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Biomedical subjects

R D Pandit

Publications and source records attributed to R D Pandit.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Role of antenatal care in reducing maternal mortality.

Maternal mortality in the developed nations has been considerably reduced, but it still is very high in developing nations. I carried out an indepth study of maternal mortality at N. Wadia Maternity Hospital, Bombay. India, from 1929 to 1988, which revealed that the MMR which was 1920 per 100,000 live births during 1929-1939 period has declined to 82 per 100,000 live births during 1980-1988 period. This achievement in reduction of maternal mortality over the decades was due to multiple factors like increased and effective antenatal, intranatal, and postnatal care. This study shows the apathy of pregnant women to come forward to avail of antenatal care though available even free of charge nearby. To give maximum benefits to pregnant women specially in the developing nations, we have to carry the antenatal care at the door-steps of the community.

Female↗

Ethics in infertility management: Asian aspects.

Rapid strides have been made in the management of infertility with newer and advanced techniques. The acceptability of the procedure, the immediate and remote outcome are linked with different aspects in different countries and nations. The new discipline of bio-ethics deals with the ethical implications of biological phenomenon as manipulated or encountered by the science of medicine. Ethical problems encountered in management of infertility in Asian region are discussed.

Advisory Committees↗

Effect of pregnancy plasma, neuraminidase and sialic acid on phytohemagglutinin-induced human lymphocyte response.

The effect of human pregnancy plasma on phytohemagglutinin-(PHA-)induced blastogenesis of lymphocytes from unrelated donors was studied in relation to the sialic acid (N-acetyl-neuraminic acid) content of the plasma. The total sialic acid levels in plasma were found to be elevated during pregnancy as compared with plasma from non-pregnant, normally menstruating control groups (p less than 0.001) and to increase with advancing gestation, reaching peak values in the post-partum period (1-14 days). On the other hand, pregnancy plasma at a concentration of 15% caused a significant suppression of lymphocyte proliferation (p less than 0.05 to p less than 0.001, depending on the stage of gestation). The maximum effect was observed with plasma obtained during the third trimester of pregnancy. The immunosuppressive activity was not detectable after parturition. It was further observed that desialation of both pregnancy and control plasma with neuraminidase diminished lymphocyte response to PHA (p less than 0.05). Addition of free sialic acid (0.1-1.0 mumol/ml) or treatment of the cells with neuraminidase (0.06-1.0 IU/ml) had no effect on lymphocyte transformation under assay conditions. These findings support the hypothesis that an immunosuppressive environment provided by pregnancy plasma could be one of the mechanisms protecting the antigenically alien fetus from maternal immunologic attack. The sialic acid content of maternal plasma did not appear to play a role in the immunosuppressive property of maternal plasma. On the contrary, the presence of plasma-bound sialic acid in the culture medium was found to be necessary for normal lymphocyte reactivity.

Blood Physiological Phenomena↗