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Biomedical subjects

M Verma

Publications and source records attributed to M Verma.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Measurement of neonatal skinfold thickness--is it of any clinical relevance?

The skinfold thickness (SFT) was measured in 750 Punjabi newborns at triceps and subscapular sites using a Harpenden's Caliper. It was correlated with various maternal and neonatal factors. SFT increased with increasing gestation but showed a decline after 40 weeks. There was a positive correlation of SFT with birth weight and length of the baby in both sexes. The correlation co-efficient for all these parameters was 0.9. The female babies had a higher SFT at all weight and length groups. Increasing maternal age, parity, weight and height all influenced the neonatal SFT positively. Mothers with higher SFT produced babies with more skinfold thickness. Similar relationship was observed between birth weight and these maternal factors. While severe pre-eclampsia and eclampsia led to a significant fall in SFT, hypertension alone did not affect it. A higher than normal SFT was seen among infants of diabetic mothers. It was concluded that the SFT does not give any additional information than that provided by the commonly measured parameters like birth weight and length.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Hydatid disease.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Child↗
PubMed1990

Expression of DNA sequences containing neuron specific enolase gene in Escherichia coli.

There is evidence that the gene for gamma-gamma enolase (neuron specific enolase, NSE) is regulated during cell differentiation and development, conserved in a variety of organisms and contains mRNA destabilizing sequences. In order to investigate further the mechanisms of these processes and to obtain large quantity of this protein, the NSE gene was isolated from neuroblastoma cells and cloned in E. coli using standard molecular biology techniques. The NSE gene expression was studied and the expressed protein (recombinant NSE) was characterized extensively. The recombinant NSE behaves like parental NSE in antisera specificity, resistance for chaotropic agents like urea, thermal stability at higher temperatures etc. The physical parameters like secondary structure, hydrophilicity, antigenic index and flexibility of the expressed protein were studied. The results of the present investigation collectively form the basis for initial investigations of how the expression of NSE gene is regulated. This is the first report where the recombinant NSE gene has been characterized so extensively.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1990

Primary structure of the non-transcribed spacer region and flanking sequences of the ribosomal DNA of Neurospora crassa and comparison with other organisms.

The non-transcribed spacer (NTS) region of the rDNA of Neurospora crassa contains the transcription regulatory sequences. We isolated a 3.4 kb EcoRI fragment from wild type N.crassa rDNA and cloned in the plasmid pBR325 at the EcoRI site. The insert contains the entire NTS region along with the flanking sequences. Nucleotide sequencing of 3592 nt shows many interesting features like: the NTS region is rich in G+C content (65% G+C); it contains the conserved rRNA processing site 6 (with the nucleotide sequence motif GGTGCGAGAACCCGG, from nt residue 226 to 240, a characteristic feature of most eukaryotic rDNA nontranscribed spacer region); and the NTS region also contains the transcription termination site with the representative Sal I box (from nt residue 1469 to 1477). The potential sequences of transcription termination site are located 288 nt downstream from the end of 26S rRNA gene, and another sequence motif CTTCCT (from nt residue 512 to 517) shows similarity with the human transcription termination site T-2 of its pre-rRNA. Nucleotide sequence homology matrix analysis suggests its relatedness to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and not to human, mouse, rat, Drosophila, Xenopus, wheat, rice and cucumber NTS region. The phylogenetic implication of the NTS region and exploitation of N.crassa NTS rDNA clone to correlate the otherwise indistinguishable species of Neurospora and the correlation with other organisms has been discussed. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report where the nucleotide sequence of the entire NTS region of a filamentous fungus has been determined.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Platelet serotonergic mechanisms in ischaemic heart disease.

The uptake, basal content and efflux of serotonin (5-HT) from the platelets of patients of ischaemic heart disease (I.H.D.) was studied and compared with normal platelets. A significant increase in uptake and basal content of 5-HT as well as increase in 5-HT efflux was observed as compared to control. Our data indicate that I.H.D. is associated with platelet serotonergic dysfunction which seems to indicate that the platelets are preactivated in I.H.D.

Angina Pectoris↗
PubMed1990

Identification of a highly conserved 3' UTR in the translationally regulated mRNA for prostaglandin synthase.

Prostaglandin H synthase (E.C. 1.14.99.1) is induced by growth factors and lymphokines such as EGF and IL-1, and is suppressed by anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids. Inhibition of enzyme synthesis by glucocorticoids is mediated by a novel translational control that appears to involve conversion of the PG synthase mRNA into a cryptic non-hybridizable form. In order to understand expression of the enzyme in more detail, a full length 2.8 Kb cDNA was cloned from a human embryonic lung cell cDNA library and the complete mRNA including the 3' untranslated region (3' UTR), was sequenced. The coding sequence for the human PG synthase shows greater than 90% homology with the sheep and mouse enzymes. A high degree of conservation (70%), however, was also observed in the approximately 750 nucleotide sequence that comprises the 3' non-coding domain of both sheep and human PG synthase mRNA's and with the approximately 900 nucleotide 3' UTR of the mouse RNA (68% sheep vs mouse; 47% human vs mouse). Extensive microregions of 10-30 nucleotides are distributed throughout the 3' UTR where homology between species is 95-100%. This high degree of conservation in a non-coding region and recent evidence from other genes suggests that these 3' UTR sequences have important regulatory functions possibly related to translational control of this mRNA by growth factors and glucocorticoids.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Aetiology of bacterial diarrhoea in north Indian children with special reference to Campylobacter jejuni.

A total of 184 cases of acute diarrhoea, in patients aged 1-36 months, were studied clinicobacteriologically. Enteropathogens were isolated in 22.28% cases. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from 2.17% cases only. Salmonellae were isolated from 7.6% cases and 64.28% of them were S typhimurium. More than 75% of all isolates of salmonellae, shigellae, Esch coli and Campylobacter jejuni were sensitive to gentamicin and cephaloridine. Secondary lactose intolerance was noted in 6.52% cases only.

Campylobacter↗
PubMed1989

Leukotriene B4 generation in patients with established pulmonary failure.

We investigated the cause of the reduced leukotriene B4 (LTB4) production seen in neutrophils from patients with established adult respiratory distress syndrome compared with control neutrophils. Lymphocytes/monocytes from controls were found to synergistically enhance the amount of LTB4 produced when incubated with neutrophils. This synergistic effect was not seen in cells from patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome. Fatty-acid analysis of neutrophils from patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome and controls showed remarkable similarity in all quantities of fatty acids measured except for arachidonic acid, where there was a 22% reduction in patients' cells compared with controls. Assay of the rate of generation of LTB4 and its degradation product, 20-hydroxy LTB4, revealed that reduced LTB4 generation in patients' neutrophils was not due to increased degradation of LTB4 by hydroxylase enzymes. When the amount of LTB4 being generated per milliliter of whole blood was analyzed in the patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome and compared with controls, it was determined that the potential to generate LTB4 in patients in the intensive care unit was three to five times greater than in controls.

Fatty Acids↗
PubMed1989

UV irradiation inhibits initiation of DNA replication from oriC in Escherichia coli.

Irradiation of Escherichia coli with UV light causes a transient inhibition of DNA replication. This effect is generally thought to be accounted for by blockage of the elongation of DNA replication by UV-induced lesions in the DNA (a cis effect). However, by introducing an unirradiated E. coli origin (oriC)-dependent replicon into UV-irradiated cells, we have been able to show that the environment of a UV-irradiated cell inhibits initiation of replication from oriC on a dimer-free replicon. We therefore conclude that UV-irradiation of E. coli leads to a trans-acting inhibition of initiation of replication. The inhibition is transient and does not appear to be an SOS function.

Bacteriophage lambda↗
PubMed1989

Effect of spermidine on the development of bacteriophage SP6.

Bacteriophage SP6 is a virulent phage of Salmonella typhimurium which behaves differently than other phages of the same host. The effect of spermidine on SP6 infection of S. typhimurium has been found to depend on the time of addition of spermidine with respect to the time of addition of the phage and also on the composition of the growth medium. If spermidine was added prior to or within a short time after infection, the cells survived. Under this condition the invading DNA appeared to remain trapped in the cell membrane, and there was no expression of the phage genome. If spermidine was added after the initiation of the infection process, the replication of the phage was inhibited but the cells did not survive. Furthermore, if spermidine was added after DNA synthesis was over, there was no effect of spermidine on phage multiplication. Spermidine was found to affect phage DNA synthesis but not host DNA synthesis.

Bacteriophages↗
PubMed1989

Primary structure of Bacillus subtilis enolase gene deduced from c-DNA sequence.

The nucleotide sequence for enolase gene of Bacillus subtilis was determined from recombinant clone pRE. The sequence was composed of 1570 bp which included the 1374 bp of the complete coding region, the 86 bp of the 5' noncoding region and the 110 bp of the 3' noncoding region containing a polyadenylation signal. In addition, the poly(A) tail was also found. A potential ribosome binding site was located 20 nucleotides upstream of the initiation codon in the 5' noncoding region. The aminoacid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence was 558 aminoacids in length. The size of the mRNA was 1.5 kb by the northern transfer technique.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed1989

Improved genomic blot hybridization.

For restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and other molecular biology experiments, well prepared (undamaged) genomic DNA is needed, which is then digested with restriction enzymes, transferred to nitrocellulose paper and hybridized with radioactive or nonradioactive probe. DNA damage occurs in fields such as clinical genetics and forensic medicine in the form, for example, of single stranded breaks. If these DNAs are treated with T4 DNA ligase prior to restriction endonuclease digestion, the damaged DNA is repaired. This "repaired DNA" gives improved Southern hybridization results with single copy gene or repeated genes.

Biotechnology↗
PubMed1989

Platelet serotonergic mechanisms and glomerulonephritis.

Proven cases (28) of glomerulonephritis (GN) were evaluated for clinico-biochemical profile, bleeding time, platelet count, platelet aggregation and platelet serotonergic mechanisms. Inordinate increase in platelet aggregation and altered platelet serotonergic mechanisms (reduced 5-HT, uptake, reduced intraplatelet 5-HT and increased plasma 5-HT) were demonstrated in some histopathological types of GN. The mechanisms and importance of these alterations have been discussed.

Bleeding Time↗
PubMed1989

Clinical study of tetanus neonatorum.

Seventy six cases of neonatal tetanus were studied. There was preponderance of males. Short incubation period, short period of onset, low birth weight, presence of fever and tachycardia were associated with a poor prognosis. The cases were divided into 2 groups of 46 and 30. First group was given TIG while second group was given ATS. All other therapies were kept identical. Mortality rate in two groups was 97.5% and 96.5%. Corrected mortality due to tetanus per se was 22.5% and 28.5% (p-0.5). Fifteen cases (32.7%) and 12 cases (40%) in group A & B respectively were born to mothers who had already received one to three doses of tetanus toxoid. The potency of the vaccine should be ensured before it is administered to mothers, through proper maintenance of cold chain. It is concluded that TIG is not superior to ATS in managing moderate and severe grade cases.

Female↗