Hypertension is an important risk determinant for chronic kidney disease: results from a cross-sectional, observational study from a rural population in South India.

Hypertension (HTN) is an important cause for chronic kidney disease (CKD). There is a paucity of studies exploring the association of HTN with CKD from rural India. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and the determinants for HTN in a rural population in South India, focusing on the association with CKD. In a cross-sectional study on 2984 adults in three villages, demographic and anthropometric data were collected. Blood pressure was recorded on all individuals and prevalence was estimated. Proteinuria, microalbuminuria (MA) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were determined in a subgroup of 1331 subjects and the relation with HTN was analysed. Prevalence of HTN was 30.4% (95% CI 28.75-32.05%). In all, 78.08% had stage 1 HTN while 22% had stage 2 HTN. In total, 27.4% (249/908) subjects were aware of their hypertensive status. Of them, only 14.4% had adequate control of blood pressure. Age>50 years, diabetes, body mass index >25 and eGFR<60 ml min-1 were independent significant predictors of HTN (P<0.05). HTN was found to be an important risk factor for CKD even after adjusting for age, diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.46-3.36, P<0.001). The high prevalence of HTN, very low level of awareness and control, and the significant association with kidney disease indicate a need for stronger public health initiative with better penetration for awareness and screening for HTN and CKD in India's villages.

The effect of Emblica officinalis diet on lifespan, sexual behavior, and fitness characters in Drosophila melanogaster.

Drosophila is an excellent organism to test Ayurvedic medicines. The objective of our study was to explore the potential of Emblica officinalis drug on longevity, sexual behavior, and reproductive fitness of Drosophila melanogaster using adult feeding method. Increase in the lifespan, fecundity, fertility, ovarioles number, and developmental time was observed in both parents and F1 generation, but not in the F2 generation in experimental culture (control + E. officinalis). According to the Duncan's multiple range test and ANOVA, there is a significant difference between two cultures. It was also noticed that E. officinalis influence some fitness characters in Drosophila along with sexual behavior.

Effects of age on female reproductive success in Drosophila bipectinata.

Female age influence on mating success, courtship activities, mating latency, copulation duration, fecundity, ovarioles number, and wing length has been studied using isofemale lines of Drosophila bipectinata collected at three different localities. It was observed that in all localities, middle-aged D. bipectinata females had significantly greater mating success, showed less rejection responses to courting male, mated faster, copulated longer, and had greater fecundity and ovariole number than young and old-aged females. Further, old-aged females had comparatively less fitness traits than young age females. This research suggests the occurrence of age specific female reproductive success as follows: middle-aged > young > old-aged.

Alteration in haematocrit values and plasma protein fractions during the breeding cycle of female pigeons, Columba livia.

Haematocrit measurements and plasma protein electrophoresis were carried out in female pigeons (Columba livia) during the breeding cycle. Non-laying birds showed higher (p < 0.001) haematocrit values than those involved in courtship and mating, nest-building, incubation and feeding and brooding. Significant differences in relative percentage of various plasma protein fractions were observed as a function of breeding. Haematocrit could be a useful index to the non-laying status of pigeons like that in chickens, Gallus domesticus.

Mating success of males with and without wing patch in Drosophila biarmipes.

Some males of D. biarmipes--synonym of D. rajasekari and D. raychaudhuri have a black patch on the wing. The patch extends from the apical margin of wing to the third longitudinal vein. Field and laboratory studies have been carried out in D. biarmipes to study role of male's wing patch in mating success. The field study shows that nature favors D. biarmipes males with patch. Although males without patch mated, males with patch have higher mating success suggesting the role of wing patch during courtship. Further, among mating males, males with patch had longer wings than males without patch. During courtship, males with patch oriented and mated faster; performed courtship acts such as tapping, scissoring, vibration, licking and twist dance more times than males without patch in both competitive and non-competitive situations. The results indicate that there is a casual relationship between the presence of wing patch, mating speed and success. Also there is a correlation between presence of wing patch, size of the flies and mating success.

Cryopreservation of the endangered mahseer (Tor khudree) spermatozoa: I. Effect of extender composition, cryoprotectants, dilution ratio, and storage period on post-thaw viability.

Several in situ and ex situ conservation strategies have been suggested for the revival of stocks of Tor khudree (Sykes), a threatened species. Cryopreservation of spermatozoa is crucial for the conservation of stocks of endangered species so that sustainable production can be ensured. Among the different extenders, modified fish Ringer (E1) was found to be the best for cryopreservation of T. khudree spermatozoa. Extender E2 appeared the next best. Extenders based on chicken egg yolk and milk powder were found to be unsuitable for the cryopreservation of T. khudree spermatozoa. Among the cryoprotectants, dimethyl sulfoxide provided maximum protection to spermatozoa during freezing and thawing. Propylene glycol and methanol were found to be less effective. Of the four spermatozoa dilutions, 1:10, 1:15, and 1:20 showed better motility rates than 1:5. At the former dilution ratios, the motility rates which were more than 95% prior to freezing were reduced to 80-81 and 43-67%, 10 and 70 days after cryopreservation, respectively. The motility duration did not differ much with increasing storage period at all the dilution ratios. Motility rates generally decreased with an increase in frozen storage. When spermatozoa were thawed and stored at 25 degrees C for varying periods, motility percentage, and duration decreased gradually as the storage period increased; spermatozoa stored up to 40 min after thawing retained 55% motility and were motile up to 77s; these values declined further leading to the complete cessation of motility 70 min after storage. The importance of extender-cryoprotectant mixture, milt dilution, and storage period in developing a protocol for T. khudree spermatozoa cryopreservation is discussed.

Blood profile of pigeons (Columba livia) during growth and breeding.

Changes in the blood profile of domestic pigeons (Columba livia) were studied during growth and breeding cycle. Counts of erythrocytes and leucocytes, and values of mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), blood volume, plasma volume (BV), width of erythrocytes, and length, width and volume of erythrocyte nuclei of squabs almost reached adult values by the 4th week of age. During courtship and mating, while the level of plasma glucose increased, those of albumin, potassium, cholesterol, calcium and uric acid decreased. At nest-building, plasma albumin and plasma calcium increased significantly. The initial phase of incubation showed an elevation in plasma calcium and a decline in cholesterol and sodium, whereas mid-phase of incubation indicated a marked rise in cholesterol and uric acid. Terminal phase of incubation had significantly low plasma protein level. During feeding and brooding period, a significant rise in sodium, protein and glucose levels and a fall in calcium were observed. Following egg-laying, there was a significant rise in calcium and a drop in protein, haemoglobin, cholesterol, sodium and MCH values. Concomitant with the phenomenal rate of growth of squabs, their haematological indices neared adult values by the 4th week of age and during breeding activity significant changes in blood values occurred.

Acute renal failure secondary to rhabdomyolysis following near-drowning in sea water.

We report here a rare case of acute renal failure following near-drowning in sea water. A 21-year old college student presented in acute renal failure 48 hours after a near-drowning event. Investigations revealed rhabdomyolysis to be the cause of renal failure.

Differential metabolism of alprazolam by liver and brain cytochrome (P4503A) to pharmacologically active metabolite.

Cytochrome P450 (P450) is a superfamily of enzymes which mediates metabolism of xenobiotics including drugs. Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety agent, is metabolized in rat and human liver by P4503A1 and P4503A4 respectively, to 4-hydroxy alprazolam (4-OHALP, pharmacologically less active) and alpha-hydroxy alprazolam (alpha-OHALP, pharmacologically more active). We examined P450 mediated metabolism of alprazolam by rat and human brain microsomes and observed that the relative amount of alpha-OHALP formed in brain was higher than liver. This biotransformation was mediated by a P450 isoform belonging to P4503A subfamily, which is constitutively expressed in neuronal cells in rat and human brain. The formation of larger amounts of alpha-OHALP in neurons points to local modulation of pharmacological activity in brain, at the site of action of the anti-anxiety drug. Since hydroxy metabolites of alprazolam are hydrophilic and not easily cleared through blood-CSF barrier, alpha-OHALP would potentially have a longer half-life in brain.

Variability of morphological traits in Drosophila bipectinata complex.

Phenotypic or morphological differences among different populations and sexual dimorphism in certain metric traits were analysed in D. bipectinata complex. It was noticed that different populations of D. bipectinata species group harbour large amount of variation for these characters. In all the populations, morphometric characters such as lengths of femur, tibia and wing length, wing width, number of sternopleural bristles and bristles on epandrium varied significantly among populations. The study indicates that the morphological variations are due to the interplay of genetic and environmental endowments. Further, females had significantly larger values, for lengths of femur, tibia and wing length, wing width and sternopleural bristles.

Bottleneck effect on intra- and interspecific competition in Drosophila malerkotliana.

Intra and interspecific competition experiments involving control and bottleneck lines of monomorphic and polymorphic populations of D.malerkotliana with D.nasuta nasuta have been carried out. Productivity and population size were evaluated in these lines. The results show that control line had higher relative fitness and adaptedness (productivity and population size) under both intra and interspecific competition than their respective bottleneck lines and D.nasuta nasuta. This indicates that bottlenecks have an effect on competition in D.malerkotliana. The consequence of such competition studies using control and bottleneck lines of D.malerkotliana and D.nasuta nasuta is discussed.

Body size, mating success and advantage of large flies in Drosophila bipectinata species complex.

Mating success of large and small flies of Drosophila malerkotliana and D. bipectinata was studied using multiple, male and female choice methods. In multiple choice method the large male mated with large female and small male paired with small female. In female choice method, large male was successful in mating with female irrespective of its size while in male choice method, preferential mating occurred between large male and large female as well as small male and small female. The consequence of such non-random mating in the presence of male rivarly and preferential mating has been discussed.

Effect of bottlenecks on incipient sexual isolation, mating activity and fertility in Drosophila malerkotliana.

Effect of bottleneck sizes, on sexual isolation, mating speed and fertility were studied in D. malerkotliana established from natural population. After 10 generations of laboratory breeding, flies showed incipient sexual isolation between control line and some bottleneck lines and also between bottleneck lines. These findings do not fully agree with the general assumption that the establishment of bottlenecks accelerates speciation. The courtship latency and mating speed increases with increasing size of bottlenecks whereas copulation duration and fertility decreases with increasing bottleneck size. There was no sign of rebounding in fitness with in 10 generations as observed by Bryant et al. in house flies.

Sperm storage in the oviduct of the tropical rock lizard, Psammophilus dorsalis.

The female rock lizard, Psammophilus dorsalis (Agamidae), lays multiple clutches of eggs over a period of 6 months (June-December). The later clutches of eggs are presumably fertilized by sperm stored from earlier matings, since testes and epididymides are regressed after August. Sperm storage is seen in pockets of the anterior vaginal region of the oviduct. Sperm recovered from the uterovaginal region are intact and motile. Discrete granules resembling the secretory granules present in the vas deferens also occur along with sperm in the vaginal sperm storage structures. The PAS-positive granules and acid phosphatase form important components of the secretions present along with sperm in the vaginal sperm storage pockets. The epithelium of the vaginal sperm storage pockets is PAS-positive and contains lipid. Several enzymes, including hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases and hydrolases, are localized histochemically in the epithelium of the vaginal sperm storage pockets. A possible role is suggested for the secretions from the male reproductive tract during sperm storage in the oviduct, in which physiological "dormancy" of the sperm during their storage may be maintained by the metabolic "milieu" in the vaginal sperm storage pockets by a mechanism similar to that effecting dormancy of the epididymal sperm in the male. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Carbohydrates of pigeon milk and their changes in the first week of secretion.

The carbohydrate content of pigeon crop secretion called pigeon milk (PM) was in the range of 0.9-1.5%. Sugars of trichloroacetic acid soluble (TCA-S) fraction increased by 67% between day-1 and day-5 of secretion while those of TCA- insoluble (TCA-P) fraction remained fairly constant. Sialic acids constituted 5-9% of carbohydrates. The proportion of lipid- and protein-bound sialic acids was 51% and 31% respectively; the former increased from 41% to 68% between day-1 and day-5 whereas the latter decreased from 45% to 21% during the corresponding period. Some of the sugars of PM were fucose (40%), glucosamine (31%), galactose (12%), mannose (9%) and glucose (8%). The free sugars whose content was very low (0.05%) included fucose, mannose, glucose and some unidentified oligosaccharides. The proportion of lipid- and protein-bound sugars was 31% and 63% respectively; the former decreased by 7% from day-1 to day-5 while the latter increased by 11% during the same period. Gel chromatography of PM confirmed the presence of sialic acids and glucosamine; the latter existed both in free and bound form. The nature of changes in the carbohydrate composition of PM in the first week of secretion was more quantitative than qualitative.

In vivo and in vitro growth-stimulatory effects of pigeon milk.

Pigeon milk (PM) was tested for its effect on growth in vivo and in vitro. Eleven-day-old mice sucklings given a supplementary feeding of 125 mg PM per day for 3 days showed a significant increase in the weight of stomach and distal intestine, and the length of small intestine; there was, however, a significant decrease in heart size. In PM-fed animals the protein content of stomach, and RNA content of stomach, caecum and distal intestine increased whereas protein content of testes and distal intestine and DNA content of stomach decreased. Crude homogenates of PM stimulated 3H-thymidine incorporation both in quiescent mouse embryo fibroblasts and Chinese hamster ovary cells. Addition of PM homogenates to cell cultures increased cell number but not protein content. The extent of in vitro growth-stimulation by 1% (v/v) PM homogenate was comparable to that by 2% (v/v) foetal bovine serum but was greater than that by 0.1 ng mouse epidermal growth factor. It appears that in mammalian test systems the in vitro growth-stimulatory effects of pigeon milk outweigh those observed in mice.

Pigeon milk: a new source of growth factor.

Crude, partially purified and purified fractions of pigeon milk injected subcutaneously in newborn mice brought about precocious opening of eyelids by 2-3 days and eruption of incisors by 3-4 days. The biological activity of pigeon milk-derived growth factor (PMGF) compared well with that of mouse epidermal growth factor (mEGF).