ABSTRACT
Background: Total thyroidectomy (TT) is a commonly performed procedure for various thyroid disorders, with parathyroid insufficiency manifesting as hypocalcaemia being a well-known complication. Albeit, vitamin D is well implicated in calcium homeostasis, the association between hypovitaminosis D and postoperative hypocalcaemia is yet to be concluded. The aim of our study is to evaluate the correlation of preoperative serum vitamin D3 levels with occurrence of post-operative hypocalcemia in patients undergoing TT.Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 50 patients undergoing TT for benign thyroid diseases from November 2016 to May 2018. Pre-operative vitamin D3 levels were estimated. Serum calcium levels was measured pre‑ and post‑operatively at 24hours, 1st week and 4th week. Serum calcium level ≤8.5 mg/dl was considered as biochemical hypocalcemia. A data of demographic, clinical, biochemical and intraoperative findings were documented and analysed.Results: Statically 14 (28%) patients developed symptomatic hypocalcemia. Out of these, 11 (78.5%) patients had preoperative vitamin D levels of <30 ng/dl (p=0.034). 24 hours postoperative serum calcium level was significantly lesser in patients with lower preoperative vitamin D levels (p=0.015), suggesting that postoperative hypocalcemia (24 hr) is statistically related to pre-operative vitamin D3 levels.Conclusions: It could be concluded from our study that preoperative serum vitamin D3 levels can predict post-operative occurrence of symptomatic and/or biochemical hypocalcemia. Thus, it could be hypothesized that supplementing vitamin D preoperatively could curb the incidence of hypocalcaemia following TT. However, further relevant trials are needed to attest to this.
ABSTRACT
Microalgae based biofuel is an attractive alternative energy source due to its rapid growth rate and high lipid accumulation efficiency. In this study, we screened high lipid content microalga with the favourable fatty acid composition suitable for biodiesel production. Totally twelve different microalgal species were isolated from freshwater habitats. The isolates were identified as Micractinium sp., Chlorella sorokiniana, Scenedesmus bajacalifornicus, Desmodesmus sp., Scenedesmus obliquus, Coelastrum proboscideum, Chlamydomonas moewusii, Chlamydomonas debaryana, Chlamydomonas dorsoventralis, Coelastrum sp., and Ankistrodesmus sp. based on morphological features and ITS region similarity. Among the isolates, highest lipid content (33±0.07%) and lipid productivity (0.27±0.06 g L-1) were obtained from Ankistrodesmus sp. Intracellular lipid droplets of Ankistrodesmus sp. were observed through Nile red staining. The lipid content was enhanced up to 45% under the nitrogen deficient (5 mg L-1) BG-11 medium. Ankistrodesmus sp. fatty acid profile shows the presence of palmitic (16.39%), stearic (15.67%), oleic (25.66%), linolenic (21.62%), and alpha-linoleic acids (14.34%). The oleic acid was the dominant fatty acid 25.66% in the nitrogen deficient condition.
ABSTRACT
Background: Hypertension, a major public health concern, affecting 20-25% of the adult population. It is the major risk factor for diseases involving Cardio Vascular (CV) and renalsystem. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that high Blood Pressure (BP) causes 1 in every 8 deaths, making hypertension the third leading killer in the world. The recent emerging trend in the treatment of hypertension is not only based on the pragmatic need to lower BP levels, but also on lowering the CV risk profile, which is largely linked to the presence of the end organ damage.Methods: One hundred patients with hypertension are recruited in this study. The ethics committee of Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada approved this study and all the participants provided informed consent for all the procedures in the study protocol.Results: Majority of the patients (40%) with EOD have hypertension of >10 years duration. The relative frequency of various end organ damages (CVS: 34%, CNS: 17%, kidney: 12% and eye: 10%) is also high in patients with hypertension of >10 years duration.Conclusions: A significant proportion of hypertensive subjects had documented associated EOD, with LVH being the most prevalent EOD. The above findings emphasize the important role of the primary care clinicians to the early detection, treatment and control of high blood pressure that might help to reducing overall cardiovascular risk.