ABSTRACT
Introduction: Thyroid lesions are fairly common and have a wide spectrum of diseases ranging from functional, immune mediated to neoplastic lesions. Malignancy of thyroid constitutes approximately 1% of all cancers. These malignant tumors of thyroid gland exhibit a variety of histopathologies and clinical behavior. Immune markers are gaining more and more importance in diagnostic pathology, especially in the differential diagnostics and in the grading of thyroid gland tumors. In the recent times Galectin-3 has received notable recognition for its usefulness as a diagnostic marker for thyroid cancer. To evaluate the diagnostic role of galectin-3 (Gal-3) in Aims and objectives: differentiating malignant from benign thyroid neoplasm. In this observational study, we evaluated Gal-Material and method: 3 expression in a spectrum of all non-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions including benign and malignant lesions of thyroid gland. All types of thyroidectomy specimens were xed in 10% formal saline and subjected to histopathological examination. Sections were stained with H&E stain. Gal-3 immunoperoxidase reaction was carried out in histological sections from all the cases and descriptive analysis was done. In the study of 100 cases of thyroid swelling were included and evaluated by Result: histopathological and by using Gal-3 immunoperoxidase marker. Out of 100 cases, majority of thyroid lesions were seen in females with 76 cases (76%) while only 24 cases (24%) were seen in male. Among 66 non-neoplastic cases, only 6 cases (9.1%) and among 34 neoplastic lesions, 28 cases (82.4%) were positive for galectin-3 marker. Statistical signicance of galectin-3 expression between non-neoplastic and neoplastic thyroid lesions found to be statistically signicant (P value <0000.1). The sensitivity and specicity of galectin-3 detection of malignant lesions were found to be 82.4% and 91% respectively with 82.4% positive predictive value and 90.9% negative predictive value. We suggest that Galectin-3 expression is helpful in Conclusion: enabling better diagnosis and patient care by guiding appropriate therapeutic decisions.
ABSTRACT
xThis was a prospective case controlled study to determine the association of Acanthosis Nigricans (AN) and Metabolic Syndrome (MS) in obese children 10–16 years of age. We recruited 50 obese children with AN (cases) and 50 obese children without AN (controls) attending the Pediatric OPD from May 2013 to August 2014 after obtaining informed consent from their parents. Children were defined as obese if their BMI was ≥ 95th percentile for age and sex (CDC). International Diabetes Federation (IDF) 2007 criteria were used to define MS. Detailed history, physical examination, anthropometry and blood sampling were done in each case. Samples for High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C), Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) and Triglycerides (TG) were evaluated at the in-hospital NABL certified SRL laboratory. MS was found in 64% of obese children with AN as compared to 30% of obese children without AN which was highly significant. Therefore, AN is a significant marker of MS.
ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: During the post influenza pandemic period, continuous surveillance of influenza virus and its subtypes is mandatory to help the policy makers to take effective and appropriate decisions. Therefore, this study was planned to determine the pattern of influenza virus activity in context to various meteorological and clinical parameters in and around Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, during post pandemic period August 2010 - September 2012. Methods: Nasal swabs/throat swabs/nasopharyngeal aspirates of 2669 patients were collected. One-step real time PCR for detection of influenza virus was done according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) protocol. Results: Influenza positivity was 15.8 per cent (423/2669) in symptomatic patients. Of the 423 total positives, 192 (7.2%) were influenza A and 231 (8.7%) were influenza B. Positivity for influenza virus was significantly (P=0.001, OR=2.9, CI=1.9-4.3) higher in patients with Influenza like illness (ILI) (17.4%, 396/2271) than those with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) (6.8%, 27/398). Influenza A positive samples were subtyped as; pdmH1N1 (67.2%, 129/192) and seasonal H3N2 (32.8%, 63/192). It significantly correlated with monthly mean rainfall, humidity and dew point while atmospheric pressure was inversely related. No significant association was found with temperature and wind speed. Clinical variations were observed between different strains of Influenza virus. Interpretation & conclusions: The findings provide a clear picture of different clinical presentations of various strains of influenza A and B viruses and epidemiology of influenza infection from Lucknow (UP), India. The seasonality of influenza virus infection showed variation in relation to different environmental factors. Pandemic H1N1 caused more systemic infection than seasonal influenza A/H3N2 virus.