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Biomedical subjects

D Gupta

Publications and source records attributed to D Gupta.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Fast breathing in the diagnosis of pneumonia--a reassessment.

In this hospital-based prospective study, a total of 222 children presenting with cough and/or breathlessness were screened for presence of lower respiratory infection. All clinically-detected cases of LRI and every fifth case of URI were investigated. Pneumonia was defined as presence of abnormal shadows on chest roentgenograms, against which the clinical symptoms and signs were assessed for their utility in the diagnosis of pneumonia. Fast breathing was found to be the most useful sign predicting pneumonia in all age groups. Cut-off points at 50 breaths/min for infants including neonates, 40 breaths/min for children aged 12-35 months, and 30 breaths/min for children aged 36-60 months indicated presence of pneumonia. Crepitations on auscultation of chest was found to have good correlation with presence of radiological pneumonia. Other signs like chest indrawing and cyanosis were found to be highly specific signs in detecting pneumonia, but had low sensitivity.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1996

Bronchial responsiveness of non-smoking women exposed to environmental tobacco smoke or biomass fuel combustion.

We studied bronchial responsiveness (BR) in three groups of housewives with or without history of exposure to tobacco smoke or combustion of biomass fuels. Methacholine bronchoprovocation test was used to study BR. The group I subjects (60), who served as controls, were nonsmokers and had no chronic exposure to passive smoking or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or biomass fuels. Three of these women showed a 20 per cent FEV1 fall with a cumulative methacholine dose of 72.5 mg or less. Of 60 women in group II (ETS-exposure) and 52 in group III (biomass exposure), 26 (43.3%) and 10 (19.2%) respectively showed bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR). The odds ratios for BHR in groups II and III were 14.53 and 4.52 respectively. The number of hyper-responders was significantly more and the mean PD20 less in the exposed than the non-exposed groups. The occurrence of BHR in the ETS exposed group was more (P < 0.05) than the biomass combustion group. There were more hyper-responders (both groups II and III) amongst those who had an exposure index (EI) of 50 or more compared to those with EI of less than 50. We conclude that chronic cumulative exposure to both ETS and biomass combustion produces significant BHR. Further, BHR developed more often on ETS exposure, and when the exposure was present for a longer period.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Splenic lymphocytes with circulating villous lymphocytes--a case report.

A 25 years old male presented with hepatomegaly splenomegaly and fever. He was diagnosed as splenic lymphoma with circulating villous lymphocytes (SLVL) on morphology, cytochemistry and immunocytochemistry performed on peripheral blood and bone marrow smears. Case is being presented because of rarity and unusual presentation at young age.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Peptidoglycan induces transcription and secretion of TNF-alpha and activation of lyn, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and rsk signal transduction proteins in mouse macrophages.

In soluble peptidoglycan (PGN) from staphylococcal cell walls as well as soluble PGN (sPGN) secreted by staphylococci in the presence of beta-lactam antibiotics induced TNF-alpha mRNA and secretion of bioactive TNF-alpha in the murine RAW264.7 macrophage cell line, PGN and sPGN also induced rapid and dose-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of several cellular proteins, including lyn and mitogen-activated protein kinases (extracellular signal-regulated kinases; but not hck, fgr, or vav) and increased the activities of mitogen-activated protein and rsk kinases. These PGN- and sPGN-induced effects were qualitatively similar to the effects induced by ReLPS, but higher concentrations of PGN and sPGN than ReLPS were required. In contrast to the ReLPS-induced effects, the PGN- and sPGN-induced effects were not inhibited by polymyxin B. All PGN-, sPGN-, and ReLPS-induced effects were serum independent, since they were observed both in RAW264.7 cells grown and stimulated in the presence of serum and in the cells adapted to growth and stimulated in a serum- and albumin-free medium. These results indicate that lyn, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and rsk signal transduction molecules may be involved in macrophage activation by PGN and further support the idea that PGN and LPS may activate the cells through similar mechanisms.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

X-ray crystal structure of the soybean agglutinin cross-linked with a biantennary analog of the blood group I carbohydrate antigen.

Soybean agglutinin (SBA) (Glycine max), which is a tetrameric GalNAc/Gal-specific lectin, has recently been reported to form unique, highly organized cross-linked complexes with a series of naturally occurring and synthetic multiantennary carbohydrates with terminal GalNAc or Gal residues [Gupta, D., Bhattacharyya, L., Fant, J., Macaluso, F., Sabesan, S., & Brewer, C. F. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 7495-7504]. In order to elucidate the nature of these complexes, the X-ray crystallographic structure of SBA cross-linked with a biantennary analog of the blood group I carbohydrate antigen is reported. The structure reveals that lattice formation is promoted uniquely by the bridging action of the bivalent pentasaccharide (beta-LacNAc)2Gal-beta-R, where R is -O(CH2)5COOCH3 and the beta-LacNAc moieties are linked to the 2 and 6 positions of the core Gal. The structure of SBA complexed with the synthetic biantennary pentasaccharide has thus been determined by molecular replacement techniques and refined at 2.6 A resolution to an R value of 20.1%. The crystals are hexagonal with a P6(4)22 space group, which differs significantly from that of crystals of the free protein. In the structure, each monomeric asymmetric unit contains a Man9 oligomannose-type chain at Asn 75, with only the first two GlcNAc residues visible. The overall tertiary structure of the SBA subunit is similar to that of other legume lectins as well as certain animal lectins. However, the dimer interface in the SBA tetramer is unusual in that only one complete peptide chain is sterically permitted, thus requiring juxtapositioning of one C-terminal fragmented subunit together with an intact subunit. Association between SBA tetramers involves binding of the terminal Gal residues of the pentasaccharide at identical sites in each monomer, with the sugar cross-linking to a symmetry-related neighbor molecule. The cross-linking pentasaccharide is in a conformation that possesses a pseudo-2-fold axis of symmetry which lies on a crystallographic 2-fold axis of symmetry of the lattice. Hence, the symmetry properties of the bivalent oligosaccharide as well as the lectin are structural determinants of the lattice. The results are discussed in terms of multidimensional carbohydrate-lectin cross-linked complexes, as well as the signal transduction properties of multivalent lectins.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1995

Cardiac surgery and cold-reactive proteins.

Cold agglutinins are commonly found in sera of healthy persons. They rarely become clinically apparent due to their activity at low temperatures. In these patients, cardiovascular operations requiring hypothermia can result in complications such as hemolysis, renal failure, and myocardial damage and can cause unexpected morbidity and mortality. The literature on cold-reactive proteins is reviewed, and methods of diagnosis and management related to cardiac surgery are suggested. Ideally all patients should be routinely tested preoperatively for the antibodies, and appropriate changes in cardiopulmonary bypass and myocardial management plans should be made in positive patients. Preoperative plasmapheresis may be a useful adjunct, especially in patients requiring operation under profound hypothermia and circulatory arrest. Currently, warm heart surgery appears to be the most expedient method. Unexpected detection of agglutination during operation or hemolysis after operation requires a specific treatment plan.

Agglutinins↗
PubMed1995

Spinal cord dynorphin precursor intermediates decline during late gestation.

This laboratory has previously reported that the maternal opioid analgesia associated with pregnancy and parturition is mediated, at least in part, by a maternal spinal cord dynorphin/kappa opioid system. This analgesia is accompanied by an increase in dynorphin peptides (1-17 and 1-8) in the lumbar spinal cord. Levels of trypsin-generated arginine6-leucine-enkephalin (Leu-Enk-Arg)-immunoreactive determinants were also determined and used to reflect the content of dynorphin precursor intermediates. In spinal tissue, the amount of dynorphin A (1-17) contained in the form of precursor is, at a minimum, 10-fold higher than the content of mature dynorphin A (1-17) or dynorphin (1-8). During gestational day 22, the content of dynorphin precursor is reduced significantly (approximately 50%). The decline in the magnitude of dynorphin precursor intermediates in the spinal cord of pregnant rats vastly exceeds the magnitude of increase in the content of dynorphin peptides (1-17 and 1-8). This difference can best be explained by postulating a corresponding increase in the rate of release of spinal cord dynorphin (1-17). It is suggested that enhanced processing of dynorphin precursor intermediates represents the initial biochemical level of adaptation of spinal dynorphin neurons to increased demands of pregnancy.

Analgesia↗
PubMed1995

Anaesthetic management of acute puerperal uterine inversion.

We identified 18 cases of acute puerperal uterine inversion after vaginal delivery out of 65,581 deliveries in two university-affiliated hospitals (an incidence of 1:3643). In all cases manual repositioning of the uterus without tocolysis was attempted. In four cases this was successful. Of the 14 patients requiring tocolysis, a single dose of terbutaline 0.25 mg i.v. was tried in eight and was successful in five cases (success rate of 63%), while in three patients general anaesthesia was required. In six other patients, general anaesthesia was chosen as the initial management. There was no associated maternal mortality or morbidity with the exception of one case of acute postpartum endometritis. We suggest that when tocolysis is required, terbutaline should be used first because of its rapid onset of action, short duration, simplicity, availability in the labour suite and familiarity to the obstetrician, and general anaesthesia, with its inherent dangers, if possible, should be avoided.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1995

Analysis of donor-deferral pattern in a voluntary blood donor population.

A retrospective analysis of records of the deferred donors from 1 October 1992 to 31 December 1993 was performed. Of 14,269 prospective blood donors (13,030 males and 1,239 females), 2,431 (16.4%) donors were disqualified for various reasons: 8.1% of the donors were deferred for non-pathological causes while 91.9% were deferred for medical reasons. The most common cause for non-pathological deferral was volunteers attending below the minimum acceptable age (5.2%). Abnormal findings on physical examination accounted for 57.2% of the deferrals in which low body weight was the most common finding (32.3%) followed by low Hb (18.6%). A past history of jaundice was the leading cause for deferral on medical interview. Numerous prospective donors are currently being deferred based on empirically derived criteria. By developing strategies to identify and rationalize donor selection criteria, the blood transfusion services should be able to decrease unnecessary deferrals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Magnetic resonance appearance of tuberculosis of the knee joint with ruptured Baker's cyst.

After the spine, the knee joint is the most commonly affected joint in skeletal tuberculosis. Baker's cyst is a rather rare complication of knee joint tuberculosis. The plain radiographic appearance of the tuberculous knee joint has been amply described. We present the magnetic resonance appearance of a tuberculous knee joint associated with a ruptured popliteal cyst.

Biopsy, Needle↗
PubMed1995

Melatonin affects proopiomelanocortin gene expression in the immune organs of the rat.

The induction of opioid peptides derived from cells of the immune system is postulated to be the main mechanism involved in the immunomodulatory role of melatonin. In this study, it has been demonstrated for the first time that melatonin can act on the level of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene expression. The effect of the pineal hormone, administered in late-afternoon subcutaneous injections, was studied in the immune organs of adult male Wistar rats by means of a highly sensitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction method (RT-PCR), followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and densitometric analysis of the bands. It was demonstrated that melatonin stimulates the expression of the 3rd exon of the POMC gene in the lymph nodes and in bone marrow. No significant effects of the pineal hormone were observed in the spleen and thymus. The study establishes that the formation of short POMC transcripts in the bone marrow and lymph nodes may be upregulated by melatonin. Moreover, the pineal hormone exerts its effect without antigenic stimulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Effect of mild malnutrition on disaccharidase activity and glucose uptake in intestinal brush border vesicles of growing monkeys.

BACKGROUND: The effect of severe malnutrition has been reported by some workers, but there is a paucity of information on milder forms even though 85% of pre-school children show evidence of mild to moderate malnutrition in India. METHODS: Mild to moderate protein energy malnutrition was induced in 12 monkeys, and 12 were kept as controls. After a 30-40% reduction in body weight as compared with their controls, the animals were killed, and brush border membrane vesicles were prepared from three small parts of the small intestine. Purified vesicles were used for the assay of lactase, sucrase, maltase and glucose uptake in vitro. RESULTS: The activity of lactase, sucrase, and maltase, and uptake of (U-14C)-D-glucose was decreased in all three parts of small intestine, and the lactose tolerance test result was also abnormal in the protein energy-malnourished group. On nutritional rehabilitation, the disaccharidase activities recovered completely. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that even mild to moderate malnutrition decreases the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates throughout the small intestine, and it should not be ignored during the developing stage.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Assessment of optimal dose of lactose for lactose hydrogen breath test in Indian adults.

To evaluate the possibility of using a 12.5 g or 25 g oral dose of lactose for hydrogen breath test for diagnosis of lactose intolerance instead of the usual 50 g dose. 35 patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia and an abnormal 50 g lactose breath hydrogen of more than 20 ppm over the base line were retested using 12.5 g and 25 g lactose. 32 (91.4%) and 15 (42.8%) of these 35 patients had an abnormal hydrogen breath test using 25 g (p = ns compared to 50 g dose) and 12.5 g (p < 0.001) lactose doses respectively. This study reveals that it may be possible to use a 25 g lactose dose instead of a 50 g dose for the lactose hydrogen breath test.

Breath Tests↗