Dietary restriction (DR) and its advantages

Dietary restriction (DR) also called dietary control or calorie restriction is reported to have many advantages with regard to human health. It leads to suppression of obesity, mitigates free radicals and increases available antioxidants which are accounted for extending the life span of individuals. DR is also reported to induce synthesis of heat shock proteins in animals as a control mechanism against stress. Further, it is known to play a significant role in decreasing toxicity and lethality due to a variety of toxic chemicals and drugs by stimulating tissue repair damaged by the toxicants leading to restoration of intact organ and its functions. Moreover, extensive work done on animals indicate DR has an important role in suppressing certain types of cancer. In this review an effort is made to highlight the various advantages of DR from the point of human health perspective.     

Study on arsenic level in public water supply of Delhi using hydride generator accessory coupled with atomic absorption spectrophotometer

Exposure to arsenic has been associated with several health hazards. Worldwide the main reason for chronic human intoxication with arsenic is intake of contaminated drinking water. Air acetylene type of atomic absorption spectrophotometer in combination with hydride generator accessory was used to analyze arsenic level in 25 water samples collected from 25 booster pumping stations and 313 water samples collected from tap water supply of 62 areas of Delhi. Results were analyzed using SPSS and Barlett’s Chi Square Test. Mean arsenic level detected in water samples collected from booster pumping stations was 0.00976 ppm (Range 0.000–0.017 ppm, Standard Deviation 0.006 and Standard error of Mean 0.00118). Maximum arsenic level (0.017 ppm) was found in water samples of booster pumping stations of Mehrauli, Punjabi Bagh and Ramjas Road. Mean arsenic level detected in samples collected from tap water supply was 0.013 ppm (Range 0–0.0430 ppm, Standard Deviation 0.00911 and Standard error of Mean 0.000515). In water samples of 42 areas arsenic level detected was exceeding WHO/EPA permissible limit of 0.01 ppm (10 ppb). The mean arsenic level detected in water samples of booster pumping station was within WHO/EPA permissible limit while mean arsenic level detected in tap water samples was marginally higher. Mixing of ground water and contamination through broken or leaking channel could be the possible reason of higher arsenic level in tap water. Continuous monitoring of quality of drinking water is required particularly in view of water contamination caused by industrial waste and uncontrolled ground water extraction.     

Astudy on mycobacterial proteins in the serodiagnosis of tuberculosis using ELISA and western blot

Protein fraction termed P₂ was obtained from sonicates of Mycobacterium smegmatis, subjected to ammonium sulphate precipitation. P₂ fraction was further fractionated into 4 fractions (PeakI-IV) by DEAE cellulose ion-exchange chromatography. ELISA was performed on the sera of 104 tuberculous cases and 62 controls, using P₂ fractions Peak I as test antigens. Though the mean ELISA values in tuberculous cases were higher than the controls, no statistically significant difference was found between the two. Antigens P₂, Peak I and IV were tested on Western blots with pooled sera from tuberculous cases as well as controls. P₂ fraction, Peak-I and IV were separated on PAGE-SDS, electroblotted onto nitrocellulose Sheets and the blots were subjected to ELISA. Peak IV appeared as a single band (M.W. 55,000). P₂ fraction exhibited some discriminatory bands on development of blots.     

Transform domain technique for windowing the DCT and DST

In this paper, an algorithm is developed to apply Hann, Hamming, Blackman and related windows directly in the transform domain for the discrete cosine transform and discrete sine transform. These algorithms are useful in applications where windowing is required in order to minimize edge effects caused by implicit symmetries in the transform domain that are not replicated in the real-world data. Examples of such applications include data communication, adaptive system identification and filtering, real-time analysis of financial market data, etc. Software implementations in C language are also given.     

Hyperlipidemia in guinea pigs induced by chronic vitamin C deficiency

Sixteen weeks of chronic vitamin C deficiency, induced in guinea pigs by restricted vitamin C intake, resulted in a marked increase in the serum total LDL- and VLDL- cholesterol, triglycerides and total lipids. HDL-cholesterol decreased resulting in a highly significant increase in LDL/HDL ratio. The results reconfirm that vitamin C deficiency causes changes in blood lipid profile which could promote atherogenesis.     

Study of magnesium,glycosylated hemoglobin and lipid profile in diabetic retinopathy

The present study was undertaken in 100 subjects, 30 diabetics without complication (group I), 40 diabetics with retinopathy (group II) and 30 non diabetic as normal control group (group III). Blood sugar levels, magnesium, cholesterol and triglyceride were analyzed from plasma and serum. The results were correlated with degree of diabetic control from the levels of glycosylated hemoglobin. Serum magnesium levels in group II were found to be significantly lowered than in group I. There was also significant difference in magnesium levels of group I and group III. We found a significant correlation between the glycosylated hemoglobin and magnesium levels in our study. The results also indicate that the patients with diabetic retinopathy showed significant rise in serum cholesterol and triglyceride. Probably hypomagnesemia and increased serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels are responsible for microvascular changes in diabetes leading to retinopathy. The purpose of this study was thus to gather information about the degree of control of diabetes and magnesium status.     

Immune response to n-terminal and c-terminal deletion mutants of Aspergillus fumigatus major allergen ASP F 3

The ubiquitous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus causes allergic rhinitis, asthma, sinusitis and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. A number of major allergens from A. fumigatus are purified, but their structure-function role in the pathogenesis of disease is not known. Such information is essential for devising alternative therapy of fungal allergic diseases. In the present study, N-terminal and C-terminal deletion mutants ofAsp f 3 were constructed and their immunopathological responses studied in a mice model of allergy. Three mutants viz,Asp f 3 (aa 33–168), (aa 1–142), and (aa 23–142) were made by deleting certain amino acids from epitopic regions of full lengthAsp f 3, a major allergen of A. furnigatus. TheAsp f 3 and three mutated proteins were expressed in pET vector. The C-terminal deletion mutantAsp f 3 (aa 1–142) induced elevated IFN-γ but low levels of IL-4 by spleen cells. This mutant also showed significant downregulation of peripheral blood eosinophils and lung inflammation in immunized mice. The N-terminal deletion mutantAsp f 3 (aa 33–168) also exhibited an immuno-suppressive effect in terms of IgE production and induction of Th2 cytokine. The results indicate thatrAsp f 3 and its deletion mutants induced distinct immune-inflammatory responses in mice on challenge with these proteins. The non-IgE binding deletion mutants ofAsp f 3 (aa 1–142 and aa 33–168) could deviate Th2 immune response with a concomitant reduction in airway inflammation and infiltration of inflammatory cells.     

Host protective immunity and vaccine development studies in lymphatic filariasis

Lymphatic filariasis caused mainly by infection fromWuchereria bancrofti andBrugia malayi remains as the major cause of clinical morbidity in tropical and subtropical countries. Development of vaccine against filarial infection can act as additional measure to the existing therapeutic and vector control methods in the control of this disease. The main hurdles in the development of anti-filarial vaccine are the strict primate specificity ofWuchereria bancrofti, the paucity of parasite material, the diversity of clinical manifestations and their associated complex immune responses, lack of clear understanding on host-parasite interactions and the mechanisms involved in protective immunity. However in the past few years, the information generated in immuno-epidemiological studies, correlated with observations in experimental animals suggests that a filarial vaccine is feasible. Initially live irradiated infective larvae have been successfully used to induce high level of protective immunity in several animal models. Applying diverse strategies, variety of purified or recombinant filarial antigens have been explored for their ability to induce protection in different host-parasite systems. Some of these targeted filarial antigens induced high level of resistance in experimental animals against challenge infections. More focussed studies on thorough characterization of parasitological and immunological changes associated with resistance induced by such candidate protective antigens and on delivery mechanisms and safety aspects will be crucial in their selection for possible use in humans.