A prospective clinical study of myocarditis in cases of acute ingestion of paraphenylene diamine (hair dye) poisoning in northern India.

BACKGROUND: Myocarditis is a unheard and unreported dangerous complication of hair dye ingestion which contains paraphenylene diamine. So a prospective study was planned to assess myocardial damage in regard to clinical profile and outcome with different treatment approaches in patients with oral ingestion of Hair dye. METHODS AND RESULTS: The material comprised of 1595 cases admitted in Medicine Department of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh-INDIA, from July 2004 to Jan 2011. Out of 1595 cases 1060 cases were of stone hair dye poisoning and 535 cases were of other branded hair dyes (powdered form containing less amount of Paraphenylene diamine). Diagnosis of myocarditis was made solely on the basis of the clinical signs/symptoms suggestive of myocardial damage, electrocardiography changes, elevated cardiac biomarkers and abnormalities on trans thoracic echocardiography. The cases were thoroughly studied for cardiac complications. Myocarditis was reported in 15% of total cases with mortality rate of 29%. Occurrence of myocarditis was directly related to amount of Hair dye ingested. In patients affected from myocarditis 9% develop life threatening Ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation. CONCLUSION: Hair dye (Paraphenylene di amine) is highly toxic. In cases who consumed more than 10 gram of Paraphenylene diamine, myocarditis is a dangerous complication. Proper management includes continuous cardiac monitoring to prevent sudden cardiac death.

Isolation, characterization and antifungal activity of Streptomyces sampsonii GS 1322.

For new antifungal antibiotics from actinomycetes, a strain of Streptomyces GS 1322 was isolated from a sample of garden soil. The strain was found to possess antagonistic activity against four fungi i.e., Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton sp. The strain was identified as Streptomyces sampsonii and the antifungal compound produced by it was found to be the heptaene group of polyene antibiotics.

Production of heptaene antifungal antibiotic by Streptomyces purpeofuscus CM 1261.

A strain of Streptomyces purpeofuscus CM 1261 isolated from a sample of compost collected locally was found to possess strong antagonistic activity against 4 human pathogenic fungi i.e., Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton sp. The active antifungal compound produced by it was found to be a heptaene group of polyene antifungal antibiotic.

Production of industrially important enzymes by some actinomycetes producing antifungal compounds.

Seventeen strains of actinomycetes antagonistic to yeast and moulds have been tested for their ability to produce amylase, lipase, gelatinase and caseinase using solid media containing starch, Tween-20, gelatin and skimmed milk, respectively, Enzyme producing potential of test strains is expressed in ternis of relative enzyme activity (REA). Actinomycetes strain Streptomyces somaliensis GS 1242 and Streptomyces sampsonii GS 1322 showed higher amylase production (REA 6.5) while maximum lipase activity was noted in Streptomyces strain SAP 1089 (REA 7.0). Gelatinase activity was noted higher is S. sampsonii GS 1322 (REA 9.6) and S. somaliensis GS 1242 (REA 8.8). Enzyme producing potential of these strains has been discussed in terms of their industrial significance.