ABSTRACT
Background: The severity of COPD is usually assessed on the basis of a single parameter – forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). However, the patients with COPD have systemic manifestations that are not reflected by the FEV1. The present study was undertaken to determine the predictive value of BODE index (Body-mass index (B), the degree of airflow obstruction (O) ,dyspnea (D), and exercise capacity (E) for development of pulmonary hypertension and as a predictor of severity in COPD patients. The original BODE index is a simple multidimensional grading system which is superior to FEV1 alone for prediction of mortality and hospitalization rates among COPD patients. Methods: This study was done from January 2013 to December 2014.Total one hundred male patients who attended the chest medicine department, with the symptoms suggestive of COPD were included in this study and the study was done to evaluate the BODE index and correlated with echo-cardigraphic findings suggestive of pulmonary hypertension as a predictor of severity in patients with COPD. Result: Among patients with COPD, there were (21%) patients who had mild COPD with a BODE score between 0 – 2, Moderate COPD (BODE score of 3 – 5) were (23%), Severe COPD (BODE score more than or equal to 6) groups had (56%) patients. The study results showed that as the BODE index scores severity increases the incidence of pulmonary hypertension increases as identified by echocardiography RVSP (Right ventricular systolic pressure) findings. The average RVSP was 59.6 in severe COPD patients (BODE index more than 6) 47.2 in moderate severe COPD (BODE index 3-5), while it was less than 36 in mild groups. These values were found to be significant on comparison to other groups. Conclusion: BODE index may offer superior and alternative reliable method to predict severity in patients with COPD in terms of pulmonary hypertension and for following up after medications. Since the assessment of BODE index requires only a spirometer, which is relatively inexpensive and can easily be made available, this index could be of great practical value in a primary health care setup to identify individuals who are at need for further evaluation in a higher referral center. Thus, BODE index can be used for judicious referral of patients with COPD thereby preventing the wastage of the limited resources available.
ABSTRACT
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is an annual spice herb that belongs to umbel family Apiaceae with diversified uses. We investigated the extent of variability among 22 Indian varieties of coriander using phenotypic and genetic markers. Multilocus genotyping by nine RAPD primers detected an average of intraspecific variations amounting to 66.18 % polymorphism in banding patterns. Analysis of molecular variance indicated that a greater proportion of total genetic variation exists within population (98%) rather than among populations (2%). Higher values of Nei’s gene diversity (h) and Shannon Information Index (i) and genetic distance analysis validate wider genetic diversity among Indian coriander varieties. Besides total internal transcribed spacer (ITS) length variations and single nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions/deletions (INDELS) were detected at seven sites in ITS-1 region. Multiple sequence alignment of 12 sequenced varieties revealed cent per cent identities of 5.8S gene region (162 bp) that validates its conserved nature. Multiple sequence alignment of ITS-1 region may be of phylogenetic significance in distinguishing and cataloguing of coriander germplasm. The representative sequences of each subgroup and all distinct varieties of RAPD clusters have been submitted to NCBI database and assigned Gen Accession numbers HQ 377194-377205. The measures of relative genetic distances among the varieties of coriander did not completely correlate the geographical places of their development. Eventually, the knowledge of their genetic relationships and DNA bar coding will be of significance.