Immunomodulatory activities of Acacia catechu, a traditional thirst quencher of South India

Background: Acacia catechu has been widely used in Ayurveda for treating many diseases. Its heartwoodextract is used in asthma, cough, bronchitis, colic, diarrhea, dysentery, boils, skin afflictions, sores and forstomatitis. The decoction of heartwood is used for drinking purpose in southern part of India especiallyin Kerala.Objective: The current study was carried out to evaluate immunomodulatory effects of heartwood extracts of A. catechu in Swiss albino mice.Material and methods: In vivo immunomodulatory activity was analyzed by hemagglutinating antibody(HA) titer, plaque forming cell assay and delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH). In vitro immunomodulatory potential of the extracts was studied using peritoneal macrophages and splenocytes from mice.Effect of extracts on phagocytic activity of macrophages was analyzed by nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT)reduction assay and cellular lysosomal enzyme assay. Anti-inflammatory activity was studied by nitricoxide (NO) assay and production of TNF-a and IL-10.Results: A dose dependent increase in antibody titer was observed with extracts treatment. Treatmentwith extracts produced an enhancement in the number of antibody producing cells in the spleen. DTHreaction was significantly decreased with extracts treatment. An increased phagocytic response wasshown by peritoneal macrophages on treatment with the extracts as evidenced by its effect on NBTreduction and cellular lysosomal enzyme activity. The extracts inhibited the release of pro-inflammatorycytokine TNF-a and the production of NO. IL-10 production was significantly increased after extracttreatment.Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate the immunomodulatory effects of A. catechu extracts on humoral, cell mediated and non-specific immune functions.© 2017 Transdisciplinary University, Bangalore and World Ayurveda Foundation. Publishing Services byElsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

The usefulness of osteocalcin measurements in Malaysian patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory condition that can be associated with abnormal bone turnover and hence osteoporosis. Osteocalcin (OC) levels are increased in conditions with high bone turnover, including high RA disease activity. Thus, OC levels could possibly be used as a marker to assess bone health and disease activity in RA patients. As there have been no previous studies looking at serum OC levels in Malaysian RA patients, this study was performed to examine possible correlations between OC, bone mineral density (BMD) and disease activity in this population.Methods: A cross-sectional study of 75 female RA patients and 29 healthy controls was performed. Serum OC was measured using a Quantikine® ELISA kit. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to assess BMD.Results: Serum OC levels were not significantly different between RA patients (median 14.44 ng/mL, interquartile range [IQR 12.99]) compared to healthy controls (median 11.04 ng/mL IQR 12.29) (p=0.198). Serum OC increased with age (Spearman’s rho r=0.230, p=0.047). There was no significant correlation between serum OC and body mass index (BMI), menopause status, BMD, DAS28, swollen or tender joint counts. Overall, there were 11 (14.7%) patients with osteoporosis and 27 (36.0%) with osteopenia. Menopause status was significantly associated with BMD at all sites (lumbar spine p=0.002, femoral neck p=0.004, total hip p=0.002). Conclusions: Serum OC were similar in RA patients compared to healthy controls. In RA patients, serum OC did not correlate with RA disease activity or BMD. Menopause status remains an important influence on BMD. Thus, measuring serum OC levels in Malaysian RA patients was not useful in identifying those at risk of low BMD.

Bilateral Free Floating Vitreous Cysts with Posterior Embryotoxon

No abstract available.

Pain: a review article

Pain is the most complex human experience and the most frequent cause for which patients seek medical help. Whereas acute pain promotes survival by enabling the organism to avoid or escape harm, chronic pain is usually destructive physically, psychologically and socially. Pain reaches consciousness at the level of the thalamus, its localization requires the participation of the sensory cortex; the behavioural changes characteristic of pain are governed by the limbic system. The two vasoactive amines, serotonin and histamine, and the peptide bradykinin are ubiquitous enough to fill the role of biological chemical mediators of pain. The prostaglandins have an important role at the nociceptor level. The substance P and endorphins are involved in the transmission of pain information in the central nervous system. The recent development of multidisciplinary pain clinic affer a new approach in managing patients with chronic pain. The range and diversity of techniques currently used to relieve pain emphasize the unsatisfactory state in which surgery is placed. Acupuncture, as a form of treatment for pain, is greatly influenced by psychological factors

Ashort review of some neurological disorders in Benghazi

The Epidemiology of some of the neurogical diseases in Benghazi, north-eastern Libya, has been summarized from previously published studies

Hallervorden-spatz disease

Two siblings with the classical clinical description of Hallervorden-Spatz disease are reported. This is believed to be the first documentation of this disorder for Libya

Ophthalmoplegia - plus syndrome

Two patients, with chronic progressive external Ophthalmoplegia, are described. The first case, in addition, had involvement of the facial, palatopharyngeal and proximal muscles of upper limbs, while the second patient had wasting and weakness of the shoulder girdle muscles. Electromyography revealed myopathic pattern in both the patients and muscle biopsy in the second case was consistent with a primary muscle disease. A brief review on the controversy over the nomenclature of the term "Ophthalmoplegia-plus" is presented

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease [hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy]

Ten members of a Libyan family with peroneal muscular atrophy [hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy] are reported. The clinical and electrophysiological features favoured type I disease. The pedigree of family revealed an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. The clinical, genetic, and electrophysiological basis for the classification of this disease is discussed

Marfan syndrome with mental retardation and maxillary hypoplasia

A 17-year old male with marfanoid habitus, lenticular subluxation, maxillary Hypoplasia and mental subnormality is reported. Cystathionine synthase deficiency was excluded by the urine test

Hypoparathyroidism and basal ganglia calcification

A 35-year old female with basal ganglia calcification in association with primary Hypoparathyroidism is reported. Neuropsychiatric disturbances dominated the clinical picture. The significance of basal ganglia calcification identified by CT scan is discussed

Proximal motor conduction studies in lumbosacral root compression

F-wave conduction study was performed to determine the proximal slowing of motor conduction in the lower extremities in 23 patients with lumbosacral root compression syndrome to intervertebral disc prolapse. The pooled data revealed that the values of F-wave characteristics like F-latency [FL], F-conduction time [FCT], F-conduction velocity [FCV] and F-ratio [FR] were significantly abnormal in patients in comparison to the values obtained from 18 control subjects [P 0.005]. FCT and FCV in individual cases were abnormal [15.8 m/sec and 44.8 m/sec respectively] in 19 patients. The usefulness of F-wave conduction study in the assessment of patients with backache is emphasized

Ataxic hemiparesis

A 19 year-old male developed left sided hemiparesis and hemiataxia following left focal seizure. The EEG showed right frontalparietal localization and the CT scan evinced a parietal - frontal deep space occupying lesion. The pathophysiology of ataxic hemiparesis is discussed

Adult adequeductal stenosis

A 56-year-old female was first seen with headache and progressive visual deterioration of three years duration. CT scan established the diagnosis of aqueductal stenosis, rarely reported in patients of this age

Progressive hemifacial atrophy [Parry-Romberg syndrome]

A 18-year-old Libyan male with progressive right hemifacial atrophy is reported. He had Horner's syndrome on the affected side. The computed tomography scan was normal. The relevant literature is reviewed