ABSTRACT
Tuberculosis can involve almost any organ of the body. In the Central Nervous System (CNS) it can cause meningitis, tuberculoma, abscess,spondylitis, arachnoiditis, myeloradiculitis or other manifestations. Around 10% of all patients with tuberculosis have CNS involvement. Tuberculosis is rampant in the developing world and has reemerged as a major public health menace with the HIV pandemic. Compared with HIV-negative individuals, HIVpositive individuals with TB are 5 times more likely to have CNS involvement. Laboratory confirmation of CNS TB is difficult and hence empirical treatment has to be initiated as early as possible based on clinical and radiological features. In this article,we review the CNS manifestations of tuberculosis and their diagnosis and treatment
ABSTRACT
The methylation status of the nuclear DNA from a mealybug, a Planococcus species, has been studied. Analysis of this DNA by High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Thin Layer Chromatography revealed the presence of significant amounts of 5- methylcytosine. Since analysis of DNA methylation using the Msp I/Hpa II system showed only minor differences in susceptibility of the DNA to the two enzymes, it seemed possible that 5-methylcytosine (5mC) occurred adjacent to other nucleotides in addition to its usual position, next to guanosine. This was verified by dinucleotide analysis of DNA labelled in vitro by nick translation. These data show that the total amount of 5-methylcytosine in this DNA is slightly over 2.3 mol %, of which 0.61% occurs as the dinucleotide 5mCpG, 0.68% as 5mCpA, 0.59% as 5mCpT and 0.45% as 5mCpC. 5mCpG represents approximately 3.3% of all CpG dinucleotides. The experimental procedure would not have permitted the detection of 5mCp5mC, if it occurs in this system. Unusually high amounts of 6-methyladenine (approximately 4 mol %) and 7-methylguanine (approximately 2 mol %) were also detected, 6-methyladenine and 7-methylguanine occurred adjacent to all four nucleotides. The total G+C content was 33.7% as calculated from dinucleotide data and 32.9% as determined from melting profiles.