ATR-FTIR and LC-Q-ToF-MS analysis of indoor dust from different micro-environments located in a tropical metropolitan area.

Indoor dust is an important matrix that exposes humans to a broad spectrum of chemicals. The information on the occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), their metabolites, and re-emerging contaminants in indoor dust is rather limited. As the indoor environment is exposed to various chemicals from personal care products, furniture, building materials, machineries and cooking/cleaning products, there is a high chance of the presence of hazardous contaminants in indoor dust. In the present study, dust samples were collected from four different micro indoor environments (photocopying centres, residential houses, classrooms, and ATM cabins) located in an urban environment located in India's southwestern part. The collected samples were subjected to ATR - FTIR and LC-Q-ToF-MS analyses. The ATR - FTIR analysis indicated the presence of aldehydes, anhydrides, carboxylic acids, esters, sulphonic acids, and asbestos - a re-emerging contaminant. A total of 19 compounds were identified from the LC-Q-ToF-MS analysis. These compounds belonged to various classes such as plasticisers, plasticiser metabolites, photoinitiators, personal care products, pharmaceutical intermediates, surfactants, and pesticides. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report regarding the presence of CECs in indoor environments in Kerala and also the suspected occurrence of pesticides (metaldehyde and ethofumesate) in classroom dust in India. Another important highlight of this work is the demonstration of ATR-FTIR as a complementary technique for LC-Q-ToF-MS in the analysis of indoor pollution while dealing with totally unknown pollutants. These results further highlight the occurrence of probable chemically modified metabolites in the tropical climatic conditions in a microenvironment.

Clinical Manifestations of Nipah Virus-Infected Patients Who Presented to the Emergency Department During an Outbreak in Kerala State in India, May 2018.

BACKGROUND: An outbreak of Nipah virus (NiV) disease occurred in the Kozhikode district of Kerala State in India in May 2018. Several cases were treated at the emergency medicine department (ED) of the Government Medical College, Kozhikode (GMCK). The clinical manifestations and outcome of these cases are described. METHODS: The study included 12 cases treated in the ED of GMCK. Detailed clinical examination, laboratory investigations, and molecular testing for etiological diagnosis were performed. RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 30 years and the male to female ratio was 1.4:1.0. All the cases except the index case contracted the infection from hospitals. The median incubation period was 10 days, and the case fatality ratio was 83.3%. Ten (83.3%) patients had encephalitis and 9 out of 11 patients whose chest X-rays were obtained had bilateral infiltrates. Three patients had bradycardia and intractable hypotension requiring inotropes. Encephalitis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and myocarditis were the clinical prototypes, but there were large overlaps between these. Ribavirin therapy was given to a subset of the patients. Although there was a 20% reduction in NiV encephalitis cases treated with the drug, the difference was not statistically significant. The outbreak ended soon after the introduction of total isolation of patients and barrier nursing. CONCLUSION: The outbreak of NiV disease in Kozhikode in May 2018 presented as encephalitis, acute respiratory distress and myocarditis or combinations of these. The CFR was high. Ribavirin therapy was tried but no evidence for its benefit could be obtained.

Acute Kidney Injury in the Context of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Acute kidney injury is a heterogeneous syndrome defined by rapid (hours to days) decline in the glomerular filtration rate leading to retention of metabolic waste products including creatinine and urea, resulting in declination of the body's ability to manage fluid status and acid-base regulation. Acute kidney injury is seen commonly in acute respiratory distress syndrome and this article will explore the relationship between the 2 entities.

Bone Mineral Density is Unaltered in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

CONTEXT: The effects of endocrine aberrations associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) on bone mineral density (BMD) in young women is a matter of debate. OBJECTIVES: To compare BMD in young women with PCOS to age and body mass index (BMI) matched controls and to elucidate its correlation to BMI, insulin resistance and serum testosterone. DESIGN AND METHODS: We recruited 60 women with PCOS aged 14-24 years, diagnosed based on Rotterdam 2003 criteria, and 58 age matched controls. BMD was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. In addition, these subjects underwent biochemical and hormonal analysis including oral glucose tolerance test, calculation of Homeostatic Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance Index, measurement of serum thyroxine, thyrotropin, prolactin, total testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, follicular phase luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone. RESULTS: There was no difference of BMD between women with PCOS and control women (1.103±0.08 vs 1.126±0.083 g/cm2; p=0.122). In subgroup analysis based on BMI, BMD in obese women with PCOS was significantly higher than their overweight and lean counterparts at lumbar spine (p<0.001), neck of femur (p=0.005) and total hip (p<0.001). BMD was not different at any site between oligomenorrheic and non-oligomenorrheic women with PCOS. It positively correlated with BMI, waist and hip circumference in women with PCOS. No correlation was found with HOMA-IR or Testosterone. CONCLUSIONS: BMI is the most important determinant of BMD in women with PCOS. BMD is not different between healthy young women and those with PCOS.

Accessing the molecular interactions of phthalates and their primary metabolites with the human pregnane X receptor using in silico profiling.

Phthalates are known to cause endocrine disruption in humans and animals. Being lipophilic xenobiotic chemicals, phthalates from the surrounding environments can easily be absorbed into the biological system, thereby causing various health dysfunctions. This molecular docking study evaluates a variety of molecular interactions of 12 commonly used diphthalates and respective monophthalates onto the ligand binding domain (LBD) of the human pregnane X receptor (hPXR), a xenosensor, which would be beneficial for further in vitro and in vivo studies on hazardous phthalates. Out of 12 diphthalates and their monophthalates tested, diisodecyl phthalate (-9.16 kcal mol-1 ) showed more affinity toward hPXR whereas diisononyl phthalate (-8.77) and di(2-ethyhexyl)phthalate (-8.56), the predominant plasticizers found in a variety of plastics and allied products, showed comparable binding scores with that of the control ligands such as hyperforine (-9.99) and dexamethasone (-7.36). In addition to the above diphthalates, some of their monophthalates (monoisodecyl phthalate, mono-2-etheylhexyl phthalate, etc.) also established similar interactions with certain crucial amino acids in the LBD, which led to higher G scores. In fact, bisphenol A, a well-studied and proven endocrine disruptor, showed lesser G scores (-6.69) than certain phthalates. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Human ketosteroid receptors interact with hazardous phthalate plasticizers and their metabolites: an in silico study.

Phthalic acid esters or phthalates are ubiquitous environmental pollutants known for their adverse health effects in test animals and, of late, in humans. Thus, in this molecular docking study - using Glide (Schrödinger) - the molecular interactions of 31 ligands, including 12 diphthalates, their monophthalates and phthalic acid with selected human ketosteroid receptors, i.e., androgen (hAR), progesterone (hPR) and glucocorticoid (hGR) receptors were explored and their binding affinities were compared with that of corresponding natural steroids and a known endocrine disrupting xenobiotic, bisphenol A (BPA). Mostly, diphthalates and monophthalates showed the potential for antisteroidal activity by interacting with hAR, hPR and hGR. Of them, diphenyl phthalate showed the highest G score (-7.70 kcal mol(-1) ) with hAR, and the crucial amino acid (aa) residues in the ligand binding domain (LBD) of this receptor involved in the molecular interactions were Phe 764, Leu 704, Asn 705 and Thr 877. The mono-iso-decyl phthalate showed the highest G score (-8.36) with the hPR, and the crucial aa residues in the LBD interactions were Arg 766 Gln 725 and Phe 778. The mono-iso-decyl phthalate also showed more affinity (-8.44) towards hGR than the natural ligand, and the aa residues in the LBD interactions were Gln 570 and Met 604. In addition to these, some other phthalates established comparable interactions with certain aa residues located in the LBD of these receptors, which resulted in higher G scores. Contrastingly, BPA and some natural ligands tested in this study showed lower G scores with these receptors than certain phthalates reported herein, i.e., certain phthalates are more toxic than the proven toxic BPA. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Phytochemical, anti-oxidant and Anthelmintic activities of various leaf extracts of Flacourtia sepiaria Roxb.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was carried out to investigate the phytochemical constituents, In vitro antioxidant potential and anthelmintic activities of Flacourtia sepiaria Roxb leaves. METHODS: The dried powdered leaves of Flacourtia sepiaria were extracted using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol by a soxhlet extractor and preliminary phytochemical screening was performed using standard protocols. All the extract was evaluated for their potential antioxidant activities using test such as DPPH, superoxide anion radical, hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide radical scavenging abilities, ferrous chelating ability and total phenolic and flavanoid content. Anthelmintic activity of extract was screened in adult Indian earthworm model. RESULTS: Preliminary screening revealed the presence of bioactive compounds especially phenolics, tannins and terpenoids in all extracts. The phenolic and flavanoid content was highest in methanolic extract and lowest in petroleum ether extract. The paralytic (9.46±0.212) and death time (31.43±0.148) of methanolic extract was found to be significant (P<0.05) when compared with paralytic (7.33±0.206) and death time (18.60±0.229) of standard piperazine citrate at 100 mg/mL concentration. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study indicate that the leaf extracts of Flacourtia sepiaria exhibited strong antioxidant activity and possess significant anthelmintic activity and thus it is a good source of antioxidant and anthelmintic constituents.