Phyto-therapeutic potential of Withania somnifera: Molecular mechanism and health implications

Withania somnifera, the plant named Indian ginseng, Ashwagandha, or winter cherry, has been used since ancient times to cure various health ailments. Withania somnifera is rich in constituents belonging to chemical classes like alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and withanolides. Several chemotypes were identified based on their phytochemical composition and credited for their multiple bioactivities. Besides, exhibiting neuroprotective, immunomodulatory, adaptogenic, anti-stress, bone health, plant has shown promising anti-cancer properties. Several withanolides have been reported to play a crucial role in cancer; they target cancer cells by different mechanisms such as modulating the expression of tumor suppressor genes, apoptosis, telomerase expression, and regulating cell signaling pathway. Though, many treatments are available for cancer; however, to date, no assured reliable cure for cancer is made available. Additionally, synthetic drugs may lead to development of resistance in time; therefore, focus on new and natural drugs for cancer therapeutics may prove a longtime effective alternative. This current report is a comprehensive combined analysis upto 2023 with articles focused on bio-activities of plant Withania somnifera from various sources, including national and international government sources. This review focuses on understanding of various mechanisms and pathways to inhibit uncontrolled cell growth by W. somnifera bioactives, as reported in literature. This review provides a recent updated status of the W. somnifera on pharmacological properties in general and anti-cancer in particular and may provide a guiding resource for researchers associated with natural product-based cancer research and healthcare management.

Multi-view representation learning for tabular data integration using inter-feature relationships

OBJECTIVE

An applied problem facing all areas of data science is harmonizing data sources. Joining data from multiple origins with unmapped and only partially overlapping features is a prerequisite to developing and testing robust, generalizable algorithms, especially in healthcare. This integrating is usually resolved using meta-data such as feature names, which may be unavailable or ambiguous. Our goal is to design methods that create a mapping between structured tabular datasets derived from electronic health records independent of meta-data.

METHODS

We evaluate methods in the challenging case of numeric features without reliable and distinctive univariate summaries, such as nearly Gaussian and binary features. We assume that a small set of features are a priori mapped between two datasets, which share unknown identical features and possibly many unrelated features. Inter-feature relationships are the main source of identification which we expect. We compare the performance of contrastive learning methods for feature representations, novel partial auto-encoders, mutual-information graph optimizers, and simple statistical baselines on simulated data, public datasets, the MIMIC-III medical-record changeover, and perioperative records from before and after a medical-record system change. Performance was evaluated using both mapping of identical features and reconstruction accuracy of examples in the format of the other dataset.

RESULTS

Contrastive learning-based methods overall performed the best, often substantially beating the literature baseline in matching and reconstruction, especially in the more challenging real data experiments. Partial auto-encoder methods showed on-par matching with contrastive methods in all synthetic and some real datasets, along with good reconstruction. However, the statistical method we created performed reasonably well in many cases, with much less dependence on hyperparameter tuning. When validating feature match output in the EHR dataset we found that some mistakes were actually a surrogate or related feature as reviewed by two subject matter experts.

CONCLUSION

In simulation studies and real-world examples, we find that inter-feature relationships are effective at identifying matching or closely related features across tabular datasets when meta-data is not available. Decoder architectures are also reasonably effective at imputing features without an exact match.

Differential regulation of key triterpene synthase gene under abiotic stress in Withania somnifera L. Dunal and its co-relation to sterols and withanolides

Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha), is one of the most reputed Indian medicinal plants, having immense pharmacological activities due to the occurrence of withanolides. The withanolides are biosynthesized through triterpenoid biosynthetic pathway with the involvement of WsCAS leading to cyclization of 2, 3 oxidosqualene, which is a key metabolite to further diversify to a myriad of phytochemicals. In contrast to the available reports on the studies of WsCAS in withanolide biosynthesis, its involvement in phytosterol biosynthesis needs investigation. Present work deals with the understanding of role of WsCAS triterpenoid synthase gene in the regulation of biosynthesis of phytosterols & withanolides. Docking studies of WsCAS protein revealed Conserved amino acids, DCATE motif, and QW motif which are involved in efficient substrate binding, structure stabilization, and catalytic activity. Overexpression/silencing of WsCAS leading to increment/decline of phytosterols confers its stringent regulation in phytosterols biosynthesis. Differential regulation of WsCAS on the metabolic flux towards phytosterols and withanolide biosynthesis was observed under abiotic stress conditions. The preferential channelization of 2, 3 oxidosqualene towards withanolides and/or phytosterols occurred under heat/salt stress and cold/water stress, respectively. Stigmasterol and β-sitosterol showed major contribution in high/low temperature and salt stress, and campesterol in water stress management. Overexpression of WsCAS in Arabidopsis thaliana led to the increment in phytosterols in general. Thus, the WsCAS plays important regulatory role in the biosynthetic pathway of phytosterols and withanolides under abiotic stress conditions.

Network interactions with functional roles and evolutionary relationships for BURP domain-containing proteins in chickpea and model species

The functional significance and evolutionary relationships of BURP domain-containing genes unique to plants is of interest. Network analysis reveals different associations of BURP proteins with other proteins and functional terms, throwing light on their involvement in various biological processes and pathways. The gene expression data reveals that BURP genes are affected by salinity stress, reflecting diverse expression patterns in roots and shoots.

Social Vulnerability and Surgery Outcomes: A Cross-sectional Analysis

Background

Post-operative complications present a challenge to the healthcare system due to the high unpredictability of their incidence. However, the socioeconomic factors that relate to postoperative complications are still unclear as they can be heterogeneous based on communities, types of surgical services, and sex and gender.

Methods

In this study, we conducted a large population cross-sectional analysis of social vulnerability and the odds of various post-surgical complications. We built statistical logistic regression models of postsurgical complications with social vulnerability index as the independent variable along with sex interaction.

Results

We found that social vulnerability was associated with abnormal heart rhythm with socioeconomic status and housing status being the main association factors. We also found associations of the interaction of social vulnerability and female sex with an increase in odds of heart attack and surgical wound infection.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that social vulnerability measures such as socioeconomic status and housing conditions could be related to health outcomes. This suggests that the domain of preventive medicine should place social vulnerability as a priority to achieve its goals.

Brain Hemisphere Dissimilarity, a Self-Supervised Learning Approach for alpha-synucleinopathies prediction with FDG PET

Idiopathic Rem sleep Behavior Disorder (iRBD) is a significant biomarker for the development of alpha-synucleinopathies, such as Parkinson's disease (PD) or Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Methods to identify patterns in iRBD patients can help in the prediction of the future conversion to these diseases during the long prodromal phase when symptoms are non-specific. These methods are essential for disease management and clinical trial recruitment. Brain PET scans with 18F-FDG PET radiotracers have recently shown promise, however, the scarcity of longitudinal data and PD/DLB conversion information makes the use of representation learning approaches such as deep convolutional networks not feasible if trained in a supervised manner. In this work, we propose a self-supervised learning strategy to learn features by comparing the brain hemispheres of iRBD non-convertor subjects, which allows for pre-training a convolutional network on a small data regimen. We introduce a loss function called hemisphere dissimilarity loss (HDL), which extends the Barlow Twins loss, that promotes the creation of invariant and non-redundant features for brain hemispheres of the same subject, and the opposite for hemispheres of different subjects. This loss enables the pre-training of a network without any information about the disease, which is then used to generate full brain feature vectors that are fine-tuned to two downstream tasks: follow-up conversion, and the type of conversion (PD or DLB) using baseline 18F-FDG PET. In our results, we find that the HDL outperforms the variational autoencoder with different forms of inputs.

Comparative sequence analysis of SARS nCoV and SARS CoV genomes for variation in structural proteins

SARS-nCoV was identified as corona virus had spread worldwide very quickly and affected more than million people worldwide. To halt this acceleration and for efficient control the knowledge on genomic information is of utmost importance. We attempted to determine the nature of variation i.e., insertion, deletion, substitution, among structural sequences required to code for membrane, spike, nucleocapsid, envelope protein and glycosylation variation between SARS CoV and SARS nCoV spike glycoproteins, respectively. Comparative sequence analysis was performed by using retrieved sequences from the NCBI database. The analyzed sequences revealed, that the sequences coding for envelope protein show minor substituting amino acids. SARS CoV showed 94.74 percent amino acid identities with SARS nCoV amino acid sequences coding for envelope protein. In comparison to SARS nCoV, distinct amino acid residues vary in SARS CoV sequences coding for membrane, nucleocapsid, and spike proteins, respectively. S protein coding sequences of SARS CoV exhibited one deletion, six insertion and six hundred three substitutions in SARS nCoV sequence. Insertion of valine was found in receptor binding domain of SARS nCoV at position 487, and NSPR amino acid residues at position 683–686. Deletions and substitutions were also found in nucleotide sequences of strain B.1.617.2 of SARS nCoV. Additionally, binding interaction pattern of ACE2 receptor protein with original wild-type SARS-CoV-2 strain with the recently evolved Omicron variant was also evaluated. The docking results substantiated that the specific variation in binding residues is likely to impact virulence pattern of both variants.

Cloning and homologous characterization of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase (GGPPS) from Withania somnifera revealed alterations in metabolic flux towards gibberellic acid biosynthesis

Overexpression of a novel geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase gene (WsGGPPS) in planta resulted in increased levels of gibberellic acid and decrease in withanolide content. Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, the herb from family Solanaceae is one of the most treasured medicinal plant used in traditional medicinal systems owing to its unique stockpile of pharmaceutically active secondary metabolites. Phytochemical and pharmacological studies in this plant were well established, but the genes affecting the regulation of biosynthesis of major metabolites were not well elucidated. In this study cloning and functional characterization of a key enzyme in terpenoid biosynthetic pathway viz. geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase (EC 2.5.1.29) gene from Withania somnifera was performed. The full length WsGGPPS gene contained 1,104 base pairs that encode a polypeptide of 365 amino acids. The quantitative expression analysis suggested that WsGGPPS transcripts were expressed maximally in flower tissues followed by berry tissues. The expression levels of WsGGPPS were found to be regulated by methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and salicylic acid (SA). Amino acid sequence alignment and phylogenetic studies suggested that WsGGPPS had close similarities with GGPPS of Solanum tuberosum and Solanum pennellii. The structural analysis provided basic information about three dimensional features and physicochemical parameters of WsGGPPS protein. Overexpression of WsGGPPS in planta for its functional characterization suggested that the WsGGPPS was involved in gibberellic acid biosynthesis.

Vascular risk factors affect different brain regions in people with Alzheimer’s disease

Introduction

Vascular risk factors including hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia promote diverse pathological mechanisms in the brain leading to cerebral hypoperfusion and ultimately cognitive decline in people. Medial temporal, medial frontal and anterior cingulate atrophy has been closely associated with diabetes and medial temporal lobe atrophy is associated with hypertension in people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Objectives

To assess if hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia have differential effects on different brain locations using brain imaging in people with AD.

Methods

The current study is based on [¹⁸F] fluorodeoxyglucose- positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) data of 970 participants from two large Phase III multi-centre clinical trials of a novel tau aggregation inhibitor drug Leuco-Methylthioninium (LMTX)meeting research criteria for mild to moderate AD. Vascular risk factor data including hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia were collected and quantification of FDG PET hypo-metabolism was done by calculating Standardized Uptake Value Ratio(SUVR).

Results

Hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia were found to have differential effects on brain locations in people with AD. When people with hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia were compared to those without, mean SUVR was increased significantly in both left and right parietal and occipital lobes and decreased in left and right anterior cingulate gyri in hypertensives. SUVR was significantly higher in both left and right temporal lobes in diabetics andlower in both left and right anterior cingulate gyri in people with dyslipidaemia.

Conclusions

Vascular risk factors including hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia have differential effects on different brain regions, measured using SUVR analysis of FDG-PET.

Disclosure

The FDG-PET data was taken from participants of two large phase III clinical trials sponsored by TauRx Therapeutics (Singapore). TauRx Therapeutics has contributed towards my studentship during my PhD but the data related to drug used in the clinical tria

Bronco T (Shirisadi kasaya), a polyherbal formulation prevents LPS induced septicemia in rats

OBJECTIVE

Here, Bronco T (BT), a polyherbal formulation developed in 1984 for treating asthma, has been repurposed against septicemia-induced ALI.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Lipopolysaccharides (3 mg/kg BW) were injected intraperitoneally before 24 hours of surgery to assess the cardiorespiratory parameters, blood PaO2/FiO2 and MPO, pulmonary water content and histological changes in the lungs. The pentoxifylline (PTX) (25 mg/kg BW) was used as the positive control and given one hour before LPS. BT was given 3 hours (orally at different doses of 3, 1.5 and 0.75 g/kg BW) before LPS.

RESULTS

The LPS treated group showed significant bradypnea, hypotension and bradycardia, through elongated peaks (RR) and (MAP) respectively and finally death after 95 minutes of LPS injection. The PTX and BT (3 g/kg BW) pretreatment significantly prevented these changes (dose-dependent in the BT group). The survival in these groups was maintained up to 190 min after LPS. The Pentoxifylline showed a better response (75%) than Bronco T (72%). In both the treatments, a significant decrease in pulmonary water content and minimal neutrophil infiltration and intact alveoli-capillary membrane was seen in the transverse section (T.S) of the lungs.

CONCLUSIONS

Significant improvement was noted in survival time with lesser tissue damage and improved pulmonary function was observed by pre-treating with Bronco T in LPS induced septicemia.

Molecular characterization of SlATG18f in response to Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus infection in tomato and development of a CAPS marker for leaf curl disease tolerance

Analysis of autophagy-related genes in tomato shows the involvement of SlATG18f in leaf curl disease tolerance and a CAPS marker developed from this gene demonstrates its usefulness in marker-assisted selection. Autophagy is a highly conserved catabolic process regulating cellular homeostasis and adaptation to different biotic and abiotic stress. Several autophagy-related proteins (ATGs) are reported to be involved in autophagic processes, and considering their importance in regulating growth and stress adaptation, these proteins have been identified and characterized in several plant species. However, there is no information available on the role of autophagy-related proteins regulating the tolerance of tomato to tomato leaf curl disease (ToLCD). Given this, the present genome-wide study identified thirty ATG-encoding genes (SlATG) in tomato, followed by their functional characterization. Expression profiling of the SlATG genes in contrasting tomato cultivars subjected to virus infection showed a 4.5-fold upregulation of SlATG18f in the tolerant cultivar. Further, virus-induced gene silencing of SlATG18f in the tolerant cultivar conferred disease susceptibility, which suggested the role of this gene in Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus tolerance. Comparison of the gene sequence of both tolerant and susceptible cultivars along with the 5' upstream regions identified an SNP (A/T) at -2916 upstream of the start codon. A cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker was developed targeting this region, which showed a significant association with the tolerance characteristics in the tomato germplasm (R² = 0.1787). Altogether, the study identified a potential gene that could be used to develop ToLCNDV tolerant tomato cultivars using transgene-based or marker-assisted breeding-based approaches.

In silico mining and functional analysis of AP2/ERF gene in Withania somnifera

Withania somnifera owing to its strong and remarkable stress tolerance property is a reliable candidate for the determination of genes involved in mechanism of adaption/tolerance of various stress conditions. 187 AP2/ERF gene related transcripts (GRTs) were identified during comprehensive search in W. somnifera transcriptome repertoire. Major hits in homology search were observed from the model plant Arabidopsis and members of Solanaceae family. Cloning, expression analysis of the gene and genetic transient transformation with the gene (WsAP2) were performed to predict its functional role in planta. Enhanced expression of some of the pathway genes for terpenoid biosynthesis was observed in transformed tissues in comparison to the control tissues. It is speculated that WsAP2 gene crucially regulates the expression of GGPPS gene in addition to the regulation of other important genes of terpenoid pathway via induction of expression of other genes such as HMGR, CAS, DXS and DXR. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report representing detailed study of AP2/ERF gene family in W. somnifera. It is also suggested from the study that gene might have role in eliciting responses to combat stress and attribute the strong stress tolerant property associated with the plant.

Berry transcriptome: insights into a novel resource to understand development dependent secondary metabolism in Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha)

Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) is considered as Rasayana in Indian systems of medicine. This study reports a novel transcriptome of W. somnifera berries, with high depth, quality and coverage. Assembled and annotated transcripts for nearly all genes related with the withanolide biosynthetic pathway were obtained. Tissue-wide gene expression analysis reflected almost similar definitions for the terpenoid pathway in leaf, root and berry tissues with relatively higher abundance of transcripts linked to steroid, phenylpropanoid metabolism as well as flavonoid metabolism in berries. The metabolome map generated from the data embodied transcripts from 143 metabolic pathways connected together and mediated collectively by about 1792 unique enzyme functions specific to berry, leaf and root tissues, respectively. Transcripts specific to cytochrome p450 (CYP450), methyltransferases and glycosyltransferases were distinctively located in a tissue specific manner and exhibited a complex network. Significant distribution of transcription factor genes such as MYB, early light inducible protein (ELI), minichromosome maintenance1, agamous, deficiens and serum response factor (MADS) and WRKY etc. was observed, as the major transcriptional regulators of secondary metabolism. Validation of the assembly was ascertained by cloning WsELI, which has a light dependent regulatory role in development. Quantitative expression of WsELI was observed to be considerably modulated upon exposure to abiotic stress and elicitors. Co-relation of over-expression of WsELI, may provide new aspects for the functional role of ELI proteins in plants linked to secondary metabolism. The study offers the first comprehensive and comparative evaluation of W. somnifera transcriptome data between the three tissues and across other members of Solanaceae (Nicotiana, Solanum and Capsicum) with respect to major pathways and their metabolome regulation.

Comparison of Morphologic Findings in Patients with Dextrocardia with Situs Solitus vs Situs Inversus: a Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND

Studies on dextrocardia have been limited by low numbers. Hence, it is very difficult to find the most common diagnosis in patients with dextrocardia, who are seeking medical attention in tertiary care center.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE

To identify the most common diagnostic pattern in patients with dextrocardia with different situs.

METHODS

It is a retrospective study with records dating back to up to last 21 years from a major tertiary care center in south India. All the patients with diagnosis of dextrocardia (defined as right-sided baso-apical axis of heart) will be included in the study. Segmental analysis will be done as defined previously.

RESULTS

There were total of n = 378 patients with dextrocardia, 43.3% were females and median age was 1 year while mean age was 7 years. Situs solitus was present in 43.1%, Situs inversus in 38.1%, and Situs ambiguus in 18.8%. In patients with situs solitus and dextrocardia, the most common diagnosis was congenitally corrected TGA ± PS/PA followed by Double outlet Right ventricle ± PS/PA; whereas in patients with Situs inversus and dextrocardia, the most common diagnosis was Double outlet Right ventricle ± PS/PA followed by normal hearts and Left to right shunts.

CONCLUSION

In patients with dextrocardia who are seeking medical advice in a tertiary care center, they are more likely to have situs solitus followed by situs inversus. In situs solitus atrio-ventricular discordance with right ventricular outflow obstruction is the most common lesion suggesting L-looping is the most predominant mechanism. In patients with situs inversus, DORV with RVOTO is the most common lesion.

Iliac crest apophyseal insufficiency avulsion fractures

Iliac crest apophyseal avulsion fractures are rare injuries caused mainly through forceful contraction of attached muscles during high level sporting activities. We present the first case of a spontaneous iliac crest apophyseal avulsion insufficiency fracture in a patient with severe atopic eczema on oral steroids and review the relevant literature.

Recent advancements and new perspectives in animal models for Neurocysticercosis immunopathogenesis

Neurocysticercosis (NCC), one of the most common parasitic diseases of the central nervous system, is caused by Taenia solium. This parasite involves two hosts, intermediate hosts (pig and human) and a definitive host (human) and has various stages in its complex life cycle (eggs, oncosphere, cysticerci and adult tapeworm). Hence, developing an animal model for T. solium that mimics its natural course of infection is quite challenging. We have reviewed here the animal models frequently used to study immunopathogenesis of cysticercosis and also discussed their usefulness for NCC studies. We found that researchers have used mice, rats, guinea pigs, dogs, cats and pigs as models for this disease with varying degrees of success. Mice and rats models have been utilized extensively for immunopathogenesis studies due to their relative ease of handling and abundance of commercially available reagents to study these small animal models. These models have provided some very exciting results for in-depth understanding of the disease. Of late, the experimentally/naturally infected swine model is turning out to be the best animal model as the disease progression closely resembles human infection in pigs. However, handling large experimental animals has its own challenges and limitations.

Transcription factor repertoire in Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) through analytics of transcriptomic resources: Insights into regulation of development and withanolide metabolism

Transcription factors (TFs) are important regulators of cellular and metabolic functions including secondary metabolism. Deep and intensive RNA-seq analysis of Withania somnifera using transcriptomic databases provided 3532 annotated transcripts of transcription factors in leaf and root tissues, belonging to 90 different families with major abundance for WD-repeat (174 and 165 transcripts) and WRKY (93 and 80 transcripts) in root and leaf tissues respectively, followed by that of MYB, BHLH and AP2-ERF. Their detailed comparative analysis with Arabidopsis thaliana, Capsicum annum, Nicotiana tabacum and Solanum lycopersicum counterparts together gave interesting patterns. However, no homologs for WsWDR representatives, LWD1 and WUSCHEL, were observed in other Solanaceae species. The data extracted from the sequence read archives (SRA) in public domain databases were subjected to re-annotation, re-mining, re-analysis and validation for dominant occurrence of WRKY and WD-repeat (WDR) gene families. Expression of recombinant LWD1 and WUSCHEL proteins in homologous system led to enhancements in withanolide content indicating their regulatory role in planta in the biosynthesis. Contrasting expression profiles of WsLWD1 and WsWUSCHEL provided tissue-specific insights for their participation in the regulation of developmental processes. The in-depth analysis provided first full-spectrum and comparative characteristics of TF-transcripts across plant species, in the perspective of integrated tissue-specific regulation of metabolic processes including specialized metabolism.

Effect of oxygen partial pressure in deposition ambient on the properties of RF magnetron sputter deposited Gd2O3 thin films

Gadolinium oxide is an excellent optical material that offers high transmission in a wide wavelength range of 200-1600 nm and exhibits a high bulk refractive index of ∼1.80 at 550 nm. In the present study, a set of Gd₂O₃ thin films has been deposited on fused silica substrates by RF sputtering of a Gd₂O₃ target under various O₂ to Ar flow ratios. The samples have been characterized by grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD) to study the long range structural behavior, by GIXR to study density and surface roughness of the films, by atomic force microscopy measurements to study morphological properties, by Rutherford backscattering measurements for compositional studies, and by transmission spectrophotometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry techniques to study their optical properties. It has been observed that the films deposited with 10% oxygen partial pressure have low density, high surface roughness, and high void content, which results in a low value of refractive index of this film, and film quality improves as oxygen partial pressure is further increased. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure measurement with synchrotron radiation has also been employed to extract local structural information around Gd sites, which has in turn been used to explain some of the observed macroscopic properties of the films.

Withania coagulans tryptophan decarboxylase gene cloning, heterologous expression, and catalytic characteristics of the recombinant enzyme

Tryptophan decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.28) catalyzes pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent decarboxylation of tryptophan to produce tryptamine for recruitment in a myriad of biosynthetic pathways of metabolites possessing indolyl moiety. A recent report of certain indolyl metabolites in Withania species calls for a possible predominant functional role of tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC) in the genome of Withania species to facilitate production of the indolyl progenitor molecule, tryptamine. Therefore, with this metabolic prospection, we have identified and cloned a full-length cDNA sequence of TDC from aerial tissues of Withania coagulans. The functional WcTDC gene comprises of 1506 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 502 amino acid protein with calculated molecular mass and pI value of 56.38 kDa and 8.35, respectively. The gene was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant enzyme was affinity-purified to homogeneity to discern its kinetics of catalysis. The enzyme (WcTDC) exhibited much higher K_m value for tryptophan than for pyridoxal 5'-phosphate and was dedicated to catalyze decarboxylation of only tryptophan or, to a limited extent, of its analogue (like 5-hydroxy tryptophan). The observed optimal catalytic functionality of the enzyme on the slightly basic side of the pH scale and at slightly higher temperatures reflected adaptability of the plant to hot and arid regions, the predominant natural habitat of the herb. This pertains to be the first report on cloning and characterization of heterologously expressed recombinant enzyme from W. coagulans and forms a starting point to further understanding of withanamide biosynthesis.

EXAFS studies on Gd-doped ZrO2 thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering

ZrO₂ thin films with 0%, 7%, 9%, 11%, and 13% Gd doping have been prepared by RF magnetron sputtering and have been characterized by grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and optical transmission measurements to probe their structural and optical properties. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements have also been carried out on the samples at the Zr K- and Gd L₃-edges. It has been observed that Gd goes to Zr sites up to 9%-11% doping concentration, and for Gd doping concentrations beyond 11%, Gd precipitates out as a separate Gd₂O₃ phase. The local structure information surrounding the Zr and Gd sites obtained from the analysis of the EXAFS studies have also been used to explain the macroscopic optical properties of the samples.

Severe non-infective systemic inflammatory response syndrome, shock, and end-organ dysfunction after zoledronic acid administration in a child

INTRODUCTION

Zoledronic acid is an intravenous bisphosphonate used to increase bone mineral density and reduce the risk of fractures. Its safety profile compares well with pamidronate in pediatric patients. We describe an acute, severe, life-threatening, inflammatory reaction in a child.

METHODS

A 7-year-old boy with complex medical problems and chronic ventilator requirements was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (due to ventilator needs) for zoledronic acid infusion and subsequent monitoring. His history was significant for osteoporosis secondary to immobilization with multiple fractures since 2 years of age, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, quadriplegic cerebral palsy, seizure disorder, ventilator dependence, and pulmonary hypertension. He had previously been treated with four cycles of pamidronate without adverse events. He received 0.013 mg/kg of zoledronic acid infused over 30 minutes. Beginning 3 hours after completion of the infusion, he developed progressive tachycardia, fever, hypotension requiring vasopressor infusion, and increasing oxygen requirements. Laboratory studies revealed leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, elevated C-reactive protein, abnormal coagulation profile, metabolic acidosis, and negative cultures. The following day, he developed moderate acute respiratory distress syndrome and pulmonary hemorrhage requiring higher ventilatory settings, and subsequently diarrhea and abdominal distension. Initial clinical resolution was noted from the third day onward, and he was discharged on the sixth day after zoledronate administration.

RESULTS

Our pediatric patient demonstrated an acute, severe, life-threatening reaction to zoledronic acid requiring intensive cardiorespiratory support without an underlying pre-existing inflammatory disorder.

CONCLUSION

Our case highlights the importance of careful monitoring of children following zoledronic acid therapy. We recommend inpatient observation after an initial infusion of zoledronic acid in medically complex children. Children and their parents should be thoroughly counseled on the potential risks of bisphosphonate treatment, which can sometimes be severe and life threatening.

Codominant Role of Interferon-γ- and Interleukin-17-Producing T Cells During Rejection in Full Facial Transplant Recipients

Facial transplantation is a life-changing procedure for patients with severe composite facial defects. However, skin is the most immunogenic of all transplants, and better understanding of the immunological processes after facial transplantation is of paramount importance. Here, we describe six patients who underwent full facial transplantation at our institution, with a mean follow-up of 2.7 years. Seum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and skin biopsy specimens were collected prospectively, and a detailed characterization of their immune response (51 time points) was performed, defining 47 immune cell subsets, 24 serum cytokines, anti-HLA antibodies, and donor alloreactivity on each sample, producing 4269 data points. In a nonrejecting state, patients had a predominant T helper 2 cell phenotype in the blood. All patients developed at least one episode of acute cellular rejection, which was characterized by increases in interferon-γ/interleukin-17-producing cells in peripheral blood and in the allograft's skin. Serum monocyte chemotactic protein-1 level was significantly increased during rejection compared with prerejection time points. None of the patients developed de novo donor-specific antibodies, despite a fourfold expansion in T follicular helper cells at 1 year posttransplantation. In sum, facial transplantation is frequently complicated by a codominant interferon-γ/interleukin-17-mediated acute cellular rejection process. Despite that, medium-term outcomes are promising with no evidence of de novo donor-specific antibody development.

Expression and purification of recombinant H5HA1 protein of H5N1 avian influenza virus in E. coli and its application in indirect ELISA

The PCR amplified HA1 fragment of H5N1 (H5HA1) avian influenza virus (AIV) hemagglutinin gene was cloned into pET28a (+) expression vector and expressed in Rosetta Blue (DE3) pLysS cells. The recombinant H5HA1 (rH5HA1) protein purified by passive gel elution after SDS-PAGE of the inclusion bodies reacted specifically with H5N1 serum in Western blot analysis. A subtype specific indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) using the rH5HA1 protein as the coating antigen was developed for detecting antibodies to H5 subtype of AIV. The assay had 89.04% sensitivity and 95.95% specificity when compared with haemagglutination inhibition test. The Kappa value of 0.842 indicated a perfect agreement between the tests. The iELISA developed can be used for serosurveillance of avian influenza in chickens.

Non-destructive evaluation of teeth restored with different composite resins using synchrotron based micro-imaging

BACKGROUND

Application of high resolution synchrotron micro-imaging in microdefects studies of restored dental samples.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to identify and compare the defects in restorations done by two different resin systems on teeth samples using synchrotron based micro-imaging techniques namely Phase Contrast Imaging (PCI) and micro-computed tomography (MCT). With this aim acquired image quality was also compared with routinely used RVG (Radiovisiograph).

METHODS

Crowns of human teeth samples were fractured mechanically involving only enamel and dentin, without exposure of pulp chamber and were divided into two groups depending on the restorative composite materials used. Group A samples were restored using a submicron Hybrid composite material and Group B samples were restored using a Nano-Hybrid restorative composite material. Synchrotron based PCI and MCT was performed with the aim of visualization of tooth structure, composite resin and their interface.

RESULTS

The quantitative and qualitative comparison of phase contrast and absorption contrast images along with MCT on the restored teeth samples shows comparatively large number of voids in Group A samples.

CONCLUSIONS

Quality assessment of dental restorations using synchrotron based micro-imaging suggests Nano-Hybrid resin restorations (Group B) are better than Group A.

Light and auxin responsive cytochrome P450s from Withania somnifera Dunal: cloning, expression and molecular modelling of two pairs of homologue genes with differential regulation

Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) catalyse a wide variety of oxygenation/hydroxylation reactions that facilitate diverse metabolic functions in plants. Specific CYP families are essential for the biosynthesis of species-specialized metabolites. Therefore, we investigated the role of different CYPs related to secondary metabolism in Withania somnifera, a medicinally important plant of the Indian subcontinent. In this study, complete complementary DNAs (cDNAs) of four different CYP genes were isolated and christened as WSCYP93Id, WSCYP93Sm, WSCYP734B and WSCYP734R. These cDNAs encoded polypeptides comprising of 498, 496, 522 and 550 amino acid residues with their deduced molecular mass of 56.7, 56.9, 59.4 and 62.2 kDa, respectively. Phylogenetic study and molecular modelling analysis of the four cloned WSCYPs revealed their categorization into two CYP families (CYP83B1 and CYP734A1) belonging to CYP71 and CYP72 clans, respectively. BLASTp searches showed similarity of 75 and 56 %, respectively, between the two CYP members of CYP83B1 and CYP734A1 with major variances exhibited in their N-terminal regions. The two pairs of homologues exhibited differential expression profiles in the leaf tissues of selected chemotypes of W. somnifera as well as in response to treatments such as methyl jasmonate, wounding, light and auxin. Light and auxin regulated two pairs of WSCYP homologues in a developing seedling in an interesting differential manner. Their lesser resemblance and homology with other CYP sequences suggested these genes to be more specialized and distinct ones. The results on chemotype-specific expression patterns of the four genes strongly suggested their key/specialized involvement of the CYPs in the biosynthesis of chemotype-specific metabolites, though their further biochemical characterization would reveal the specificity in more detail. It is revealed that WSCYP93Id and WSCYP93Sm may be broadly involved in the oxygenation reactions in the plant and, thereby, control various pathways involving such metabolic reactions in the plant. As a representative experimental validation of this notion, WSCYP93Id was heterologouly expressed in Escherichia coli and catalytic capabilities of the recombinant WSCYP93Id protein were evaluated using withanolides as substrates. Optimized assays with some major withanolides (withanone, withaferin A and withanolide A) involving spectrophotometric as well as high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC)-based evaluation (product detection) of the reactions showed conversion of withaferin A to a hydroxylated product. The genes belonging to other CYP group are possibly involved in some specialised synthesis such as that of brassinosteroids.

Plan to Have No Unplanned: A Collaborative, Hospital-Based Quality-Improvement Project to Reduce the Rate of Unplanned Extubations in the Pediatric ICU

BACKGROUND

Although under-reported and understudied, unplanned extubations carry a significant risk of patient harm and even death. They are an important yardstick of quality control of care of intubated patients in the ICU. A unit-based risk assessment and multidisciplinary approach is required to decrease the incidence of unplanned extubations.

METHODS

As part of a quality-improvement initiative of Children's Hospital at Montefiore, all planned and unplanned extubations in a multidisciplinary 20-bed pediatric ICU were evaluated over a 12-month period (January to December 2010). At the end of 6 months, an interim analysis was performed, and high-risk patient groups and patient care factors were identified. These factors were targeted in the second phase of the project.

RESULTS

Over this period, there were a total of 267 extubations, of which 231 (87%) were planned extubations and 36 (13%) were unplanned. A patient care policy targeting the risk factors was instituted, along with extensive nursing and other personnel education in the second phase. As a result of this intervention, the unplanned extubation rate in the pediatric ICU decreased from 3.55 to 2.59/100 intubation days. All subjects who had an unplanned extubation during nursing procedures or transport required re-intubation, whereas none of the unplanned extubations during ventilator weaning required re-intubation.

CONCLUSIONS

A targeted approach based on unit-specific risk factors is most effective in quality-improvement projects. A specific policy for sedation and weaning can be very helpful in managing intubated patients and preventing unintended harm.

Effect of intermaxillary tooth-size discrepancy on accuracy of prediction equations for mixed dentition space analysis

AIM

Correlation-statistical methods are widely used for prediction of size of unerupted permanent canines and premolars in mixed dentition space analysis. The present study was planned to evaluate the effect of selecting dental study casts with no intermaxillary tooth-size discrepancy on the accuracy of predicting mesiodistal widths (MDWS) of permanent canines and premolars.

STUDY DESIGN

Bolton ratios were calculated for all the screened study dental casts fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Subjects were divided into two groups. Group A: all subjects with no intermaxillary tooth-size discrepancy within ±2 SD (Standard deviation) of the mean values. Group B: increased percentage of subjects with intermaxillary tooth-size discrepancy beyond ±2 SD (Standard deviation) of the mean values.

STATISTICS

Linear regression equations were established for both maxilla and mandible in both the groups, with different tooth combinations as independent variables. Validation of best possible regression equations was done on an independent set of 40 subjects. The actual and predicted values of MDWS of permanent canines and premolars were compared by paired samples t test in both groups, for both arches.

RESULTS

The accuracy of equations derived from group A was higher than those derived from group B. The difference between actual and predicted values was statistically insignificant in group A and statistically significant in group B.

CONCLUSION

The results confirm the accuracy of simple linear regression equations derived from a sample of children with no intermaxillary tooth-size discrepancy.

Assessment of water quality index of bore well water samples from some selected locations of South Gujarat, India

The present study calculates the water quality index (WQI) of some selected sites from South Gujarat (India) and assesses the impact of industries, agriculture and human activities. Chemical parameters were monitored for the calculation of WQI of some selected bore well samples. The results revealed that the WQI of the some bore well samples exceeded acceptable levels due to the dumping of wastes from municipal, industrial and domestic sources and agricultural runoff as well. Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) was implemented for interpolation of each water quality parameter (pH, EC, alkalinity, total hardness, chloride, nitrate and sulphate) for the entire sampled area. The bore water is unsuitable for drinking and if the present state of affairs continues for long, it may soon become an ecologically dead bore.

Structural and photoluminescence study of Mn2+-activated CaYAl3 O7 blue phosphors

The structural and photoluminescence properties of CaYAl3 O7 phosphor material doped with varying concentration of Mn(2+) have been studied. The phosphor material was synthesized by the combustion method at 500 °C and was characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). X-ray diffraction showed that the crystallites have average sizes in the range of ~58-70 nm. Corresponding Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy investigations confirm the phase formation and the presence of aluminate group (Al-O bands) in CaYAl3 O7 :Mn(2+) phosphor. Under the excitation at 356 nm wavelength, the PL spectra show the occurrence of two emission peaks obtained in the blue region at 389 nm and 412 nm, which is attributed to the 4 T1(G) → 6A1 transition of Mn(2+) ion. Upon increasing Mn(2+) concentration, the relative PL intensity shows an initial decrement followed by an increase displaying the effect of concentration quenching. Overall the results suggest the possibility of using this material in white lighting devices and plasma display panels.

Differential functional connectivity within an emotion regulation neural network among individuals resilient and susceptible to the depressogenic effects of early life stress

BACKGROUND

Early life stress (ELS) is a significant risk factor for depression. The effects of ELS exposure on neural network organization have not been differentiated from the effect of depression. Furthermore, many individuals exposed to ELS do not develop depression, yet the network organization patterns differentiating resiliency versus susceptibility to the depressogenic effects of ELS are not clear.

METHOD

Women aged 18-44 years with either a history of ELS and no history of depression (n = 7), a history of ELS and current or past depression (n = 19), or a history of neither ELS nor depression (n = 12) underwent a resting-state 3-T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. An emotion regulation brain network consisting of 21 nodes was described using graph analyses and compared between groups.

RESULTS

Group differences in network topology involved decreased global connectivity and hub-like properties for the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and decreased local network connectivity for the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) among resilient individuals. Decreased local connectivity and increased hub-like properties of the left amygdala, decreased hub-like properties of the dACC and decreased local connectivity of the left vlPFC were observed among susceptible individuals. Regression analyses suggested that the severity of ELS (measured by self-report) correlated negatively with global connectivity and hub-like qualities for the left dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC).

CONCLUSIONS

These preliminary results suggest functional neural connectivity patterns specific to ELS exposure and resiliency versus susceptibility to the depressogenic effects of ELS exposure.