Oral Manifestation of Viral-Induced Erythema Multiforme Major: A Rare Presentation

Erythema multiforme is an acute inflammatory mucocutaneous disease manifested as macules, vesicles, bullae, erosion, and papular lesions. In the present case, a 55-year-old female patient reported painful growth in the oral cavity and difficulty in mastication. The patient gave a history of prodromal symptoms before the onset of lesions On intra-oral examination, elevated plaque-like lesions were present bilaterally on lateral borders of the tongue and buccal mucosa near the retromolar region. Extraoral examination revealed concentric erythematous target (or) bull's eye lesions in palms, forearm, and foot. Based on history, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations, recurrent herpes-associated erythema multiforme was diagnosed. We report a rare clinical presentation of recurrent herpes-associated erythema multiforme manifesting as an extensive plaque-like lesion intra-orally.

Estimation of postmortem death interval from autopsied tongue tissue: A cross-sectional study

Context:

Estimation of time since death is the preliminary step in any postmortem examination. Although there are various physiological methods to conclude the postmortem, interval histological changes can be applied to obtain precision. However, the utility of oral tissues for such an event is still evolving.

Aims:

The present study was conducted to assess the efficacy of postmortem histological changes that occur in tongue to conclude the postmortem interval (PMI).

Materials and Methods:

After obtaining institutional human ethical committee, tongue tissue was collected for during routine autopsy procedure. The study comprised twelve autopsied tongue tissues. The tissue specimens were subjected to routine laboratory tissue processing procedure and the histological changes were evaluated.

Conclusion:

This is the first study of this kind in the scientific literature to explore the tongue tissue to estimate the PMI. There were definite changes in the epithelium and the connective tissue of the tongue, and these features were highly remarkable at various postmortem time intervals.

Meta-analysis on risk factors of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue in young adults

Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) generally affects the older age group exposed to tobacco for an extended period. However, recent research points out that there is an increased incidence of TSCC in the younger age group without any traditional risk factors making TSCC as a distinct biological entity in this group. This study aims to assess the prevalence and risk factors of tongue carcinoma in the younger group of patients. This article included studies that addressed the TSCC involving young patients and that which are PubMed indexed. Initially, 390 articles were considered; but after refined evaluation, 123 articles had their titles and abstracts matching to this present work. After the extraction of the case reports, review articles and the articles without the assessment of the parameter of harmful habits, we have included only 23 articles in the sample matching the title. The statistical analysis was formed by using chi-square tests using IBM SPSS ver. 20.0. The cohort of the younger population in these studies was mostly in the 35- to the 45-year age group. The majority of reports (64%) classified the patients below 40 years of age as a young group. Though male predominance is reported to be 55%, female patients are also more affected (40%) in the younger age group compared with, the more typical and usual group of head and neck carcinoma patients. TSCC in older adults predominantly reported in tobacco users (70%) whereas in young adults, TSCC was associated with a higher incidence in nonsmokers (53%); the causes of these cancers in young adults remain unclear. The identification of the potential risk factors aside from traditional factors is vital to control the incidence of TSCC in young patients.

Molecular predictors in the early diagnosis of oral cancer

Human beings are being subjected to a variety of disease processes, a majority of which can be cured. However, cancer remains an endangering disease that affects various body parts. Though cancers can be prevented by various therapeutic modalities, the patient survival and the prognosis are questionable, as they are detected at very late stages. The aim of improving the prognosis lies in an early detection of the cancer, which can be brought about by an analysis of the changes in the cellular biomolecules.

Identification of alpha amylase inhibitors from Syzygium cumini Linn seeds

The aqueous extract of S. cumini or Eugenia jambolana seeds and Psidium guajava leaves showed higher inhibition against the porcine pancreatic alpha-amylase among the medicinal plants studied. The alpha-amylase inhibitors from S. cumini seeds were separated from the extract by preparative thin layer chromatography into fractions with different Rf values. The fraction with Rf value between 0.285 and 0.43, which showed maximum inhibitory activity, was eluted and analyzed through LC-MS. The compounds identified from the seed extract ofS. cumini were betulinic acid and 3,5,7,4'-tetrahydroxy flavanone, which were reported earlier from S. formosanum and other plants. Dixon plot showed that the inhibition was noncompetitive in nature.

Isolation of RNA from Polysaccharide‐Rich Seeds

Commonly, RNA isolation is the initial step in the study of gene expression analysis and also in the utilization of genes for genetic improvement. However, the recovery of large amounts of RNA with high quality is a difficult process, especially in tissues containing enhanced levels of polysaccharides and other secondary metabolites. Since several procedures for RNA isolation from polysaccharides rich plant tissues have been resulting in poor yields, an effective new protocol is essential for RNA isolation and further analysis. Here, we describe a novel modified technique for isolating total RNA from maturing grains. As a model, we utilized little finger millets, important food staples, which correspond to short duration crops cultivated in varied agro climatic conditions. After isolation, the total RNA was resolved on a denaturing agarose gel, showing more sharp bands of 28S, 18S, and 5S with no degradation. Therefore, the RNA concentration (higher than 1.80) was calculated by spectrophotometry, indicating that RNA is concentrated. Finally, RT-PCR and Northern hybridization confirmed high RNA quality.

Cloning and structural analysis of an Indian little millet (Panicum sumatrense) zein-like storage protein: implications for molecular assembly

Zeins are prolamin storage proteins that accumulate in kernel endosperm of several cereals. For cloning of genes coding for zein-like proteins that accumulate in enhanced quantities in the filling stages of little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth.) developing grains, RT-PCR was performed using specific primers. A 750-bp cDNA was directly sequenced and in silico analysis showed high identity degree to alpha-prolamins. This family is composed of zeins from Zea mays, coixins from Coix lachryma-jobi, and alpha-kafirins from Sorghum bicolor. The putative conserved domain of zein-like proteins was identified by primary structure comparisons. Furthermore, threading analyses indicated that the millet zein-like protein forms an anti-parallel alpha-helical hairpin with two opposite surfaces: one hydrophobic and the other hydrophilic that probably could be involved in protein storage assembly. Knowledge about zein-like alpha-prolamins in little millet will lead to cloning and transfer of this gene to other major food crops, such as cereals and legumes, with inferior nutritional quality for monogastric animals.

Screening and Purification of a Novel Trypsin Inhibitor from Prosopis juliflora Seeds with Activity Toward Pest Digestive Enzymes

Several pests are capable of decreasing crop production causing severe economical and social losses. Aiming to find novel molecules that could impede the digestion process of different pests, a screening of alpha-amylase and trypsin-like proteinase inhibitors was carried out in Prosopis juliflora, showing the presence of both in dry seeds. Furthermore, a novel trypsin inhibitor, with molecular mass of 13,292 Da, was purified showing remarkable in vitro activity against T. castaneum and C. maculatus.

Characterization of starches of proso, foxtail, barnyard, kodo, and little millets

Scanning electron microscope (SEM) pictures of small millet starch granules showed more large polygonal and few small spherical or polygonal granules. The granules of small millets resembled those of rice starch granules. The size of the starch granules ranged from 0.8-10 microm. The size of the granules was larger in barnyard millet and smaller in proso millet. Several granules showed deep indentation caused by protein bodies. SEM of starch isolated from 24 hour-germinated kodo millet showed pitting or pinholes at some points due to the attack of amylases (preferentially on bigger granules). Brabender viscoamylograph studies on small millet starches revealed that the gelatinization temperatures ranged from 75.8 to 84.9 degrees C. Barnyard millet possessed lower amylograph viscosity, minimum breakdown, and relative breakdown values when compared to the other small millets.

Isolation and characterization of a 20 kD prolamin from kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum) (L.): homology with other millets and cereals

The homologus 20 kD prolamin from kodo millet and other minor millets viz. barnyard, little and foxtail millets, were purified using preparative gel electrophoresis and reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The amino acid composition of the purified 20 kD prolamin protein from different minor millets revealed higher content of glutamic acid, alanine, leucine and serine and lower quantity of lysine and methionine. They contain 55 to 58 percent of non-polar amino acids which make them more hydrophobic than other protein fractions. The total number of amino acid residues per polypeptide chain ranged from 152 to 155 based on theoretical calculation. Peptide mapping of the 20 kD prolamin hydrolyzed with trypsin gave fewer cleavage products than expected. The antigenic relationships among these minor millets and cereals viz. wheat, maize, rice, sorghum, finger millet and pearl millet were studied using the antibody raised against the 20 kD prolamin. Cross reactivity was seen in all the minor millets at the 20 kD region. But in barnyard and little millets lower molecular weight polypeptides also cross reacted with the antibody. Immunoblotting studies revealed that the prolamins from other cereals and millets are related to the 20 kD prolamin of kodo millet. Rice was the only common cereal that did not cross react immunologically with the antibody raised against 20 kD prolamin of kodo millet.

Content of starch and sugars and in vitro digestion of starch by alpha-amylase in five minor millets

Five varieties of minor millets were studied for their amylose, soluble amylose, amylopectin, soluble amylopectin, reducing sugar, total sugar and starch contents. Pure starch was isolated from each variety and the enzymic degradation of starch by porcine pancreatic alpha-amylase were examined with and without gelatinisation. Gelatinised sample of Echinochloa frumentacea (var. K2) showed minimal hydrolysis and gelatinised sample of Panicum miliaceum (var. CO3) showed maximum hydrolysis of starch by porcine pancreatic alpha-amylase. Gelatinised starch was highly susceptible to enzymic digestion when compared to ungelatinised starch. The extent of starch degradation varied from 71 to 85 percent in gelatinised samples and starch degradation in ungelatinised sample varied from 10 to 18 percent.

Homologies between prolamins of different minor millets

Minor millets, viz. Barnyard millet, Proso millet, Little millet, Foxtail millet and Kodo millet, one variety in each grown in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu were selected for the study. The protein contents of the selected decorticated millets were found to be 11.0, 12.3, 12.9, 10.5 and 10.6% respectively. Fractionation of these proteins revealed that prolamin forms major storage protein in Foxtail millet whereas, glutelin forms major storage protein in all the other millets. The extractability was studied using different solvents, viz. isopropyl alcohol, t-butyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol with varying concentration of 2-mercapto ethanol. Electrophoretic pattern of the extracted prolamins from these millets were compared and found that a protein band at the molecular weight range of 20 kD was found homologous in all except Proso millet. The extractability of the 20 kD protein in 90% isopropyl alcohol showed its strong hydrophobic nature.