OBJECTIVEA panorama of mucocutaneous manifestations is seen at every stage of HIV. This study was done to study the sex prevalence in HIV/AIDS patients with mucocutaneous disorders.

METHODSA total of 1 000 HIV seropositive patients attending Skin-STD clinic, Govt. Medical College, Amritsar, for any dermatologic complaints were studied in respect to the sex group preponderance.

RESULTSMales constituted the majority as 75.6% while females were 24.4%.

CONCLUSIONSWomen, in most of the cases, get infected from their spouses, who have acquired infection through extramarital sexual contact. HIV infection in female patients increases the risk of HIV transmission to neonates and infants, thus further spreading the HIV in a community. So it is very crucial to initiate early preventive measures to reduce HIV burden.

PURPOSE: To compare the dose distribution of three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT) with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) to left chest wall. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and seven patients were randomised for PMRT in 3DCRT group (n = 64) and IMRT group (n = 43). All patients received 50 Gy in 25 fractions. Planning target volume (PTV) parameters—Dnear-max (D2), Dnear-min (D98), Dmean, V95, and V107—homogeneity index (HI), and conformity index (CI) were compared. The mean doses of lung and heart, percentage volume of ipsilateral lung receiving 5 Gy (V5), 20 Gy (V20), and 55 Gy (V55) and that of heart receiving 5 Gy (V5), 25 Gy (V25), and 45 Gy (V45) were extracted from dose-volume histograms and compared. RESULTS: PTV parameters were comparable between the two groups. CI was significantly improved with IMRT (1.127 vs. 1.254, p < 0.001) but HI was similar (0.094 vs. 0.096, p = 0.83) compared to 3DCRT. IMRT in comparison to 3DCRT significantly reduced the high-dose volumes of lung (V20, 22.09% vs. 30.16%; V55, 5.16% vs. 10.27%; p < 0.001) and heart (V25, 4.59% vs. 9.19%; V45, 1.85% vs. 7.09%; p < 0.001); mean dose of lung and heart (11.39 vs. 14.22 Gy and 4.57 vs. 8.96 Gy, respectively; p < 0.001) but not the low-dose volume (V5 lung, 61.48% vs. 51.05%; V5 heart, 31.02% vs. 23.27%; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: For left sided breast cancer, IMRT significantly improves the conformity of plan and reduce the mean dose and high-dose volumes of ipsilateral lung and heart compared to 3DCRT, but 3DCRT is superior in terms of low-dose volume.
Breast Neoplasms ; Heart ; Humans ; Lung ; Mastectomy, Modified Radical ; Radiometry ; Radiotherapy ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated ; Thoracic Wall ; Thorax ; Unilateral Breast Neoplasms

Background and Objectives: Cochlear implantation in late implanted prelinguals necessitates a complex decision-making process for clinicians and patients due to the uncertainty of achieving adequate benefit in auditory and speech perception. This study longitudinally evaluated clinical and social outcomes of prelingually deaf children with implantation in their late childhood. Subjects and Methods: A total of 113 (49 females and 64 males) participants, with an age range of 5-15 years, were assessed for the pre-implant parameters such as hearing loss etiology, aided responses, anatomical aspects, and psychological evaluation. The Category of Auditory Performance, Speech Awareness Threshold, Speech Reception Threshold, and Speech Discrimination Score were administered to assess the patient’s auditory skills. Further, the Speech Intelligibility Rating scale was administered to evaluate the patient’s speech intelligibility at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months post-surgery. Subjectively perceived benefits were evaluated using the satisfaction rating scale and a questionnaire. Results: The statistical results showed a significant impact of cochlear implantation in all domains. Positive impact and improvement post-implantation were noted in all the spheres, including auditory, linguistic, social, and educational. Conclusions The study highlighted that the outcomes of a cochlear implant at a later age might not parallel with the implantation at a younger age. However, this still provides measurable benefits even after a longer period of auditory deprivation.

Presbyopia is characterized by a loss of the accommodative ability of the eye that negatively affects vision-aided health-related quality of life. Local inflammation in the eye diminishes parasympathetic cholinergic stimulation and contraction of the iris and ciliary muscle in the eyes via the muscarinic (cholinergic) receptor.Along with the cholinergic agent, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent is often integrated to ameliorate presbyopia. Chrysanthemum morifolium belongs to the Asteraceae. We examined whether Chrysanthemum morifolium flower extract (CME) has parasympathomimetic and anti-inflammatory activity in HLE-B3 human lens epithelial cells and RAW 264.7 macrophages. CME induced time- and dose-dependent production of IP 1 and Ca 2+ accumulation in HLE-B3 cells. In the LPS-induced inflammatory response, CME treatment downregulated inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nitric oxide in RAW 264.7 macrophages. CME downregulated the levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) with no change in TNF-α levels. In addition, the phosphorylation of JNK and p38 was reduced with no change in ERK by CME in LPS-treated cells. These findings suggest that the parasympathetic and anti-inflammatory efficacy of CME can be applied to develop therapeutics against presbyopia.

Objectives: Post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms were widely reported.However, data on post-COVID-19 conditions following infection with the Omicron variant remained scarce. This prospective study was conducted to understand the prevalence, patterns, and duration of symptoms in patients who had recovered from COVID-19. Methods: A prospective study was conducted across 11 districts of Delhi, India, among individuals who had recovered from COVID-19. Study participants were enrolled, and then returned for post-recovery follow-up at 3 months and 6 months interval. Results The mean age of study participants was 42.07 years, with a standard deviation of 14.89 years. The majority of the participants (79.7%) reported experiencing post-COVID-19 symptoms. The most common symptoms included joint pain (36.0%), persistent dry cough (35.7%), anxiety (28.4%), and shortness of breath (27.1%). Other symptoms were persistent fatigue (21.6%), persistent headache (20.0%), forgetfulness (19.7%), and limb weakness (18.6%). The longest duration of symptom was observed to be anxiety (138.75±54.14 days), followed by fatigue (137.57±48.33 days), shortness of breath (131.89±60.21 days), and joint pain/swelling (131.59±58.76 days). At the first follow-up visit, 2.2% of participants presented with abnormal electrocardiogram readings, but no abnormalities were noticed during the second follow-up. Additionally, 4.06% of participants exhibited abnormal chest X-ray findings at the first follow-up, which decreased to 2.16% by the second visit. Conclusion: The most frequently reported post-COVID-19 symptoms were joint pain, dry cough, anxiety and shortness of breath. These clinical symptoms persisted for up to 6 months, with evidence of multi-system involvement. Consequently, findings highlighted the need for long-term follow-up during the post-COVID-19 period.

Alkannin/shikonin (A/S) and their derivatives are naturally occurring naphthoquinones majorly found in Boraginaceae family plants. They are integral constituents of traditional Chinese medicine Zicao (roots of Lithospermum erythrorhizon). In last two decades significant increase in pharmacological investigations on alkannin/shikonin and their derivatives has been reported that resulted in discovery of their novel mechanisms in various diseases and disorders. This review throws light on recently conducted pharmacological investigations on alkannin/shikonin and their derivatives and their outputs. Various analytical aspects are also discussed and brief summary of patent applications on inventions containing alkannin/shikonin and its derivatives is also provided.

In order to investigate the effect of Shouwu Shudi Yin on dopaminegic neurons in MPTP induced Parkinson's disease mouse model and the possible mechamism, the experimental mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: control, Shouwu Shudi Yin, MPTP and the treatment (MPTP+Shouwu Shudi Yin) groups. The number of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) positive cells in the substantia nigra was measured by immunohistochemistry, and mRNA expression of TH and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were detected by PCR. The results showed that the number of TH positive cells and mRNA expression of TH were significantly reduced in MPTP group compared with the control (P<0.05), and pretreated with Shouwu Shudi Yin didn't show protective effect. Compared to MPTP group, the mRNA expression of four subtypes of GPX were increased in various degrees in the treatment group pretreated with Shouwu Shudi Yin, although the difference was not statistically significant. These indicated that the preventive medication of Shouwu Shudi Yin don't have protective effect on the mice with Parkinson' s disease induced by MPTP, but it may enhance the antioxidant capacity through increasing the expression of GPX.

OBJECTIVEThe fatality of cancer is mostly dependent on the possibility of occurrence of metastasis. Thus, if the development of metastasis can be prevented through novel therapeutic strategies targeted against this process, then the success of cancer treatment will drastically increase. In this study, therefore, we evaluated the antimetastatic potentials of an extract of Khaya senegalensis and curcumin on the metastatic liver cell line HepG2, and also assessed the anticancer property of the extract.

METHODSCells were cultured and treated with graded concentrations of test substances for 24, 48, or 72 h with provisions made for negative controls. Treated cells were assessed as follows: nanotechnologically - atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to determine cell stiffness; biochemically - cell cytotoxicity, glutathione level and adenosine triphosphate status, caspase activation and mitochondrial toxicity were considered; and microbiologically - a carrot disk assay was used to assess the anticancer property of the extract of K. senegalensis.

RESULTSCurcumin and K. senegalensis increased the cell stiffness by 2.6- and 4.0-fold respectively, indicating their antimetastatic effects. Corresponding changes in redox (glutathione level) and energy (adenosine triphosphate) status of the cells were also demonstrated. Further mechanistic studies indicated that curcumin was not mitotoxic in HepG2 cells unlike the K. senegalensis extract. In addition, the extract potently inhibited the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-induced genetic transformation based on carrot disk assay.

CONCLUSIONCell elasticity measurement data, using AFM, strongly suggested, for the first time, that both curcumin and the extract of K. senegalensis exhibited antimetastatic properties on HepG2 cells.