ABSTRACT
Plants under stress need to favour certain pathways so as to survive the stress period. Protection of specific enzymes by proline and other osmolytes could be one such mechanism to favour some pathways/processes. Therefore, the influence of osmolyte proline on conformational changes of various proteins caused by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was studied by intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence emissions. H2O2 caused conformational change in proteins. Results indicated that for Alcohol dehydrogenase (AD) and Glutamate dehydrogenase (GD) enzymes, H2O2 induced conformational change was high and that for Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was low. Fluorescence and far-UV, CD measurements of catalase demonstrated that the H2O2 stabilized the protein secondary structure at low concentrations but destabilized it at higher concentrations. Intrinsic and ANS fluorescence results showed that proline at a concentration of 1.0 M prompted a reduction in the H2O2-induced exposed hydrophobic surfaces of studied enzymes, to different degrees which suggests its differential protective effect. Furthermore, SDS-PAGE studies revealed that proline was not able to reduce or inhibit the H2O2 mediated aggregation of GAPDH.
ABSTRACT
Normal pressure hydrocephalus is a communicating hydrocephalus without evident obstruction of the normal pathway of CSF flow. Normal-pressure hydrocephalus is a common cause of reversible dementia and it can also present with various psychiatric symptoms. A 76-year old man was brought to psychiatry OPD with history suggestive of decreased need for sleep for 8 days, disinhibited behaviour, increased libido, increased activity and increased talk for 4 days. On examination patient was noticed to be having increased psychomotor activity with increased talk, mood reported to be happy with elated affect, no content or perceptual disturbances were elicited. Cognitive functions were within normal limits. Personal and social judgement was impaired with grade 0 insight. General physical and systematic examinations were within normal limits. MRI reports showed ventricular enlargement suggestive of normal pressure hydrocephalus. Patient underwent diagnostic and therapeutic lumbar tapping. There was significant improvement in patient’s behavioural symptoms following therapeutic lumbar tapping. Therapeutic lumbar tapping in this case of normal pressure hydrocephalus was effective in the management of manic symptoms. Early identification of organic cause in late onset psychiatric disorders is necessary. Prompt intervention of the organic cause was effective in the management of manic symptoms.
ABSTRACT
Rice is a staple food for humans and its demand in 2035 has been put at 852 million tons. Knowledge on genes and genome architecture helps in better understanding of growth and development mechanisms for crop improvement. Transgenic crops may offer a solution by means of higher yield and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this context, modification of Agrobacterium mediated transformation protocol for indica rice cultivar is imperative to increase transformation efficiency and reduce duration of transgenic development. Here, we developed an efficient Agrobacterium mediated transformation protocol using early scutellum derived calli of the indica rice cultivar Pusa Sugandh 2. Competency of 3, 4, 5 and 6 day old primary calli was compared with 21- day old secondary calli for Agrobacterium mediated transformation using a modified pCAMBIA 1304 harbouring GFP-GUS fusion gene driven by maize ubiquitin 1 promoter. The highest competency with stable transformation efficiency of 51% was observed for 5-6 day old primary calli. Molecular analysis confirmed stable integration of the transgene. Transgenic lines of Pusa Sugandh 2 were developed within a short period of two months using 5-6 day old primary calli.
ABSTRACT
New onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is one of the serious side effects of immunosuppressive medications used in renal transplant recipients. Diabetes in transplantation increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and has adverse outcome on graft and patient survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of NODAT in renal transplant recipients, the risk factors for the development of NODAT and its effect on graft and patient survival. Total 210 patients underwent renal transplantation from Jan 2010 to June 2016. Mean follow-up period after renal transplantation was 38.14 + 20.12 months. NODAT was defined as two consecutive fasting blood glucose determinations above 126 mg/dL. Thirty five (16.66%) recipients developed NODAT, the duration of onset of NODAT was 4.22 months (range 1 month to 30 months) after transplantation. All of them required insulin treatment. NODAT disappeared in 3(8.57%) recipients with reduction in tacrolimus dose and conversion to everolimus. Cox-Regression analysis was done to estimate the hazard ratio at confidence interval to assess whether the age more than 50 years, deceased donor, induction therapy, graft dysfunction, graft rejection, tacrolimus toxicity, everolimus based immunosuppression, HCV and CMV infection were risk factors for the development of NODAT. Induction therapy and graft dysfunction had 2 fold increased risk of development of NODAT and tacrolimus toxicity had 4 fold increased risk of development of NODAT. Fungal infection (17.14% Vs 2.28%, P value 0.00) was significantly higher in NODAT group compared to recipients without G. Swarnalatha, K.R. Karthik, N. Bharathi, S. Raghavendra, K. Siva Parvathi, A. Deepti, T. Gangadhar. New onset diabetes after renal transplantation: An experience from a developing country – India. IAIM, 2017; 4(7): 74-82. Page 75 NODAT. There was no significant difference in 6 months, 1, 2, 3 and 5 years patient survival or the death censored graft survival of recipients with NODAT compared to patients without NODAT