Effectiveness of teaching medical ethics to medical students on an online platform: An analysis of students’ perceptions and feedback

Medical ethics education along with attitude and communication training has been incorporated into the regular MBBS curriculum in India from 2019, so as to encourage a caring and communicative approach by doctors towards patients. It would be important to understand the relevance of the educational module in the form of cases to ensure an optimal learning process for future students and doctors in the making. We selected three cases and conducted online debates among small groups of second year MBBS students. Students submitted narratives and their reflections after discussing each case and gave overall feedback. Our findings suggested that the students recognised the complexity of taking decisions when presented with ethical dilemmas and appreciated the opportunity to voice opposing views. The online platform was effective and may be considered in the future as a medium to help integrate discussions on medical ethics alongside clinical work.

Nuclear transcription factor NF-kappa B: role in biology and medicine.

The inducible transcription factor nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) plays a central role in regulation of many immune, inflammatory and carcinogenic responses. While normal activation of NF-kappaB is required for cell survival and immunity, aberrant regulation of NF-kappaB leads to development of many pathological states especially those involved in acute inflammation. Recent advances in our knowledge of the signaling mechanisms those control the activation of NF-kappaB highlights the intriguing aspect of NF-kappaB regulation, namely the ability of many different signal transduction pathways originating from a wide variety of inducing mechanisms to converge on a single target, the NF-kappaB/IkappaB complex. In this review we summarize our current understanding of the NF-kappaB signaling pathways, their role in various cellular responses and the potential of using NF-kappaB as a therapeutic target in modern medicine.

Scanning electron microscopic evaluation of effect of cortisol on chloride cells of tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus.

The effect of exogenous administration of cortisol (0.2 microg/g body weight) for 24, 48 and 72 hr on the gill epithelium of Tilapia has been studied. The results clearly revealed that out of the three sub-types of chloride cells viz., shallow basin, wavy convex and deep hole, the shallow basin ones are the most abundant in number. In vivo administration of cortisol conspicuously increased the number of the shallow basin chloride cells and caused noticeable changes in the microridges of pavement cells right from 24 hr treatment onwards. The present study confirms heterogeneity of chloride cells in teleosts.

Effects of steroid hormones on total brain Na(+)-k+ ATPase activity in Oreochromis mossambicus.

The effects of administration of cortisol, corticosterone, testosterone, progesterone and a synthetic estrogen. diethylstilbestrol (DES) on total brain Na(+)-K+- ATPase were investigated in tilapia, O. mossambicus. Exogenous administration of 0.125 and 0.25 microg/g body weight of glucocorticoids and 0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 microg/g body weight of DES for 5 days significantly stimulated Na+(-) K+ ATPase activity by 14-41% in the brain, while 0.5 microg/g body weight of glucocorticoids did not evoke any response on the activity of the enzyme. Progesterone (0.125 and 0.25 microg/g body weight) administration significantly decreased the enzyme activity by 21-36% and high dose (0.5 microg/g body weight) was ineffective. Testosterone exhibited a biphasic effect on Na(+)-K+ ATPase activity--a low dose stimulated by 14% while middle and high doses inhibited it by 19-24%. The results seem to be the first report on the effect of steroids on brain ATPase activity in a teleost. When 0.25microg/g body weight of actinomycin D or puromycin was administered prior to the treatment of similar doses of hormones, the inhibitors significantly inhibited the effect of the hormones by 24-52%. This clearly shows that the effect of the hormones was sensitive to the action of inhibitors suggesting a possible genomic mode of action under long-term treatment. The results suggest that cortisol, corticosterone and DES may possibly stimulate the co-transport of glucose and excitation of membrane potential while progesterone and testosterone inhibit them in the brain of O. mossambicus by regulating the activity of Na(+)-K+ ATPase.

A comparative study of allitin and garlic on lipid turnover in a teleost, Anabas testudineus (Bloch).

Both allitin and garlic have anti-lipogenic properties substantiated by the activity of three lipogenic enzymes and lipid profiles. The rise in the HDL levels and simultaneous fall in the LDL upon garlic intake is the most convincing indicator of reduced lipid concentration. However, the administration of allitin recorded a decrease in the HDL and LDL levels, but when calculated on a percentage basis, there was a marginal increase in the HDL level. On the basis of results, it can be concluded that garlic or its derivatives have hypolipidaemic effect in submammalian vertebrates also. The cholesterol lowering effect of allitin and garlic can be commercially exploited for producing fish with low cholesterol for possible human consumption.

Influence of steroid hormones on plasma proteins in freshwater tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus.

The effect of administration of cortisol, corticosterone, testosterone, progesterone and a synthetic estrogen, diethylstilbestrol on plasma proteins of tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) was investigated. SDS-PAGE clearly revealed the appearance of several new bands of protein, which were not present in the control plasma and were comparable to the known bands of the molecular markers. Of the different bands appeared in the steroids treated plasma, the most important ones were the presumed vitellogenin and corticotrophin binding globulin with a molecular weight of 180 and 17 kDa, respectively. Increase in protein bands in the steroid treated plasma of O. mossambicus confirmed the anabolic role of steroids in teleost.