Serum Paraoxonase (PON1) Activity in North-West Indian Punjabi’s with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Human serum paraoxonase-1 (PON1), an enzyme on HDL prevents oxidation of LDL thereby preventing the development of atherosclerosis. Studies done so far have lead to conflicting results. As studies are lacking in North-West Indian Punjabi’s, a distinct ethnic group with high incidence of coronary artery disease, we determined PONase activity in this population. It has been postulated that sudden lowering of serum PONase may lead to precipitation of acute myocardial infarction. We determined serum PONase activity and lipids in 100 patients each of AMI (within 24 h of onset), stable CAD and 100 age and sex matched healthy controls. These were again determined after 6 weeks in AMI patients. The mean serum PONase activity was lowest in AMI patients (23.26 U/ml) followed by stable CAD patients (102.0 U/ml) where as in controls was highest (179.8 U/ml). In patients with AMI, activity was significantly higher at 6 weeks as compared to that after acute event (49.39 %; p < 0.05). Sudden lowering of serum PONase activity in a population which already has lower activity may be one of the risk factors for development of AMI.     

Parenting and Child DRD4 Genotype Interact to Predict Children’s Early Emerging Effortful Control

Effortful control (EC), or the trait‐like capacity to regulate dominant responses, has important implications for children’s development. Although genetic factors and parenting likely influence EC, few studies have examined whether they interact to predict its development. This study examined whether the DRD4 exon III variable number tandem repeat polymorphism moderated the relation between parenting and children’s EC. Three hundred and eighty‐two 3‐year‐olds and primary caregivers completed behavioral tasks assessing children’s EC and parenting. Children’s DRD4 genotypes moderated the relation between parenting and EC: Children with at least one 7‐repeat allele displayed lower EC in the context of negative parenting than children without this allele. These findings suggest opportunities for modifying early risk for low EC.     

Study of oxidative stress in obsessive compulsive disorder in response to treatment with Fluoxetine

Oxidative stress has been found to play important role in several neuropsychiatric diseases including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. A longitudinal case control study was conducted to evaluate the oxidative stress in 30 newly diagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder patients and same number of control patients. Serum thiobarbituric acid reacting substances, plasma ascorbate were assessed to evaluate oxidative stress and Yale Brown obsessive compulsive scale for disease severity before and after treatment with Fluoxetine at the average dosage of 40 mg/day. Improvement in Yale Brown obsessive compulsive scale score by about 43% after 12 weeks treatment was associated with significantly decreased thiobarbituric acid reacting substances and increased plasma ascorbate values (p < 0.05). The newly diagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder patients had higher serum thiobarbituric acid reacting substances as well as a lower plasma ascorbate levels than the control population. Thus, the present study suggested a significant role of oxidative stress in obsessive compulsive disorder and showed that a successful treatment with Fluoxetine not only improves the clinical scenario but also reduces the oxidative stress that may further improve the prognosis of the disease.     

Curative effect of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cynodon dactylon</Emphasis> against STZ induced hepatic injury in diabetic rats

The aim of the study was to ascertain the role of ethanolic extract of Cynodon dactylon against hepatic complications in streptozotocin (STZ) induced type 2 diabetic models. Effect of the pre identified most effective dose of 500 mg/kg body weight was studied on hepatic injury caused by chemically induced diabetes by 55 mg/kg body weight i.p. injection of STZ in male Wistar rats. The dose of 500mg/kg body weight given once daily for 14 days reduced the levels of serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine and urine sugar significantly (P<0.05) with increase in total protein, haemoglobin and body weight was increased. High LD₅₀ validates its high margin of safety.     

Diagnostic Potential of Circulating Biomarkers in Adenosine Deaminase Diagnosed Pleural Tuberculosis Cases

Pleural tuberculosis accounts for nearly 20% of Extra pulmonary tuberculosis. Adenosine deaminase, commonly used biomarker for the diagnosis, is non specific and there is paucity of literature on its correlation with conventional or newer methods for the diagnosis of extra pulmonary forms of TB. The aim of the study was to assess diagnostic potential of T cell function markers [interferon (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL-2) and IFN-γ/IL-2 ratio]; macrophage activation marker [neopterin]; and oxidative stress markers [protein carbonyl and malondialdehyde (MDA)] in pleural tuberculosis. 26 pleural TB cases diagnosed on the basis of suggestive chest X-ray and raised serum ADA levels and healthy controls were included in the study. Pleural fluid specimens were subjected to Zeihl Neelsen staining and culture on Lowenstein Jensen medium. Serum IFN-γ, IL-2, neopterin and protein carbonyl levels detection were done by ELISA and MDA levels were determined by measuring the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Median serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IFN-γ/IL-2 ratio, neopterin, protein carbonyl and MDA were significantly different between cases and controls. Levels of all biomarkers except IL-2 were significantly higher in cases with contact history. Mean levels of ADA and ESR were 46.27 U/L and 46.62 mm/hr in PTB cases. AUC for IFN-γ, IL-2, IFN-γ/IL-2 ratio, neopterin, protein carbonyl and MDA were significantly discriminative for cases and controls. IFN-γ/IL-2 ratio was best discriminatory biomarker with highest area under ROC curve. Though no correlation was seen between ADA and any of the six biomarkers, ESR levels correlated significantly with all biomarkers except IL-2 by spearman’s correlation coefficient. Though all the circulating biomarkers under study provide useful supportive evidence for the diagnosis of PTB, further studies involving diverse control groups particularly non-PTB effusion are needed to validate these results.