Effect of Octreotide in stopping post surgical chyle leak in neck Dissection-A systematic review.

Objective: Neck dissection causes an unusual and challenging complication called Chyle Leak. Octreotide, a long-acting somatostatin analogue, is one way Chyle Leak can be managed faster and effectively. The objective of the review was to evaluate the efficiency of Octreotide in stopping post surgical Chyle Leak in neck dissection. Methods: Three electronic database and manual search was undertaken to identify the literature. All the published articles, which included data about Octreotide used to stop post-surgical Chyle leak in neck dissection, published in the English language between January 1, 2010 to May 31, 2022 were included. Joanna Briggs critical assessment tool was used to assess the included studies. Results: Preliminary screening of 206 studies from data sources and ten from additional sources was done. After necessary exclusion, ten studies were included for qualitative synthesis. The data included 65 patients with neck dissections followed by Chyle leak postoperatively. Chyle leak was presented from 0-8th POD (range of 150 ml-2500 ml). 100mcg-eight hourly subcutaneously was given in maximum studies for 2-14 days. A gradual reduction in chyle leak started 2-4 days after the administration. The chyle leak completely resolved within 2-11 days in the majority of cases with conservative treatment and Octreotide. Conclusion: Octreotide Therapy with primary treatment is an effective way of stopping Chyle Leak in Neck Dissection. However, well-designed and robust randomized controlled studies are needed to confirm the results in the future.

Heterotopic Ossification after Knee Surgery, Arthroscopy is Not an Exception!!!!

INTRODUCTION: Reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a common procedure. Injury is the predisposing risk factor for developing heterotopic ossification(HO). We like to report a case of HO of the knee following arthroscopic ACL reconstruction. CASE REPORT: A29-year-old patient was admitted with complaints of painful instability of the left knee after a fall from bike. MRI study confirmed a complete ACL rupture along with tear of the body and posterior horns of the medial meniscus. ACL reconstruction was carried out using ipsilateral hamstring tendon graft by knee arthroscopy. Eight months after the procedure, the patient complained of pain in the lateral side of the knee joint evidencing a slight prominence of hard consistency. The radiological study confirmed it to be a case of HO. The patient was managed conservatively. CONCLUSION: Bone is the only tissue that has an incredible property as such that it can differentiate and develop into its mature form outside its native locations. Numerous studies have suggested ways of preventing and treating this complication. One has to be aware that even these simple surgical procedures can lead on to HO.

Targeting the Nrf2/ARE Signalling Pathway to Mitigate Isoproterenol-Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy: Plausible Role of Hesperetin in Redox Homeostasis.

Cardiac hypertrophy is the underlying cause of heart failure and is characterized by excessive oxidative stress leading to collagen deposition. Therefore, understanding the signalling mechanisms involved in excessive extracellular matrix deposition is necessary to prevent cardiac remodelling and heart failure. In this study, we hypothesized that hesperetin, a flavanone that elicits the activation of Nrf2 signalling and thereby suppresses oxidative stress, mediated pathological cardiac hypertrophy progression. A cardiac hypertrophy model was established with subcutaneous injection of isoproterenol in male Wistar rats. Oxidative stress markers, antioxidant defense status, and its upstream signalling molecules were evaluated to discover the impacts of hesperetin in ameliorating cardiac hypertrophy. Our results implicate that hesperetin pretreatment resulted in the mitigation of oxidative stress by upregulating antioxidant capacity of the heart. This curative effect might be owing to the activation of the master regulator of antioxidant defense system, known as Nrf2. Further, analysis of Nrf2 revealed that hesperetin enhances its nuclear translocation as well as the expression of its downstream targets (GCLC, NQO1, and HO-1) to boost the antioxidative status of the cells. To support this notion, in vitro studies were carried out in isoproterenol-treated H9c2 cells. Immunocytochemical analysis showed augmented nuclear localization of Nrf2 implicating the action of hesperetin at the molecular level to maintain the cellular redox homeostasis. Thus, it is conceivable that hesperetin could be a potential therapeutic candidate that enhances Nrf2 signalling and thereby ameliorates pathological cardiac remodelling.

Suspicious Lesion Segmentation on Brain, Mammograms and Breast MR Images Using New Optimized Spatial Feature Based Super-Pixel Fuzzy C-Means Clustering.

Suspicious lesion or organ segmentation is a challenging task to be solved in most of the medical image analyses, medical diagnoses and computer diagnosis systems. Nevertheless, various image segmentation methods were proposed in the previous studies with varying success levels. But, the image segmentation problems such as lack of versatility, low robustness, high complexity and low accuracy in up-to-date image segmentation practices still remain unsolved. Fuzzy c-means clustering (FCM) methods are very well suited for segmenting the regions. The noise-free images are effectively segmented using the traditional FCM method. However, the segmentation result generated is highly sensitive to noise due to the negligence of spatial information. To solve this issue, super-pixel-based FCM (SPOFCM) is implemented in this paper, in which the influence of spatially neighbouring and similar super-pixels is incorporated. Also, a crow search algorithm is adopted for optimizing the influential degree; thereby, the segmentation performance is improved. In clinical applications, the SPOFCM feasibility is verified using the multi-spectral MRIs, mammograms and actual single spectrum on performing tumour segmentation tests for SPOFCM. Ultimately, the competitive, renowned segmentation techniques such as k-means, entropy thresholding (ET), FCM, FCM with spatial constraints (FCM_S) and kernel FCM (KFCM) are used to compare the results of proposed SPOFCM. Experimental results on multi-spectral MRIs and actual single-spectrum mammograms indicate that the proposed algorithm can provide a better performance for suspicious lesion or organ segmentation in computer-assisted clinical applications.

Comparative evaluation of low-level laser therapy and ultrasound heat therapy in reducing temporomandibular joint disorder pain

BACKGROUND: Pain, limitations in opening, asymmetrical jaw movements, and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) sounds are the most common findings in temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs), which causes excruciating pain, inflammation of the surrounding muscles, posterior fibers, and synovial fluid. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the effects of ultrasound heat therapy and low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in reducing TMD-related pain. METHODS: This prospective study included 42 patients (age range, 25–45 years), who were divided into two groups of 21 patients each. All patients were prescribed a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) twice a day for 5 days for temporary relief of pain prior to the commencement of treatment. Patients were kept on a soft diet and asked to restrict mouth opening during the same period. Fifteen sessions of LLLT (Group A) or ultrasound therapy (Group B) were administered to the affected side. RESULTS: Post-therapy, the mean visual analog scale score for group A and group B was 4.81 (2.01) and 6.19 (1.20), respectively; the difference was statistically significant and favoring the LLLT group. Similarly, the mean mouth opening for group A and group B was 3.99 (0.40) and 3.65 (0.41), respectively; the difference was statistically significant and favoring the LLLT group. CONCLUSION: Our study recommends LLLT for treating TMD-related pain with no underlying bony pathology.

Comparison of efficacy of 0.75% ropivacaine and 2% lidocaine with 1:200,000 adrenaline in pain control in extraction of mandibular posterior teeth: A double-blind study.

BACKGROUND: Two percent lidocaine hydrochloride is the gold standard for dental anesthesia against which newer local anesthetic agents may be compared. 0.75% ropivacaine is a newer, long-acting amide local anesthetic agent with inherent vasoconstriction property. AIM: This study aims to compare the efficacy of 0.75% ropivacaine and 2% lidocaine hydrochloride with 1:200,000 adrenaline in pain control in extraction of mandibular posterior teeth. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This is a prospective, double-blind, and split-mouth study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty patients were divided into two groups according to the right and left sides of patient - side A and side B. The side, where 0.75% ropivacaine was to be administered, was randomly selected by flip coin method. Then, the pterygomandibular and long buccal nerve blocks were administered with 0.75% ropivacaine and necessary dental extraction was performed. After 1 week, the same procedure was repeated using 2% lidocaine hydrochloride with 1:200,000 adrenaline. The parameters assessed were pain on injection, onset of anesthesia, pain during the extraction, and duration of anesthesia. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The nonparametric data were assessed by Mann Whitney "U" test. RESULTS: The mean onset of action for solution A was 7.15 ± 4.934 min and for solution B was 9.75±5.128 min. This was statistically significant. The mean duration of action, pain on injection, and pain during extraction were not significant. CONCLUSION: This study clearly states that there is no clear advantage of using 0.75% ropivacaine in pterygomandibular nerve block over the gold standard. However, more clinical studies with larger sample size are necessary.

Compression of CT Images using Contextual Vector Quantization with Simulated Annealing for Telemedicine Application.

The role of compression is vital in telemedicine for the storage and transmission of medical images. This work is based on Contextual Vector Quantization (CVQ) compression algorithm with codebook optimization by Simulated Annealing (SA) for the compression of CT images. The region of interest (foreground) and background are separated initially by region growing algorithm. The region of interest is encoded with low compression ratio and high bit rate; the background region is encoded with high compression ratio and low bit rate. The codebook generated from foreground and background is merged, optimized by simulated annealing algorithm. The performance of CVQ-SA algorithm was validated in terms of metrics like Peak to Signal Noise Ratio (PSNR), Mean Square Error (MSE) and Compression Ratio (CR), the result was superior when compared with classical VQ, CVQ, JPEG lossless and JPEG lossy algorithms. The algorithms are developed in Matlab 2010a and tested on real-time abdomen CT datasets. The quality of reconstructed image was also validated by metrics like Structural Content (SC), Normalized Absolute Error (NAE), Normalized Cross Correlation (NCC) and statistical analysis was performed by Mann Whitney U Test. The outcome of this work will be an aid in the field of telemedicine for the transfer of medical images.

An Antifungal Mechanism of Protolichesterinic Acid from the Lichen Usnea albopunctata Lies in the Accumulation of Intracellular ROS and Mitochondria-Mediated Cell Death Due to Apoptosis in Candida tropicalis.

Candida species causes superficial and life-threatening systemic infections and are difficult to treat due to the resistance of these organism to various clinically used drugs. Protolichesterinic acid is a well-known lichen compound. Although the antibacterial activity of protolichesterinic acid has been reported earlier, the antifungal property and its mechanism of action are still largely unidentified. The goal of the present investigation is to explore the anticandidal activity and mechanism of action of protolichesterinic acid, especially against Candida tropicalis. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) value was established through microdilution techniques against four Candida species and out of four species tested, C. tropicalis showed a significant effect (MIC: 2 µg/ml). In the morphological interference assay, we observed the enhanced inhibition of hyphae when the cells were treated with protolichesterinic acid. Time-kill assay demonstrated that the maximum rate of killing was recorded between 2 and 6 h. C. tropicalis exposed to protolichesterinic acid exhibited an increased ROS production, which is one of the key factors of fungal death. The rise in ROS was due to the dysfunction of mitochondria caused by protolichesterinic acid. We confirmed that protolichesterinic acid-induced dysfunction of mitochondria in C. tropicalis. The damage of cell membrane due to protolichesterinic acid treatment was confirmed by the influx of propidium iodide and was further confirmed by the release of potassium ions. The treatment of protolichesterinic acid also triggered calcium ion signaling. Moreover, it commenced apoptosis which is clearly evidenced by Annexin V and propidium iodide staining. Interestingly protolichesterinic acid recorded excellent immunomodulatory property when tested against lymphocytes. Finally protolichesterinic acid showed low toxicity toward a normal human cell line Foreskin (FS) normal fibroblast. In in vivo test, protolichesterinic acid significantly enhanced the survival of C. tropicalis infected Caenorhabditis elegans. This investigation proposes that the protolichesterinic acid induces apoptosis in C. tropicalis via the enhanced accumulation of intracellular ROS and mitochondrial damage, which leads fungal cell death via apoptosis. Our work revealed a new key aspect of mechanisms of action of protolichesterinic acid in Candida species. This article is the first study on the antifungal and mechanism of action of protolichesterinic acid in Candida species.

Spectral and chemical characterization of jarosite in a palaeolacustrine depositional environment in Warkalli Formation in Kerala, South India and its implications.

Coastal cliffs fringing the Arabian Sea near Varkala exhibits the Warkalli Formation of the Tertiary sequence of Kerala, South India, with well-marked occurrence of jarosite associated with other hydrous mineral phases of phyllosilicate family in a palaeo-lacustrine depositional environment. Sandy phyllosilicates dominate the mineral assemblage, but jarosite occurs as a prominent secondary phase formed during acid-sulphate alteration of iron sulphide in this area. Here, we discuss about the potentiality of spectroscopic techniques to identify the possible mineral phases in the collected samples. The samples from the coastal cliffs have been characterized by hyperspectral analysis (VIS-NIR-SWIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-red Reflectance (FTIR), Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) and Laser Raman spectroscopy. The spectral and chemical analyses have confirmed the jarosite as natrojarosite and phyllosilicate as kaolinite. Other accessory phases have also been identified through XRD. FTIR spectroscopy has played a major role in identifying the major hydrous bonds between the minerals. VIS-NIR-SWIR spectra show several optimum spectral features at 910nm, 1470nm, 1849-1864nm (in the form of a doublet), 1940nm and 2270nm, which could be utilised to locate jarosite in the remotely-sensed data. X-ray diffraction peaks helped in the identification of maximum number of minerals (kaolinite, smectite, quartz, feldspar, pyrite, marcasite and hematite) and the variation in jarosite content in the samples. We propose the formation of jarosite in the region by a seasonal, local and temporary development of acidic conditions. Abundance of organic matter in a fluvio-lacustrine environment has developed anaerobic conditions by removing available oxygen through decomposition of organic matter containing sulphur compounds. The sulphur thus liberated combines with hydrogen from water to develop acidic conditions and resulted in the formation of jarosite. The occurrence of jarosite in Warkalli Formation suggests on and off supply of water during diagenesis. Jarosite has been detected as a prominent deposit in several regions on Mars by Mars Exploration rover Opportunity and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter-Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM). This study of jarosite formation in terrestrial environment will influence our understanding on the mineral precipitation, diagenesis and hydration processes on Mars. Additionally, it also shows the importance of spectroscopic techniques like Raman spectrometry to be used in future missions to Mars to further validate the results of orbital spectroscopy.

In Vitro Evaluation of the Antioxidant, 3,5-Dihydroxy-4-ethyl-trans-stilbene (DETS) Isolated from Bacillus cereus as a Potent Candidate against Malignant Melanoma.

3,5-dihydroxy Q1 -4-ethyl-trans-stilbene (DETS) is a natural stilbene, which was first identified as bioactive bacterial secondary metabolite isolated from Bacillus cereus associated with a rhabditid entomopathogenic nematode. The present study was intended to investigate the antioxidant and anticancer activity of this compound in vitro. Antioxidant activity was investigated by assaying DPPH free radical scavenging, superoxide radical-(O2..) scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging and metal chelating activity, which proved that the compound is a powerful antioxidant. The metal chelating activity of DETS was higher than butylated hydroxyanisol (BHA) and gallic acid, two well-known antioxidants. As the molecule exhibited strong antioxidant potential, it was further evaluated for cytotoxic activity toward five cancer cells of various origins. Since the compound has a strong structural similarity with resveratrol (trans- 3,4,5-trihydroxystilbene), a well-studied chemopreventive polyphenolic antioxidant, its anticancer activity was compared with that of resveratrol. Among the five cancer cells studied, the compound showed maximum cytotoxicity toward the human melanoma cell line, [A375, IC50: 24.01 µM] followed by cervical [HeLa-46.17 µM], colon [SW480- 47.28 µM], liver [HepG2- 69.56 µM] and breast [MCF-7- 84.31 µM] cancer cells. A375 was much more sensitive to DETS compared to the non-melanoma cell line, A431, in which the IC50 of the compound was more than double (49.60 µM). In the present study, the anticancer activity of DETS against melanoma was confirmed by various apoptosis assays. We also observed that DETS, like resveratrol, down-regulates the expression status of major molecules contributing to melanoma progression, such as BRAF, ß-catenin and Brn-2, all of which converge in MITF-M, the master regulator of melanoma signaling. The regulatory role of MITF-M in DETS-induced cytotoxicity in melanoma cells was confirmed by comparing the cytotoxicity of DETS in A375 cells (IC50-24.01 µM), with that in SK-MEL-2 (IC50-67.6 µM), another melanoma cells which highly over-express MITF-M. The compound arrests the cells at S-G2 transition state of the cell cycle, as resveratrol. Our results indicate that DETS is a powerful antioxidant, having anticancer efficacy comparable with that of resveratrol, and is a potential candidate to be explored by in vivo studies and in-depth mechanistic evaluation. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the antioxidant and anticancer properties of DETS.

Neurological and functional recovery in acute transverse myelitis patients with inpatient rehabilitation and magnetic resonance imaging correlates.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to observe neurological and functional recovery in patients with acute transverse myelitis (ATM) with inpatient rehabilitation and correlate with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was conducted with 43 ATM patients (19 males) admitted in the tertiary university research hospital from July 2012 to June 2014. Detailed MRI findings were noted. Neurological status was assessed using the ASIA impairment scale (AIS) and functional recovery was assessed using the Barthel Index score (BI) and Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM). RESULTS: Patients showed significant neurological and functional recovery with inpatient rehabilitation using AIS, BI and SCIM scales when admission and discharge scores were compared (P<0.001). Thirty-one patients (72.1%) had rostral level in the cervical region according to MR imaging, but clinically, 17 patients had tetraplegia, whereas 26 patients had lower-limb weakness only. No definitive pattern or correlation was found between level (MRI or clinical) and neurological status (AIS). CONCLUSION: The neurological outcome in patients with ATM cannot be predicted on the basis of imaging findings. There is a great variation in the imaging level and clinical presentation. Patients show significant improvement with inpatient rehabilitation even with poor functional ability in acute and sub-acute phase of illness.

Molecular characterization of forest soil based Paenibacillus elgii and optimization of various culture conditions for its improved antimicrobial activity.

Microorganisms have provided a bounty of bioactive secondary metabolites with very exciting biological activities such as antibacterial, antifungal antiviral, and anticancer, etc. The present study aims at the optimization of culture conditions for improved antimicrobial production of Paenibacillus elgii obtained from Wayanad forest of Western Ghats region of Kerala, India. A bacterial strain isolated from the Western Ghats forest soil of Wayanad, Kerala, India was identified as P. elgii by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. P. elgii recorded significant board spectrum activity against all human and plant pathogenic microorganism tested except Candida albicans. It has been well known that even minor variations in the fermentation medium may impact not only the quantity of desired bioactive metabolites but also the general metabolic profile of the producing microorganisms. Thus, further studies were carried out to assess the impact of medium components on the antimicrobial production of P. elgii and to optimize an ideal fermentation medium to maximize its antimicrobial production. Out of three media [nutrient broth (NA), Luria broth (LB) and Trypticase soy broth (TSB)] used for fermentation, TSB medium recorded significant activity. Glucose and meat peptone were identified as the best carbon and nitrogen sources, which significantly affected the antibiotic production when supplemented with TSB medium. Next the effect of various fermentation conditions such as temperature, pH, and incubation time on the production of antimicrobial compounds was studied on TSB + glucose + meat peptone and an initial pH of 7 and a temperature of 30°C for 3 days were found to be optimum for maximum antimicrobial production. The results indicate that medium composition in the fermentation media along with cultural parameters plays a vital role in the enhanced production of antimicrobial substances.

The effect of alloplastic bone graft and absorbable gelatin sponge in prevention of periodontal defects on the distal aspect of mandibular second molars, after surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molar: a comparative prospective study.

AIM: Recent studies claim that haemostatic agents can be used as bone graft substitutes. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of alloplastic bone graft with absorbable gelatin sponge in prevention of periodontal defects distal to mandibular second molar after the surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, randomized, single-blind split-mouth study was designed. The study consisted of 25 patients requiring surgical removal of bilateral impacted mandibular 3rd molars. The surgical sites were randomly divided into 2 groups: group I: G-graft (hydroxyapatite + collagen, study group) and group II: Abgel (absorbable gelatin sponge, control group). Patients were recalled on lst and 7th postoperative days and 3rd and 6th postoperative months. Probing depth, alveolar bone levels and soft tissue wound healing were evaluated. Paired t test was used to compare pre and post-operative alveolar bone levels and probing depth (PD). Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used to compare the wound healing. RESULTS: The soft tissue wound healing, PD and the distance between the cemento-enamel junction on the distal aspect of mandibular second molar (point A) and the alveolar crest on the distal aspect of the same tooth (point B) were significantly higher in group I as compared to group II. CONCLUSION: This study reveals an increase in the alveolar bone level, improvement of PD and better wound healing in group I. Group II subjects required longer healing time than the normal. The authors disagree the claim that the haemostatic agents can be used as bone graft substitutes. However, long-term, multicenter, randomized controlled clinical trials are required.

Embelin (2,5-Dihydroxy-3-undecyl-p-benzoquinone) for photodynamic therapy: study of their cytotoxicity in cancer cells.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves the use of photochemical reactions mediated through the interaction of photosensitizing agent for the treatment of malignant tumor. The present study was carried out to evaluate the photosensitizing potential of embelin isolated from Embelia ribes. For PDT study, cells were grouped into four groups. Two types of control were used, one with Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells alone (group 1) and one which received the illumination alone (group 2). Group 3 contains cells treated with different concentrations of embelin for 1 h at 37 °C. Another set of cells (group 4) after treatment with different concentrations of embelin was illuminated in ice for 4 min with a 1000-W halogen lamp. To study the mechanism of cell death, the following parameters such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), caspase-3, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were analyzed both in the absence and presence of light after the treatment of embelin. PDT study clearly indicated that embelin alone recorded no cytotoxicity, but for light treatment alone with the different concentrations of embelin, there was a significant induction of cytotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner. Level of ROS and LDH increased in cells treated with embelin. Moreover, caspase-3 also increased which clearly indicated that cell death is through caspase-dependent apoptosis. This is the first report on PDT, a novel modality, using embelin for cancer therapy in vitro. The novelty of the study depends on the fact that cytotoxicity was produced by the synergistic effect of the embelin and light.

POLYMORPHISM IN THE CODING REGION SEQUENCE OF GDF8 GENE IN INDIAN SHEEP.

The present study was undertaken to identify polymorphism in the coding sequence of GDF8gene across indigenous meat type sheep breeds. A 1647 bp sequence was generated, encompassing 208 bp of the 5'UTR, 1128 bp of coding region (exon1, 2 and 3) as well as 311 bp of 3'UTR. The sheep and goat GDF8 gene sequences were observed to be highly conserved as compared to cattle, buffalo, horse and pig. Several nucleotide variations were observed across coding sequence of GDF8 gene in Indian sheep. Three polymorphic sites were identified in the 5'UTR, one in exon 1 and one in the exon 2 regions. Both SNPs in the exonic region were found to be non-synonymous. The mutations c.539T > G and c.821T > A discovered in this study in the exon 1 and exon 2, respectively, have not been previously reported. The information generated provides preliminary indication of the functional diversity present in Indian sheep at the coding region of GDF8gene. The novel as well as the previously reported SNPs discovered in the Indian sheep warrant further analysis to see whether they affect the phenotype. Future studies will need to establish the affect of reported SNPs in the expression of the GDF8 gene in Indian sheep population.

Munchmeyer's disease-a rare case report and review of literature.

Munchmeyer's disease is a rare variety of myositis ossificans. It is a significant clinical entity, diagnosing and understanding its pathophysiology can save a patient from spurious medical workups and anxiety of a suspected neoplasm. The number of authentic cases of this disease in the literature is small. The purpose of this article is to present a case of Munchmeyer's disease and review the literature for the same to date. The rare incidence, obscure aetiology, unknown definitive treatment plan and poor prognosis make this condition an enigma.

Bioactive stilbenes from a Bacillus sp. N strain associated with a novel rhabditid entomopathogenic nematode.

AIMS: The aim of the present study was to purify and characterize a natural antimicrobial compound from Bacillus sp. strain N associated with a novel rhabditid entomopathogenic nematode. METHODS AND RESULTS: The cell-free culture filtrate of a bacterium associated with a novel entomopathogenic nematode (EPN), Rhabditis (Oscheius) sp. exhibited strong antimicrobial activity. The ethyl acetate extract of the bacterial culture filtrate was purified by column chromatography, and two bioactive compounds were isolated and their chemical structures were established based on spectral analysis. The compounds were identified as 3,4',5-trihydroxystilbene (1) and 3,5-dihydroxy-4-isopropylstilbene (2). The presence of 3,4',5-trihydroxystilbene (resveratrol) is reported for the first time in bacteria. Compound 1 showed antibacterial activity against all the four test bacteria, whereas compound 2 was effective against the Gram-positive bacteria only. Compounds 1 and 2 were active against all the five fungi tested and are more effective than bavistin, the standard fungicide. The antifungal activity of the compounds against the plant pathogenic fungi, Rhizoctonia solani is reported for the first time. CONCLUSIONS: Cell-free extract of the bacterium and isolated stilbenes demonstrated high antibacterial activity against bacteria and fungi especially against plant pathogenic fungi. We conclude that the bacterium-associated EPN are promising sources of natural bioactive secondary metabolites. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Stilbene compounds can be used for the control of fungi and bacteria.

A case of facial lymphoma mimicking dental infection.

UNLABELLED: Infective and neoplastic swellings of the face are common. Often, the differential diagnosis is obvious, but sometimes it can be difficult to ascertain. We report the case of a cheek swelling thought to be infective in origin, but this unusual lesion turned out to be a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. This was found to be a solitary cutaneous lesion, with associated submandibular lymphadenopathy. The initial plan was for treatment with chemo-radiotherapy, however, the lesion has, surprisingly, begun to resolve spontaneously following biopsy. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The most frequent cause of facial swellings presenting to dentists is infective, usually from dental sources, but other causes of facial swelling do need to be considered.

Evaluation of cognitive function of fluoxetine, sertraline and tianeptine in isolation and chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depressive Wistar rats.

Depressive illness is generally associated with cognitive impairment. Serotonergic selective antidepressant drugs, fluoxetine (FLX), sertraline (SER) and tianeptine (TIA), are claimed to have less or no effect on cholinergic system, the key system involved in memory. In the present study, these drugs were evaluated for their influence on cognitive behavior in both depressive and non-depressive animals. Depression was induced by two models, (i) 60 days social isolation of litter; and ii) by applying chronic unpredictable mild stress for 21 days. Depression in the rats was confirmed by behavioral despair test. Transfer latency on elevated plus maze and inflexion ratio in passive avoidance step through behavior were employed to assess learning and memory. The results indicated that administration of fluoxetine; sertraline and tianeptine attenuated the cognitive deficits observed in depressive rats. In non-depressive rats these drugs produced retention deficit, which was found to be parameter and model dependent. Data suggested that, FLX and SER (SSRI's) effectively attenuated the isolation-induced depression and cognitive deficit, whereas TIA (SSRE) produced better effect in stress-induced depressive conditions. It was concluded that behavioral profiles of fluoxetine, sertraline and tianeptine on cognition were model and parameter dependent.