Duration Dependent Antiapoptotic Efficacy Of Camellia Sinensis (GREEN Tea) On Streptozotocin Induced Diabetes Linked Testicular Hypofunction In Albino Rat: Genomic And Flow Cytometric Assessment

Objective: The study has been conducted to search out the threshold duration of treatment of ethyl acetate fraction of methanolic extract of leaves of Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze at the dose of 100 mg/kg body weight for the management of diabetes-induced testicular impairment in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat in a duration dependent fashion. Methods: In this respect, the glycemic, androgenic, oxidative stress sensors, gene expression of testicular androgenic key enzymes along with apoptotic markers were evaluated in a duration dependent way (14, 28 and 56 d). Results: A significant correction was noted in the levels of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1C), testicular thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), conjugated diene (CD), sperm viability, sperm mitochondrial status, serum testosterone, and genomic expression of testicular Δ5, 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD), 17β-HSD, Bax, Bcl-2 after treatment for different duration with the said fraction in diabetic groups in compare to respective vehicle-treated diabetic group without any toxicity induction in general. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) study of the fraction showed two spots with retention factors (Rf) of 0.78 and 0.51. Conclusion: The results showed that 28 d treatment was threshold duration of treatment for the correction of diabetes-induced testicular impairment.

A comparative study on efficacy and safety of glycopyrronium bromide + salmeterol/fluticasone and tiotropium bromide + salmeterol/fluticasone in hronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Objective: To compare the effect of tiotropium bromide and glycopyrronium bromide in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methods: This was an open labeled Randomized controlled trial study. Patients diagnosed with COPD according to the Global Initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) strategy were included in the study. The patients were divided in two groups and each group had 100 patients. Group A- COPD patients on Tiotropium bromide + Salmeterol/Fluticasone; Group B – COPD patient on Glycopyrronium bromide + Salmeterol/Fluticasone. Tiotropium bromide: 18 mcg OD, Glycopyrronium bromide: 50 mcg OD along with Salmeterol 50 mcg/Fluticasone 100mcg was given. Results: The mean age of patients of Group A and Group B was 56.28±7.78 and 57.64±8.06 years respectively. Baseline variables were comparable between the groups. There was significant (p<0.05) difference in PFT parameters between the groups at 12 and 24 weeks except for FEV1/FVC. The mean change was higher in Group B compared to Group A from 0 week to 24 weeks. There was clinical improvement among all the patients in both the groups. Conclusion: Once-daily GLY demonstrated similar effects to TIO when combined with SAL/FP in patients with moderate and severe COPD.

Phytochemical Profiling Using Lc-Q-Tof-Ms Analysis And In Vitro Antioxidant Activity Of A Rare Salt-Secreting Mangrove Aegialitis Rotundifolia Roxb. Leaves Extract

Objective: The present work deals with the qualitative study of the phytoconstituents present in Aegialitis rotundifolia Roxb., ethanolic leaves extract and evaluate its antioxidant properties in vitro. Methods: The qualitative phytochemical analysis of the extract was performed first using preliminary phytochemical tests and then by liquid chromatography quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF-MS). The antioxidant properties were investigated comprehensively using seven in vitro models viz., 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, nitric oxide (NO) scavenging, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging, superoxide (SOD) radical scavenging, lipid peroxidation (LPO) assay, reducing power (RP), and total antioxidant activity. Results: The preliminary phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of several important phytochemical groups whereas the LC-Q-TOF-MS analysis detected 25 phytoconstituents in the extract mostly belonging to flavonoids and alkaloids. The test extract showed strong dose-dependent antioxidant activity in all the seven in vitro models, however, the activity of the extracts was slightly lower compared to the reference standard ascorbic acid. Conclusion: The test extract showed strong antioxidant properties which could be possibly due to the phytoconstituents detected in the extract.

Open label case control prospective study to evaluate the impact of aceclofenac on antihypertensive action of amlodipine and ramipril in hypertensive patients with osteoarthritis

Objective: To study the impact of aceclofenac on antihypertensive action of amlodipine and ramiprilin hypertensive patients with osteoarthritis in an open label case control prospective study. Methods: This was an open label case control prospective study. Hypertensive patients on either amlodipine or Ramipril were included in control groups. A total of 120 patients were included in the study and divided into 4 groups: Group A- Hypertensivepatients on Ramipril; Group B – Hypertensive patients with concomitant osteoarthritis taking Aceclofenac and Ramipril; Group C– Hypertensive patients on Amlodipine and Group D- Hypertensive patients with concomitant osteoarthritis taking Aceclofenac and Amlodipine. Results: At the end of the first month (phase I), the ramipril subgroup in the control group had a mean systolic blood pressure of 136.73±3.80 which was an 8.19% decrease from the baseline and it was found significant (p<0.05). The systolic blood pressure measurements at the end of the second month (phase II) in the control groups revealed further fall in mean systolic blood pressure. The cases of osteoarthritis on aceclofenacand ramiprilshowedan increase in BP. The mean Systolic BP was 159.2 ± 5.816.An increase of 9.74%from the base line and 16.09% was noted at the end of phase-I (P<0.5). Patients on aceclofenac and amlodipine in contrast showed a fall in BP from base line in phase 0 and their mean systolic blood pressure at positive in of second month of phase-II was 142.07± 2.43 about 1.88% fall baseline and 2.94% increase in BP compared to Phase-I. Almost similar observations were recorded for diastolic blood pressure. Conclusion: The interaction of NSAIDs on the antihypertensive action of the ACE inhibitors is significantly greater than their blunting action on the calcium channel blockers.

Delineating the prime mover action of progesterone for endometrial receptivity in primates.

Progesterone is essential for endometrial receptivity in primates. It is now evident that embryo-derived signal influences implantation stage endometrium under progesterone dominance, and collectively results in endometrial receptivity to implanting blastocyst. Previously, a few studies were performed using global gene profiling based on microarray technology to identify changes in gene expression between early luteal phase and mid luteal phase endometrium, however, the issue of combinatorial regulation by progesterone-dependent regulation and by embryo-derived signal on transcripts profiles during endometrial differentiation toward receptivity for blastocyst implantation in primates has not been addressed. the present review summarizes a few issues, specifically that of transforming growth factor β-tumour necrosis factor α (TGFβ-TNFα) pathways and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signalling system related to luteal phase progesterone action on endometrial receptivity in terms of its transcriptomic expression using a potent antiprogestin (mifepristone) in conception cycles of the rhesus monkey as a non-human primate model.

Expressional regulation of genes linked to immunity & programmed development in human early placental villi.

Background & objectives: During 6 to 8 wk of gestation, human placental villi show a complex pattern of morphogenesis. There is however, no large scale gene expression study exploring the temporal pattern of the developmental molecular networks in placental villi during the early weeks of gestation. We evaluated the transcriptome profiling of humn placental villus samples obtained from fertile women with voluntarily terminated normal pregnancies between 6-8 wk of gestation. Methods: Transcriptomic profiles of individual human placental villous samples from 25 women with normal pregnancies during 6 to 8 wk of gestation were examined using human whole genome expression arrays. Quantitative RT-PCR validation of copy numbers of transcripts for selected 15 genes and exploratory analysis of the microarray data revealed a high degree of quality assurance supportive of further clustering and differential analyses. Immunoblot and immunohistochemical analysis of selected five candidate proteins (CAGE1, CD9, SLC6A2, TANK and VEGFC) based on transcript profiles were done to assess the pattern of down stream informational flow. Results: A large number (~9K) of genes with known functions were expressed in the experimental samples. The clustering analysis identified three major expression clusters with gestational age, and four co-expressional clusters. Differential analysis identified a highly discrete regulatory process involving only about 160 genes. Immunochemical analysis of selected candidate proteins based on transcript profiles revealed generally synchronous expression in human early placental villi. Interpretation & conclusions: Several signaling pathways linked to immunity (COL1, JAK2, JAK3, IL12, IL13, IL15, IL27, STAT3 and STAT5) were downregulated, while genes of the enriched category of antiviral immunity (ATF/AP1, IL10R and OAS) were clearly over-expressed. Transcriptional integration supportive of programmed development was observed in first trimester placental villi and it included regulation of apoptosis and cell cycle progression (ARRB1, ATR, BLM, CHRNA7, CHRNB1, FYN, KPNA4, and MTOR/FRAP), autophagy (ATG4B, ATG14, BAD, and BCL2), cell adhesion (CD9 and FN1) and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (CALD1, FN1, HEY1, MMP2, and WNT3A).

Impact Of Health Awareness Intervention Among The Women Sweepers Working Under The Midnapore Municipality Of West Bengal, India.

Background: Women sweepers is the vulnerable segment of our community and suffering from different occupational health problems due to limited education, lack of knowledge on occupational health hazards. The present study aimed to assess the awareness level regarding occupational health and personal hygiene and to evaluate the effect of occupational health intervention among the women sweepers. Methods: The study adopted a pre-test and post-test design. A total of 52 women sweepers in the age group of 25 to 60 years were selected randomly from Midnapore Municipality of West Bengal, India. At first, a self-structured questionnaire was prepared on the aspects of general health, occupational health, personal hygiene, environmental health and nutritional aspects. After the pre-awareness assessment an intervention package was delivered covering said domains. Than post testing was done on the participants after the period of intervention. Results: Results demonstrated that there was a considerable increase in the awareness levels among the women sweepers with regard to knowledge of health problems, occupational health. The knowledge of participants regarding personal hygiene improved markedly after imparting the intervention. With regards to preventive approaches of diseases among the women has increased after the intervention. Overall health knowledge increased significantly post-awareness stage than pre-awareness stage (P<0.001). Conclusion: The study concluded that occupational health intervention has a positive effect towards the improvement of awareness level among the women sweepers which may change their health habits.

Evaluation of Nutritional Status by Mid-Upper Arm Circumference Amongst Affluent Children.

Introduction: Anthropometry is widely accepted as low-cost technique for defining the nutritional status of children. The mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) is a fast screening method in detecting acute malnutrition and it is also a predictor of childhood mortality. Materials and Methods: This is the retrospective study to evaluate the nutritional status based on mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) among urban, pre-school age children. A total of 1060 children, aged 1 to 3 years, attending the vaccination clinic of the Indian Red Cross Society Paschim Medinipur Hospital over a two years period, were enrolled in the study. The measurement of MUAC (in centimetres) was taken by the standard technique. Undernutrition was defined based on age and sex-specific MUAC cut-off values as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Results: Boys were higher level of mean MUAC than girls at all ages and there was no significant sex differences. The age-combined rate of overall undernutrition was 18.96% and it was slightly higher among the boys (19.38%) than girls (18.46%). The age-combined moderate undernutrition was higher among the boys (16.08% vs 14.11%) but girls’ value was higher in case of severe undernutrition (3.28% vs 4.35%). Conclusion: The present study showed that a remarkable number of pre-schooler was undernourished based on MUAC.

A Comparative Study on Nutritional Status of Urban and Rural Early Adolescent School Girls of West Bengal, India.

Objectives: Adolescents remain largely neglected and especially girl from a deprived section in our society. The present study is an attempt to evaluate the nutritional status of early adolescent school girl from rural and urban areas. The study was, therefore, carried out to determine and compare the nutritional status of adolescent girl attending urban and rural secondary schools in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. Methods: Cross-sectional data based on anthropometric measurements (height, weight) was collected from 2545 girls aged 10 to 14 years attending Govt. approved schools in Kharagpur town and Dantan-II block. The nutritional status has been assessed with the help of some anthropometric indices. The weight and height were recorded for each girl, and converted to nutritional indices (weightfor- age, height-for-height, BMI-for-age Z-scores of the National Center for Health Statistics reference standrads). Results: The mean nutritional indices (underweight, stunting and thinness) were found to be much lower among the rural girl than urban girl. The overall prevalent rates of underweight, stunting and thinness were 27.9%, 32.5% and 20.2% respectively. In the rural area these were 35.4%, 35.7% and 26.3%, while in the urban they were 19.6%, 29.0% and 13.6% respectively. Conclusions: The present study shows that undernutrition constituted major health problems among early adolescent school girls in rural areas of India. Hence, the special emphases are needed to formulate various developmental and healthcare programmes for rural communities to prevent undernutrition.

Growth Pattern and Prevalence of Underweight and Stunting Among Rural Adolescents.

Introduction: A cross-sectional study of 1094 (boys = 665; girls = 429) rural school children aged 11- 18 years of Midnapore Sadar North subdivision, Paschim Medinipur District, West Bengal, India, was undertaken to evaluate their growth pattern and nutritional status. Methodology: Anthropometric measurements including weight and height were measured following standard techniques. Underweight and stunting were used as indicators of nutritional status. Underweight and stunting were defined as weight-for-age (WAZ) and height-for-age (HAZ) <-2 z-scores, respectively, of the National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS) guidelines. Results: Results revealed that boys were significantly heavier than girls from age 16 onwards; they were also significantly taller from age 14 years. The mean WAZ for boys and girls were -1.488 and -1.417, respectively. The corresponding mean values for HAZ were -1.317 and -1.486. The overall rates of underweight and stunting were 28.3% and 27.8%, respectively. The prevalence of underweight was significantly higher among boys (31.0%) than girls (24.2%). These rates for stunting were 27.4% and 28.4%, for the boys and girls. The rate of underweight and stunting was more in late adolescents (15-18 years) than early adolescents (11-14 years). In boys, the prevalence of stunting was significantly (1.5 times) more in late adolescents than early adolescents. According to the WHO classification for assessing severity of malnutrition, the rates of stunting were medium in both sexes. The rates of underweight were high and very high for girls and boys, respectively. Conclusion: In conclusion, present study provided evidence that the nutritional status of these adolescents were not satisfactory especially among late adolescents.

Quantitative analysis of six gene products as candidate markers of early placental villi development in the human.

Early placental development is critical for successful pregnancy. Recently, we have reported that ~70 genes were differentially expressed in human placental villi between 6- and 8- weeks of gestation in cDNAbased expression arrays for ~400 PCR products, of which six specific gene products (COL4A4, CXCR4, ERBB2, HDAC1, HPRT1, and TNFRSF1A) appeared intriguing. In the present study we have examined expressions of these six candidate genes in placental villi obtained from 6-weeks, 7-weeks and 8-weeks (n = 6 for each group) human placental samples using quantitative real time RTPCR. We observed that there was considerable concordance (>95% confidence) in pair-wise analysis of transcript profiles between the two methods, however, absolute quantitative values as measured by quantitative RTPCR differed from those obtained from cDNA-based array analysis for 2 gene products (CXCR4 and ERBB2) out of 6 genes. No significant change was observed in the steady state expression of COL4A4 and HPRT1 during the time period examined. However, there was significant decrease in CXCR4 for 7-weeks (P< 0.01) and 8-weeks (P<0.05) samples, and significant (P<0.05) increase was seen for ERBB2 in 7-weeks and 8-weeks as compared to 6-weeks samples with no change between 7-weeks and 8-weeks samples. Moreover, significant (P< 0.05) increase for HDAC1 and decrease for TNFRSF1A was observed in 8-weeks samples as compared to 6-weeks samples with no change observed between 6-weeks and 7-weeks samples. We infer that it is essential that cDNA array-based data are verified in terms of quantitative estimates preferably by quantitative PCR before their use for any exploratory purpose. Taking together our previous array based data and the present study we conclude that a categorical balance exists between the expression of ERBB2 and HDAC1 genes affecting cell proliferation and differentiation in one hand, and CXCR4 and TNFRSF1A affecting chemotaxis, inflammatory response and apoptosis on the other hand. The expression of these genes appear important for the early development of human placental villi.

Small scale transcript expression profile of human first trimester placental villi analyzed by a custom-tailored cDNA array.

Human placental trophoblastic mass grows rapidly between 4 and 8 weeks of gestation making it highly vulnerable to external and internal challenges, however, there has been no reported study exploring the developmental molecular characteristics in human first trimester placental villi. In the present study, transcript expressions of human placental villi of normal pregnancies during 6 (n=6), 7 (n=6) and 8 (n=6) weeks of gestation using custom-tailored cDNA-based expression arrays for ~400 annotated human gene products were examined. Unsupervised and supervised analyses of expression data revealed that 386 (95%) genes were overtly involved in the first trimester placental villi, and these genes segregated into three clusters specifically corresponding to 6-, 7- and 8- weeks of gestation in principal component analysis. Bayesian prediction analysis based on relative expression levels of genes studied identified that expression patterns in 15 samples out of 18 samples showed concordance with high (0.8-1.0) confidence measures with the chronological age of the placenta, however, two samples collected during 7-weeks of gestation and one sample collected during 8-weeks of gestation were predicted to be 6- weeks sample with confidence measures between 0.6 and 0.5. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis segregated the samples into two major branches; while one of them was composed of five 7-weeks samples only, the second major branch had three sub-branches: one of them was exclusively composed of three 8-week samples only, while other two subbranches were mainly composed of 6-weeks samples. K-means clustering analysis identified four optimal clusters of genes depending on the similarity of their relative expression for the set of genes studied across all the samples. Gene ontology (GO) based functional classifications of genes in K-means clusters revealed that the overall putative functions of co-regulated gene clusters were mutually comparable, however, specific genes related to ion homeostasis, metabolism, and VEGF activity specifically clustered in 8-weeks samples. Analysis of relative gene expression during in 6-8 weekplacental villi revealed that a large number of gene products were over represented by their either up-regulation (70 genes: ~18%) or down regulation (53 genes; ~14%) between 6 and 8 weeks villi samples and these genes are reportedly involved in biological processes like regulation of cell growth and proliferation, anti-apoptosis, angiogenesis, immune and inflammatory responses, extracellular matrix remodeling and multicellular organismal development involving almost all cellular components and molecular functions like signal transduction activity, transcription factor activity, nucleotide and protein binding, ion (especially calcium and zinc) binding and growth receptor activities. Interestingly, four genes (oxytocin receptor, tenascin C, TNF-R1 and retinol binding protein 1) showed differential regulation in human placental villi during 6-8 weeks of gestation, suggestive of an underlying network of regulation involving these factors in the developing placenta. To our knowledge, this is the first report indicating that these genes are involved in the early stage development of human placenta.

A systems biology approach towards understanding the process of blastocyst implantation.

Time-synchronous development of endometrium and embryo under adequate progesterone dominance is considered integral to the process of blastocyst implantation in the human. It now appears that hypothesisdriven and candidate-based deductive approach fails to explain this complex control process. We propose a systems biology approach to elucidate the control process underlying the physiological basis of successful interfacing between embryo and endometrium towards blastocyst implantation. Elucidation of the time course pattern of transcriptomics involved in the process of blastocyst implantation in mid-luteal phase endometrium with and without progesterone dominance, as well as, with and without viable embryo shall elaborate upon the polygenic and multifactorial nature of the process of blastocyst implantation. Accordingly, a large scale homeodynamic model of hierarchical arrangement of functional networks of regulatory genomic expressional elements at the level of endometrial receptivity shall emerge. It is anticipated that such a systems biology approach shall provide an integrated picture of the process and shall also open up novel areas of basic, strategic and translational research in the biology of blastocyst implantation.

Role of virulence plasmid of Aeromonas hydrophila in the pathogenesis of ulcerative disease syndrome in Clarias batrachus.

Pathogenic Aeromonas hydrophila (strain VB21), a multiple-drug resistance strain contains a plasmid of about 21 kb. After curing of plasmid, the isolates became sensitive to antimicrobials, to which they were earlier resistant. The cured bacteria exhibited significant alterations in their surface structure, growth profile and virulence properties, and failed to cause ulcerative disease syndrome (UDS) when injected into the Indian catfish Clarias batrachus. Routine biochemical studies revealed that the plasmid curing did not alter the biochemical properties of the bacteria. After transformation of the plasmid into cured A. hydrophila the bacterium regained its virulence properties and induced all the characteristic symptoms of UDS when injected into fish. Thus, the plasmid plays a pivotal role in the phenotype, growth and virulence of A. hydrophila and pathogenesis of aeromonad UDS.

Variance in the treatment of vertebral haemangiomas.

Vertebral haemangiomas constitute an infrequently encounterd entity in clinical practice. Although x-ray, computerised tomography scan and magnetic resonance Imaging scan provide a pathognomic picture confirming the diagnosis of vertebral haemangiomas, angiography constitutes an important tool for diagnosis and helps in deciding and execution of treatment. Various treatment modalities like surgery, radiotherapy, pre-operative embolisation, percutaneous vertebroplasty and intralesional ethanol have been discussed in the setting of asymptomatic vertebral haemangiomas to those presenting with features of cord compression.

An investigation into the acute and long-term effects of selected yogic postures on fasting and postprandial glycemia and insulinemia in healthy young subjects.

The study was conducted to examine the hypothesis that yogasanas help in the treatment of diabetes mellitus by releasing insulin from the pancreas. Twenty healthy young voluntees (17 male, 3 female; age 19-31 years) participated in the study. Each volunteer performed four sets of asanas in random order for 5 consecutive days each with a 2-day gap between consecutive sets of asanas. The four sets of asanas were: (I) dhanurasana + matsyendrasana, (II) halasana + vajrasana, (III) naukasana + bhujangasana, and (IV) setubandhasana + pavanamuktasana. Blood samples were collected on days 4 and 5 of each set of asanas for measurement of glucose and insulin levels before the asanas, within 10 min after performing the asanas, and 30 min after ingestion of 75 g glucose, which in turn was ingested immediately after the second blood sample. A standard 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was also done before and after the study. On the days of the pre-study or post-study OGTT, no asanas were done. The serum insulin levels after the asanas were lower (P<0.05) than those before the asanas. However, the serum insulin level 0.5 h after the post-asana oral 75 g-glucose challenge was higher (P<0.05) in Set IV than the 0.5 h postprandial insulin level in the pre-study OGTT; the same trend was observed in other sets as well although statistically not significant. The observations suggest that the performance of asanas led to increased sensitivity of the B cells of pancreas to the glucose signal. The increased sensitivity seems to be a sustained change resulting from a progressive long-term effect of asanas. The study is significant in that it has for the first time attempted to probe the mechanism by which yogasanas help diabetes mellitus.

Effect of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) on protein synthesis by mouse preimplantation stage embryos in vitro.

Successful blastocyst implantation depends upon the synchronous dialogue between age- and stage-matched embryo and adequately primed maternal endometrium. Endometrial signals present in the uterine lumen influence the growth and the viability of preimplantation stage embryo. Thus, uterine secretion of embryotoxic cytokines may affect the preimplantation stage embryo. Our previous study in the rhesus monkey has indicated that tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is one such candidate present in the uterine lumen, which may act as an embryotoxic agent. In the present study, the effect of TNF-alpha on de novo protein synthesis by mouse morulae (n = 100) and blastocysts (n = 100) in vitro was investigated by 2D-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A total of 35 and 40 protein spots were detected in lysates of control morulae and blastocysts, respectively. Exposure of embryos to TNF-alpha (50 ng/ml) reduced the number of protein spots to 15 and 17 compared to that of control morulae and blastocysts. Seven spots in morula and 13 protein spots in blastocyst flourograms showed quantitative changes in their expressions with exposure to TNF-alpha. Morulae and blastocysts exposed to TNF-alpha expressed 8 and 17 protein spots, respectively, that were not seen in control embryos. It appears from the present study that exposure of preimplantation stage embryos to TNF-alpha affects their protein synthesis both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Effect of (Ala8,13,18)-magainin II amide on human trophoblast cells in vitro.

Magainins are cationic peptides with anti-bacterial and anti-tumor properties. The anti-nidatory function of a synthetic analogue of magainin, (Ala8,13,18)-magainin II amide, has earlier been reported, and it has been indicated that placental trophoblast cells could be a target of magainin resulting in its contragestational action. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of (Ala8,13,18)-magainin II amide (100 ng/ml and 1000 ng/ml) on attachment efficiency, viability, differentiation in terms of hCG secretion and invasive function of isolated first trimester, human placental trophoblast cells grown on rat-tail collagen type-I matrix in primary cell culture. In the present experimental model, magainin was not found to affect human trophoblast cell functions in vitro.

Shaken baby syndrome masquerading as apparent life threatening event.

A variety of diseases and disorders can present as an acute life-threatening event among which shaken baby syndrome has been recently recognized. A high index of suspicion along with an ophthalmologic evaluation and cranial imaging helps to identify this form of child abuse, which needs multidisciplinary management.