Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P P Reddy.
An immunological study was carried out on 58 children below 14 years of age with sensorineural hearing loss of unknown aetiology. The observed elevated levels of IgE in 25.86% (n = 15) children and antinuclear antibodies in 10.34% (n = 6) children indicate that auto-immune activity has a role in the causation of hearing impairment.
A screening program was carried out for amino acid disorders in children with mental handicaps from the state of Andhra Pradesh (India) during the last two decades. Forty-one (0.9%) cases were detected with amino acid disorders among 4500 children surveyed. We reported amino acid disorders of rare occurrence such as dicarboxylic aminoaciduria, hydroxykynureninuria, persistent hypertyrosinemia, hydroxyprolinemia, hypervalinemia, etc. A new metabolic defect threoninemia was also detected. We have observed a preponderance of males with amino acid disorders. Parental consanguinity was present in 54% of cases with amino acid disorders.
Studies on the frequency of Y chromosome microdeletions were carried out in 70 idiopathic infertile males with normal karyotypes. Genomic DNA was isolated from blood and PCR analysis was carried out with AZFa, AZFb, and AZFc STS markers SY 84, SY 87, SY 127, SY 254, and SY 158 to detect the deletions. In 9/70 (12.8%) subjects AZF deletions were observed. In 4/9 (44.4%) subjects were azoospermic, 4/9 (44.4%) of cases were severe oligozoospermic, and 1/9 (11.1%) cases was oligozoospermic.
Tobacco dust mainly contains nitrosamines, which are readily absorbed by the body tissues like skin, respiratory epithelium, and mucous membrane of mouth, nose and intestines. Exposure to tobacco dust is known to affect the respiratory tracts in humans. In the present study, cytogenetic effects of exposure to tobacco dust are evaluated in 154 male tobacco factory workers and 138 age and sex matched controls by analysing chromosomal aberrations in their peripheral blood lymphocytes. The workers were in the age group of 20-55 years and were employed in the tobacco processing factory for 1-32 years. Heparinised blood samples were collected from workers and control subjects and lymphocyte cultures were carried out by using standard technique. Slides were prepared and 150 metaphases were screened for each sample for various structural and numerical types of abnormalities. A statistically significant increase was observed in the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations in non-smoking and smoking exposed groups when compared to the respective controls. An increase in the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations was also observed with increase in years of service in the exposed subjects.
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INTRODUCTION: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are more likely to develop pulmonary morbidity following major abdominal surgery. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of epidural analgesia in patients with COPD who underwent elective transperitoneal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. METHODS: During a 7-year period, all patients diagnosed with COPD undergoing elective AAA repair (n=425) from three hospitals were reviewed. Inclusion criteria were an FEV(1)/FVC ratio <75% and/or a PaCO(2)>45 mmHg. Clinical outcomes were compared between those who received epidural analgesia (epidural group) and those who did not (control group). Primary endpoints measured were duration of intubation, ICU stay, hospital days, and pulmonary complications. RESULTS: Strict inclusion criteria were met by 131 patients, which included 86 patients in the epidural group and 45 patients in the control group. When comparing the epidural vs. control group, the mean AAA size was 6.3+/-0.9 cm vs. 6.0+/-1.5 cm (NS), FEV(1) was 57.2+/-24.7% vs. 49.0+/-10.3% (NS), and the mean FEV(1)/FVC ratio was 52.0+/-11.4% vs. 50.6+/-6.7% (NS), respectively. The epidural group had a significantly lower incidence of post-operative ventilator dependency and ICU stay (p<0.05), as well as a decreased trend in pulmonary complications when compared to the control group. The overall hospital stay remained similar between the two groups. The relative risk of developing a pulmonary complication in the absence of epidural analgesia was 2.3. CONCLUSIONS: Perioperative epidural analgesia is beneficial in patients with COPD undergoing AAA repair by reducing both the post-operative ventilator duration and ICU stay. Epidural analgesia should be considered in all COPD patients undergoing elective transperitoneal AAA repair.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of the environmental estrogens polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and phthalate esters (PEs) as potential environmental hazards in the deterioration of semen parameters in infertile men without an obvious etiology. DESIGN: Randomized controlled study. SETTING: Tertiary care referral infertility clinic and academic research center. PATIENT(S): Twenty-one infertile men with sperm counts <20 million/mL and/or rapid progressive motility <25% and/or <30% normal forms without evidence of an obvious etiology and 32 control men with normal semen analyses and evidence of conception. Semen and blood samples were obtained as part of the treatment protocol. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Evaluation of semen parameters such as ejaculate volume, sperm count, motility, morphology, vitality, osmoregulatory capacity, sperm chromatin stability, and sperm nuclear DNA integrity. RESULT(S): PCBs were detected in the seminal plasma of infertile men but not in controls, and the concentration of PEs was significantly higher in infertile men compared with controls. Ejaculate volume, sperm count, progressive motility, normal morphology, and fertilizing capacity were significantly lower in infertile men compared with controls. The highest average PCB and PE concentrations were found in urban fish eaters, followed by rural fish eaters, urban vegetarians, and rural vegetarians. The total motile sperm counts in infertile men were inversely proportional to their xenoestrogen concentrations and were significantly lower than those in the respective controls. CONCLUSION(S): PCBs and PEs may be instrumental in the deterioration of semen quality in infertile men without an obvious etiology.
AIM: To estimate the frequency of microdeletions in the long arm of Y-chromosome of 20 infertile males from South India. METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification using Y-specific STS of azoospermia factor (AZF) regions i.e., SY 84 for AZFa, SY 127 for AZFb and SY 254 for AZFc. RESULTS: Of the 20 infertile subjects 3 (15 %), one azoospermic and two oligozoospermic, showed microdeletions in the AZF region of Y-chromosome. CONCLUSION: The frequency of deletions involving AZF region of the Y-chromosome is 15 % in azoospermic and severely oligozoospermic infertile men. PCR amplification of AZF locus is useful for the diagnosis of microdeletions in the Y-chromosome.
Cytogenetic investigations carried on 1021 cases of Down syndrome revealed translocation in 46 cases. The most frequent was of t(14;21) and t(21;21) types. Most of the translocation DS cases (n = 31) were born to younger mother's (< 25 years), when compared to pure trisomy 21 DS cases. Parental karyotypes, family history and parental ages has helped us greatly in offering genetic counseling, prenatal diagnosis and estimating the risk for the next conception.
Cytogenetic investigations carried out on 1021 cases of Down syndrome revealed translocation in 46 cases. The most frequent was of t(14;21) and t(21;21) types. Most of the translocation DS cases (n = 31) were born to younger mothers (< 25 years), when compared to pure trisomy 21 DS cases. Parental karyotypes, family history and parental ages has helped us greatly in offering genetic counseling, prenatal diagnosis and estimating the risk for the next conception.
Cement industry is considered as a major pollution problem on account of dust and particulate matter emitted at various steps of cement manufacture. Cement dust consists of many toxic constituents. The workers who are employed in cement industries are exposed to cement dust for long periods. Therefore, it is mandatory to evaluate the mutagenic effects of occupational exposure to cement dust in such workers. In the present study, we analyzed the samples of 124 male workers including 59 smokers and 65 non-smokers who were employed in cement industry for a period of 1-17 years. For comparison, 106 controls (including 47 smokers and 59 non-smokers) of the same age group and socio-economic status were also studied. Controls had no exposure to cement dust or any known physical or chemical agent. A significant increase in the incidence of chromosomal aberrations was observed in the exposed group when compared to the control group. The results were analyzed separately for non-smokers and smokers. The chromosomal damage was more pronounced in the smokers when compared with the non-smokers both in control and exposed groups. A significant increase in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations was also observed with increase in age in both control and exposed subjects.
We present a report of the parental ages (n = 865) and parental origin of meiotic nondisjunction (n = 236) that are likely to show a predisposition in the etiology of Down syndrome (DS). Chromosomal analysis, performed over a 20-year period, on 1,001 Down syndrome subjects, revealed pure trisomy 21 karyotype in 880 subjects (87.92%), mosaic trisomy karyotype in 77 (7.69%), and translocation karyotype in 44 (4.39%). The mean maternal age was found to be 30.34 years, and mean paternal age was 31.04 years. Nondisjunctional error was 79.24% maternal and 20.76% paternal. The findings of the study revealed the significant contribution of advanced parental age and increased maternal meiotic nondisjunctional error to the origin of trisomy 21 Down syndrome.
A discussion of common urologic problems in children is presented to provide primary physicians with appropriate guidelines for evaluation and referrals. The problems will be discussed in two parts: Part I will cover urinary tract infections, voiding dysfunctions, hematuria and proteinuria. Part II will cover abnormalities found on antenatal renal ultrasonography, hypospadias and other penile anomalies, phimosis, undescended testes, inguinal hernia and hydrocele, and varicoceles. An adage states: "The questions in medicine never change over time--only the answers." Certainly the busy primary care physician may experience the frustration of changing evaluation guidelines established by narrow subspecialties. Guidelines for the evaluation of children with disorders of the genitourinary tract are no exception. The following presentation will address some of the most common childhood urologic problems with a brief discussion of how to evaluate and when to refer for pediatric urologic consultation or management.
A discussion of common urologic problems in children is presented to provide primary physicians with appropriate guidelines for evaluation and referrals. The problems will be discussed in two parts: Part I covered urinary tract infections, voiding dysfunctions, hematuria, and proteinuria. Part II will cover abnormalities found on antenatal renal ultrasonography, hypospadias and other penile anomalies, phimosis, undescended testes, inguinal hernia and hydroceles, and varicoceles. An adage states: "The questions in medicine never change over time--only the answers." Certainly the busy primary care physician may experience the frustration of changing evaluation guidelines established by narrow subspecialties. Guidelines for the evaluation of children with disorders of the genitourinary tract are no exception. The following presentation will address some of the most common childhood urologic problems with a brief discussion of how to evaluate and when to refer for pediatric urologic consultation or management.
One hundred fifteen smokers working in a nuclear fuel manufacturing facility were analysed for various types of chromosomal aberrations. They experienced exposure for a period of 1-25 years. Their age ranges from 23 to 52 years. A total of 94 smokers and 118 non-smokers who were not exposed to uranyl compounds or to any other known mutagens and belong to the same age group formed the control subjects. The results showed that there is a significant increase in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in the exposed smokers when compared to the control smokers. In the control group, the smokers showed a high frequency of chromosomal aberrations when compared to non-smokers suggesting clastogenic effect of smoking. Chromosomal aberrations observed in the exposed smokers could be due to the cumulative effect of both smoking and exposure to uranyl compounds.
Umbilical cord length has long been investigated as a potential marker of intrauterine events that may place the neonate at risk for future adverse developmental sequelae. Experimentally, significantly shortened cords have been reported in association with prenatal exposure to common drugs of abuse. This study in rats reports the time course of effects on umbilical cord length of a daily maternal ethanol gavage (3,200 mg/kg) from gestational day 6 through termination of pregnancy at either day 17, 18, 19, or 20. A total of 786 fetuses derived from 60 litters were examined. Control fetuses demonstrated a linear increase in umbilical cord length and body weight gain during late gestation, findings that support previous studies. The body weights of the ethanol-exposed fetuses were reduced significantly on all gestational days examined, indicating intrauterine growth retardation, a characteristic of fetal alcohol syndrome. Similarly, acute fetal akinesia as well as long-term sequelae stemming from impaired neurological development would result from the elevated blood ethanol levels achieved in this study. The umbilical cords of ethanol-exposed fetuses were significantly shorter on gestational days 19 and 20 in comparison to their controls, while cord lengths on days 17 and 18 were not shortened significantly. A stretch hypothesis has been proposed suggesting that the degree of fetal activity is the main determinant of umbilical cord length. In rats, there is a physiologic diminution of the volume of amniotic fluid (oligohydramnios) in late gestation (day 19 to term), which restricts fetal movements but does not appear to alter the linear relationships between gestational age and cord length in controls, thus arguing against the stretch hypothesis. However, cord lengths in the ethanol-exposed fetuses plateaued in late gestation, suggesting possible adherence to a stretch hypothesis. This dichotomy is discussed emphasizing fetal growth and activity as well as intrauterine space.
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Free radicals are highly reactive species that have been implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases. Reactive oxygen species can initiate lipid peroxidation and DNA damage leading to mutagenesis, carcinogenesis and cell death, if the antioxidant system is impaired. This study was undertaken to examine the prevalence of oxidative stress and the role of antioxidant defence in untreated leukemia patients. The generation of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide by leukocytes, plasma malondialdehyde levels, red cell copper zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activities were determined in 30 patients with different types of leukemias prior to therapy. The superoxide anion generation by polymorphonuclear leukocytes was found to be significantly increased in leukemia patients especially those with acute lymphocytic and nonlymphocytic leukemias, while the hydrogen peroxide levels were comparable to the control values. Plasma lipid peroxidation products in untreated leukemia patients were in the normal range. Red cell Cu-Zn SOD and GSH-PX activities were significantly increased and showed no correlation with the hemoglobin content. Although superoxide generation was high, lipid peroxide levels were normal in these patients. This might be due to the increased activities of the antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GSH-PX) which counteract lipid peroxidation. Increased free radical generation, especially superoxide anion in leukemia patients and increased antioxidant defence enzymes, which is an adaptive protective response, are indicative of mild oxidative stress. There were no significant differences for the parameters cited above between different types of leukemias, suggesting that the changes are not specific to the type of leukemia.