Anaphylaxis to artesunate?

Artesunate, an artemissin derivative is a highly efficacious and relatively safe antimalarial agent. Common adverse reactions to artemissin derivatives are nausea, vomiting, anorexia and dizziness. More serious but less-frequent toxic effects of artesunate use are neutropenia, anemia, hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and severe allergic reactions. However, anaphylactic reaction to artesunate is a rare entity. Here, we report a case of anaphylaxis to parenteral artesunate and its successful management in a female patient to whom intravenous artesunate was administered during surgery under general anesthesia.

Knowledge about Anaesthesia and Anaesthesiologist Amongst General Population in India.

SUMMARY: Anaesthesiologists are playing a decisive role in patient management. Present day anaesthesiology is based on the use of newer and safer drugs, better patient monitoring, pain management and critical care. But the general public knows little of these developments. The study was undertaken to assess the perception regarding the anaesthesiology and anaesthesiologists among the general population. The present study was conducted on 300 persons (patient, patient's attendant and medical undergraduates) between 18-75 years of age to assess the knowledge regarding anaesthesiology and the anaesthesiologists. All collected data were categorized into 5 groups as per the educational status of the study population. Perception of anaesthesiologist as a doctor in illiterate, graduate and postgraduate population was 19.51%, 58.57% and 87.88% respectively. Anaesthesiology as a separate medical discipline was not known to 100%, 73.87%, 64.29% and 51.52% of the illiterate, upto matriculation, graduate and postgraduate population respectively. Among the population who knew something about general anaesthesia, none from upto matriculation and 33.87%, 44.83% and 100% from the graduate, post graduate and medical undergraduate groups respectively knew that anaesthesia is administered with specialized equipments along with monitoring. Illiterates did not know about regional anaesthesia, while most of others had some knowledge about it. The results of the study reflect the wide spread ignorance and misconceptions about anaesthesiology and anaesthesiologists still prevalent in public in India.

Ultraviolet-B radiation impacts light-mediated turnover of the photosystem II reaction center heterodimer in Arabidopsis mutants altered in phenolic metabolism.

Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation can have a negative impact on the growth and development of plants. Plants tolerant to UV-B alleviate these effects using UV-screening pigments that reduce the penetration of UV-B into mesophyll tissue. Little is known about the relative contribution of specific phenolic compounds to the screening capacity of leaves. The D1 and D2 proteins constituting the photosystem (PS) II reaction center heterodimer are targets of UV-B radiation and can be used as an in situ sensor for UV penetration into photosynthetic tissue. Degradation of these proteins occurs under very low fluences of UV-B, and is strongly accelerated in the presence of visible light. Using the D1-D2 degradation assay, we characterized UV-B sensitivity of Arabidopsis mutants (tt4, tt5, and fah1) that are genetically altered in their composition of phenolic compounds. We found that changes in phenol metabolism result in altered rates of PSII reaction center heterodimer degradation under mixtures of photosynthetically active radiation and UV-B. A comparison of D2 degradation kinetics showed increased UV sensitivity of the Landsberg (Landsberg erecta) tt5 mutant relative to the Landsberg tt4 mutant and the Landsberg wild type. Despite a lack of flavonoid accumulation, the tt4 mutant is not particularly UV sensitive. However, the tolerance of this mutant to UV-B may reflect the increased accumulation of sinapate esters that strongly absorb in the UV range, and may thus protect the plant against environmentally relevant UV-B radiation. This sinapate-mediated protection is less obvious for the tt4 mutant of Columbia ecotype, indicating that the relative contribution of particular phenolics to the total screening capacity varies with the genetic background. The role of sinapate esters in UV screening is further substantiated by the results with the fah1 mutant where absence of most of the sinapate esters results in a significantly accelerated degradation of D2 under mixed light conditions. Because the latter mutant is not expected to be deficient in flavonoids, the relative contribution of flavonoids as protectants of PSII reaction center heterodimer against UV-B damage in Arabidopsis needs to be re-evaluated vis-a-vis screening by simple phenolics like sinapate esters.

Coamplification of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase genes in methotrexate-resistant human leukemia cell lines.

Methotrexate (MTX)-resistant K562 human myelocytic leukemia sublines with 20- and 200-fold amplified dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) genes localized to homogeneously staining regions (HSRs) on the long arms of chromosomes 5, 6, and 19 were used to examine whether other genes mapping close to the DHFR genes were coamplified. The gene for 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, located on chromosome 5q13.3-14, was coamplified 4-14-fold, corresponding to the levels of resistance exhibited by these cells. Similar observations were made with a MTX-resistant subline of the promyelocytic leukemia cell line, HL-60R, with 200 gene copies of DHFR. These observations indicate a tight linkage of DHFR and HMG-CoA genes on chromosome 5q.

Enhanced expression and differential inducibility of soybean chalcone synthase genes by supplemental UV-B in dark-grown seedlings.

By developing gene-specific RT-PCR and using filters to allow transmission down to 290 nm (UV-B+) or blocking all radiation below 320 nm (UV-B(-)), the effect of UV-B+ and UV-B- light on expression of each of the presently known seven members of soybean chalcone synthase (CHS) gene family in dark-grown seedlings was analyzed. Dark expression was detectable already in 18 h dark-germinating embryos, with progressive increases on successive days, suggesting that chs belongs to a class of genes expressed very early during germination, and that the expression at this stage is either constitutive or induced by non-light-dependent factors present in the seed or made available following imbibition. Exposure of 18 h dark-germinating embryos to UV-B- or to UV-B+ light did not lead to an increase in chs signal. However, the 24 h dark-germinating embryos showed a distinct effect of UV-B+, interestingly coinciding with the stage when the head of seedlings was in the process of being pushed up above ground by stem elongation, suggesting the possibility of a developmental switch modulating the appearance of UV-B response. The response to UV-B- was most prominent in chs1 and almost silent in chs2, while the up-regulation by UV-B+ was most prominent in chs5 and chs6 and much less so in chs2. Interestingly, chs2 was noted to be the only member of the Gmchs gene family devoid of H-box, raising the possibility that the H-box may be a good indicator of the photo-inducibility of a chs gene.

Induction of protective immunity in chickens immunised with plasmid DNA encoding infectious bursal disease virus antigens.

Direct DNA inoculations were used to determine the efficacy of gene immunisation of chickens to elicit protective immune responses against infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). The vp2 gene of IBDV strains GP40 and D78, and the vp2-vp4-vp3 encoding segment of strain D78 were cloned in an expression vector which consisted of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) immediate early enhancer and promoter, adenovirus tripartite leader sequences and SV40 polyadenylation signal. For purification of vaccine-quality plasmid DNA from E. coli, an effective method was developed. Chickens were vaccinated by inoculation of DNA by two routes (intramuscular and intraperitoneal). Two weeks later, chickens were boosted with DNA, and at 2 weeks post-boost, they were challenged with virulent IBDV strain. Low to undetectable levels of IBDV-specific antibodies and no protection were observed with DNA encoding VP2. However, plasmids encoding VP2-VP4-VP3 induced IBDV-specific antibodies and protection in the chickens. DNA immunisation opens a new approach to the development of gene vaccines for chickens against infectious diseases.

Plant cell biodegradation of a xenobiotic nitrate ester, nitroglycerin.

The ability of plants to metabolize the xenobiotic nitrate ester, glycerol trinitrate (GTN, nitroglycerin), was examined using cultured plant cells and plant cell extracts. Intact cells rapidly degrade GTN with the initial formation of glycerol dinitrate (GDN) and the later formation of glycerol mononitrate (GMN). A material balance analysis of these intermediates indicates little, if any, formation of reduced, conjugated or cell-bound carbonaceous metabolites. Cell extracts were shown to be capable of degrading GTN with the simultaneous formation of GDN in stoichiometric amounts. The intermediates observed, and the timing of their appearance, are consistent with a sequential denitration pathway that has been reported for the microbial degradation of nitrate esters. The degradative activities of plant cells are only tenfold less than those reported for bacterial GTN degradation. These results suggests that plants may serve a direct degradative function for the phytoremediation of sites contaminated by organic nitrate esters.

Organization of soybean chalcone synthase gene clusters and characterization of a new member of the family.

Chalcone synthase (CHS; EC 2.3.1.74), the first committed enzyme of the multibranched pathway of flavonoid/isoflavonoid biosynthesis is encoded by a multigene family in soybean, (Glycine max L. Merrill). Our results suggest that this gene family comprises at least seven members, some of which are clustered. We have identified four chs clusters in the allo-tetraploid G. max genome and chs5, a newly characterized member of the chs gene family is present in two of them. We describe the complete nucleotide sequence of chs5, the identification of its immediate neighbors and the organization of the four hitherto identified chs clusters in the Gm genome.

Molecular evolutionary analysis of the psbP gene family of the photosystem II oxygen-evolving complex in Nicotiana.

Photosystem II psbP protein of the oxygen-evolving complex is involved in the photosynthetic oxygen evolution in plants. Four psbP polypeptides were detected in Nicotiana tabacum on a two-dimensional gel by immunostaining the proteins with antiserum against the pea psbP Comparison of the protein patterns of psbP from N. tabacum and its ancestral parents, N. sylvestris and N. tomentosiformis, indicated that each of the ancestral parents has contributed a pair of psbP proteins. This was supported by Southern hybridization results, which suggested that psbP in Nicotiana is encoded by a gene family consisting of four members in N. tabacum and two members each in N. glauca, N. langsdorffii, N. sylvestris, and N. tomentosiformis. A scheme of molecular evolution of the psbP genes in Nicotiana is also proposed.

Possible repetitive DNA markers for Eusorghum and Parasorghum and their potential use in examining phylogenetic hypotheses on the origin of Sorghum species.

Genomic structures of two major species in section Eusorghum (Sorghum), Sorghum bicolor and Sorghum halepense, and their phylogenetic relationships with a species in section Parasorghum, Sorghum versicolor, were studied by using cloned repetitive DNA sequences from the three species. Of the five repetitive DNA clones isolated from S. bicolor and S. halepense, four produced qualitatively similar hybridization patterns with detectable variations in copy numbers of some of the restriction fragments on the Southern blots of the two genomic DNAs. One clone was shown to be diagnostic for S. halepense. Molecular analysis at the DNA level indicates that S. bicolor and S. halepense have similar but not identical genomes, consonant with differences in karyotypes, meiotic chromosome behaviors, morphology, and physiology of the species. In addition to five repetitive clones isolated from S. bicolor and S. halepense, eight more sequences were cloned from S. versicolor. Nine clones were found to be specific for either S. bicolor and S. halepense or S. versicolor. The remaining four had a moderate to strong homology with sequences present in all Sorghum species studied. We speculate that the genome in the common ancestor of Sorghum has differentiated to give rise to genomes of at least three major chromosome sizes; large, medium, and small, as seen at present. Amplifications, eliminations, rearrangements, and new syntheses of repetitive sequences may have been involved in genome differentiation of these species. The results also suggest that the S. versicolor genome has strongly diverged from the genomes of the two species in section Eusorghum.