A 21-kDa leptospiral lipoprotein (LipL21) was evaluated for its diagnostic potential to detect bovine leptospirosis by ELISA. Both native LipL21 (nLipL21) and recombinant LipL21 (rLipL21) proteins were tested and compared regarding diagnostic efficiency, and no statistically significant difference was observed. The sensitivity of rLipL21 ELISA for 62 microscopic agglutination test (MAT) positive sera was 100% and the specificity with 378 MAT negative sera was 97.09%. Thus, rLipL21 protein-based ELISA could be used as an alternative to MAT for the diagnosis of bovine leptospirosis.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial/blood ; Antigens, Bacterial/biosynthesis/*chemistry/genetics ; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins/biosynthesis/*chemistry/genetics ; Cattle ; Cattle Diseases/blood/*microbiology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/veterinary ; Leptospira interrogans/*isolation & purification ; Leptospirosis/blood/microbiology/*veterinary ; Lipoproteins/biosynthesis/*chemistry/genetics ; Recombinant Proteins/biosynthesis/chemistry/genetics ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVEToxic metal ions have been implicated in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO). Metallothionines (MT) and plant flavonoids have been reported in the intervention against oxidative damage. We investigated the effect of zinc induced MT and green tea polyphenol (GTP) in reducing the oxidative responses induced by nickel and platinum.

METHODSZinc (10 mg/kg b. wt, sc) was administered to rats twice at a gap of 24 hrs and GTP (10 mg/100 mL in drinking water) was fed ad libitum for 8 days. Nickel chloride (150 umol/kgb.wt, ip) and cisplatin (50 mumol/kg b.wt, sc) was administered to rats 24 h after Zn or GTP pre-treatment. Animals of all the groups were sacrificed 16 hrs after treatment and biochemical markers for toxicity were monitored.

RESULTSZinc or GTP pre-treatment caused significant protection against nickel or cisplatin enhanced mortality in rats, and reduction in lipid peroxidation and NO.

CONCLUSIONIt is proposed that inhibition of ROS and NO by GTP and zinc may prove useful as a selective pharmacological agent in the amelioration of metal toxicity.

Animals ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Biomarkers ; Cisplatin ; administration & dosage ; toxicity ; Flavonoids ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Free Radical Scavengers ; pharmacology ; Lipid Peroxidation ; drug effects ; Metallothionein ; metabolism ; Mortality ; Nickel ; administration & dosage ; toxicity ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Phenols ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Polyphenols ; Rats ; Tea ; chemistry ; Time Factors ; Zinc ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology

Cerebral Palsy is a common and devastating neurological disorder, with no medical treatment apart from physiotherapy regimes to alleviate the functional disability. Regenerative medicine using stem cells has gained momentum in recent years as a possible strategy to repair the injured brain. Present study was undertaken in a open label series to evaluate the safety, feasibility and observe for any benefi cial effects of intra-arterial infusion of autologous bone marrow derived mononuclear cells in patients with cerebral palsy with moderate disability. Functional improvement was assessed using the motor power and spasticity scales, dystonia and abnormal movements scale and the activities of daily living scales by modifi ed Barthel Index and modifi ed Rankin Scores. Serial structural imaging with MRI and functional imaging with FDG-PET scans were done. Of the 30 patients injected with an average of 10-30 million cells into each carotid artery, improvements were observed in all clinical scales, and predominantly in the disability scores. No adverse events were noted on a 12 months follow up.

Purpose: Adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) in buccal mucosa cancers is guided by histopathological factors. The decision to treat ipsilateral or bilateral draining lymph node is on physician discretion and guidelines do not have a defined indication regarding this. We aimed to analyze the failure patterns and survival in buccal mucosa cancers treated with adjuvant ipsilateral RT. Materials and Methods: One hundred sixteen cases of post-operative buccal mucosa cancers—pT3 or more, node positive, close margins (1–5 mm), lymphovascular invasion positive, perineural invasion positive, depth of invasion >4 mm—treated with RT to primary and ipsilateral nodes from May 2013 to May 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were treated to a dose of 60–66 Gy (44 Gy in the first phase and a coned down boost of 16–22 Gy in the second phase) with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy on a linear accelerator. Primary end point was to assess control rates and secondary end point was to evaluate the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) outcomes. Results: Median age was 46 years with male; female ratio of 110:6. The edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer stage distributions were I (3.4%), II (34.4%), III (24.1%), and IV (37.9%). At a median follow-up of 22 months, crude rates of local failure, regional failure, and contralateral neck failure were 9.4%, 10.3%, and 3.4%, respectively. The 2-year contralateral neck control rate was 94.9%. Pathological positive node portended poorer OS (86.6% vs. 68.6%; p = 0.015) and DFS (86.5% vs. 74.9%; p = 0.01). Conclusion Incidence of contralateral recurrence with ipsilateral irradiation in buccal mucosa cancers is low with descent survival outcomes, particularly in node negative cases.