A comparitive study on iodination of normal and diabetic serum.

It is a well known fact that iodine is a very important trace element for normal growth and metabolism. Iodination of biomolecules has many important functions in the field of research, assay procedures, investigation and diagnosis of diseases. The present study is done to compare the iodine uptake by the serum of diabetes mellitus cases and healthy controls. Methods: The study was carried out on 50 cases of known diabetes mellitus with mean fasting blood glucose level of 324 mg/dl and 25 healthy controls with mean fasting blood glucose level of 78 mg/dl. The modified version of the colorimetric method was employed for the assay of iodine uptake. The data’s were analyzed using SPSS version 10. Results: Serum total iodine uptake was decreased significantly in cases as compared to healthy controls (p <0.01). Conclusion: The results of our study indicate that there is decreased iodine uptake by diabetic serum. The cause for decreased iodine uptake may be related to high blood sugar level which possibly may be causing some alteration in the structure of biomolecules by glycation leading to decrease in the binding sites of iodine.

Phenotypic detection of inducible clindamycin resistance among Staphylococcus aureus isolates by using the lower limit of recommended inter-disk distance.

CONTEXT: Clindamycin is one of the important alternative antibiotics in the therapy of Staphylococcus aureus, particularly in methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections. Inducible clindamycin resistance (iMLS B--inducible Macrolide-Lincosamide-Streptogramin B resistance) is a critical factor in antimicrobial susceptibility testing. AIMS: To know the rate of inducible clindamycin resistance among clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus in our hospital by Disk approximation test (D-test) using the average recommended inter-disk distance and comparing the results with that of D-test using the lower limit of recommended inter-disk distance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 51 erythromycin-resistant and clindamycin-susceptible S. aureus isolates were subjected to disk approximation testing with 21 +/- 1 mm and 15 mm edge-to-edge distance between the clindamycin and erythromycin disks. STATISTICAL METHODS: Z-test levels. RESULTS: Among 51 erythromycin-resistant and clindamycin-susceptible S. aureus isolates, 25 (49%) were recorded as inducible clindamycin resistant by D-test with 21 +/- 1 mm edge-to-edge distance between the clindamycin and erythromycin disks. When we re-tested all the 51 strains by D-test with 15 mm inter-disk distance, we identified 14% more iMLS B strains previously reported as D-test negative. Z-test for MRSA indicates that 15 mm edge-to-edge distance has significant advantage. CONCLUSIONS: Since the incidence of inducible clindamycin resistance is high (63% in our study), accurate identification of inducible clindamycin resistance is important to prevent therapeutic failure in infections caused by these strains. We suggest the use of D-test with 15 mm edge-to-edge inter-disk distance for detecting iMLS B .

Antibiotic sensitivity pattern of Citrobacter isolated from various clinical specimens in a tertiary care hospital.

A total of 709 isolates of Citrobacter species were recovered from different clinical specimens at Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore. The antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the isolates was performed using Kirby-Bauer's method of disk diffusion. All the isolates were susceptible to Imipenem (100%) and 100% resistance to Ampicillin was recorded. Susceptibility to third generation cephalosporins varied between 29 - 43%. The beta-lactamase inhibitor combination used along with beta-lactam antibiotics increased their sensitivity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of cephotaxime to Citrobacter species was determined by agar dilution method (MIC value = or < 8 microg/ml are considered susceptible). Two hundred and fifty three strains were found to be completely susceptible, 71 strains showed intermediate susceptibility and 385 strains were completely resistant to Cephotaxime.

Iron supplementation and oxidative stress in patients with uremia.

The existence of oxidative stress in uremia is well proved but the relative importance of uremic status versus the role of free iron in exacerbating oxidative stress in patients with uremia is not been clarified. Serum creatinine, free iron both in ferrous and ferric state, protein thiols, lipid hydroperoxides levels were estimated by spectrophotometric methods. The study groups comprised of patients with chronic kidney disease on conservative management, on hemodialysis with and without iron supplementation, and compared with healthy controls. Free iron levels were higher in patients with chronic kidney disease on conservative management, hemodialysis patients with and without iron supplementation. Hemodialysis cases with iron supplementation had significantly higher free iron levels as compared to hemodialysis cases without iron supplementation. The levels of lipid hydroperoxides were higher and protein thiols were lower in patient groups. Creatinine correlated positively with free iron and lipid hydroperoxides, and negatively with protein thiols. In conclusion, uremia per se may be responsible for enhanced oxidative stress in patients with chronic kidney disease.