ABSTRACT
Stem cells are now becoming part of regenerative medicines due to pluripotency, but as some of the major risk factors and ethical considerations; use of amniotic fluid for extracting stem cells have now gained importance in recent years. Much of research is focused on derivatisation of stem cells obtained from amniotic fluid into various organs. Amniotic fluid derived stem cells (AFDSC) are heterogeneous population, devoid of carcinoma development and have no ethical debates. Moreover amniotic fluid (AF) stem cells have high in vitro proliferation potential. AFDSC may guarantee source of stem cell with matching immune profile. AF stem cells may become invaluable source for direct treatment of genetic disorders. The isolation techniques used for AF stem cells extraction got importance for its ease and no need of feeder cells. The work showed use of AF derived stem cells for various organ regeneration like kidneys, heart muscles, even nowadays scientist have proved its use in Alzheimer’s disease as well and other brain disorders. Use of AF stem cells in hematopoietic system got attention. Recent studies now involve use of AF stem cells for neurotransmitter system also. It is now believed that AF stem cells are most efficient among others stem cells for therapeutic purposes. Risk factors are devoid in case of AF stem cells, moreover, due to plasticity, lack of immunogenicity, lack of tumorogenicity showed AFDSC as safe for therapy and regenerative treatment.
ABSTRACT
There has been a resurgence and prevalence of fever with symptoms of Chikungunya (CHIK) and increased death toll in Kerala, the southern-most state of India. The objective of this study was to develop a rapid detection method to determine the presence of CHIK- virus in the serum samples collected from febrile patients in Kerala, India. Serum specimens were analyzed for CHIK viral RNA by RT-PCR using primers specific for nsP1 and E1 genes. Five out of twenty clinical samples were positive for CHIK virus. The partial sequences of the E1 and nsP1 genes of the strain, IndKL01 were highly similar to the Reunion strains and the recently isolated Indian strains. A novel substitution, A148V, was detected in the E1 gene of the isolate, IndKL02. The detection procedure used in this study was simple, sensitive and rapid (less than 4 hr). This result suggests that CHIK viruses similar to the Reunion strains, which had resulted in high morbidity and mortality rates, may have caused the recent Chikungunya outbreak in India. The effect of the variant, E1-A148V, in the virulence and the rate of transmission of the virus deserves further investigation.
ABSTRACT
The study was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of involvement of immune zones in leprosy and to assess the clinico-epidemiological characteristics of the disease in patients presenting with immune zone involvement. 200 leprosy cases were included in this study and detailed history, clinical examination, slit-skin smears and skin biopsies were carried out on all patients. Those cases presenting with immune zone involvement were further evaluated for clinical and epidemiological characteristics of disease process. Immune zone involvement was detected in 7% of cases with male preponderance in the study. Majority of patients (85.5%) had borderline tuberculoid leprosy and midline of back was the commonest site of involvement (50% of cases). Morphologically, macular lesions were the commonest presentation (85.68%) of immune zone involvement. The study heightens the clinical awareness of the possibility of occurrence of leprous lesions on uncommon and unusual sites, which should be termed as relatively immune, rather than absolutely immune zones of leprosy.