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Biomedical subjects

S Gupta

Publications and source records attributed to S Gupta.

At least 703 records · Page 39Linked to original sources

Cytomorphological features, AgNOR counts and c-erb B-2 in carcinoma breast.

The present study was designed to evaluate the cytomorphological features (nuclear grade and smear pattern) and AgNOR counts in 60 cases of carcinoma breast. The smears were stained with May Gruenwald Giemsa (MGG) and Papanicolaou stains. Silver staining nucleolar organiser region (AgNOR) counts and c-erb B-2 immunostaining were also done in each case. The smear pattern was assessed and classified as 'typical', 'cluster predominant' or 'individual cell type', and the nuclei were graded as grade I, II or III. Smear pattern and nuclear grade were found to be related variables. A significant association was found between nuclear grade and AgNOR counts (p = 0.03). Also postmenopausal women had statistically significant higher nuclear grades and less cohesive cell clusters as compared to premenopausal women. Twenty-three carcinoma breast were positive for c-erb B-2, of these 14 were postmenopausal women.

Adult↗

A profile of skin disorders in children in Saurashtra.

Four hundred children, up to the age of 12 years, attending dermatological outpatients' department (OPD) in Irwin group of hospitals, Jamnagar were studied in detail. Desired investigations were done in addition to routine blood, urine, and stool examinations. Maximum number of cases (43.50%) were found in school going children. Highest number of cases were of skin infections (83.25%) followed by allergic (8.5%) and miscellaneous disorders (8.25%). Out of 333 cases of skin infections, 137 (41.14%) were of pyoderma, 113 (33.93%) of parasitic infections, 45 (13.51%) of fungal infections and 35 (10.51%) of viral infections. Amongst allergic disorders, atopic dermatitis was commonest followed by papular urticaria, unclassified eczema and contact dermatitis. Thirteen types of miscellaneous disorders (33 cases) were noted. Commonest being vitiligo (8 cases) and epidermolysis bullosa and ichthyosis, 6 cases each. Unhygienic living conditions seem to be an important factor responsible for higher incidence of skin infections in developing countries.

Age Factors↗

Effect of alpha,beta-arteether against primary amoebic meningoencephalitis in Swiss mice.

Artemisinin and its derivative alpha, beta-arteether have been evaluated for activity against experimental primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. In vivo experiments have shown that amphotericin B at dose of 2.5 mg/kg for 5 days produced 100% protection. Artemisinin and alpha, beta-arteether, even when tested at a high doses (60-120 mg/kg x 5 days and 90-180 mg/x 5 days) respectively, were not curative and showed only slight protection as indicated by extension of mean survival time.

Amebiasis↗

Immunoexpression of mutant p53 and human papillomavirus related E6 oncoprotein in anal malignancies.

Immunohistochemical expression of mutant p53 protein and human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 and 18 related E6 oncoprotein was studied in 36 biopsy proved anal cancers. Mutant p53 was detected in 61.1% cases. HPV 16 and 18 E6 protein was expressed in 22.2% cases, all of which were squamous cell carcinomas. Coexpression of both mutant p53 and E6 protein was found in only 5 cases (13.8%). In HPV 16/18 positive anal tumors, the degradation of p53 is accelerated by viral E6 oncoprotein. In HPV negative tumors, however, other mutagenic factors probably play a role in carcinogenesis.

Adult↗

Effect of bacterial association on virulence of Entamoeba histolytica to baby hamster kidney cell monolayers.

Axenic E. histolytica trophozoite strain NIH:200 and HMI:IMSS when co-associated with aerobic bacteria Escherichia coli strain K12 and serotype 056 showed marked increase in virulence as observed by destruction of baby hamster kidney (BHK) monolayers. However, when incubated with anaerobic bacterial strains Clostridium perfringens and Bacteroides fragilis virulence remained unaltered. Further, adherence of E. histolytica to BHK monolayer was found to be mediated by N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.

Acetylgalactosamine↗

Lithium and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy.

This clinical report describes the successful use of a combination of lithium carbonate and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of severe bipolar depression. The patient was initially taken off the lithium and given a course of ECT with remarkable improvement in symptoms. He subsequently underwent maintenance ECT, during which lithium was restarted without any side effects. Rating scales were used to assess memory, depression, and mental status. This case suggests that the overlap of the two treatments may be especially beneficial when the plan is to taper maintenance ECT while continuing pharmacotherapy.

Bipolar Disorder↗

Concurrent administration of clozapine and ECT: a successful therapeutic strategy for a patient with treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

A male patient with a 4-year history of schizophrenic disorder, treated in the past with several conventional neuroleptics, atypical antipsychotics, as well as adjunctive therapies, was hospitalized because of treatment resistance/intolerance to pharmacotherapy. During 60 weeks of hospitalization, the patient was treated with conventional neuroleptics or clozapine monotherapy and with concurrent bilateral electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The patient showed inadequate response to conventional neuroleptics or clozapine without ECT. Concurrent administration of pimozide and ECT resulted in a brief period of improvement. However, concurrent administration of clozapine and ECT resulted in substantial improvement. Our observation suggests that combination treatment with clozapine and ECT can be safe and effective.

Adult↗

Cardiovascular stress and lactate formation during gymnastic routines.

BACKGROUND: Carried out to investigate cardiovascular and metabolic response during various gymnastic routines [Pommel Horse (PH), Roman Ring (RR), Parallel Bar (PB), Horizontal Bar (HB) and Floor Exercise (FE)]. METHODS EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: comparative and randomized. SETTING: General purpose, applicable on gymnastics training. Participants. Five male volunteers drawn from students attending sports coaching course in gymnastics at NIB, Patiala. A mixed population from all over India who had competitive experience of 6 to 10 years. INTERVENTIONS: no interventions. MEASURES: presence of heart rate overshooting, high lactate levels and individual characteristics of the gymnastics routines. RESULTS: In all the routines peak HR was much lower than maximum heart rate (HRmax) of the gymnasts. Mean HR was lowest in first set and highest in the final (3rd set) on all the apparatuses. Highest mean HR was recorded in HB followed by FE, RR, PB and PH respectively. After both first and third sets blood lactic acid (La) was highest in FE followed by RR, PB, HB and PH. La levels following the first set were 7.11, 6.77, 6.23, 5.97 and 5.18 mM/l, respectively. Third set values were 10.54, 10.16, 8.95, 8.74 and 8.04 mM/l. CONCLUSIONS: (a) Cardiovascular load in various gymnastic routines is considerably less than maximal running; (b) HR overshoot is common at the end of all the men's gymnastic routines; training evaluation or performance evaluation in gymnastics through heart rate should consider this fact to avoid any misinterpretation; (c) PH is physiologically least demanding among the five while FE and RR are most stressful; (d) repetition of gymnastic exercise routines with short rest pause may lead the gymnast to reach nearer to his lactate tolerance; (e) gymnastics activity is dominated by anaerobic metabolism.

Adult↗

Isolated myocyte contractile function is normal in postinfarct remodeled rat heart with systolic dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: Postinfarction ventricular remodeling is associated with lengthening and contractile dysfunction of the remote noninfarcted myocardium. Mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied serial changes in global left ventricular (LV) structure and function in infarcted (1, 2, 4, and 6 weeks after myocardial infarction) and sham-operated rat hearts and correlated them with structural and functional changes in myocytes isolated from the remote LV myocardium in the same hearts. Rats with myocardial infarction developed significant remodeling. The heart weight-to-body weight ratios were increased. LV volumes at filling pressure of 10 mm Hg were higher (305+/-28 versus 215+/-12 microL, P<.01). This was accompanied by global LV dysfunction (in vivo LV end-diastolic pressure, 4+/-1 versus 23+/-1.6 mm Hg; Langendorff LV developed pressure, 105+/-4 versus 62+/-9 mm Hg, P<.001 for both). Myocytes isolated from these hearts showed significant structural remodeling (LV myocytes, 24% longer and 15% wider; right ventricular myocytes, 38% longer and 31% wider, all P<.05). LV myocyte length correlated with changes in LV volume (r=.79) and function (LV developed pressure, r=-.81). However, LV myocytes from the same hearts showed normal contractile function and intracellular Ca2+ transients at baseline and during inotropic stimulation with increasing extracellular Ca2+ (1 to 6 mmol/L). The shortening-frequency relationship was also similar in myocytes from sham and myocardial infarction rats. CONCLUSIONS: Postinfarct LV remodeling occurs predominantly by myocyte lengthening rather than by myocyte slippage. However, contractile function of the unloaded myocytes from the remote noninfarcted LV myocardium of the remodeled heart is normal. Therefore, myocyte contractile abnormalities may not contribute to global dysfunction of the remodeled heart. Reduced myocyte mass and nonmyocyte factors like increased wall stress, altered LV geometry, and changes in the myocardial interstitium may be more important in the genesis of postinfarct LV dysfunction in this model.

Animals↗

Vaccine design, evaluation, and community-based use for antigenically variable infectious agents.

A major challenge for vaccine design and development, and for trials of new vaccines, is to tackle antigenically variable infectious agents. Here we outline a few general conceptual issues and then discuss new frameworks that are being developed to help understand how vaccination might change the distribution, abundance, and type of strains in a population. Herd Immunity is a key concept in population-based immunisation programmes and has to be considered in vaccine design and use even though it may cause a conflict between the needs of the individual versus those of the community. This issue is of increasing importance since once common infections are becoming rare due to effective vaccination. Concomitantly, adverse effects arising from immunisation are becoming more apparent as infection-induced morbidity declines to very low levels. Efficacy is widely regarded as a key criterion in vaccine design but duration of protection is of equal importance. Whether it is possible to produce effective vaccines to antigenically diverse pathogens remains uncertain but progress towards this goal will be enhanced by a better understanding of the population genetics of the target infectious agent facilitated by molecular epidemiological studies to assess the genetic constitution of pathogen populations and changes therein over time.

Antigenic Variation↗

Vaccination and the population structure of antigenically diverse pathogens that exchange genetic material.

Populations of antigenically diverse pathogens undergoing genetic exchange may be categorized into strains on the basis of a set of principal protective antigens. The extent to which polyvalent vaccines based on these protective antigens can alter the population structure of the pathogen is determined by the degree of cross-protection between strains. In the case where there is no cross-protection, vaccinating against a particular strain will have no effect on the others. As cross-protection increases, the strains containing the antigenic variants included in the vaccine will be diminished in prevalence, and those that do not will increase in prevalence. The rise in prevalence of the latter will become more and more exaggerated as cross-protection increases. However, beyond a critical level of cross-protection, in the absence of vaccination, the steady state of the system is asymmetric in that a certain subset of strains (with non-overlapping repertoires of antigenic variants) will dominate over the others in terms of prevalence. Under these circumstances, a vaccine consisting of the most immunogenic combinations of antigenic variants can cause a dramatic increase in frequency of a subset of rare strains.

Alleles↗

Regulation of cellular phosphorylation of hyaluronan binding protein and its role in the formation of second messenger.

The presence of the 34-kDa hyaluronan binding protein, a new member of the 'hyaladherins' family, was demonstrated in a wide variety of cell lines by immunoblot analysis. This protein was observed to be highly phosphorylated in transformed fibroblasts compared to normal fibroblasts. Phosphorylation was enhanced in the presence of its ligand i.e., hyaluronan, but not in the presence of other glycosaminoglycans. The phosphorylated form of this hyaluronan binding protein was shown to be present on the cell surface and could be detected in serum-free medium. The regulation of the cellular and cell surface phosphorylation of HA-binding protein by HA, PMA and calyculin-A was demonstrated in different cell lines. Hyaluronan enhanced the phosphorylation of PLC-gamma in association with increased formation of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate, both of which were specifically blocked by pretreatment of the cells with purified anti-hyaluronan binding protein antibodies. The data presented here indicate a role for the 34-kDa hyaluronan binding protein in cellular signal transduction.

Animals↗

Elevated Chlamydia pneumoniae antibodies, cardiovascular events, and azithromycin in male survivors of myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: The clinical significance of the association between elevated anti-Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cp) antibody titres and coronary heart disease (CHD) is unclear. We explored the relationship between antibodies against Cp and future cardiovascular events in male survivors of myocardial infarction (MI). The effect of azithromycin antibiotic therapy was assessed in a subgroup of post-MI patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: We screened 220 consecutive male survivors of MI for anti-Cp antibodies. Of these, 213 patients were stratified into three groups: group Cp-ve (n=59), no detectable Cp antibodies; group Cp-I (n=74), intermediate titres of 1/8 to 1/32 dilution; and group Cp+ve (n=80), seropositive at > or = 1/64 dilution. Patients with persisting seropositivity of > or = 1/64 were randomized to either oral azithromycin (Cp+ve-A, 500 mg/d for 3 days [n=28] or 500 mg/d for 6 days [n=12]) or placebo (Cp+ve-P, n=20). Cp+ve-NR (n=20) represented patients not recruited into the antibiotic trial. The incidence of adverse cardiovascular events (over a mean follow-up period of 18+/-4 months) was recorded and shown to increase with increasing anti-Cp titre: Cp-ve, n=4 (7%); Cp-I, n=11 (15%); Cp+ve-NR, n=6 (30%); and Cp+ve-P, n=5 (25%). Cp+ve-NR and Cp+ve-P groups had a fourfold-increased risk for adverse cardiovascular events compared with the Cp-ve group (odds ratio [OR], 4.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2 to 15.5; P=.03). In contrast, the OR for cardiovascular events in patients receiving azithromycin (Cp+ve-A, single or double course) was the same as in the Cp-ve group (OR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.2 to 4.6, P=NS). Patients receiving azithromycin were more likely to experience a decrease in IgG anti-Cp titres than were those in the placebo group (P=.02). CONCLUSIONS: An increased anti-Cp antibody titre may be a predictor for further adverse cardiovascular events in post-MI patients. Taking a short course of azithromycin may lower this risk, possibly by acting against Cp.

Administration, Oral↗

Differentiation of pancreatic epithelial progenitor cells into hepatocytes following transplantation into rat liver.

The ability to identify, isolate, and transplant progenitor cells from solid tissues would greatly facilitate the treatment of diseases currently requiring whole organ transplantation. In this study, cell fractions enriched in candidate epithelial progenitor cells from the rat pancreas were isolated and transplanted into the liver of an inbred strain of Fischer rats. Using a dipeptidyl dipeptidase IV genetic marker system to follow the fate of transplanted cells in conjunction with albumin gene expression, we provide conclusive evidence that, after transplantation to the liver, epithelial progenitor cells from the pancreas differentiate into hepatocytes, express liver-specific proteins, and become fully integrated into the liver parenchymal structure. These studies demonstrate the presence of multipotent progenitor cells in the adult pancreas and establish a role for the liver microenvironment in the terminal differentiation of epithelial cells of foregut origin. They further suggest that such progenitor cells might be useful in studies of organ repopulation following acute or chronic liver injury.

Animals↗

Bladder dysfunction in schizophrenia.

In schizophrenic patients with incontinence our previous urodynamic studies showed detrusor hyperreflexia in some cases. Many schizophrenic patients have brain abnormalities similar to those associated with urge incontinence and detrusor hyperreflexia in neurological patients. We therefore propose bladder dysfunction and incontinence as previously unrecognized neurobiological correlates of schizophrenia. To clarify this concept our first step, the present study, was a patient survey for urinary problems. Incontinence was more prevalent in schizophrenic patients than in a comparison group of mood disorder patients at the same hospitals. Urge incontinence and leakage of any type were related closely to psychiatric diagnosis. These data, like our pilot urodynamic studies, suggest that incontinence represents detrusor hyperreflexia in a significant subset of schizophrenic patients. Prospective urodynamic studies will be needed to test our proposal directly.

Adult↗