaprus anacardium on diabetes-induced alterations in the activities of marker enzymes and antioxidant enzymes in type 2 diabetes induced cardiac vascular damage model in rats.

Semecarpus anacardium is a commonly used drug in the Siddha system of medicine for curing various metabolic disorders. The cardio protective effect of the drug in Type 2 diabetes-induced cardiovascular complications was studied in rats by feeding them with a high fat diet for 2 weeks followed by intra peritoneal injection of streptozotocin at a moderate dosage of 2*35 mg/kg/ b.wt 24 hr apart and leaving them for 8 weeks to develop cardiovascular complications. The effect of the drug was studied by analyzing levels of blood glucose, insulin, HbA1c, marker enzymes, the antioxidative enzymes and the levels of lipid peroxides in Type 2 diabetic rats. Diabetic rats were treated with SA at a dosage of 300 mg/kg/b.wt. for 8 weeks and the results were compared with diabetic rats treated with the combination therapy drugs metformin at a dosage of 100 mg/kg/b.wt and atorvastatin at a dosage of 10 mg/kg/b.wt for 8 weeks. The drug SA significantly decreased the blood glucose levels and also HbA1c levels while improving glucose tolerance at the same time. The levels of marker enzymes and lipid peroxides were significantly increased in diabetic rats when compared with control rats. On the other hand significant decreases in the levels of antioxidative enzymes were observed in diabetic rats. Upon treatment with the drug SA, all of these abnormalities were restored to near normalcy. The present study thereby establishes the protective effect of the drug against diabetes-induced cardiac damage.

A grading study of gliomas using computer aided malignancy classification and histologic morphometry.

Forty three cases of astrocytic tumors and mixed gliomas were studied with the aim of evaluating the reproducibility of the Kernohan grading system vis a vis (a) grading using computer-aided malignancy classifier TESTAST 268 and (b) grading by quantitative morphometric evaluation of the various histological parameters of TESTAST 268. These patients were then followed up for variable periods with a maximum of forty months. High inter and intra-observer variability were observed in the Kernohan grading system. TESTAST 268 was found to be simpler, rapid and more reproducible. However, one drawback observed of this system was that it did not completely eliminate inter-observer variability because there was still some subjectivity in assignment of the categorical values against the histological features. Morphometric evaluation of the semi-quantitative assignment values of the 4 histological variables in the TESTAST 268 classifier using Zeiss Morphomat-30 revealed a statistically significant difference between the clusters of the measured quantitative values. A repeat grading using TESTAST 268 and categorical assignment values of histological features derived from the absolute values obtained by morphometry resulted in complete elimination of inter-observer variability. Thus, this study highlights the importance of objectivisation using TESTAST 268 and histologic morphometry in the grading of gliomas. However, since this is a preliminary study on a small number of cases, no cut off values of these measurements have been proposed.