Protective Effect of Indigofera Aspalathoides Roots on N-Nitrosodiethylamine-induced Hepatocarcinogenesis in Mice.

The chemopreventive effect of ethanol root extract of Indigofera aspalathoides was evaluated in N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced experimental liver tumor in mice. Pretreatment with ethanol root extract (100 mg/kg, p.o.) for three weeks significantly reduced the impact of N-nitrosodiethylamine toxicity (50 mg/kg, i.p.) on the serum markers of liver damage, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and total bilirubin. Protective effect was reconfirmed the elevated serum total protein levels were significantly restored towards normalization by the extracts, and this was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Histological examination of the liver of animals treated with ethanol root extract of Indigofera aspalathoides showed the reduction of necrosis. These results suggest that ethanol root extract of Indigofera aspalathoides possess protective effect against N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

PEACE: Parallel Environment for Assembly and Clustering of Gene Expression.

We present PEACE, a stand-alone tool for high-throughput ab initio clustering of transcript fragment sequences produced by Next Generation or Sanger Sequencing technologies. It is freely available from www.peace-tools.org. Installed and managed through a downloadable user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI), PEACE can process large data sets of transcript fragments of length 50 bases or greater, grouping the fragments by gene associations with a sensitivity comparable to leading clustering tools. Once clustered, the user can employ the GUI's analysis functions, facilitating the easy collection of statistics and allowing them to single out specific clusters for more comprehensive study or assembly. Using a novel minimum spanning tree-based clustering method, PEACE is the equal of leading tools in the literature, with an interface making it accessible to any user. It produces results of quality virtually identical to those of the WCD tool when applied to Sanger sequences, significantly improved results over WCD and TGICL when applied to the products of Next Generation Sequencing Technology and significantly improved results over Cap3 in both cases. In short, PEACE provides an intuitive GUI and a feature-rich, parallel clustering engine that proves to be a valuable addition to the leading cDNA clustering tools.

Phytochemical and antimicrobial study of Chukrasia tabularis leaves.

Successive petroleum ether, benzene, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Chukrasia tabularis leaves were tested for their phytochemical constituents, antibacterial and antifungal activity. The ethyl acetate and methanol extracts were found to be most effective against most of the tested organisms.

Nuclear shape and prognosis following orchiectomy in stage D2 prostate cancer.

In this study, we have examined whether tumor grade and morphometric nuclear features can predict the outcome of treatment by orchiectomy in patients with stage D2 prostate cancer. Two outcome groups based on duration of survival postorchiectomy were examined, a bad outcome group of 63 patients who died from prostate cancer within 12 months and a good outcome group of 34 patients who survived beyond 5 years. Tumors were histologically classified as well (17%), moderate (17%), or poorly differentiated (66%). Tumor grade and patient outcome were significantly associated (Mann-Whitney test; P < 0.005), with 76% of poorly differentiated tumors in the bad outcome group, and 65% of well-differentiated tumors in the good outcome group. Using discriminant function analysis, tumor grade correctly predicted outcome in 70% of cases. A statistically significant difference was also detected in nuclear shape values between the two outcome groups (P < 0.05) and histological grades (P < 0.05). Using discriminant function analysis, 51% of cases were correctly classified into outcome groups using nuclear shape factors, a figure which rose to 65% when all nuclear morphometric features were used. This demonstrates that nuclear morphometric features are of no clinical value in predicting the outcome of treatment in stage D2 disease. Furthermore, these evaluations cannot select patients who might be spared orchiectomy on the basis of a predicted poor response. However, nuclear shape and variance measurements of benign glandular epithelial cells within cancerous prostates were significantly different from those of malignant cells (P < 0.005). We conclude that, while video image analysis of prostatic nuclear shape can reliably discriminate between benign and malignant cells, nuclear morphometric features are of minimal prognostic value in men with stage D2 prostate cancer treated by androgen ablation.

Spectrophotometric determination of palladium with 5,6-dimethyl-1,3-indanedione-2-oxime.

A rapid, sensitive and selective method has been developed for the determination of palladium with 5,6-dimethyl-1,3-indanedione-2-oxime in acetate buffer (pH 5.5). Beer's law is obeyed over the range 0.15-4.17 mug/ml palladium(II). The molar absorptivity at 370 nm is 2.98 x 10(4) 1.mole(-1).cm(-1). The method has been applied for the determination of palladium in synthetic mixtures corresponding to PtIr and Oakay alloys. An interesting feature of the system is the abnormal shape of the Job and molar-ratio plots obtained.

The prognostic value of deoxyribonucleic acid flow cytometric analysis in stage D2 prostatic carcinoma.

This study was designed to compare the prognostic potential of tumor grade and ploidy status in patients with stage D2 prostate cancer. Two outcome groups were selected on the basis of survival after orchiectomy: a bad outcome group consisting of 66 patients who died of the disease within 12 months and a good outcome group comprising 37 patients who survived beyond 5 years. Tumors were classified histologically as well (17%), moderately (17%) or poorly (66%) differentiated. Tumor grade was a significant predictor of outcome, with 76% of poorly differentiated tumors in the bad outcome group and 65% of well differentiated tumors in the good outcome group (p less than 0.005). Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) ploidy analysis was performed on formalin fixed, paraffin embedded samples of the primary tumor to yield 97 final tracings that were classified using set criteria for DNA ploidy status. Over-all, 54% of the tumors were nondiploid (33% aneuploid and 21% tetraploid) and the remaining 46% were diploid. DNA ploidy status was a significant indicator of outcome (p less than 0.001), with 64% of diploid tumors in the good outcome group and 88% of the nondiploid tumors in the poor outcome group. Tetraploid tumors behaved no differently from other nondiploid tumors. We conclude that DNA ploidy status and tumor grading are significant independent predictors of outcome after orchiectomy and when combined yield important additional prognostic information.

A case of severe Strongyloides stercoralis infection with jejunal perforation in an Australian ex-prisoner-of-war.

After the resection of a localized lung carcinoma, a 65-year-old veteran developed jejunal perforation and pneumonia, both of which subsequently were shown to be caused by infection with Strongyloides stercoralis. The patient recovered after jejunal resection and treatment with thiabendazole. Several unusual aspects of the case are discussed.

Improved cleanup technique for estimation of endosulfan residues from fish tissues under tropical conditions.

A new solvent system 1% and 2% acetone in hexane, was developed for chromatography on partially inactivated Florisil to facilitate the separation of isomers of endosulfan and its metabolites from fish tissues under tropical conditions. By using the colorimetric method of Maitlen et al. (1963), the minimum detectable limit for each isomer of endosulfan in various fish tissues is 5 micro g. With this solvent system, the 2 isomers present in the technical material can be separated, so their toxicity to fish can be assessed separately.

Relative toxicity of endosulfan, its isomers, and formulated products to the freshwater fish Labeo rohita.

The relative toxicity of endosulfan, its isomers, and formulated products to the freshwater fish Labeo rohita was tested. The 96-h LC50 values showed that toxicity decreased in the following order: isomer A, 35% emulsifiable concentrate, technical endosulfan, 4% dust, and isomer B. The principal method of detoxification was by formation of endosulfan ether in the liver, Endosulfant, at both sublethal and lethal doses, enhanced oxygen consumption in L. rohita. Histological studies showed minor changes in the liver only.

Biochemical evaluation of succinic acid therapy in urolithiasis.

Reports of Melon et al. [7] and Hodgkinson [4] regarding the efficacy of succinic acid or its derivative (salt) in reducing the endogenous synthesis of oxalate are conflicting. The possible application of succinic acid as a potential inhibitor of oxalate synthesis, and the biochemical alterations resulting therein, has been studied in 10 idiopathic stone-forming patients (6 primary stone-formers and 4 recurrent stone-formers) and in 21 normal adult rats. In rats no significant changes in oxalate excretion were observed during the 4 weeks of succinic acid administration (500 mg/100 g BW/day) and 2 weeks therafter. In the clinical trial of 3 months, where stone-formers were given 20 g/day of succinic acid, the post-therapy values of urinary oxalate excretion showed a singificant drop ( less than 0.001) as compared with those of pretherapy--recurrent stone-formers showing a more marked decrease (63%) than primary stone-formers (49%).

Cytogenetic studies in primary infertility.

Chromosome studies were conducted on 117 men with primary infertility (54 with oligospermia and 63 with azoospermia) and 25 fertile volunteers who acted as controls. No chromosomal abnormalities were observed except for nine cases of Klinefelter's syndrome. From this study, it is apparent that chromosomal abnormalities other than Klinefelter's syndrome are not etiologic factors in the infertility of oligo- or azoospermic men.