Isolation and purification of protease from Labeo rohita viscera

The discarding of fish wastes creates environmental and disposal problems. A number of bioactive compounds can be extracted and purified from the fish wastes. Therefore, protease was purified from the visceral organ wastes of Labeo rohita. The fish visceral waste was collected from Mettur Dam, Tamil Nadu. A crude homogenate was prepared and subjected to acetone precipitation, dialysis, Sephadex G-100 and DEAE cellulose column chromatography. The molecular weight of the isolated protease was determined by SDS-PAGE and confirmation of the protease activity was done by zymography. From the study, it was concluded that, the final purified sample showed a purification fold of 13.4, the specific activity of 8.62 U/mg, recovery percentage of 5.44 and a molecular weight of 38 kDa. Hence the present study was taken up with the view of utilizing the large amounts of fish wastes for the extraction of a beneficial enzyme, namely protease thereby contributing to the reduction of pollution caused by disposal of fish waste.

A histomorphological study of regional lymphnodes in carcinomas of breast, stomach and colon.

INTRODUCTION: Immune response plays an important role in the interaction between malignant neoplasms and their host, which is reflected as histologic changes in the lymph nodes draining tumours. MATERIAL: 641 regional lymph nodes from 64 primary carcinomas of breast, stomach and colon were examined to assess such a response. METHODS: The lymphnodes were classified into one of the following histological patterns--lymphocyte predominance (LP), germinal centre predominance (GCP), lymphocyte depletion (LD) and unstimulated (U). RESULTS: LP (T Cell response) was the frequently observed pattern in the lymph nodes of breast and stomach. A similar pattern was observed among the survivors irrespective of the involvement of lymph node with tumour. There was a significant association between the histologic pattern of lymph node and stage & grade of the disease in breast carcinoma. CONCLUSION: The correlation of lymph node histology with grade and extent of the disease & survival indicate that the immune system is important in regulating the growth of malignant neoplasms. Such information may help as prognostic indicator and as therapeutic guide for immunotherapy.

Conjunctival impression cytology for detection of early vitamin A deficiency in children.

Children presenting with recurrent infections have a high risk of developing vitamin A deficiency. Conjunctival impression cytology (CIC) was used in the present study in such children to detect subclinical deficiency and to monitor the outcome after therapy. Seventy children with history of recurrent infections, and 10 healthy children in the age group of six months to five years were included in the study. CIC was performed using millipore filter paper and stained with PAS stain. A three tier grading system was used consisting of normal, borderline abnormal and abnormal for interpretation. Vitamin A supplementation was given in children in the latter two categories. Repeat cytology showed reversal to normal in these children. Hence in children with high risk of developing vitamin A deficiency, it is suggested to do CIC for detection and monitoring it.