Biomedical subjects

J Kuruvilla

Publications and source records attributed to J Kuruvilla.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

A comparison of two methods of undertaking directly observed therapy in a rural indian setting.

SETTING: Jharkhand State, rural India. OBJECTIVES: To compare the completion rates of the two tuberculosis control programmes of the Nav Jivan Hospital, Tumbagara, and to show that even in difficult areas, a DOTS programme can be successfully implemented. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of two DOTS programmes centred on a small rural hospital based on an analysis of case outcome. METHODS: Comparative study between two ways of delivering a DOTS programme. RESULTS: At the end of the treatment period, 359 patients in the hospital unsupervised programme and 158 in the directly observed and hospital checked programme were available for analysis. Completion/cure rates were 64% in the former group and 89.2% in the latter, compared with completion/cure rates of 17% before either programme was adopted. Sputum smear positivity rates were 79.3% and 76.5%, respectively, compared with 6% before the programmes. CONCLUSIONS: A hospital supervised and directly observed treatment (DOT) programme using independent DOT observers can exceed WHO targets for cure/ completion rates even in the poorest rural setting.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Characteristics and outcome of patients developing endocarditis following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Endocarditis is an uncommon complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). A retrospective review of 1547 patients who underwent HSCT in Vancouver between January 1986 and December 2001 was performed. In all, 20 cases of endocarditis were identified (1.3% of all patients) with nine patients having received cryopreserved autologous stem cells, six stem cells from a histocompatible sibling and five patients stem cells from an unrelated donor. Five patients had endocarditis diagnosed while alive, a median of 6 months post-HSCT, by transthoracic (four patients) or transesophageal (one patient) echocardiography. The remaining 15 cases of endocarditis were only identified post mortem. The mitral valve was the most frequently involved (10 patients) followed by the aortic valve (six patients); multivalvular disease was noted in five patients. Of the 11 affected allogeneic HSCT patients, 10 had previously developed acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Causative organisms were identified in 11 patients, while nine additional cases were felt to be thrombotic in origin. Of the 20 patients, 19 died with the sole survivor alive 10 years following an aortic valve replacement. Endocarditis is an uncommon complication of HSCT usually involving the cardiac valves on the left side of the heart and is associated with a high mortality rate.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Association of familial leukemia with HLA Cw3: is it real?

A kindred with familial leukemia is described in which three members are affected by leukemia in three consecutive generations. One of these members had Philadelphia positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and other two had precursor B acute lymphoblasticleukemia (ALL)--Philadelphia negative. All three of them shared a common haplotype A2, B55, Cw3. In addition, another member sharing same haplotype developed metastatic breast cancer. Phenomenon of anticipation is demonstrated in the affected family members. Possible causes of genetic susceptibility to leukemia especially the association of Cw3 with familial leukemia are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Aminopeptidase-N from the Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) brush border membrane vesicles as a receptor of Bacillus thuringiensis crylac delta-endotoxin.

Brush border membrane vesicles (BBMVs) were prepared from the 2nd instar larvae of Helicoverpa armigera. Binding of the activated Cry1Ac of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin was shown by immunoblot. A 120-kDa protein was identified as a receptor for the Cry1Ac type delta-endotoxin. The aminopeptidase-N activity of BBMVs was measured as the hydrolysis of L-leucine p-nitroanilide. The specific activity was 35 units/mg protein. The BBMV preparation also showed low level of alkaline phosphatase activity. Zn++ chelating agents 2,2'-dipyridyl and 1,10-phenanthroline inhibited aminopeptidase activity at 10 mM concentration, indicating the presence of zinc-dependent aminopeptidase in the brush border of H. armigera. The aminopeptidase activity was increased with increasing concentration of delta-endotoxin. The purified 120-kDa binding protein was N-terminally sequenced. The first 10-amino-acid sequence showed 60-77% similarity with human cysteine-rich secretory protein-1 precursor, inhibin alpha chain precursor. Salmonella flagellar hook protein and yeast carboxypeptidase S.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1991