Clinicopathological comparison of VHL expression as a prognostic tumor marker in renal cell carcinoma: A single center experience.

AIM: To assess the VHL gene expression as a prognostic marker in Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) and compare it with clinicopathologic features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective observational study was conducted in the department of Urology and Renal Transplantation in Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai from August 2016 to August 2018. Thirty patients who have undergone a radical/partial nephrectomy with biopsy proven histological diagnosis of RCC during the study period were included in the study. Data was analyzed using Statistical package for Social Sciences version 17. RESULTS: A complete loss and retained VHL expression were noted in 60% and 40% of the RCC specimens. Association between smoking and VHL expression was found to be statistically significant. There was no statistical significance found between age group, sex, chief complaints, BMI. ECOG score, hypertension, family history, location of tumor, calcification, venous system or lymphnode involvement. However, rT staging, nature of lesion and cut surface, HPE type, pT staging, HPE grade, necrosis and lympho-vascular invasion were also found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Complete loss of VHL expression was noted in majority of the specimens that leads to the development of RCC. Smoking has been found to be statistically significant in tumors that retain VHL expression which may contributes to more aggressive form of tumor. Association between rT staging, nature of lesion and cut surface, HPE type, pT staging, HPE grade, necrosis and lympho-vascular invasion were also found to be statistically significant.

Extraction, purification and concentration of partially saturated canthaxanthin from Aspergillus carbonarius.

A mutant Aspergillus carbonarius produces partially saturated canthaxanthin (PSC; C(40)H(62)O(2)) during submerged fermentation. The pigment was extracted from dried biomass using various organic solvents and purified using nanofiltration (NF) and nonporous membranes. Particle size had a great influence; PSC extractability from fines fraction of biomass (75-105 microm) was 1.5-fold higher compared to the coarse fraction (850-920 microm) in ethanol. Among the four solvents, hexane exhibited the highest PSC extractability of 5.83 mg/g and purity of 32 mg/g. On a relative scale, the extraction performance of hexane, acetone, methanol and ethanol were in the order 100, 16.1, 7.5 and 5.4. An assessment based on enrichment factor and permeate flux revealed notable performance with NF-250 membrane in ethanol extract followed by NF-200 and NF-GKSS membranes in methanol extract. These results suggested the suitability of hexane for extraction followed by alcohol phase purification and concentration employing NF. Accordingly, a PSC purity of 206 mg/g was achieved.

Safety evaluation of pigment containing Aspergillus carbonarius biomass in albino rats.

Aspergillus carbonarius, an ascomycetes fungus, is known to produce pectinase in solid-state fermentation. A mutant strain of A. carbonarius UV-10046 selected for temperature tolerance over produced polygalacturonase and during growth accumulated an yellow pigment in its biomass. Since the colored fungus suggested its application for food use, the freeze-dried biomass was evaluated to assess its safety in experimental animals. Acute and sub-acute toxicity studies were conducted on both sexes of albino rats. Feeding acute doses of A. carbonarius freeze-dried biomass at 0.5-5.0g/kg body weight to adult rats did not show any symptoms of toxicity or mortality of the rats. Similarly, dietary feeding of A. carbonarius at 0.25-2.0% level (w/w) for 14 weeks did not produce any significant changes in food intake or gain in body weight of the experimental rats compared to control rats. There were no significant differences in the relative weight of vital organs, hematological parameters, macroscopic and microscopic changes in vital organs and serum enzyme levels between the experimental and control groups. The results clearly showed that acute and sub-acute oral feeding of freeze-dried whole cells of A. carbonarius mutant for 14 weeks did not produce any toxic effects in male and female rats.