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Biomedical subjects

U Gupta

Publications and source records attributed to U Gupta.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Nutritional quality of lactic fermented bitter gourd and fenugreek leaves.

Pediococcus pentosaceus was selected from isolates obtained from the naturally fermenting bitter gourd and fenugreek leaves based on its high titre and broad spectrum of inhibitory activity against spoilage organisms. This strain was then employed for fermentation of bitter gourd and fenugreek which resulted in a more acceptable product having enhanced fat, pyridoxine and ascorbic acid levels. It was of interest to note that vitamin B12 was formed in the fenugreek as a result of the fermentation.

Developing Countries↗
PubMed1998

Histologic chorioamnionitis & its association with prematurity in a hospital-based study.

This prospective study was undertaken to study the occurrence of histologic chorioamnionitis and determine its association with prematurity; and to assess whether colonization of the genital tract of pregnant women by genital mycoplasmas or Chlamydia trachomatis is a risk factor for histologic chorioamnionitis. A total of 268 women with singleton pregnancies of over 26 weeks gestation were subjected to high vaginal cultures of genital mycoplasmas and endocervical specimens for chlamydia antigen. Placental histopathology was performed on multiple sections. Histologic chorioamnionitis was documented in 22.4 per cent (60/208) placentae. Genital tract colonization with Ureaplasma urealyticum or C. trachomatis was not a risk factor for histologic chorioamnionitis. Neonates born in association with histologic chorioamnionitis had a mean birth weight 111 g lower than those born without this lesion (2626.9 +/- 702 g vs 2737.8 +/- 500 g, NS). The relative risk (95% confidence interval) of prematurity in the presence of histologic chorioamnionitis was 1.49 (0.87-2.53). Analysis of linear trend in proportions for prevalence of histologic chorioamnionitis with decreasing gestation showed a significant association (P = 0.047, 1-tail). These results taken together suggest that histologic chorioamnionitis may be a risk factor of prematurity, but of only a modest magnitude.

Chorioamnionitis↗
PubMed1997

Placental transfer of N-acetylcysteine following human maternal acetaminophen toxicity.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the antidote for acetaminophen poisoning, N-acetylcysteine, administered to pregnant women with acetaminophen toxicity, crosses the placenta and can be measured in the newborn circulation following delivery. DESIGN: Over a 15-month period, four pregnant women with acetaminophen toxicity, who delivered their infants while receiving the antidote N-acetylcysteine, were studied. Maternal and cord blood from three viable infants, and cardiac blood sampled during an autopsy on the fourth, were analyzed for the presence of N-acetylcysteine using high-performance liquid chromatography. Maternal and cord blood aminotransferase activities, and autopsy findings on the nonviable infant were used to assess hepatic injury. RESULTS: N-Acetylcysteine was detected in the cord blood of three viable infants and in cardiac blood of a fourth, sampled at the time of autopsy. The mean N-acetylcysteine concentration in cord blood was 9.4 micrograms/mL (+/-1.3). This is well within the range associated with therapeutic doses of N-acetylcysteine typically administered to adults with acetaminophen poisoning. No adverse sequelae developed in the three viable infants. The fourth infant, delivered at 22 weeks gestational age died 3 h after birth. All mothers recovered and none of the four infants had evidence of acetaminophen-related toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study documenting placental transfer of N-acetylcysteine in humans and provides impetus for research establishing a direct antidotal effect of N-acetylcysteine in the fetus.

Acetaminophen↗
PubMed1994

Destructive operations still have a place in developing countries.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the place of destructive operations in developing countries in patients arriving late in labor with a dead fetus and advanced infection, and to compare them with LSCS for patients with similar indications. METHODS: A total of 56 cases of destructive operations were carried out on patients with obstructed labor and intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) from the labor wards of Smt. S.K. Hospital from January 1985 to December 1991. These were compared with 27 cases of LSCS done for similar indications during the years 1989 to 1990. RESULTS: Patients treated with destructive operations had no maternal deaths, had very few complications and required a short hospital stay. Patients treated by LSCS, however, had one maternal death and complications such as post-partum hemorrhage, incidence of blood transfusion, post-operative shock, post-operative pyrexia and duration of hospital stay were more frequent. CONCLUSIONS: It is felt that in some properly selected cases presenting late with obstructed labor, IUFD and intrauterine sepsis, destructive operations should be performed as first choice. Thus, destructive operations still have a limited place in developing countries and are safer than LSCS for these patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Emergency hysterectomy in obstetrics: review of 15 years.

A total of 140 patients underwent emergency obstetric hysterectomy at Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, New Delhi, India, over a 15-year period between 1976 to 1990. Rupture of uterus and obstetric hemorrhage were two major indications for obstetric hysterectomy. Maternal mortality occurred in 18 i.e. 12.8% of the cases. Hemorrhage was leading cause of maternal death. While major degree of placenta praevia was responsible for 39.3% of obstetric hemorrhage, it contributed to nearly 40% of maternal deaths. Fifty percent of placenta praevia cases had morbid adhesions of placenta, associated with previous cesarean section. Hence patients of previous cesarean section with placenta praevia should be operated by experienced obstetricians keeping plenty of blood ready.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Effects of caffeine on perceptual judgment.

The present study examined the effects of caffeine on the estimation of felt width of blocks employing haptic presentation. Following a between-subject design, 160 male postgraduate students classified as high or low impulsives received either placebo or one of four doses of caffeine citrate (1, 2, 3 and 4 mg/kg body weight). A double-blind procedure was adopted for drug administration. Caffeine produced differential effects on the performance of high and low impulsives, facilitated performance (decreased error in perceptual judgment) in high impulsives but had no influence on the performance of low impulsives. The dose-response trends also followed different patterns in the two groups of subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Growth patterns in breastfed babies during first six months of life.

Growth of exclusively breastfed 126 normal newborns in urban slums and those delivered at Nehru Hospital, Medical College, Gorakhpur were studied upto six months of age. The average weight of both boys and girls was almost equivalent to the 25th percentile of NCHS standard upto 3 months but fell below these standards thereafter. The average length in both boys and girls was between 25th and 50th percentile of NCHS data. The average head circumference in girls was between 25th and 50th percentile of NCHS data at all ages but in boys it was between 10th and 25th percentile at 4, 5 and 6 months of age. The average weight, length, head and chest circumference in both boys and girls were comparable to ICMR standards. The observations indicate that exclusive breastfeeding should be promoted for adequate growth of infants during first six months of life.

Anthropometry↗
PubMed1994

Delay of experimentally induced preterm labour in rats with calcium channel blockers and salbutamol.

The effect of some calcium channel blockers on spontaneous activity of uterine strips obtained from 16 day pregnant rats was observed and compared with salbutamol. Nifedipine (2.9, 14 nM), verapamil (2, 10 nM) and diltiazem (11,22nM) both at low and high doses significantly abolished spontaneous contractions which was gradual and persistent. However, salbutamol (4.2, 21 nM) abolished spontaneous activity immediately but the response was shortlived. The effect of these agents was also investigated on experimentally induced preterm labour in rats (ovariectomized on day 16 of pregnancy). In the control group only 21% of foetuses were retained at the end of 48 hr. Nifedipine, verapamil, diltiazem and salbutamol administered ip 8 hourly protected 91%, 90%, 78% and 61% of foetuses from delivery at 48 hr respectively. The rank order of efficacy was nifedipine > verapamil > diltiazem > salbutamol.

Albuterol↗
PubMed1993

Effects of caffeine on recognition.

The present study examined the effects of caffeine on recognition performance after acquisition of conceptual and acoustic tasks. Following a between-subject design, 300 male postgraduate students classified as high or low impulsives received either placebo or one of four doses of caffeine citrate (1, 2, 3, and 4 mg/kg body weight). A double-blind procedure was adopted for drug administration. Caffeine facilitated recognition performance after acoustic acquisition but impaired it after conceptual acquisition in high impulsives. The drug had no influence on recognition performance of low impulsives.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Pharmacodynamic bioequivalence: evaluation of different brands of terfenadine hydrochloride.

Terfenadine is a selective histamine H1 receptor antagonist which binds preferentially to peripheral receptors in vivo and is devoid of central nervous system depressant activity and thus has an improved adverse effect profile (1). Hence, terfenadine may be considered to be a first line agent in the treatment of allergic rhinitis and chronic urticaria. In man terfenadine is rapidly absorbed following a single oral dose and a peak terfenadine plasma concentration is reached within 1-2 hr after the drug administration (2). The present study was carried out to compare the bioequivalence of two terfenadine hydrochloride preparations marketed by Kopran Chem. Co. and Marrel Dow U.K. (Triludan) by evaluating their ability to inhibit the skin reaction to intradermally injected histamine (3).

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Effect of calcium channel blockers and salbutamol on oxytocin and PGF2 alpha induced uterine contractions in rats.

Calcium channel blockers verapamil (2, 10nM), diltiazem (11, 22nM), nifedipine (2.9, 14nM) and salbutamol (21, 42nM) produced concentration dependent inhibition of oxytocin induced contractions in non-pregnant rats. With verapamil and nifedipine the effect was more marked at both low and high doses. Verapamil (1,2nM), diltiazem (2.2, 11nM), nifedipine (1.4, 2.9nM) and salbutamol (2.1, 4.2nM) produced significant inhibitory effect on PGF2 alpha (0.3 microgram) induced phasic tension. However, basal tension was significantly reduced by salbutamol and nifedipine only.

Albuterol↗
PubMed1993

Evaluation of direct gas-liquid chromatography of CSF in rapid diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis.

A comparison of culture and lactic acid level from 50 patients suffering from bacterial meningitis and 25 controls was done to evaluate the role of direct GLC analysis of CSF for early diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. The study revealed that the CSF lactic acid level was higher in 48 out of 50 cases. Only in 30 patients the causative agent of the disease could be established by conventional techniques. Quantitative estimation of lactic acid was found to be useful.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1992

Efficacy of massive dose oral gentamicin therapy in nonbloody persistent diarrhea with associated malnutrition.

Overgrowth of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in the upper small intestine is a common finding in persistent diarrhea. We hypothesized that a large dose of broad spectrum, nonabsorbable oral antibiotic would hasten recovery from persistent diarrhea by eradicating aerobic bacterial overgrowth. Sixty-eight patients were randomly assigned to treatment with either oral gentamicin (n = 33) or placebo (n = 35) for a period of 6 days. The two groups were comparable in their clinical features, stool weights, duodenal and fecal microflora, during an initial 24 h observation period before randomization. The proportion of patients recovering within 6 days post-treatment was similar in the antibiotic (45.2%) and placebo (50%) groups. The stool weights in the two groups during 24-72, 72-120, and 120-168 h of the study did not differ significantly. The percent mean weight gain (g) at 168 h post-treatment in the antibiotic (1.0 +/- 5.1) and placebo (1.4 +/- 5.3) groups also did not differ significantly (p = 0.8). A similar proportion of antibiotic- (61.3%) and placebo- (60.7%) treated patients had started to gain weight by the last day of the study. We conclude that oral gentamicin was no more effective than placebo in reducing purge rates, in achieving earlier recovery from diarrhea, and in promoting the earlier onset of weight gain in this study.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1992

Pathogenicity of Bacteroides fragilis group in rat intra-abdominal abscesses.

Attempts were made to study the pathogenicity of some strains of Bacteroides fragilis group in the rat intra-abdominal abscess model. Multiple intraabdominal abscesses were produced in 50 to 70% of animals when an inoculum containing 10(9) CFU/ml of any of the five species of Bacteroides fragilis group was injected. Rising homologous antibody titers determined by indirect fluorescent antibody test were observed till the 3rd week when tested last, indirectly confirming the multiplication of the organisms as also evident by viable count of bacteria in the abscesses. In some cases in addition to inoculated organisms some intestinal bacteria like Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Streptococcus spp. were also recovered from the abscess pus. Studies with the electron microscope showed presence of capsular polysaccharide only in Bacteroides fragilis and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. It was doubtful in Bacteroides distasonis and absent in Bacteroides ovatus and Bacteroides vulgatus, suggesting that virulence factor beside the capsular polysaccharide may be playing a role. Further studies are required to investigate the virulence factor responsible for the pathogenicity of noncapsulated species.

Abdomen↗