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Biomedical subjects

S Bhatnagar

Publications and source records attributed to S Bhatnagar.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Cytotoxic T-cell, delayed type hypersensitive and listeriolysin O responses in experimental bovine listeriosis.

Five different antigens of Listeria monocytogenes NCTC 11994 were assayed for their lymphoproliferative, cytotoxic, humoral and delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses in experimentally infected calves. The antigens used were culture filtrate antigen (CFA), listeriolysin O (LLO), sonicated antigen (SA), live antigen (LA) and heat killed antigen (HKA). CFA was most lymphoproliferative when assayed in vitro. In an autologous monocyte cytotoxicity assay, soluble protein as well as bacterial cells elicited cytolytic responses, however, LA and LLO primed monocytes showed a higher cytotoxic effect. The expression of cell surface markers of lymphocyte subpopulations was almost identical in experimentally infected as well as non-infected calves. SA elicited the highest humoral and DTH responses. LLO being a major virulence factor with appreciable humoral as well as cellular responses may be used as a candidate antigen to develop a reliable diagnostic immunoassay.

Animals↗

Comparative study of intestinal metaplasia and mucin staining at the cardia and esophagogastric junction in 225 symptomatic patients presenting for diagnostic open-access gastroscopy.

OBJECTIVE: Adenocarcinoma around the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) is increasing in incidence, and is frequently associated with areas of macroscopic or microscopic intestinal metaplasia (IM). The aim of this study was to define the incidence and type of metaplastic changes in the cardia and at the EGJ in symptomatic patients in whom there was no endoscopic columnar segment. METHODS: Patients attending for open-access gastroscopy had three sets of endoscopic biopsies taken at 3-cm intervals, from cardia, EGJ, and distal esophagus. Hematoxylin and eosin, Alcian blue/PAS (AB/PAS), and high-iron diamine/Alcian blue (AB/HID) were used to define and characterize IM. RESULTS: Of 225 patients, eight (4%) had carcinoma, eight (4%) had conventional long-segment Barrett's esophagus, 15 (7%) showed endoscopic short-segment Barrett's change, with no endoscopic Barrett's in 194 (86.2%). Of the latter, 34 (17.5%) had IM at the EGJ, and nine (4.6%) had IM at the cardia on hematoxylin and eosin. Acid mucin stains were positive at the EGJ in 135 (69.6%) and at the cardia in 75 (38.7%). Metaplasia at the EGJ was associated with sulphomucins (p < 0.0001) and involved the surface glandular epithelium (p < 0.0001) more frequently than the cardia. Metaplasia was not related to reflux symptoms, hiatus hernia, or endoscopic esophageal inflammation. Ninety percent of those with IM detectable by hematoxylin and eosin were taking acid suppression, compared with 72.8% overall. CONCLUSIONS: Intestinal metaplasia is very common at the esophagogastric junction and gastric cardia, with marked differences in incidence and characteristics of mucin staining between the two sites. The relationship of intestinal metaplasia to the development of carcinoma is yet to be determined.

Adolescent↗

Starvation: early signals, sensors, and sequelae.

To identify the sequences of changes in putative signals, reception of these and responses to starvation, we sampled fed and starved rats at 2- to 6-h intervals after removal of food 2 h before dark. Metabolites, hormones, hypothalamic neuropeptide expression, fat depots, and leptin expression were measured. At 2 h, insulin decreased, and FFA and corticosterone (B) increased; by 4 h, leptin and glucose levels decreased. Neuropeptide Y messenger RNA (mRNA) increased 6 h after food removal and thereafter. Adrenal and plasma B did not follow ACTH and were elevated throughout, with a nadir at the dark-light transition. Leptin correlated inversely with adrenal B. Fat stores decreased during the last 12 h. Leptin mRNA in perirenal and sc fat peaked during the dark period, resembling plasma leptin in fed rats. We conclude that 1) within the first 4 h, hormonal and metabolic signals relay starvation-induced information to the hypothalamus; 2) hypothalamic neuropeptide synthesis responds rapidly to the altered metabolic signals; 3) catabolic activity quickly predominates, reinforced by elevated B, not driven by ACTH, but possibly to a minor extent by leptin, and more by adrenal neural activity; and 4) leptin secretion decreases before leptin mRNA or fat depot weight, showing synthesis-independent regulation.

Adipose Tissue↗

Warning! Nearby construction can profoundly affect your experiments.

This is meant to alert people to potentially major effects of construction projects on research results. Because we study the effects of stress on regulation of ACTH and corticosterone secretion and of serotonin receptors and stress on energy balance, we serve as an early warning system when things go awry. Most of our experiments include taking daily, or twice daily, measurements of rat or mouse weights and food intake as well as stress hormone levels. We are highly sensitized to environmental disruption and we've shown previously the effects of construction on stress hormones (1). However, we did not anticipate the change and disruption in energy balance that may occur in response to environmental perturbation. We provide two examples of these, below.

Animals↗

Interactions among chronic cold, corticosterone and puberty on energy intake and deposition.

We have shown that chronic cold stress strongly interacts with corticosterone (B) to determine subsequent regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses to novel stress. These studies, using the same 2 sets of rats, show that chronic cold also interacts with B and testosterone on signals of energy balance. The two groups of rats differed in weight by 20% and in age by 2 weeks (44-59 days of age). Adrenalectomized rats, replaced with varying doses of B, were exposed to cold or served as controls. Food intake and body weight during the experiments and hormones, metabolites and fat depots were measured on day 5. B, but not cold, affected food intake in the younger rats; by contrast, cold, but not B, affected food intake in the older rats. Testosterone was higher in older control rats and was markedly depressed by cold; younger rats had lower testosterone that was minimally affected by cold. Weight gain decreased in all rats at room temperature with increasing B, whereas they all lost weight in cold independently of B. Cold stimulated and B inhibited interscapular brown adipose tissue DNA content (reflecting sympathetic stimulation of thermogenesis). B stimulated insulin, whereas cold inhibited leptin and insulin; B also increased white adipose tissue weight gain in controls and inhibited its loss in cold. Leptin was unrelated to white adipose tissue depots in older control rats but was strongly related to these stores in younger rats and in all rats in cold. We conclude that: 1. By decreasing signals that act centrally to inhibit food intake (insulin, leptin and testosterone) cold allows B to stimulate food intake; 2. B inhibits weight gain although it causes accrual of fat; 3. Cold, probably through sympathetic stimulation of white adipose tissue, causes fat loss which is modulated by the inhibitory effect of B on sympathetic outflow; and, 4. The slope of the relationship between fat depot size and leptin becomes flatter in cold, possibly because of increased sympathetic outflow to these depots.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗

Ceftibuten.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Ceftibuten↗

Serological diagnosis of celiac disease.

In developing countries like India, unlike in the West, diagnosis of celiac disease is a dilemma because the histological changes consistent with celiac disease may not be pathognomonic of the disease. We need clarity on how to use one or more of the serological antibodies, namely IgG and IgA anti-gliadin and IgA anti-endomysial antibodies as independent disease markers or as adjuncts to clinico-histological diagnosis. In this review, various possible algorithms have been discussed. The serological antibodies can be used as reliable screening tests to decide whom to biopsy and to interpret histological changes in our settings where malnutrition and intercurrent enteric infection are common.

Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic↗

The effects of prior chronic stress on cardiovascular responses to acute restraint and formalin injection.

Exposure to acute stressors activates both the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and cardiovascular systems. Prior chronic stress enhances HPA responses to novel, acute stressors, but whether it alters cardiovascular responsivity to novel, acute stress is unknown. In the present study, we examined mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) to two distinct stimuli, restraint and formalin, following prior exposure to 7 days of intermittent cold. In two sets of control and chronically stressed animals, we measured MAP and HR for 60 min following onset of 30 min restraint and MAP, HR and behavioral responses to intraplantar injection of formalin. Chronic stress raised MAP and HR under resting conditions and elevated HR during, but not following termination of, restraint. These increases in HR during restraint were due to the differences in resting levels of HR, since both control and chronically stressed animals exhibited similar increases from resting levels in HR during restraint. Conversely, chronically stressed animals exhibited lower changes in MAP and HR from resting levels following termination of restraint. Formalin produced the characteristic biphasic pattern of cardiovascular and behavioral responses. Prior chronic stress did not alter behavior, but increased MAP and HR in Interphase and only MAP in Phase 2. The increases in MAP during Interphase and Phase 2 were a result of the elevations in resting levels of MAP, but even when differences in resting levels were taken into account, HR remained elevated in the Interphase in chronically stressed animals. Together, these data demonstrate that prior chronic intermittent cold stress modifies cardiovascular function both under resting conditions and, in very specific ways, under stimulated conditions produced by restraint and formalin. We propose that these modifications are produced by brain regions that are known to regulate cardiovascular function and which are activated by chronic stress.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

Efficacy of milk versus yogurt offered as part of a mixed diet in acute noncholera diarrhea among malnourished children.

We compared the clinical outcome of acute diarrhea in 96 malnourished boys (aged 4 to 47 months) receiving full-strength milk compared with yogurt offered as part of a mixed diet. All had weight for height less than or equal to 80% of the National Centre for Health Statistics median. They were randomly assigned to receive milk formula (MF; 67 cal/100 ml) or yogurt formula (YF; prepared from the same milk formula) at the rate of 120 ml/kg body weight in seven divided feedings. Stool-reducing substances (> 1%) were detected more frequently in the MF group, and the differences were significant for day 3 of the study (p = 0.04). However, the geometric mean (95% confidence interval) of the total stool weights (gm/kg) during 0 to 72 hours (MF 128.8 [103, 161.4]; YF 110.9 [87, 142.2]) was comparable (p = 0.37) as was the median (range) duration of diarrhea (hours) (MF 45 [4, 183]; YF 52 [7, 173] p = 0.94). The treatment failure rates in the MF (8.2%) and YF (6.3%) groups were also similar (p = 0.67). The children consuming milk had higher median percent weight gain at the end of 72 hours of the study (p = 0.04) and at recovery (p = 0.02). Routine substitution of yogurt as small frequent feedings as an addition for semisolid food to malnourished children with acute diarrhea does not achieve any significant clinical benefit versus milk.

Acute Disease↗

Neuroanatomical basis for facilitation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal responses to a novel stressor after chronic stress.

Animals exposed to chronic stress exhibit normal or enhanced hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal responses to novel, acute stimuli despite the inhibitory endogenous corticosteroid response to the chronic stressor. Prior stress is thought to induce a central facilitatory trace that, upon exposure to a novel stimulus, balances or overcomes the inhibitory effects of corticosterone. The neuroanatomical basis for this facilitation of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal responses is unknown. In this study, we first show increased adrenocorticotropin and corticosterone responses to the novel stressor of restraint in rats exposed to intermittent cold for seven days. We then compared numbers of Fos-immunoreactive cells in 26 sites in control and chronically stressed rats at various times after onset of a 30 min restraint. At 60 min, density of Fos-stained cells was significantly higher in chronically stressed than in control rats in the parabrachial/Kölliker-Fuse area, posterior paraventricular thalamus, central, basolateral and basomedial nuclei of the amygdala and parvocellular paraventricular hypothalamus. The posterior paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus receives projections from the parabrachial nucleus and projects heavily to the differentially stained subnuclei of the amygdala, which in turn project to the parvocellular paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. We propose that increased activity in the parabrachial-posterior paraventricular thalamus-amygdala-parvocellular paraventricular hypothalamus underlies facilitation of the hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal axis to novel stress in chronically stressed rats. We confirmed part of this proposal by showing that lesions of the posterior paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus increase adrenocorticotropin responses to restraint only in previously chronically stressed animals. This potential circuit provides a basis for further examination of the functional roles of these regions in stress-induced facilitation of hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal activity.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

The effects of intrahippocampal scopolamine infusions on anxiety in rats as measured by the black-white box test.

Hippocampal cholinergic projections mediate attention to arousing stimuli as demonstrated by behavioral, electrophysiological, and endocrine studies. We recently reported that peripheral injections of the cholinergic antagonist scopolamine (SCOP) increased anxiety-like behaviour (ALB) in rats and we sought to investigate if this response might be hippocampally mediated. Adult male, Lister Hooded rats were implanted bilaterally with hippocampal cannulae 3 weeks prior to testing. On the test day, rats were injected with vehicle (VEH; artificial CSF at 3 microl), 15 or 30 microg SCOP, 20 min prior to being placed into the white chamber of the black-white box (n = 10/group). Rats were scored for latencies to exit and reenter the white chamber, total time spent in the white chamber, intercompartmental crossings, and activity. SCOP at 30 microg significantly reduced time to exit the white arena, while both doses of SCOP elevated latencies to reenter the white chamber. There were no effects of SCOP on intercompartmental crossing, time spent in the white chamber, or on activity levels. Loss of hippocampal cholinergic function impairs processing of threatening stimuli that manifests itself as increased ALB.

Analysis of Variance↗

IgD myeloma with multiple cutaneous plasmacytomas.

Extramedullary cutaneous plasmacytoma is an uncommon observation in clinical practice. In most of the cases it is usually an extension of underlying medullary plasmacytoma. This case report describes a patient with IgD myeloma who went into plateau phase following standard intravenous chemotherapy. After more than a year in plateau phase, he developed multiple fleshy nodular lesions in the skin. Biopsy of one of the lesions revealed relapse of myeloma in the skin. His IgD paraprotein remained in plateau phase and the bone marrow showed only 1% plasma cells. The patient has been treated with systemic intravenous chemotherapy followed by local radiotherapy.

Aged↗

Schwannoma with features mimicking neuroblastoma: report of two cases with immunohistochemical and ultrastructural findings.

OBJECTIVE: A study of two cases of a rare variant of benign schwannoma showing areas mimicking neuroblastoma/peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumour (PNET). METHODS: Sections of formalin fixed, paraffin embedded specimens were studied by tinctorial stains and immunohistochemistry, and the tissue retrieved from formalin was examined by electronmicroscopy in one case. RESULTS: The tumours were small and subcutaneous. Both showed features of benign schwannoma; one had a multinodular plexiform pattern. In addition, rosette-like structures consisting of collagenous cores surrounded by small round cells or slightly larger epithelioid cells were present. Tumour cells were positive for S100 protein, Leu7, and in one case GFAP, but were negative for neurofilament protein, synaptophysin, and MIC2. Type IV collagen surrounded individual cells. Electronmicroscopy in case 2 confirmed schwannian features (lamina, processes) and failed to show features of neuroblastoma (neuroendocrine granules). CONCLUSIONS: Benign schwannomas may contain rosette-like structures mimicking neuroblastoma/PNET. The techniques used confirmed schwannian differentiation only and eliminated neuroblastoma/PNET. These uncommon variants should be recognised by practising histopathologists to avoid erroneous diagnoses and inappropriate treatment.

Adult↗

Hippocampal cholinergic blockade enhances hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal responses to stress.

We examined the role of the hippocampal cholinergic system, which is known to mediate processes related to fear and anxiety, in the regulation of stress-induced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. Bilateral intra-hippocampal injections (30 microg per side) of the muscarinic antagonist Scopolamine augmented adrenocorticotropin and corticosterone responses to restraint without altering basal HPA activity compared to vehicle-treated animals. These results suggest that the hippocampal cholinergic system regulates stress-induced HPA activity and may serve to coordinate behavioral and neuroendocrine responses to stress.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

Structural characteristics of corn starches extruded with soy protein isolate or wheat gluten.

Commercially available corn starches containing 0, 25, 50 and 70% amylose were extruded with 10, 20 and 30% soy protein isolate (SPI) or wheat gluten (WG) at 22% moisture content (dry basis) in a C.W. Brabender single screw laboratory extruder using a 140 degrees C barrel temperature and a 140 rpm screw speed. True, solid and bulk densities; percent total, closed and open pores; and shear strengths of the extrudates were determined. The microstructures of the extrudates were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The total pores of the extrudates were affected significantly (p > F = 0.0001) by type of protein (SPI or WG) and starch amylose. The open or closed pores, were affected by protein type only. The interaction between amylose and protein contents was highly significant (p > F = 0.0001). In general, the total pores and bulk densities were higher for WG-starch extrudates compared to SPI-starch extrudates. These values decreased as amylose content increased from 0 to 25% and then increased thereafter. The open pores, on the other hand, increased with increasing protein content from 10 to 20% and then decreased. Extrudates containing WG had higher shear strengths than those containing SPI.

Amylose↗

Antifilarial activity of a synthetic marine alkaloid, aplysinopsin (CDRI Compound 92/138).

CDRI Compound 92/138, a synthetic analogue of aplysinopsin, was evaluated in experimental filarial infections, Litomosoides carinii in cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) and Acanthocheilonema viteae in Mastomys coucha. The compound killed 63.8 and 90% of adult L. carinii and A. viteae at doses of 30 and 50 mg/kg (i.p.) respectively given for 5 days. By the oral route, at 100 mg/kg for 5 days the compound caused 50.9 and 57% mortality of adult L. carinii and A. viteae, respectively. At 200 mg/kg administered orally on days 0, 10 and 25 post-infection, it reduced establishment of adult A. viteae by 68.5%. We also found 43.7 and 37.8% effect in vivo respectively on L3 and L4 stages of A. viteae at a single dose of 250 mg/kg, p.o. The compound was active in vitro at 100 micrograms/ml concentration and caused a significant decline in MTT reduction and 14C-glucose uptake by adult filariids. Thus synthetic marine aplysinopsin could provide a new pharmacophore for the development of antifilarial agents.

Animals↗