ABO Blood Group and the Risk of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Kashmir, a High Risk Region.

BACKGROUND: ABO blood group has been linked with a number of diseases including cancer. Association of ABO blood type with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has been sparsely reported and the results are inconsistent. We undertook this study to analyze if any association exists between the ABO and Rh blood groups and ESCC risk. METHODS: We conducted a hospital-based case control study to analyze ABO and Rh blood groups in patients with histologically proven diagnosis of ESCC and compared them with healthy donors from the same population. ABO and Rh blood group status of general population was obtained from the blood bank at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) and from original articles published from time to time. Chi-Square test was performed to look for statistical significance. RESULTS: For this study, 206 patients were prospectively enrolled. Seventy-four (35.9%) patients had blood group O. Blood groups type A and type B was found each in 59 (28.6%) patients. In 108,014 healthy donors, 35.3% had blood type O followed by type B (33.66%). There was no significant difference in any of the blood types between patients with ESCC and donors (P = 0.31). CONCLUSION: No association exists between ABO blood type and the risk of ESCC.

Standardization of micropropgation techniques for Aloe vera: a pharmaceutically important plant.

Aloe vera (Syn Aloe barbadensis Mill.), a medicinal plant, has a great potential in cosmetic and drug industry due to presence of more than 200 bioactive compounds. Natural propagation of Aloe vera, by means of suckers, is very slow and insufficient to meet the increasing demand of pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Shoot tip was used as an explant for in vitro regeneration of Aloe vera. Explants were disinfested with the use of 0.1% mercuric chloride and 0.5% sodium hypochlorite, and washed thoroughly with autoclaved distilled water. Solid MS medium was used with addition of different concentrations of 6-benzyl aminopurine and α-naphthalene acitic acid. After 7 weeks of inoculation, greatest number of shoots (11.18) and highest shoot length (12.15cm) were found in MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l-1 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) along with same concentration of α-naphthalene acitic acid (NAA). Best rooting (84.67%) was found in medium supplemented with 1.5 mg l-1 of indole butyric acid (IBA). The rooted explants were then gradually acclimatized and shifted to green house.