Herbal medicines are highly complex and have unknown mechanisms in diseases treatment. Saraca asoca (Roxb.), De. Wild has been recommended to treat gynecological disorders and used in several commercial polyherbal formulations. In present study, efforts have been made to explore antimicrobial activity and its co-relation with the distributions of catechins in the organs of S. asoca using targeted MS/MS. Eight extracts (cold and hot water) from four different organs of S. asoca and two drugs were prepared and antimicrobial activity was assessed by microbroth dilution assay. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of catechins in crude extracts was done by using targeted and auto-MS/MS and correlated with antimicrobial activity. (t)-Catechin and (t)-epicatechin and their biosynthesis related compound were found to be up-regulated in regenerated bark and leaves extracts. (?)-Epigallocatechin was found to be significantly higher in bark water extract as compared to others but showed low antimicrobial activity. Result showed down-regulation of (?)-epigallocatechin and up-regulation of (t)-catechin and (t)-epicatechin in the regenerated bark and leaves of S. asoca. It might be the contributing factor in the antimicrobial activity of regenerated bark and leaves of the plant. The concentration of (t)-epicatechin in processed drugs (Ashokarishta) from Baidyanath was found to be seven times higher than that of Dabur Pvt. Ltd., but no antimicrobial activity was observed, indicating the variations among the plant based drugs. This will be helpful in rational use of S. asoca parts. Furthermore, the analytical method developed is sensitive, repeatable and reliable; therefore, it is suitable for quality control of herbal drugs.

Poultry farming not only provides high nutritious food but also creates employment opportunity for rural masses. Documented evidences elaborates that helminth parasitism is most deciduous problem of chickens especially in developing world. Ascaridia (A.) galli, a nematode of small intestine, has been considered as the most common and important parasite of chicken. The present study was carried out to investigate prevalence and severity of A. galli in White Leghorn layers (housing type: battery cage and deep litter, 50 each) and Fayoumi-Rhode Island Red crossbred (male and female: 50 each) flock rearing at Government Poultry Farm, Dina, Punjab, Pakistan. Two hundred faecal samples were examined by using standard parasitological and McMaster egg counting technique. The overall prevalence was 24.5% at farm, 13% in White leghorn layer (battery cage=2%, deep litter=24%) and 36% in Fayoumi-Rhode Island Red (male=34%, female=38%). It was also observed that White leghorn layer rearing in deep litter had more severe infection (EPG=1920) of A. galli compare with battery cages birds (EPG=500). Parasite prevalence was significantly related with sex (P<0.05) in Fayoumi-Rhode Island Red and male birds had less number of average parasites (0.34±0.47) as compared to females (0.38±0.490). Additionally, female birds were under serious threat of infection (EPG=2270) compared with its counterpart (EPG=1250). Given the high infection rates, particular attention should be paid to management and provision of feed supplement to White leghorn layer housing in deep litter and female bird of Fayoumi-Rhode Island Red crossbred.

OBJECTIVES: Menopause is the permanent cessation of menstruation resulting from the loss of ovarian follicular activity. There is limited and conflicting evidence for an association between lung function and menopause. The purpose of this study is to evaluate Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) in postmenopausal women. METHODS: Digital Spirometer was used to measure PFTs in premenopausal (n = 49) and postmenopausal (n = 46) women. RESULTS: Significant decline in many PFT parameters was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Menopausal status is associated with low lung function.
Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Lung ; Menopause ; Menstruation ; Respiratory Function Tests

Purpose:Fractures of distal radius are one of the common orthopaedic injuries.Placing the plate on volar surface requires release of underlying pronator quadratus (PQ) muscle.No consensus is present in the literature about the repair or not of the PQ.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of PQ repair on functional outcome and complications.Methods:Retrospectively 83 patients of distal radius fractures managed with volar plating between 2014 and 2016 were evaluated.Demographic data,operative notes and physical therapy records were retrieved.Patients were divided into group A where PQ repair was done and group B where no repair was done.Functional data such as range of motion (ROM),grip strength,visual analogue scale (VAS) score and disabilities of arm,shoulder and hand (DASH) score at 4 weeks,3 months,6 months and finial follow-up were retrieved.Results:Totally 63 patients (n =29 in group A and n =34 in group B) with the mean age of 51.64 years were examined.Patients were followed up for a mean of 35.2 months (range 27.2-47.1 months) in group A and 38.6 months (range 28,6-51.0 months) in group B.Though functional outcome of the affected limb was not significantly different between two groups after 3 months,PQ repair did affect the recovery at an early stage.Repair group had significantly better ROM (p =0.0383) and VAS score at 4 weeks (p =0.017) while grip strength (p =0.014) was significantly better at 3 months.Conclusions:Repair of PQ may provide pain relief and increased ROM in early postoperative period and hence every attempt should be made to achieve the repair.

Marine sponges have been considered as a drug treasure house with respect to great potential regarding their secondary metabolites. Most of the studies have been conducted on sponge's derived compounds to examine its pharmacological properties. Such compounds proved to have antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antimalarial, antitumor, immunosuppressive, and cardiovascular activity. Although, the mode of action of many compounds by which they interfere with human pathogenesis have not been clear till now, in this review not only the capability of the medicinal substances have been examined in vitro and in vivo against serious pathogenic microbes but, the mode of actions of medicinal compounds were explained with diagrammatic illustrations. This knowledge is one of the basic components to be known especially for transforming medicinal molecules to medicines. Sponges produce a different kind of chemical substances with numerous carbon skeletons, which have been found to be the main component interfering with human pathogenesis at different sites. The fact that different diseases have the capability to fight at different sites inside the body can increase the chances to produce targeted medicines.
Carbon ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Pharmacokinetics ; Porifera* ; Skeleton

The authors request to correct the title of Table 3.

Cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (CIP2A) has been identified as one of the most commonly altered proteins in humancancers. It blocks the tumor-suppressive action of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complex and enhances malignancy. Thirty-fivepatients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity underwent surgical resection of the tumor. CIP2A was assessed by quantitativereal-time PCR in the resected tumor tissues and in their adjacent normal tissues. CIP2A was found to be overexpressed inall oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) specimens in comparison to their surrounding normal tissue. CIP2A overexpression wasstatistically correlated with poor prognostic feature of the tumor. Thus, a high expression level of CIP2A was associated with shortersurvival. In conclusion, CIP2A is upregulated in OSCC, and its overexpression is correlated with aggressiveness of the tumor andpoor outcome and survival. It may serve as a prognostic marker of OSCC.

Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative bacteria that is responsible for gastritis in human. Its spiral flagellated body helps in locomotion and colonization in the host environment. It is capable of living in the highly acidic environment of the stomach with the help of acid adaptive genes. The genome of H. pylori 26695 strain contains 1,555 coding genes that encode 1,445 proteins. Out of these, 340 proteins are characterized as hypothetical proteins (HP). This study involves extensive analysis of the HPs using an established pipeline which comprises various bioinformatics tools and databases to find out probable functions of the HPs and identification of virulence factors. After extensive analysis of all the 340 HPs, we found that 104 HPs are showing characteristic similarities with the proteins with known functions. Thus, on the basis of such similarities, we assigned probable functions to 104 HPs with high confidence and precision. All the predicted HPs contain representative members of diverse functional classes of proteins such as enzymes, transporters, binding proteins, regulatory proteins, proteins involved in cellular processes and other proteins with miscellaneous functions. Therefore, we classified 104 HPs into aforementioned functional groups. During the virulence factors analysis of the HPs, we found 11 HPs are showing significant virulence. The identification of virulence proteins with the help their predicted functions may pave the way for drug target estimation and development of effective drug to counter the activity of that protein.
Carrier Proteins ; Clinical Coding ; Colon ; Computational Biology ; Drug Discovery ; Gastritis ; Genome ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Locomotion ; Sequence Analysis* ; Stomach ; Virulence Factors* ; Virulence*

PURPOSEOcular trauma is one of the most common causes of acquired blindness in children. It measures about 8%-14% of total childhood injuries. This study aims to determine the epidemiological profile of ocular trauma in the pediatric age group attending a tertiary hospital in northern India.

METHODSA retrospective study was conducted in our hospital between June 2014 to July 2015 and all the children aged 0-16 years presenting with ocular trauma in eye outpatient department and emergency were enrolled in the study. Various epidemiological parameters like age, sex distribution, duration of presentation, mode of injury, type of injury and final visual outcome were analyzed.

RESULTSOf total 357 patients, 271 (76%) were below the age of 12 years; 41.1% of children with ocular trauma belonged to age group 2-6 years. The male to female ratio was 2.9:1. Out of total patients, 242 (67.8%) presented with closed globe injury. Among the closed globe injury, the history of fall was present in about 35% of children, followed by trauma while playing with bat/ball (15.7%) and finger nail trauma (13.2%). Among open globe injury, trauma with needle, knife, glass and pen were common causes. Home was the most common place of injury (47.8%), followed by streets (17.9%) and playground (14.9%).

CONCLUSIONChildren are vulnerable to ocular trauma and need more supervision. Sharp objects like needles, knives, household chemicals like acids should be out of reach of children.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Eye Injuries ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; India ; epidemiology ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Tertiary Care Centers

PURPOSEThis prospective study aimed to investigate the epidemiologic parameters of supracondylar humeral fractures in children admitted to a teaching institution of a developing country primarily catering to rural population, to find any preventable cause of such injuries.

METHODSAll suspected cases of supracondylar humeral fracture reporting to emergency or outpatients department were analysed for various epidemiologic parameters including age, sex, laterality, time of presentation, associated injuries, neurovascular complications and classification over a period of four years.

RESULTSWe analysed a total of 263 patients and most of the fractures were seen in 5-8-year age group with a mean of 7.9 years. A total of 157 cases were males and non-dominant extremity was involved in 65% of fractures in our series. Fall on outstretched hand was the predominant cause of injury and fall from rooftop was the predominant mode. In all patients, 36.12% reported to our hospital 1 week after injury, 39.92% presented to hospital within 48 h after trauma and the remaining 23.95% presented 48 h to 1 week after trauma. None had a bilateral injury. Gartland type 3 fractures constituted 54.37% of patients, followed by type 1 (23.95%) and type 2 (21.67%).

CONCLUSIONAlmost one fourth of supracondylar humeral fractures in children can be prevented by installing railing of rooftops and stairs. It is necessary to educate people on hazards of treatment by traditional bonesetters. Moreover, the children with supracondylar humeral fractures should be screened for associated injuries.