Lymphatic filariasis in a young girl

Lymphatic filariasis known as Elephantiasis put more than a billion people at risk. Over 120 million have already been affected by it; out of which over 40 million are seriously incapacitated and disfigured by the disease 1.2. Elephantiasis is a complication that occurs due to repeated infections caused by three species of filarial worms. Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi are the most common and Brugia timori is rarely implicated 2. In its most obvious manifestations, lymphatic filariasis causes enlargement of the entire leg or arm, the genitals, vulva and breasts. In endemic communities, 10-50% of men and up to 10% of women can be affected 3. The psychological and social stigma associated with these aspects of the disease arc immense. In addition, even more common than the overt abnormalities is hidden, internal damage to the kidneys and lymphatic system caused by the filariae 4.5. One-third of the people infected with the disease live in India. A primary cause of this increase is the rapid and unplanned growth of cities, which creates numerous breeding sites for the mosquitoes that transmit the disease

Incidence of erythromycin resistance in clinical isolates of streptococcus pyogenes at afip, rawalpindi

Erythromycin Is a useful alternative to penicillin in treating Streptococcus pyogenes infections. However, increasing resistance to erythromycin is being reported from various parts of the world. to determine the frequency of erythromycin resistance among Streptococcus pyogenes isolates identified at Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi. Descriptive non-interventional study. Jan 2003 to Sep 2004. Clinical specimens which yielded growth of catalase negative f3 hemolytic colonies on Blood agar were identified as Strept. pyogenes by Gram stain, bacitracin sensitivity, PYRase test and Lancefied grouping. Only one isolate per patient was included in the study. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates was done by standard disk diffusion technique. Bacterial suspensions were inoculated on Blood agar followed by application of erythromycin [15microg], penicillin [10U], cephradine [30microg], ofloxacin [5microg] and doxycyline [30microg], disks. The plates were incubated overnight under aerobic conditions at 37°C. The results were interpreted according to NCCLS guidelines. A total 185 Streptococcus pyogenes isolates were recovered from 180 patients. Most of the specimens were of pus [n=119] followed by throat swab [n=-24]. Erythromycin resistance was 30%. All the isolates were susceptible to penicillin and cephradine while resistance to doxycyline was 70%. Erythromycin resistance among Streptococcus pyogenes was high; therefore, erythromycin might not be a useful alternative for treating systematic and serious infections due to Streptococcus pyogenes

Value of D-dimers assay in diagnosis of pulmonnary Embolism

To determine the value of D-Dimers assay in the diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism [PE] at Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from January to November 2000. Forty three consecutive patients clinically suspected of suffering from pulmonary embolism and referred to Armed Forces Institute of Pathology for Ventilation-Perfusion scan of lungs were inducted in the study. A detailed history was taken and clinical examination was performed. All patients were then subjected to Perfusion and/or Ventilation scan, which was taken as the standard for the diagnosis of PE. Blood samples were collected from all patients in trisodium citrate. Platelet poor plasma obtained from the samples was tested for D-Dimers semi-quantitatively using latex agglutination method. Out of 43 patients 14[32.6%] had completely normal ventilation-perfusion scan hence the diagnosis of PE was excluded. In 6 [13.9%] patients the results were considered indeterminate. Abnormalities suggestive of pulmonary embolism were detected in 23 [53.5%] patients. D-Dimers were less than the cut off value of 500 ng/ml in 19 [44.2%] patients, whereas in 24 [55.8%] the levels were more than 500 ng/ml. When compared with the results of ventilation-perfusion scan the sensitivity of D-Dimers was 91.3% and specificity was 100%. Positive predictive value of the test was 100% whereas negative predictive value was 87.5%. D-Dimers assay combined with high clinical evidence is a cost effective, readily available test which can safely exclude the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in majority of the cases

Experimental and clinical evaluation of new hepatobiliary imaging agent Tc99m bromide

To optimize the hepatobiliary imaging techniques by radionuclides, kit procedure for the preparation of Tc-99m labelled BROMIDA [2, 4, 6 trimethyl bromo- IDA] is described. Different parameters effecting the yield [%] of the final product were evaluated. The maximum labelling efficiency of radiopharmaceutical recorded was 99%. The amount of free TCCH and hydrolysed fraction was less than 1%. The radiochemical purity checked by T.L.C method showed more than 96% labelled complex upto 6 hours. In vivo distribution studies demonstrated excellent uptake of Tc-99m BROMIDA by the hepatocytes and no artifacts were seen on scintigraphic images

Estimation and separation of N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase isoenzymes in urine

N-acetyl Beta-D-glucosaminidase is a lysosomal enzyme made up of two isoenzymes [A and B]. It has been used extensively as a marker for kidney damage. However, its estimation in urine has not been standardized. We have established a method for the estimation and separation of NAG isoenzymes by ion-exchange chromatography. In 19 experiments done so far, this method has given reproducible results. The significance of this method is that with a single experiment, one can estimate total as well as individual isoenzyme activity. Furthermore, urine constituents do not appear to interfere in this assay

Effect of various metals and metabolites on the activity of lactete dehydrogenase

The effects of various chemicals were studied on the activity of purified lactate dehydrogenase [LDH] from buffalo's liver. Gossypol acetic acid, cupric and mercuric ions had completely inhibited the enzyme. Zinc showed inhibition only for reverse reaction. Lead, nickel and silver had shown more inhibition for forward reaction while cobalt produced inhibition only for forward reaction. The inhibition of reverse reaction by two metal chelators [hydroxyquinoline and dipyridyl] suggests that LDH from buffalo liver may require metal ions for its activity in reverse direction only. Oxalate also inhibited both sides of reaction and its Ki with respect to pyruvate was found to be 0.35 mM. Most of the nucleotides tested had almost no effect on the activity of LDH on either direction. Pyrophosphate and n - hexanediol also had shown no effect

Fractionation of replicating simian virus 40 chromosomes according to extent of replication

Simian virus 40 [SV40] replicating chromosomes were labelled in vivo with 3H - thymidine [3H - dThd] and were extracted from SV40 infected green monkey kidney cells [CV1] under very low ionic strength buffer. The chromosomes were partially purified by centrifugation into through neutral glycerol gradient. Sub - fractions of chromosmes were pooled consecutively five batches. Each batch of chromosomes was used for in vitro DNA synthetic capability separately and the reactions were carried out in the presence of alpha 32 P - deoxythymidine 5' triphosphate [alpha 32 P - dTTP]. After termination of the reactions, the chromosomes of these sub - fractions were further analzed by resedimentation on the second cycle of glycerol gradients. Resedimentation of SV40 chromosomes have indicated that the sedimentation values of replicating or non - replicating chromosomes were not appreciably changed though some proteins might have been removed during the above procedures. The values ranged between 92 S and 55 S. Both the peaks of 3H radioactivity [incorporated in vivo] and the 32p radioactivity [incorporated in vitro] coincided with each other in these gradients. The chromosomes from these gradients were pooled separately, deproteinized and the products were further analyzed by sedimentation through alkaline sucrose gradients. The data suggest that the 32p label was observed in the Okazaki pieces [nascent DNA strands] of various lengths according to the extent of replication. The maximum efficiency of vitro DNA synthesis [as revealed by 32p/3H ratio] of SV40 sub - fractions from neutral glycerol gradient occurred in the replicating chromosomes which were sedimenting in the lagging side of the peak