Amoebic liver abscess: Role for intervention?

Liver abscess complicates intestinal amoebiasis in 3-10% of the cases. Presented here is an interesting case of amoebic liver abscess which was diagnosed using ultrasound abdomen and CT scan showing compression of the right kidney. The patient was not responding to maximal medical management with intravenous Ceftriaxone and Metronidazole, underwent therapeutic and diagnostic aspiration of "anchovy sauce pus" and had relief of his symptoms of fever and abdominal pain after 6 days of admission. With this case we would like to highlight the use of therapeutic radiological intervention for the treatment of liver abscess and also discuss the indications, complications and role for the same in clinical practice

Synthesis and evaluation of novel analogues of mangiferin as potent antipyretic

OBJECTIVE@#To screen different analogues of mangiferin pharmacologically for antipyretic activity.@*METHODS@#The naturally occurring xanthone glycoside mangiferin was isolated by column chromatography from the ethanolic extract of stem bark of Mangifera indica. Mangiferin was further converted to 5-(N-phenylamino methyleno) mangiferin, 5-(N-p-chlorophenylamino methyleno) mangiferin, 5-(N-2-methyl phenylamino methyleno) mangiferin, 5-(N-p-methoxy phenylamino methyleno) mangiferin, 5-(N, N-diphenylamino methyleno) mangiferin, 5-(N-α-napthylamino methyleno) mangiferin and 5-(N-4-methyl phenylamino methyleno) mangiferin analogues. The synthesized compounds were further screened for antipyretic activity along with mangiferin at a dose level of 100 and 200 mg/kg. Mangiferin and its analogues were characterized by melting point andR(f)value determination and through spectral technique like UV, IR, and NMR spectral analysis.@*RESULTS@#The antipyretic activity of mangiferin as well as all analogues was found to be more significant in at higher dose ie. 200 mg/kg which was depicted through a decrease in rectal temperature up to 3 h.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The antipyretic activity of mangiferin and its analogues may be attributed to inhibition in synthesis of TNF-α and anti-oxidant activity associated with amelioration of inflammatory actions of cytokines.

Modulation of testicular lutropin receptors in the developing male rat.

In the developing male rat around 40 days of age, the testis appears to contain the maximum amount of lutropin receptors per unit weight. During this period, circulating levels of testosterone markedly increase without the concomitant major surges in lutropin levels. The increased sensitivity and responsiveness of tests to basal levels of circulating lutropin during this period is accompanied by enhanced serum prolactin levels suggesting that this hormone may be involved in this process. The finding that prolactin treatment of pubertal rats for 3 days induced the formation of more testicular lutropin receptors supports the above premise. However, shortterm immunoneutralisation of endogenous prolactin did not significantly alter the specific binding of [ 125 I ]-labelled lutropin to testicular membranes. Interestingly, during development, a close correction exists between receptor occupancy and capacity of the tissue to bind labelled lutropin. The apparent dissociation between serum lutropin levels, on the one hand and tissue occupancy and free receptor contents on the other, suggests that factors other than lutropin (presumably prolactin) are involved in the modulation of the sensitivity and the responsiveness of the testis to lutropin during early development.