Ventricular septal defect with pulmonary arterial hypertension in an infant: Is there something more than what meets the eye?

An 11-month-old girl was detected to have muscular ventricular septal defect with hyperkinetic pulmonary hypertension (PH) was urgently operated upon. On follow-up, her PH worsened, resulting in right ventricular dysfunction and was later detected to have absent portal vein.

Complexation of amyloid fibrils with charged conjugated polymers

It has been suggested that conjugated charged polymers are amyloid imaging agents and promising therapeutic candidates for neurological disorders. However, very less is known about their efficacy in modulating the amyloid aggregation pathway. Here, we studied the modulation of Parkinson's disease associated α-synuclein (AS) amyloid assembly kinetics using conjugated polyfluorene polymers (PF, cationic; PFS, anionic). We also explored the complexation of these charged polymers with the various AS aggregated species including amyloid fibrils and oligomers using multidisciplinary biophysical techniques. Our data suggests that both polymers irrespective of their different charges in the side chains increase the fibrilization kinetics of AS and also remarkably change the morphology of the resultant amyloid fibrils. Both polymers were incorporated/aligned onto the AS amyloid fibrils as evident from electron microscopy (EM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the resultant complexes were structurally distinct from their pristine form of both polymers and AS supported by FTIR study. Additionally, we observed that the mechanism of interactions between the polymers with different species of AS aggregates were markedly different.

Nanomaterials: amyloids reflect their brighter side

Amyloid fibrils belong to the group of ordered nanostructures that are self-assembled from a wide range of polypeptides/proteins. Amyloids are highly rigid structures possessing a high mechanical strength. Although amyloids have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several human diseases, growing evidence indicates that amyloids may also perform native functions in host organisms. Discovery of such amyloids, referred to as functional amyloids, highlight their possible use in designing novel nanostructure materials. This review summarizes recent advances in the application of amyloids for the development of nanomaterials and prospective applications of such materials in nanotechnology and biomedicine.

CSF Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia that affects several million people worldwide. The major neuropathological hallmarks of AD are the presence of extracellular amyloid plaques that are composed of Aβ40 and Aβ42 and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), which is composed of hyperphosphorylated protein Tau. While the amyloid plaques and NFT could define the disease progression involving neuronal loss and dysfunction, significant cognitive decline occurs before their appearance. Although significant advances in neuroimaging techniques provide the structure and physiology of brain of AD cases, the biomarker studies based on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma represent the most direct and convenient means to study the disease progression. Biomarkers are useful in detecting the preclinical as well as symptomatic stages of AD. In this paper, we discuss the recent advancements of various biomarkers with particular emphasis on CSF biomarkers for monitoring the early development of AD before significant cognitive dysfunction.

Biochemical studies on the anti-ulcerogenic potential of Hemidesmus indicus R.Br. var. indicus

Roots of Hemidesmus indicus var. indicus are used for various ailments in Indian traditional medicines. The present study evaluated the antiulcerogenic property of aqueous ethanolic extracts of the roots in animal models. Modified pyloric ligated (Shay) rat model and aspirin-induced ulcerogenesis in pylorus ligated rat models were used for this study and analysed for gastric volume, ulcer score, pH, free and total acidity and sodium and potassium ion output. Bio-chemical estimations like total proteins, total hexoses, hexosamine, fucose, sialic acid and pepsin were also made. Ulcer score was calculated for cysteamine-induced duodenal ulcer model. Roots collected during flowering season were found to be more effective than that collected during vegetative seasons.