Correlation of total heterotrophic bacterial load in relation with hydrographical features of Pazhayakayal estuary, Tuticorin, India.

An investigation was made on total heterotrophic bacterial (THB) load in relation with hydrographical features of Pazhayakayal estuary, Tuticorin, from July 2009 to June 2010. The water temperature (25 to 32oC), pH (7 to 10), and salinity (0‰ to 35.7‰) were maximum during summer season (April - June) and minimum during monsoon season (October - December). The dissolved oxygen (do) varied from 0.2 to 9.95 mg l-1. The THB load was high (42.0?0-7cfu ml-1) during monsoon season and low (1.2?0-7cfu ml-1) during summer. The correlation was insignificant between temperature, pH and THB load, however THB load was negatively correlated with salinity. Almost in all the stations (I-VI), THB load were found to be maximum (40.0?0-7,36.0?0-7, 30.0?0-7,36?0-7, 42.0?0?0-7 and 29.6?0-7 cfu ml-1) during monsoon season might be due to the bulk rainfall and freshwater input.

Trichoadenoma of Nikolowski.

Trichoadenoma of Nikolowski is a rare benign cutaneous tumor, which is usually solitary, nodular and occurs on the face or buttocks any time during adult life. The morphological differentiation of trichoadenoma is situated between a trichofolliculoma and a trichoepithelioma with hair follicle-like direction of differentiation. We report this case of trichoadenoma in a 28-year-old man who presented with a solitary nodular and ulcerated swelling in the gluteal region, gradually increasing in size. Excision biopsy revealed characteristic features consistent with trichoadenoma. We report this case in view of its rarity.

Osteochondroma-like parosteal osteosarcoma.

Parosteal osteosarcoma is a well-differentiated, predominantly fibro-osseous variant of osteosarcoma, accounting for 5% of all osteosarcomas. We report a case of parosteal osteosarcoma in the metaphyseal area of right femur, of 2 years' duration in a male aged 35 years. It was mistaken for osteochondroma in the initial biopsy, and the possibility of bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation (BPOP) was also considered. Subsequent excision of the tumor showed it to be a parosteal osteosarcoma. The patient had recurrence of the lesion after 1 year, and he attended a cancer institute. Follow-up showed metastases of the tumor on bone scan.

Breast filariasis diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology--a case report.

We report a case of female who presented with a lump in the right breast. Fine needle aspiration cytology of lump revealed numerous adult filarial worms. Common habitat of the adult filarial worms is the lymphatic vessels and lymph nodes of limbs and their occurrence in breast is uncommon.

Mechanism of the antioxidant effect of Bordetella pertussis extract.

In order to gain insight into the antioxidant effect of the cell extract from Bordetella pertussis (strain 18-323, phase I) pancreatic antioxidant enzymes, glutathione (GSH), lipid conjugated dienes, DNA strand breaks in islet cells and the in vitro ROM scavenging potential of the extract were studied in 18 hr-fasted mice after administration (i.v.) of the extract (1 mg/kg body wt) 1 hr before alloxan treatment. The antioxidant enzymes activities as well as the glutathione content, which were severely depleted in the alloxan group, were found to be significantly restored in the extract treated group at the end of 48 hr. Moreover, the extract arrested the two-fold increase in lipid conjugated dienes, the primary products of lipid peroxidation, and afforded significant protection against DNA strand breakage in islet cells of pancreas in alloxan diabetic mice. In addition, it caused a six-fold increase in serum insulin levels of normal mice in 15 min and also demonstrated an unique in vitro superoxide anion radical scavenging activity at a dose of 37.5 micrograms/ml in 10 min. B. pertussis extract thus appears to exert its antioxidant protection through stimulation of insulin release from pancreas and hitherto unobserved intrinsic superoxide anion radical scavenging ability.