Bilateral optic nerve aplasia: a rare isolated central nervous system anomaly

Optic nerve [ON] aplasia is a rare developmental anomaly comprising of absence of the ON, ganglion cells and the central retinal vessels. It is usually accompanied by a variety of central nervous system [CNS] malformations. We report an extremely rare case of bilateral true ON aplasia occurring as an isolated CNS anomaly. A 10-month-old female child was detected with bilateral absence of fixation, associated with multiple ocular findings of microcornea, anterior embryotoxon, pupillary corectopia, partial aniridia and lens coloboma. The optic disc locations were visible as avascular whitish areas. There were no retinal vessels seen in the disc area or elsewhere. There were bilateral multiple chorioretinal atrophic patches present. B-scan ultrasonography showed bilateral absence of ONs. Magnetic resonance imaging showed thinned out bilateral ONs with a hypoplastic optic chiasma and optic tract. There were no other CNS anomalies. Flash visually evoked potential was unrecordable

Trials and tribulations: an expose of the HPV vaccine trials by the 72nd Parliamentary Standing Committee Report.

In mid-2009, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine “demonstration projects” were conducted by the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), a Seattle-based non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the state governments of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The projects were funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The vaccines used, Gardasil and Cervarix, were donated to PATH by the manufacturing companies; in this case, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD). These HPV vaccines were administered to approximately 23,000 young girls, of between 10 and 14 years of age, in the district of Khammam in Andhra Pradesh, and in the district of Vadodara in Gujarat.

Nanoemulsified ethanolic extract of Pyllanthus amarus Schum & Thonn ameliorates CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats.

Phyllanthus amarus (PA) is commonly used in traditional medicine for hepatoprotectivity. The major limitation is that, treatment requires a large quantity of herbal extract for a longer duration. Aim of the present study was to encapsulate ethanolic plant extract for sustained release of constituents in intestine and facilitate maximum absorption. The efficacy was compared for the hepatoprotective activity of nanoencapsulated ethanolic extract of P. amarus (NPA) and PA in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced hepatotoxic male rats. Based on total phenol content (TPC), the loading efficiency of nanocapsules was 89% (pH 7.0) and optimum concentration was 2:18 (mg/mL) for plant extract: olive oil. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a spherical morphology, photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) identified mean particle diameter as 213 nm and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) revealed that the phytoconstituents were stable. An oral dose of NPA (20 mg/kg body wt.) showed a better hepatoprotective activity than PA (100 mg/kg body wt.) and also repeated dose oral toxicity proved to be safe. These biochemical assessments were supported by rat biopsy examinations. In conclusion, the nanoemulsification method may be applied for poor water-soluble ethanolic herbal extracts to reduce the dosage and time.

Prevalence and some epidemiological factors of beta thalassaemia trait in Sindhi community of Nagpur City, India.

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of Beta thalassaemia trait (bTT) in Sindhi community of Nagpur City and to study association between bTT and some epidemiological factors like age at menarche in females, past history of diagnosis and treatment of anaemia and the current haemoglobin concentration. METHODS: The present cross-sectional study was undertaken among 446, young, apparently healthy, unrelated (by blood) Sindhi individuals before marriage or before reproduction. Blood samples were processed for Beta thalassaemia trait (bTT) using two stage approaches. Two screening tests namely Naked Eye Single Tube Red Cell Osmotic Fragility Test (NESTROFT) and RBC indices including Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) were performed on all samples and those positive for either one or both screening tests were further investigated for HbA2 level estimation by Haemoglobin electrophoresis on Cellulose acetate paper. HbA2 level of > 4.5% was taken as confirmatory of bTT. RESULTS: The prevalence of bTT in Sindhis of Nagpur was found to be 16.81%. No significant association was found between bTT & a delayed age at menarche, however a significantly higher number of trait carrier females had past history of diagnosis and treatment of anaemia while a significantly higher number of both male and female trait carriers had current haemoglobin concentration in anaemic range. CONCLUSION: The present study confirmed high prevalence of bTT in Sindhis.