Tumoral cutaneous rhinosporidiosis: Case report and review of literature

Rhinosporidiosis is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by Rhinosporidium seeberi commonly affecting nasal mucosa, conjunctiva, and urethra. Subcutaneous tumor nodule presentation is rare and often mimics as sarcoma. Such tumoral rhinosporidiosis has been reported rarely. This report describes a 60-year male who presented with a solitary, firm, nontender swelling in posterior aspect of right leg with an ulcer and mimicking clinically as soft tissue sarcoma. Histopathology was diagnostic. Surgical excision was found to be useful.

Some Traditional Health Care Practices of Jaundice in Parts of Western Assam (North East India).

The very old traditional Indian herbal medicinal heritage flow in two streams –one is codified classical stream and the other one is the non-codified or the oral folk .The codified system is more institutionalized and is basically of four types - Ayurveda, Sidha, Unani and Gsorigpa.It is interesting that the non- codified systems are more popularly known as Local Health Tradition (LHT) though it is informal it exists among various ethnic and traditional communities of India more particularly in North East India of which the study area i. e. Western Assam being a part is found to be rich in such traditional herbal system of health care practices. Western Assam is located at the extreme western part of Assam it extends from 89049/20// E longitude to 91048/16// longitude and 25027/ N latitude to 26054// latitude covering lower Brahmaputra valley. For primary data collection the fields were visited frequently meeting the local people specially these people who are well experienced with the knowledge of local health practices through interview during 2012- 2013. During data collection it was found that there are many knowledgeable persons in the field of herbal health care practices who often practice their medicinal systems to cure various types of diseases like piles, fever ,stomach disorder, eye problem, bone problem including some minor bodily disorders .But in this paper importance is given to one of the very dangerous more common disease that is Jaundice which is caused by an excess of a waste product bilirubin in blood after the removal of iron from hemoglobin ;this excess bilirubin may leak out into surrounding tissues saturating them with this yellow substance. Here 5 main herbal recipes are analyzed and presented in a very lucid scientific way. Thus the herbal preparations presented here practiced by various knowledgeable persons in herbal medicines (known as Ojha, Kobiraj, Bej, Healers etc.) which are often found very active preparations against Jaundice. People from various parts come to these persons and found utilized in curing this very dangerous disease. Traditionally they are practicing their knowledge generation by generation as means of their livelihood besides serving mass people at the time of distress.

Hepatic tuberculosis--a case report.

Though abdominal tuberculosis is fairly common in our country, incidence of tuberculous hepatitis is rare. The authors reported a case who presented to the surgical OPD of the NRS Medical College, Calcutta with complaints of right upper quadrant abdominal pain, flatulent dyspepsia, nausea and occasional vomiting. Ultrasonography (USG) revealed fibrotic gall bladder without any calculus suggesting chronic acalculus cholecystitis. On exploration of the abdomen, the gall bladder was found to be fibrotic and thickened without any calculus. Multiple scarred nodules of different sizes were found in the liver. Cholecystectomy was done and a scarring nodule from the liver was taken for histopathological examination which revealed a tuberculous granuloma. Histopathology of the gall bladder showed cholesterosis. The patient responded to antituberculous drugs.

Recent trends in the management of proximal bile duct cancer.

A case of obstructive jaundice in a 55-year-old male patient is reported. Ultrasonography in the case showed a space occupying lesion proximal to porta. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) showed complete occlusion of bile duct near porta. The patient was operated upon and the growth was totally excised. The biliary tract was reconstructed by a Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. The anastomosis was stented in the right and left hepatic ducts and the distal ends were brought out of the abdomen and fixed to the skin. Postoperative recovery was uneventful and the tubes were clamped after 2 weeks. Regular follow-up clinically and radiologically for 3 months showed no recurrence. The tubes were removed after 3 months. The patient is well for last one and half years without any complaint.

A mechanistic approach into a diabetic serum factor-mediated release of beta-glucuronidase in normal neutrophils.

The possible mechanism of diabetic serum factor (DSF)-mediated lysosomal degranulation has been investigated. It was observed that pertussis toxin, sodium fluoride and vanadate could significantly inhibit DSF-mediated beta-glucuronidase release, whereas atropine exhibited only a partial blockage against DSF. Since DSF can generate toxic free radicals, various free radical quenchers were tested in order to evaluate their contributions. Superoxide dismutase was found to be the most effective in inhibiting lysosomal release as compared to catalase and peroxidase. The mixtures of all the enzymes failed to exhibit any additive effect. Interaction of DSF with heparin, insulin and Con A revealed that heparin can completely block DSF-mediated lysosomal release. The implications of the observations are discussed.

Plausible involvement of extralysosomal proteinase in derangement of leucocytic Ca2+/Mg2+ ATPase in diabetes.

Translocation of calcium activated neutral proteinase from cytosol to plasma membrane, concurrently with decrease in the activity of membrane bound Ca2+/Mg2+ ATPase has been detected in diabetic polymorphonuclear leucocytes. Plausible involvement of the extralysosomal proteinase in the derangement of the Ca2+/Mg2+ ATPase is indicated by non restoration of the enzyme activity on treatment with activators such as trypsin or calmodulin and enhanced membrane translocation of the proteinase observed with concomitant decrease in the activity of Ca2+/Mg2+ ATPase in normal neutrophils on insult with diabetic serum factor.

Status of nitric oxide free radicals in diabetic neutrophils: effect of diabetic serum factor on the generation of these species in normal neutrophils and their relation to lysosomal degranulation.

Normal polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) in contrast to diabetic PMNL, generated significant amounts of .NO and NO2 when challenged with opsonised zymosan. Diabetic neutrophils, on the other hand, responded either weakly or insignificantly to the same stimulants. However, in resting state the levels of .NO and NO2 were higher in diabetic as compared to normal PMNL. Diabetic serum factor (DSF) provoked a significant generation of .NO and NO2 in normal PMNL, a phenomenon found parallel to the enhancement in cytosolic cathepsin D activity in normal cells on insult with DSF.

Plausible involvement of a diabetic serum factor in neutrophil membrane pathology.

With a view to determining the role of diabetic serum factor (DSF) in the progression of membrane pathology, time-dependent preincubation effects of DSF on certain membrane-bound enzymes of normal polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNL) have been studied. DSF is found to cause significant decrements in the activities of Na+/K+ ATPase, PLC and AcE of PMNL on in vitro incubation for 60 min, while the effect on Ca2+/Mg2+ ATPase appears only on prolonged incubation with an initial hike in activity at 5 min. The implications of these results have been discussed.

Sex variation in ascorbic acid catabolism.

Male and female albino rats of same age and body weight were pair fed with laboratory stock diet and ascorbic acid, dehydroascorbic acid and diketogulonic acid were determined in the liver and urine, while in blood only ascorbic acid was estimated. Male rats had concentration higher of ascorbic acid in liver and urine as compared with females, while there were no significant variations in the contents of dehydroascorbic acid and diketogulonic acid. Hepatic and renal 2, 3-diketoaldonate decarboxylase, and hepatic dehydroascorbatase were also found to be significantly higher in male rats. Similar sex variations were also observed in ascorbic acid catabolism in guinea pigs without any differences in urinary ascorbic acid contents.

Failure to isolate verotoxin producing Escherichia coli from patients of haemolytic uremic syndrome.

Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) been defined as the simultaneous occurrence of acute renal failure in children with haemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia. This clinical condition that has been recognized is an important cause of acute renal failure in children.