Comparison of Tissue Adhesive Glue with Subcuticular Absorbable Suture for Skin Closure Following Thyroid Surgery: A single-blinded randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the skin closure time, postoperative pain and the scar outcome between tissue adhesive and sub-cuticular sutures in thyroid surgery. Methods: This study was conducted in Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, a tertiary care hospital in India from March 2017 to December 2019. Adult patients undergoing thyroid surgery were included while those with previous neck surgery, history of keloids/hypertrophic scars and those undergoing concomitant neck dissections were excluded. Following platysma closure, patients were randomised into two groups (tissue adhesive and subcuticular sutures) using the Serially Numbered Opaque Sealed Envelopes technique. A sample size of 64 in each group was calculated for this prospective, single-blinded and randomised controlled trial. The primary outcome was the skin closure time. The secondary outcomes were postoperative pain at 24 hours and scar scoring at 1st and 3rd postoperative month. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. Results: A total sample of 124 patients were included in this study, with 61 patients assigned to the suture group and 63 assigned to the tissue adhesive group. The median skin closure time and postoperative pain was significantly lower in the tissue adhesive group as compared to the suture group (P <0.01). There was no statistically significant difference in scar outcome at the 1st or 3rd months between both groups (P = 0.088 and 0.137, respectively). There were no wound-related complications in either group. When a subgroup analysis was conducted, no difference was seen in the scar outcome or wound-related complications in patients with comorbidities. There were no instances of allergic contact dermatitis to the tissue adhesive. Conclusion: The use of tissue adhesive leads to lower operative time and less postoperative pain in thyroid surgeries. The scar outcome is comparable between tissue adhesives and subcuticular sutures.

The diagnostic power of circulating micro ribonucleic acid 34a in combination with cancer antigen 15-3 as a potential biomarker of breast cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the circulating levels of microRNA-34a (miRNA-34a) as a novel non-invasive biomarker of breast cancer (BC). Methods: The case-control study was conducted at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Al-Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq, from December 2018 to April 2019. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction has been employed to analyze miRNA-34a expression in the samples of serum from 90 participants (30 patients with BC 30 patients with benign breast tumors and 30 control subjects) after RNA extraction and reverse transcription. Cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were measured by ELISA. Additionally, we analyzed the receiver operating characteristic curves of various markers, including miRNA -34a, CA15-3, and CEA, to assess the diagnostic power of each marker.  Results: The expression of miRNA-34a has been significantly lower in the group of breast cancer compared with that in the group of control, and miRNA-34a expression has been significantly reduced in the group of benign breast tumor compared as that in the group of control. Receiver operating characteristics analysis showed a very good discriminative power of combined miRNA-34a and CA15-3 (specificity=77.7%; sensitivity=83.3% and areas under the curve =0.842) for BC patients. Conclusion: MicroRNA-34a expression is significantly decreased in the patients' serum with the cancer of breast, and miRNA-34a can be employed as a potential non-invasive molecular marker for the early diagnosis of BC.

Serum anti-müllerian hormone levels in evaluation of chemotherapy effect on ovarian reserve in women with breast cancer. A follow-up study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of serum anti müllerian hormone (AMH) pre-chemotherapy treatment levels in prediction of post-chemotherapy effect on the ovarian reserve of women with breast cancer. METHODS: This cohort prospective study was carried out at the Biochemistry Department, College of Medicine, University of Baghdad and at the Oncology Clinic, Oncology Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. It included 58 women with regular menstrual cycle (25-45 years) who were  newly diagnosed with breast cancer. The women were classified into 3 groups: GI: 30 women with breast cancer before starting chemotherapy, GII: the same 30 women of GI who finished 4 cycles of anthracycline chemotherapy (course 1) and GIII: which involved another 28 women who had finished both courses of chemotherapy, (course 1) and (course 2). RESULTS: The mean (±SEM) value of AMH levels was significantly decreased in GII and GIII when compared with GI (for both, p less than 0.0005). However, there was no significant difference in serum AMH levels between GII and GIII. CONCLUSION: The measurement of serum AMH may be a useful biochemical marker of the chemotherapy extent induced ovarian reserve damage and the incidence of amenorrhea.

Resistant hypertension - an update.

Patients with hypertension are increasing in Bangladesh. Among these patients a growing number of patients are having resistant hypertension faced by both primary care physicians and specialists. There is no data regarding prevalence of resistant hypertension in Bangladesh, but clinical trials abroad suggests that it is not rare, involving perhaps 20% to 30% of study participants. Cardiovascular risk is undoubtedly increased in such patients and the condition is often complicated by multiple other cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity, sleep apnea, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. Resistant hypertension is almost always multifactorial in etiology. Successful treatment requires identification and reversal of lifestyle factors contributing to treatment resistance; diagnosis and appropriate treatment of secondary causes of hypertension; and use of effective multi drug regimens. Studies of resistant hypertension are limited by the high cardiovascular risk of patients within this subgroup, which generally precludes safe withdrawal of medications; presence of multiple disease processes and their associated medical therapies, which confound interpretation of study results. Therefore we should concentrate on expanding our knowledge of the causes of resistant hypertension which will allow for more effective prevention and/or treatment which is essential to improve long-term clinical management of this condition.

Homology modeling and docking study of xanthine oxidase of Arthrobacter sp. XL26.

Hyperuricemia is a condition of defective purine metabolism characterized with elevated serum uric acid (UA) level that further leads to gout and gouty nephrolithiasis disorders. Gout is a world wide distributed rheumatic disease comprises 1% of the total population and still is in increasing state. One of the factors contributing to overproduction of UA is the hydroxylation of xanthine catalyzed by xanthine oxidase (XO). In the present study, 3D modeling of Arthrobacter sp. XL26 (xodB) protein was performed by comparative modeling approach using Rhodobacter capsulatus XDH (PDB ID: 2W3sF) as template in SWISS-MODEL, Geno3D and MODELLER program server. The best model was selected based on overall stereochemical quality (Procheck, PROSA, GenThreader), energy minimized, refined and used for active site characterization in BioMed CAChe workspace. The enzyme-inhibitor interaction was studied by docking to screen the possible inhibitors and application of model in design and development of anti-gout agents.

Siderophore production by a marine Pseudomonas aeruginosa and its antagonistic action against phytopathogenic fungi.

A marine isolate of fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. having the ability to produce the pyoverdine type of siderophores under low iron stress (up to 10 microM iron in the succinate medium) was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa by using BIOLOG Breathprint and siderotyping. Pyoverdine production was optimum at 0.2% (w/v) succinate, pH 6.0, in an iron-deficient medium. Studies carried out in vitro revealed that purified siderophores and Pseudomonas culture have good antifungal activity against the plant deleterious fungi, namely, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus oryzae, Fusarium oxysporum, and Sclerotium rolfsii. Siderophore-based maximum inhibition was observed against A. niger. These in vitro antagonistic actions of marine Pseudomonas against phytopathogens suggest the potential of the organism to serve as a biocontrol agent.

Siderophoregenic Bradyrhizobia boost yield of soybean.

After screening for siderophore (microbial iron chelator) production, of seven available cultures of soybean (Glycine max L.) root nodule bradyrhizobia, one strain, Bradyrhizobium japonicum NCIM 2746, was selected to confirm its phytopathogenic suppression and soybean growth promotion. Based on chromatographic and spectrophotometric studies, two different siderophores, a hydroxamate type (MW 734) and another catecholate type (MW 1000), were observed. Randomized block design (RBD) analysis of sick-pot studies (soil inoculated with phytopathogens) with an MACS 124 variety of soybean, bacterized with siderophoregenic B. japonicum, showed a marked increase in the percentage of germination, nodulation, chlorophyll, oil, protein content, and number of pods. Field trial study confirmed these pot results, which were evident from enhancement in shoot length, number of branches, chlorophyll content, number of nodules, root length, and number of pods. These results suggest the possibility of exploiting B. japonicum NCIM 2746 as a potential bioinoculant.