Toxicity assessment of cypermethrin nanoparticles in Channa punctatus: Behavioural response, micronuclei induction and enzyme alteration

A comparative toxicity assessment was performed to evaluate the effect of cypermethrin nanoparticles (CypNPs) and cypermethrin (Cyp) on murrel, Channa punctatus. Size variation and shape morphology of nanoparticles were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. CypNPs presented shoulder band at a wavelength of 277 nm and size range between 29.23 nm and 49.28 nm. The individuals of C. punctatus were exposed to two sublethal doses of LC₅₀ viz 1/20th (S₁) of LC₅₀ and 1/10th (S₂) of LC₅₀ of CypNPs (20.54 mg/L) and Cyp (4 μg/L) for 15 days. Micronucleus assay was used to assess the genotoxicity while enzyme activity was evaluated by using alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The percentage of micronuclei was increased significantly at different doses in Cyp compared to CypNPs. The AST value of Cyp was significantly different from CypNPs at both doses while ALP level at the S₂ dose (p < 0.05). Increased levels of ALT, AST, and ALP in blood serum caused tissue impairment cellular damage in liver in the fish exposed to Cyp compared to CypNPs which indicated that CypNPs is least toxic than the conventional form of Cyp. AST and ALT also acted as indicators of stress and altered physiological condition in C. punctatus.

Estimation of polyphenols by using HPLC-DAD in red and white wine grape varieties grown under tropical conditions of India

Grapes are well known for their high content of phenolic compounds. Polyphenols are classified into flavonoids and non-flavonoids by their primary chemical structures of hydroxybenzene. Flavonoids mainly consist of anthocyanins, flavonoids, and flavonols whereas non-flavonoids include hydroxycinnamic and hydroxybenzoic acids. In the present study, sixteen phenolic compounds from ten red and nine white grape wine varieties were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography. Gallic acid, Vanillic acid, Rutin hydrate, Ellagic acid, Chlorogenic acid, Sorbic acid, Catechin hydrate, Epicatechin, p-coumaric acid, Quercetin, Myricetin, Kaempferol, Piceatannol, and Resveratrol were major compounds found in red wine grapes. Among the varieties, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc showed maximum quantitative phenolics, whereas Cabernet Sauvignon, Niellucio, Cinsaut, and Syrah showed least quantitative phenolics in grape berries. Phenolic profile of white wine grapes showed lower concentration of phenolics than that of red wine grapes. The variety Gros Meseng showed maximum phenolics followed by Sauvignon, while the variety Colombard and Chenin Blanc showed least phenolics.

Transgene-free genome editing in marine algae by bacterial conjugation - comparison with biolistic CRISPR/Cas9 transformation

The CRISPR/Cas9 technology has opened the possibility for targeted genome editing in various organisms including diatom model organisms. One standard method for delivery of vectors to diatom cells is by biolistic particle bombardment. Recently delivery by conjugation was added to the tool-box. An important difference between these methods is that biolistic transformation results in transgene integration of vector DNA into the algae genome, whereas conjugative transformation allows the vector to be maintained as an episome in the recipient cells. In this study, we have used both transformation methods to deliver the CRISPR/Cas9 system to the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum aiming to induce mutations in a common target gene. This allowed us to compare the two CRISPR/Cas9 delivery systems with regard to mutation efficiency, and to assess potential problems connected to constitutive expression of Cas9. We found that the percentage of CRISPR-induced targeted biallelic mutations are similar for both methods, but an extended growth period might be needed to induce biallelic mutations when the CRISPR/Cas9 system is episomal. Independent of the CRISPR/Cas9 vector system, constitutive expression of Cas9 can cause re-editing of mutant lines with small indels. Complications associated with the biolistic transformation system like the permanent and random integration of foreign DNA into the host genome and unstable mutant lines caused by constitutive expression of Cas9 can be avoided using the episomal CRISPR/Cas9 system. The episomal vector can be eliminated from the diatom cells by removal of selection pressure, resulting in transient Cas9 expression and non-transgenic mutant lines. Depending on legislation, such lines might be considered as non-GMOs.

Haloperidol-induced parkinsonism is attenuated by varenicline in mice

Background Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system (CNS). However, there is no known drug to stop/slow down this neurodegeneration. Varenicline is an anti-smoking drug and has the potential to prevent neurodegeneration. Thus, the present study was designed to evaluate the effect of varenicline in animal models of PD. Methods Levodopa and haloperidol were administered in doses of 30 and 1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.), respectively. Group 1 was administered haloperidol; groups 2, 3 and 4 were administered haloperidol along with varenicline in doses of 0.5, 1.5 and 2.5 mg/kg, i.p., respectively and group 5 was administered levodopa along with haloperidol. Varenicline was administered daily, 30 min prior to the administration of haloperidol. Varenicline was administered for the first 8 days, and then from the 9th day until the 15th day. Behavioral assessment (rotarod and catalepsy tests) was performed on days 9 and 15. Assessment of striatal dopamine levels and histopathology were also performed. Results In the haloperidol-treated groups, significant decrease in latency to fall off (on rotarod) and increase in catalepsy duration (in catalepsy test) were observed as compared to the control group. In the levodopa-treated group, significant increase in latency to fall off the rotarod and significant decrease in catalepsy duration were observed as compared to the haloperidol-treated groups. Further, on day 9, varenicline (2.5 mg/kg) significantly increased the latency to fall off the rotarod, while varenicline (0.5 and 1.5 mg/kg) did not cause any significant change in latency to fall off the rotarod as compared to the haloperidol-treated group. On day 15, significant increase in latency to fall off the rotarod was observed in varenicline (at all doses) as compared to the haloperidol-treated group. In the catalepsy test, the varenicline-treated (at all doses) groups showed significant decrease in duration of catalepsy on day 9 and day 15 as compared to the haloperidol-treated group. Significant decrease in striatal dopamine levels was observed among the haloperidol-treated groups as compared to the control group. Further, varenicline-treated (at all doses) and levodopa-treated groups showed significant increase in striatal dopamine levels when compared with the haloperidol-treated group. In histology, varenicline (0.5 mg/kg) showed moderate decrease in neurons, while varenicline (1.5 and 2.5 mg/kg) showed mild decrease in neurons. However, the levodopa-treated group did not show any significant decrease in neurons. Thus, varenicline has shown promising results and has provided novel strategy for the treatment of PD.

PI3K/Akt/mTOR Intracellular Pathway and Breast Cancer: Factors, Mechanism and Regulation

BACKGROUND

The most recurrent and considered second most frequent cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide in women is the breast cancer. The key to diagnosis is early prediction and a curable stage but still treatment remains a great clinical challenge. Origin of the Problem: A number of studies have been carried out for the treatment of breast cancer which includes the targeted therapies and increased survival rates in women. Essential PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway activation has been observed in most breast cancers. The cell growth and tumor development in such cases involve phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex intracellular pathway.

HYPOTHESIS

Through preclinical and clinical trials, it has been observed that there are a number of other inhibitors of PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, which either alone or in combination with cytotoxic agents can be used for endocrine therapies.

CONCLUSION

Structure and regulation/deregulation of mTOR provides a greater insight into the action mechanism. Also, through this review, one could easily scan first and second generation inhibitors for PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway besides targeted therapies for breast cancer and the precise role of mTOR.

Preliminary clinical assessment and non- toxicity evaluation of an ayurvedic formulation BGR-34 in NIDDM

In view of the overall health impact of NIDDM, inventers understand the necessity of improving glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes. BGR-34 provides an effective treatment option for adults with type 2 diabetes who have been inadequately controlled on lifestyle with or without other oral hypoglycemic agents (OHGAs) such as metformin, sulfonylurea, or a glitazones. BGR-34 is an appropriate option to consider for addition to a managed care drug formulary. Treatment with BGR-34 produced clinically relevant and statistically significant reductions in all three key measures of glucose control studied -FPG, PPBG and HbA1c- when compared with placebo. BGR-34, showed the promising result with respect to glycemic parameters in NIDDM patient with a significant reduction in fasting blood sugar by 34.3%, postprandial blood sugar 35.5% & glycosylated haemoglobin by 20.31% as compared to placebo group showing a reduction by 13.2%, 10.9% & 10.87% respectively. The trial has also been registered to CTRI, India. This study has been registered in the clinical trial registry-India.

Abstract P1-07-27: Prognostic value of programmed death 1/Programmed death ligand 1/ mammalian target of rapamycin/Rictor/Tuberin in human breast cancer

Background:The Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) regulates a multitude of cellular processes including metabolism, proliferation and growth. It is known to form two multi-protein complexes - complex 1 (mTORC1) and complex 2 (mTORC2) with Raptor and Rictor being their core proteins vital for their integrity.

Tuberin, the product of the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex gene 2, TSC2, has been characterized as a tumour suppressor and negatively regulates the mTOR pathway.

Programmed Death 1 (PD-1), a transmembrane protein particularly expressed on the surface of tumour cells, acts as an immune checkpoint receptor. Together with its ligand Programmed Death Ligand 1 (PDL-1) they form a pathway which when activated influences anti-tumour immunity and supresses anti-tumour adaptive responses. The expression of PD1/PDL-1 is lightly regulated by the mTOR pathway.

We investigated the value of expression patterns of all these molecules in breast cancer as potential prognostic factors.

Materials and Methods: Quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis was used to determine the transcript expression profile of the five genes of interest (PD-1, PDL-1, mTOR, Rictor and Tuberin) in 128 breast cancer specimens.The correlation between PD-1 or PDL-1 with mTOR, Rictor and Tuberin was assessed using the Spearman Rank Order Correlation. Subsequently, a combined analysis was performed, where the influence of favourable expression in relation to patient overall (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) using the Kaplan Meier survival curves and multivariate analysis.

Results: The mRNA expression of the molecules showed a varying degree of association with the clinicopathological parameters. PD-1 transcript expression showed a significant correlation with mTOR expression (p &lt; 0.001). PDL-1 transcript expression was seen to correlate with mTOR (p &lt; 0.001), Rictor (p &lt; 0.001) and Tuberin (p &lt; 0.01) transcript expression. However, when the expression profile was analysed using an integrated expression score, the combined predictive value for the clinical outcome of the five genes was highly significant in terms of OS (p &lt; 0.001) and DFS (p = 0.001), and was found to be an independent prognostic factor (p&lt;0.001) for breast cancer related death using a multivariate analysis.

Conclusions: Our study identifies a molecular signature of 5 genes as a powerful prognostic predictor of OS and DFS in patients with breast cancer.

Citation Format: Uhercik M, Sanders AJ, Owen S, Davies EL, Sharma AK, Jiang WG, Mokbel K. Prognostic value of programmed death 1/Programmed death ligand 1/ mammalian target of rapamycin/Rictor/Tuberin in human breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-07-27.

Foot-and-mouth disease virus transmission dynamics and persistence in a herd of vaccinated dairy cattle in India

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an important transboundary disease with substantial economic impacts. Although between-herd transmission of the disease has been well studied, studies focusing on within-herd transmission using farm-level outbreak data are rare. The aim of this study was to estimate parameters associated with within-herd transmission, host physiological factors and FMD virus (FMDV) persistence using data collected from an outbreak that occurred at a large, organized dairy farm in India. Of 1,836 regularly vaccinated, adult dairy cattle, 222 had clinical signs of FMD over a 39-day period. Assuming homogenous mixing, a frequency-dependent compartmental model of disease transmission was built. The transmission coefficient and basic reproductive number were estimated to be between 16.2-18.4 and 67-88, respectively. Non-pregnant animals were more likely to manifest clinical signs of FMD as compared to pregnant cattle. Based on oropharyngeal fluid (probang) sampling and FMDV-specific RT-PCR, four of 36 longitudinally sampled animals (14%) were persistently infected carriers 10.5 months post-outbreak. There was no statistical difference between subclinical and clinically infected animals in the duration of the carrier state. However, prevalence of NSP-ELISA antibodies differed significantly between subclinical and clinically infected animals 12 months after the outbreak with 83% seroprevalence amongst clinically infected cattle compared to 69% of subclinical animals. This study further elucidates within-herd FMD transmission dynamics during the acute-phase and characterizes duration of FMDV persistence and seroprevalence of FMD under natural conditions in an endemic setting.

Nano-Based Anti-Tubercular Drug Delivery and Therapeutic Interventions in Tuberculosis

Nanotechnology has shown great promise in health care offering numerous possibilities to significantly improve diagnosis of many dreadful diseases including Tuberculosis (TB). Nanomedicine has made the current drug regimen more effective against diseases particularly TB with attributes like sustained release, increased half life, higher drug concentrations at target sites, reduced toxicity and lesser side effects. However because of the severity of the disease, there is a strong urge to develop better approaches with some concomitant regimens using nano-particles to diagnose, treat and manage TB patients. The current review highlights some of the evolving strategies in the field of nanomedicine particularly drug delivery offering promising alternative for the current TB regimens. The study also emphasizes upon the need to design more effective nanocarriers which are highly specific, biocompatible and biodegradable as well.

Molecular etiopathology of naturally occurring reproductive diseases in female goats

AIM

The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular etiopathology of occurrence of reproductive diseases in female goats. Reproductive diseases in goats account for major economic losses to goat farmers in terms of valuable loss of offspring and animal productivity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 660 female genitalia were examined for pathological conditions (macroscopic and microscopic lesions). The etiopathological study was carried out for the presence of pathogenic organisms such as Brucella, Chlamydia, and Campylobacter in the uterus and ovary. Based on the microscopic lesions, suspected samples were subjected to diagnostic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for various etiological agents employing 16srRNA genus specific primers for Campylobacter and Chlamydophila and OMP31 gene-based PCR for Brucella melitensis and nested PCR using ITS-1 gene primers for Toxoplasma gondii. For Brucella suspected samples, immunohistochemistry (IHC) was also performed.

RESULTS

In studied female genitalia, 108 (16.30%) showed gross abnormalities with overall 23.32% occurrence of pathological conditions (macroscopic and microscopic lesions). Pathological involvement of the uterus was the highest 68 (62.96%), followed by the ovaries 27 (25%) and other organs. Major uterine condition observed was endometritis (5.60%). In uterine infections, 35 (5.30%) samples were found positive for Campylobacter spp., 12 (1.81%) samples for B. melitensis, and 3 (0.45%) samples were positive for Chlamydophila spp. Among the samples positive for B. melitensis by PCR, 3 were found positive by IHC also. Corynebacterium ovis was detected by PCR using specific primers in a case of hydrosalpinx. It was concluded that many pathological lesions in female genitalia of functional significance play a major role in infertility in goats.

CONCLUSION

The present study concluded that many pathological lesions in female genitalia of functional significance play a major role in infertility in goats.

Stridor and emphysema due to cystic echinococcosis in cattle and buffalo intermediate hosts in Punjab, India

The clinical symptoms associated with hydatid disease in the bovine populations remain largely unknown and the disease is usually considered asymptomatic in these intermediate hosts. We report occurrence of symptoms such as sudden onset of continuous stridor, coughing and wheezing due to hydatid cysts present in the lungs of infected cattle and buffalo. Two cattle and one buffalo presented to the Teaching Veterinary Hospital, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University with the complaint of continuous stridor, coughing and wheezing with normal feed and water intake were followed up. The comprehensive clinical examination followed by haematology, radiography of upper and lower respiratory tract, ultrasonography of lungs, liver and reticulum revealed presence of multiple hydatid cysts in the lung parenchyma. There was presence of subcutaneous emphysema in one of the infected animal. Radiography revealed cysts occupying up to 60% of alveolar space in the lungs. Endoscopy up to hilus was carried out to rule out the presence of any other mass/lesion in the respiratory tract. Per cutaneous aspiration (Ultrasound guided) of cystic fluid confirmed the diagnosis and fertile nature of hydatid cysts. The current study reports association of stridor and emphysema with hydatid disease in bovine hosts and it is important that veterinary practitioners in endemic areas consider hydatid disease for differential diagnosis when investigating the etiology of stridor and emphysema in bovine intermediate hosts.

Pharmacological activities of cinnamaldehyde and eugenol: antioxidant, cytotoxic and anti-leishmanial studies

The present study reports the antioxidant, cytotoxic and anti-leishmanial activities of cinnamaldehyde and eugenol. Both the compounds are naturally present in cinnamon and bay leaf. Eugenol is abundantly present in clove. The antioxidant potential was measured in terms of reducing power (FRAP assay), nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging ability and anti-lipid peroxidative activities. MTT assay was used to evaluate the effect of test compounds on cell viability of prostate cancer cell line (PC-3) as well as for the assessment of in vitro growth inhibition of promastigotes as a measure of anti-leishmanial activity.  Eugenol exhibited considerable NO radical scavenging (63%) and reducing abilities (FRAP value 127×104 µM/mM) while cinnamaldehyde showed comparatively better protective efficacy against lipid peroxidation in rat brain and kidney homogenates (up to 40%). Cinnamaldehyde also displayed substantial cytotoxic activity (75%) against PC-3 cell line. Both the compounds exhibited moderate anti-leishmanial activity and IC50 values for eugenol and cinnamaldehyde were found to be 0.681 g/ml and 1.426g/ml, respectively. The study revealed that both the test compounds have noticeable antioxidant and cytotoxic activities.

Comparison of fluoxetine and 1-methyl-L-tryptophan in treatment of depression-like illness in Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-induced inflammatory model of depression in mice

BACKGROUND

The inflammatory response system has been implicated in the pathophysiology of major depression. The pro-inflammatory cytokines like interferon-γ induce the enzyme indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) of the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism. The induction of IDO reduces the availability of tryptophan for serotonin synthesis. Furthermore, the metabolites of kynurenine pathway have neurotoxic property, which along with decreased serotonin may account for depression-like illness.

METHODS

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of treatment with fluoxetine and 1-methyl-L-tryptophan (1-MT) on Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-induced inflammatory model of depression in mice. Behavioral tests included locomotor activity, forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). Oxidative stress was assessed by examining the levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) and non-protein thiols (NP-SH) in homogenized whole brain samples. Comet assays were performed to assess neurotoxicity.

RESULTS

The results of this study demonstrate that BCG treatment resulted in an increase in duration of immobility in FST and TST as compared to the saline group. Further, it produced a significant increase in the brain TBARS levels and decrease in the brain NP-SH levels. The hippocampal tissue from BCG group had significantly more comet cells than the saline group. 1-MT and fluoxetine were able to reverse the BCG-induced depression-like behavior and the derangement in oxidative stress parameters. Fluoxetine and 1-MT also reversed the BCG-induced neurotoxicity in such mice.

CONCLUSIONS

1-Methyl-L-tryptophan exhibits antidepressant-like effect comparable to that of fluoxetine in treating BCG-induced depression-like behavior in mice.

Quantitative characteristics of the foot-and-mouth disease carrier state under natural conditions in India

The goal of this study was to characterize the properties and duration of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) carrier state and associated serological responses subsequent to vaccination and naturally occurring infection at two farms in northern India. Despite previous vaccination of cattle in these herds, clinical signs of FMD occurred in October 2013 within a subset of animals at the farms containing juvenile-yearling heifers and steers (Farm A) and adult dairy cattle (Farm B). Subsequent to the outbreak, FMD virus (FMDV) asymptomatic carriers were identified in both herds by seroreactivity to FMDV non-structural proteins and detection of FMDV genomic RNA in oropharyngeal fluid. Carriers' seroreactivity and FMDV genome detection status were subsequently monitored monthly for 23 months. The mean extinction time of the carrier state was 13.1 ± 0.2 months, with extinction having occurred significantly faster amongst adult dairy cattle at Farm B compared to younger animals at Farm A. The rate of decrease in the proportion of carrier animals was calculated to be 0.07 per month. Seroprevalence against FMDV non-structural proteins decreased over the course of the study period, but was found to increase transiently following repeated vaccinations. These data provide novel insights into viral and host factors associated with the FMDV carrier state under natural conditions. The findings reported herein may be relevant to field veterinarians and governmental regulatory entities engaged in FMD response and control measures.

Simple Technique of Bridging Wide Gap in Esophageal Atresia with Tracheoesophageal Fistula - "Surgical Innovation"

The survival of the patients with esophageal atresia an tracheo esophageal fistula is believed to be an epitome of the success of the neonatal surgery. Restoring the continuty of the food pipe by esophagus to esophagus anastomosis is the best option. Preservation of natural esophagus by delayed repair in a wide gap esophageal atresia is a preferred technique worldwide, however such a management required prolonged hospitalization and dedicated nursing care, which is often not available in most of the centres in India. Esophageal substitutes in wide gap requires multiple operations and have long term problems, so remains the last option. I use the technique of oblique anastomosis which had distrinct advantage over circular anastomosis in the management of esophageal atresia1. This techniqe helps in bridging wide gap to some extent & minimal stricture formation.

Clinico-anesthetic changes following administration of propofol alone and in combination of meperidine and pentazocine lactate in dogs

Aim:

The aim of this study is to find out the effect of propofol and its combination with meperidine and pentazocine lactate on certain clinico-anesthetic profiles in dogs.

Materials and Methods:

15 apparently healthy mongrel dogs of either sex of about 1 year of age were randomly divided into three groups of five dogs each. The animals of Group I were administered propofol intravenously alone “to effect,” whereas meperidine at 2 mg/kgb.wt. and pentazocine lactate at 2 mg/kg b.wt. were injected intramuscularly 15 min before propofol “to effect” in Groups II and III, respectively. Atropine sulfate at 0.04 mg/kgb.wt. was injected intramuscularly 20 min before each treatment. Rectal temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, and anesthetic indices were recorded before and at 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min of induction.

Results:

As compared to Group I, the animals of Groups II and III exhibited a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the level of rectal temperature, respiration rate, and heart rate. Duration of recumbency, time of standing, time of recovery as well as the duration of analgesia were longer in pentazocine lactate (Group III) followed by meperidine (Group II) as compared to propofol alone (Group I). Meperidine treated dogs showed defecation and muscle twitching during anesthesia.

Conclusion:

Meperidine and pentazocine are suitable opioids used in combination with propofol for achieving surgical anesthesia and helpful in reduction of propofol dose.

Effect of amino acids on the repression of alkaline protease synthesis in haloalkaliphilic Nocardiopsis dassonvillei

A newly isolated salt-tolerant alkaliphilic actinomycete, Nocardiopsis dassonvillei strain OK-18 grows on mineral salts medium with glucose as carbon source. It also grows and produces protease with amino acids as sole carbon source. The synthesis of extracellular alkaline protease parallel to growth was repressible by substrate concentrations. The absolute production of the protease was delinked with growth under nutritional stress, as protease production was high, despite poor growth. When amino acids served as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen, the enzyme production was significantly controlled by the number of amino acids. Maximal protease production was achieved with proline, asparagine, tyrosine, alanine, methionine and valine as sole source of carbon and nitrogen in minimal medium. With the increasing number of different amino acids in the presence and absence of glucose, the protease production was synergistically lower as compared to complex medium.