ABSTRACT
Most documented cases of mucormycosishave been reported in patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, neutropenia, or treatment with corticosteroids. Recently, with the second wave of COVID-19, the Indian subcontinent has witnessed a dramatic rise in mucormycosisinfection in patients recovered from COVID-19. This association has been documented in various case reports/case series and institutional studies, and the mortality associated with this fungal infection is emerging as a cause of concern.Pulmonary mucormycosis is the second most common form after rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis(ROCM),but most cases are diagnosed in autopsy specimens. Cutaneous, Gastro-intestinal and disseminated forms are relatively rare. This cases series comprises of 4 cases of mucormycosis in post-COVIDpatients with interesting presentations.We report two cases of combined pulmonary aspergillosis and pulmonary mucormycosis, one case of rhino-orbital-mucormycosis with lymph nodal involvement and one case of rhino-orbital mucormycosis with acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy(AIDP).
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Background: In patients with CKD and diabetes combined, anemia may be relative or absolute. If the serum ferritin is more than or equal to 100ng/ml associated with reduced iron saturation, then it is defined as functional iron deficiency anemia. This type of anemia is very common in patients with CKD. To compare serum iron, TIBC, transferrin saturation and serum ferritin in anemia of chronic renal diseases with healthy controls.Methods: A hospital based comparative study was carried out among 30 known cases of chronic kidney disease with anemia. They were compared with 20 age and sex matched healthy control who were free from chronic kidney disease and anemia. The parameters like serum iron, TIBC, transferrin saturation and serum ferritin were compared between the two groups. Student’s t test and a two tailed p value were calculated and if the p value was less than 0.05, it was taken as statistically significant.Results: It was seen that the mean hemoglobin value was significantly less among CKD patients compared to healthy controls (p<0.05). Serum iron was also significantly less among CKD patients compared to healthy controls (p<0.05). TIBC as significantly high among CKD patients compared to healthy controls (p<0.05). This is because of low hemoglobin and low serum iron in CKD patients but again the transferrin saturation was significantly low among CKD patients compared to healthy controls (p<0.05).Conclusions: Anemia prevalence was very high in CKD patients. Hemoglobin, serum iron and transferrin saturation were significantly low and TIBC was significantly high.
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Background: Exposure to nicotine can lead to increased morbidity and mortality among fetus and mothers. The objective was to study the effect of nicotine exposure on the birth weight of the babies.Methods: During the study period of one year, it was possible to recruit the total 144 subjects. 36 were women who were exposed to nicotine as they were bidi rollers. The exposure was confirmed by history. 36 women delivered during the study period and these newborns were included in the present study. Control group were 36 pregnant women who were not exposed to nicotine. They were asked about the exposure history, like anyone in their family is smoking inside the house any time and their occupation. Among these all (36) delivered during the study period and their newborns were included in the present study.Results: Both the groups were comparable in terms of age, hemoglobin, body mass index, gestational age. The mean birth weight of babies in the control group (whose mothers were not exposed) was 3.01kg with a standard deviation of 0.56 compared to mean birth weight of babies in the study group (whose mothers were not exposed) of 2.73kg with a standard deviation of 0.40. This difference in the mean birth weight of babies in the study group and the control group was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). The mean serum cotinine value in study group mothers and babies was very high compared to zero value in mothers and babies of control group and statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusions: Maternal nicotine exposure through beedi rolling is associated with reduced birth weight.
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Six children with anti-NMDAR encephalitis were followed-up for 6to 24 months. They presented with seizures, neuropsychiatricsymptoms and movement disorder, particularly orofacialdyskinesia and choreoathetosis. Immunosuppressive therapyresulted in varying degrees of improvement; none relapsed.Expressive aphasia was the last symptom to regress
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Background: Oral health diseases are common in all regions of the world. Mouth rinses are widely used generally by population as a port of daily oral care regimen. In addition to antimicrobial activity, mouth rinses possess certain cytotoxic effects. Electron‑beam (E‑beam) radiation is a form of ionizing energy known to induce structural, physical, and chemical changes in irradiated products. In this study, the modulatory effects of E‑beam in irradiated mouth rinses were evaluated for its biological activities. Materials and Methods: The antimicrobial activities of nonirradiated and irradiated mouth rinses were evaluated for its antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities against oral pathogens, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by disc diffusion method and antibiofilm activity was evaluated by O’Toole method. The cytotoxicity was evaluated against human gingival fibroblast (HGF) cells by 3‑(4, 5 Dimethythiazol‑yl)‑2,5‑Diphenyl‑tetrazolium bromide assay. Results: Colgate Plax (CP) exhibited the antimicrobial activity against the tested pathogens, and a significant (P < 0.05) increase was observed against S. aureus at 750 Gy irradiation. Further, CP significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed S. mutans, S. aureus, and C. albicans biofilm. Listerine (LS) inhibited S. mutans and C. albicans biofilm. Whereas irradiated CP and LS significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed the biofilm formed by oral pathogens. The suppression of biofilm by irradiated mouth rinses was dose‑ and species‑dependent. There was no significant (P > 0.05) difference in the cytotoxicity of irradiated and nonirradiated mouth rinses on HGF cells. However, an increased percentage viability of HGF cells was observed by mouth rinses irradiated at 750 Gy. Conclusion: The E‑beam irradiation enhanced the antibiofilm activity of mouth rinses without modifying the cytotoxicity.
ABSTRACT
Microbial colonization as biofilm is one of the reasons for the emergence of drug resistant strains. In the oral cavity, drug resistant strains limit the efficacy of oral hygiene practices. Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus have been reported as drug resistant bacteria and producing oral biofilms in oral cavity. In this study we demonstrate the efficacy of aqueous extract of Azadirachta indica, Mangifera indica, Piper betel and Pepper nigrum for antibiofilm activity against E. faecalis and S. aureus. The aqueous extracts were obtained by cold percolation method. The antibiofilm activity of plants extract was evaluated at 30, 15 and 7.5 mg/ml concentration. The percentage yield of extract was maximum in P. nigrum. The aqueous extract of A. indica significantly suppressed E. faecalis and S. aureus biofilm at 7.5 mg/ml at p<0.01 and p<0.001 significance level. P. betel significantly (p<0.001) disintegrated the E. faecalis biofilm at 30 mg/ml and S. aureus at 15 mg/ml (p<0.01). P. nigrum disintegrated E. faecalis and S. aureus biofilm significantly (p<0.05 and p<0.001) at 30 and 15 mg/ml respectively. M. indica significantly (p<0.05) suppressed S. aureus biofilm at 30 mg/ml. These results clearly demonstrate the antibiofilm activity of plants extract against oral pathogens.