Application of the Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytology: A Prospective Study.

Background & Objective: The Milan system of classification of the salivary gland lesions came up with an aim to establish a universal reporting protocol. The aim of this study was to classify the fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) cases of salivary gland according to the Milan system. Methods: All the cases presenting with salivary gland lesion for FNAC were considered. The clinical data was recorded. Cytology findings were analyzed according to the Milan System. Histopathological correlation was made wherever available. Results: A total of 100 cases of salivary gland lesions were collected and categorized according to the Milan system. They were correlated with histopathology in 45 cases. The patients' age varied from 2-85 years. Parotid gland was the most commonly affected. Category 1 (non-diagnostic) comprised of three cases. Category 2 (non-neoplastic) had 40 cases. In category 4a (benign) there were 43 cases, and the most common lesion was pleomorphic adenoma. Category 5 (suspicious of malignancy) comprised of 3 cases. Category 6 (malignant) comprised of 11 cases and the most common lesion was mucoepidermoid carcinoma. In category 2, the cytological findings of 5 cases were concordant with histopathology while, 2 were discordant. In category 4a (benign), 20 cases were concordant, and 3 cases were discordant (2 cases were mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 1 was adenoid cystic carcinoma on histology). The risks of malignancy in NN, AUS, benign, SOM, and malignant were 33.3, 2.5, 0, 7, 66.6, and 100%, respectively. Conclusion: Milan system of reporting salivary gland cytopathology may have great potential of escalating clinical communication and may guide appropriate treatment.

PANDEMIC--Nature's wrath and warning.

This poem points out the misdeeds of human in their journey to overpower the nature and Mother Earth through science and technology and how the greed has led to the nature growing wild and deadly against human race by this COVID-19 pandemic.

Curb the corona threat.

The poem points toward the precautions to be followed, the COVID-appropriate behavior to fight the deadly corona pandemic.

Natural Bridged Bicyclic Peptide Macrobiomolecules from Celosia argentea and Amanita phalloides.

Bridged peptide macrobicycles (BPMs) from natural resources belong to types of compounds that are not investigated fully in terms of their formation, pharmacological potential, and stereo- chemical properties. This division of biologically active congeners with multiple circular rings has merits over other varieties of peptide molecules. BPMs form one of the most hopeful grounds for the establishment of drugs because of their close resemblance and biocompatibility with proteins, and these bio-actives are debated as feasible, realistic tools in diverse biomedical applications. Despite huge potential, poor metabolic stability and cell permeability limit the therapeutic success of macrocyclic peptides. In this review, we have comprehensively explored major bicyclic peptides sourced from plants and mushrooms, including ßs-leucyl-tryptophano-histidine bridged and tryptophanocysteine bridged peptide macrobicycles. The unique structural features, structure-activity relationship, synthetic routes, bioproperties, and therapeutic potential of the natural BPMs are also discussed.

Natural cyclic polypeptides as vital phytochemical constituents from seeds of selected medicinal plants.

Cyclopolypeptides are among the most predominant biomolecules in nature, especially those derived from plant seeds. This category of compounds has gained extraordinary attention due to remarkable variety of structures and valuable biofunctions. These congeners display enormous variation in terms of both structure and function and are the most significant biomolecules due to their widespread bioproperties. The estrogenic activity, immunosuppressive activity, cytotoxicity, vasorelaxant activity, and other properties possessed by cyclic peptides from seeds of plants make these congeners attractive leads for the drug discovery process. The current study covers the important structural features, structure-activity relationship, synthesis methods, and bioproperties of plant seeds-originated bioactive peptides from Vaccaria segetalis, Linum usitatissimum, and Goniothalamus leiocarpus, which may prove vital for the development of novel therapeutics based on a peptide skeleton.

Natural Bioactive Thiazole-Based Peptides from Marine Resources: Structural and Pharmacological Aspects.

Peptides are distinctive biomacromolecules that demonstrate potential cytotoxicity and diversified bioactivities against a variety of microorganisms including bacteria, mycobacteria, and fungi via their unique mechanisms of action. Among broad-ranging pharmacologically active peptides, natural marine-originated thiazole-based oligopeptides possess peculiar structural features along with a wide spectrum of exceptional and potent bioproperties. Because of their complex nature and size divergence, thiazole-based peptides (TBPs) bestow a pivotal chemical platform in drug discovery processes to generate competent scaffolds for regulating allosteric binding sites and peptide-peptide interactions. The present study dissertates on the natural reservoirs and exclusive structural components of marine-originated TBPs, with a special focus on their most pertinent pharmacological profiles, which may impart vital resources for the development of novel peptide-based therapeutic agents.

A rare case of large jejunal diverticulum presenting as intestinal obstruction due to small bowel volvulus.

Jejunal diverticula are quite rare. Furthermore, small bowel diverticular disease resulting in volvulus can lead to complications necessitating surgical intervention. In this manuscript, we report a case of large sacculated jejunal diverticulum causing small bowel volvulus in a 40-year male. The jejunal mesentery at the base of the diverticulum was adhered to the terminal ileal mesentery forming a narrow base and complete small bowel going into volvulus by rotating around the narrow base. This case highlights a large jejunal diverticulum causing small bowel volvulus as an uncommon mechanism of complete small bowel volvulus. Although a rare entity, familiarity with jejunal diverticular disease, its complications and its management should be part of every surgeon's base of knowledge when considering abdominal pathology.

Unusual presentation of intussusception of the small bowel with peutz jeghers syndrome: report of a case.

The Peutz Jeghers syndrome (PJS) is an autosomal dominant disorder which is characterised by hamartomatous polyposes of the gastrointestinal tract, melanin pigmentation of the skin and mucous membranes, and an increased risk for cancer. We are reporting a case of a 15-year-old male with Peutz Jeghers syndrome, who presented to us with features of chronic intestinal obstruction and anaemia. Initially, patient was managed conservatively, but later on, an elective exploratory laparotomy was done for definitive management of intussusception. Laparotomy revealed a jejuno-jejunal intussusception with spontaneous recanalisation of gut which contained a long segment of gangrenous small bowel in the lumen. Resection and anastomosis of the jejunal segment was done. To the best of our knowledge, this might be the first case report on spontaneous recanalisation of small intestine.

Erosion of small intestine with necrotising fasciitis of over lying abdominal wall after expanded poly-tetrafluoroethylene mesh implantation: A rare complication after laparoscopic incisional hernia repair.

Complications such as bowel erosions, enterocutaneous fistulae are rare with the use of expandedpoly-tetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) mesh in laparoscopic incisional hernia repair (LIHR). This unusual case patient presented to us with necrotising fasciitis of overlying anterior abdominal wall with peritonitis withsepticaemia and underwent aLIHR6 weeks before, which has not been reported till yet. We report a case of LIHR, presented to us with necrotising fasciitis of overlying anterior abdominal wall, peritonitis and septicaemia which was managed by small bowel segmental resection and exteriorisation of the ends, debridement of overlying anterior abdominal wall and maximum resection of implanted mesh. This case is unusual secondary to long experience with ePTFE mesh and the lack of published cases similar to this one. A brief review of relevant literature has been included in the article. We recommend pre-peritoneal placement of dual mesh fixed preferably by trans-abdominal polypropylene suture in LIHR.

Pharmacological Action of Mentha piperita on Lipid Profile in Fructose-Fed Rats.

Cardiovascular diseases with an incidence of approximately 50% are the main causes of death in most advanced countries and an increasing trend in the developing world as well. The World Health Organization estimates that 12 million people per year worldwide die from cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular diseases are becoming an increasing problem worldwide and hypercholesterolemia has been correlated for coronary heart diseases. Nearly all lipoproteins are involved in this process including cholesterol carried by very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), remnant lipoproteins and low density lipoproteins (LDL). Currently, available hypolipidemic drugs have been associated with the number of side effects. Herbal treatment for hyperlipidemia poses no side effects and is relatively cheap and locally available. In view of this, the present study was carried out to investigate the effect of Menthe piperita on serum lipid levels of albino rats. Mentha piperita aqueous extract (100 mg/Kg, 250 mg/Kg p.o. daily) was fed for 3 weeks on fructose-fed rats and the levels of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, very low density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, and atherogenic index was measured. Twenty-four male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups (6 per group). The results of present study indicate that Mentha piperita had significant beneficial effects against fructose-induced hyperlipidemia and showed good antioxidant activity. The aqueous extract of the plant produced a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in elevated levels of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, very low density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein and atherogenic index and also increased the high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and HDL-ratio without affecting serum insulin levels in fructose-fed rats.

Studies on alpha-amylase induced degradation of binary polymeric blends of crosslinked starch and pectin.

A blend matrix of crosslinked starch and pectin was prepared and characterized by infra-red (IR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The prepared blends were investigated kinetically for water sorption studies and alpha-amylase induced degradation adopting a gravimetric procedure. Based on the experimental findings, a plausible mechanism including both diffusion and surface enhanced degradation was suggested and degradation profiles were interpreted. The influence of various factors such as chemical architecture of the blend, pH and temperature of alpha-amylase solution were examined for the swelling and degradation kinetics of crosslinked starch-pectin blends. The effect of concentration of enzyme solution was also studied on the degradation profile of the blends. A correlation was established between the extent of degradation and water imbibing capacity of the degrading blends.