Therapeutic evaluation of homeopathic treatment for canine oral papillomatosis

Aim: A study was conducted to evaluate the ameliorative potential of homeopathic drugs in combination (Sulfur 30C, Thuja 30C, Graphites 30C, and Psorinum 30C) in 16 dogs affected with oral papillomatosis which was not undergone any previous treatment. Materials and Methods: Dogs affected with oral papillomatosis, which have not undergone any initial treatment and fed with a regular diet. Dogs (total=16) were randomly divided into two groups, namely, homeopathic treatment group (n=8) and placebo control group (n=8). Random number table was used for allocation. Homeopathic combination of drugs and placebo drug (distilled water) was administered orally twice daily for 15 days. Clinical evaluation in both groups of dogs was performed by the same investigator throughout the period of study (12 months). Dogs were clinically scored for oral lesions on days 0, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 150 after initiation of treatment. Results: The homeopathic treatment group showed early recovery with a significant reduction in oral lesions reflected by clinical score (p<0.001) in comparison to placebo-treated group. Oral papillomatous lesions regressed in the homeopathic group between 7 and 15 days, whereas regression of papilloma in the placebo group occurred between 90 and 150 days. The homeopathic treated group was observed for 12 months post-treatment period and no recurrence of oral papilloma was observed. Conclusion: The current study proves that the combination of homeopathy drugs aids in fastening the regression of canine oral papilloma and proved to be safe and cost-effective

Distribution of HLA (class I and class II) antigens in the native Dravidian Hindus of Tamil Nadu, South India

HLA - A, B, C, DR, DQ antigen profile of South Indian Tamil-speaking Hindus of Dravidian descent was studied. Phenotype. gene and haplotype frequencies were calculated and compared with the literature. There was a complete lack of A23, A25 and A32 antigens in the sample presently monitored. Except for minor differences (higher incidence of Cw6 and DR10 antigens), the Dravidian Hindus show similarity to North Indio-Aryan and other Hindu samples. The haplotypes A1, B17; A2, B5: A2, B51; A1, DR7; B12, DR7; B13, DR2; B17, DR7; DR2, DQ1; DR3, DQ2; DR4, DQ3; DR5, DQ3; DR7, DQ2; DR11, DQ3 show significant positive linkage disequilibrium whereas A1, DR2; DR2, DQ2; DR7, DQ1 were significant for negative linkage disequilibrium in the Dravidian Hindus

Dial variations in temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen from the neritic waters off Cochin during April (peak summer)

Dial variations of important hydrographic parameters were studied continuously for 7 days at a 100 m depth station off Cochin. The frequency of observations varied from 1-3 hourly intervals. In surface waters, the ranges in temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen values recorded during 10-17 April were 30.64°-32.36°C, 34.56- 34.68 X lO''' and 4.06-4.65 ml/1 respectively. Tlie STD profiles in the diurnal study revealed clearly the premonsoon warming (30°-31°C) in the upper 0-30 m depth zone. In the water column up to 50 m depth, mean salinity values ranged from 34.6 to 35 X 10 while dissolved oxygen values were above 4 mI/1. Time series observations on the production and utilisation of dissolved oxygen revealed wide fluctuation from hour to hour. Vertical gradients in the diurnal study indicated the existence of thermocline around 60 m depth with sharp decline in temperature and dissolved oxygen and increase in salinity below 60 m. The diurnal variation on the distribution of temperature and dissolved oxygen exhibited significant rhythmic tidal impulse of a semi-diurnal wave pattern which was more prominent in the bottom layer below 60 m

Altered bactericidal activity aginst staphylococcus aureus in tuberculous bronchoalveolr lavage fluids

Altered bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus in tuberculous bronchoalveolar lavage fluids. P. Selvaraj, N. Venkataprasad, V.K. Vijayan, P.R. Narayanan. ©ERS Journals Ltd 1994. ABSTRACT: We wished to evaluate the pulmonary defence capacity against common bacterial infections in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (cell-free supernatants) of patients with active (n=13) and inactive pulmonary tuberculosis (n=8), and normal individuals (n=6), were studied. The 2 and 4 h bactericidal activities were higher than the 0 h activity in lavage fluids of healthy subjects and patients with inactive pulmonary tuberculosis. Active tuberculous lavage fluids were equally competent in their bactericidal activity against S. aureus at 0 and 2 h, but a reduced S. aureus hilling was seen at 4 h of incubation. Estimation of total phospholipid levels revealed no significant difference between the various lavage fluids. This reduced hilling of S. aureus showed a relationship with the cellular components (lymphocytes and macrophages) of active tuberculous lavage fluids. A reduced hilling was associated with no lymphocytic alveolitis, and an increased hilling with lymphocytic alveolitis. This study suggests that alveolar lining material of patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis has less bactericidal activity against bacterial infections, such as S. aureus

Procoagulant activity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids taken from the site of tuberculous lesions

Procoagulant activity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids taken from the site of tuberculous lesions. P. Selvaraj, N. Venkataprasad, V.K. Vijayan, R Prabhakar, P.R Narayanan. ©ERS Journals Ltd 1991. ABSTRACT: We wanted to determine the procoagulant activity (PCA) of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids, in order to understand the macrophage-mediated lung injury at the site of tuberculous lesion. Alveolar lavage fluids taken from the site of a lesion (radiologically abnormal site (RAS)) and an unaffected site (radiologically normal site (RNS)) of active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients (n=7) and inactive (cured) patients (n=9) were studied for their PCA producing potential. The observed results were not significant using Mann-Whitney test, and thus all increases/decreases reported below are trends/ tendencies only. An increased PCA was seen in 4 out of 7 cell-free lavage supernatants of active- TB taken from the site of lesion (RAS), compared to only 1 out of 9 in inactive- TB. The PCA producing potential of the alveolar macrophages of RAS and RNS of active-TB patients was enhanced when the alveolar macrophages were cocultured with autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes under in vitro condition. Stimulation with purified protein derivative (PPD) of M. tuberculosis showed a variable (increased or decreased) PCA production. Peripheral blood monocytes and total mononuclear cells (monocytes + lymphocytes) of active-TB patients stimulated with or without PPD showed increased PCA production, compared with normal individuals and inactive-TB patients. The present study suggests that increased production of PCA by the alveolar macrophages, in collaboration with lymphocytes and other cells at the site of tuberculous lesions will result in fibrin formation. The deposition of fibrin in the alveoli may lead to further lung injury

Hydrogen peroxide release by OKI A1 (anti DR-Monoclonal antibody) resustabt alveolar mnacrophages in tuberculosis

Phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) triggered hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) release from alveolar macrophages and corresponding blood monocytes were studied as a whole, in active tuberculosis, inactive tuberculosis (treated), non-tuberculous lung disease patients and normal individuals. Irrespective of the study subjects, the alveolar macrophages produced less H2O2 than the corresponding blood monocytes. The alveolar macrophages that were resistant to OKIa1 (Anti-DR monoclonal antibody and complement treatment) produced an increased level of H2O2 than the control ascites and complement treated alveolar macrophages. Moreover, such increase in H2O2 release was not seen with peripheral blood monocytes; more than 90% monocytes were OKIa1 resistant population. These OKIa1 resistant alveolar macrophages are probably important in their metabolic, microbicidal and the immunological functions

Hydrogen peroxide producing potential of alveolar macrophages & blood monocytes in pulmonary tuberculosis

Alveolar macrophages from patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, inactive tuberculosis (treated patients), non-tuberculous lung disease and from normal healthy individuals were tested for their ability to produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) upon stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) in vitro. PMA induced H2O2 production was significantly higher in all the groups of patients studied when compared to the normal subjects. Among the four groups studied, the spontaneous release of H2O2 was increased in the alveolar macrophages of smokers than non-smokers. There was no difference in the spontaneous and PMA induced H2O2 production between the non-smoker group of the active tuberculosis patients and the normal non-smoker group. Further, the blood monocytes of the activepulmonary tuberculosis patients and those of normal controls were equally competent in producing H2O2, in vitro, upon stimulation with PMA. The study suggests that the increased production of hydrogen peroxide by alveolar macrophages is not specific for tuberculosis

Alveolar macrophages in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Total and HLA-DR positive alveolar macrophages were enumerated in the broncho-alveolar lavage fluids of active pulmonary tuberculosis, inactive pulmonary tuberculosis (treated cases), nontuberculous lung disease patients and normal healthy individuals. A significantly increased number of macrophages was found in the patient groups than the normal individuals: however, there was no difference in HLA-DR positive cells. Among the different patient groups, smokers had more macrophages as well as more HLA-DR positive macrophages than non-smokers and normal subjects Total number of alveolar macrophages of the active tuberculosis non-smoker group was significantly higher than the inactive tuberculosis non-smoker group and normal individuals. On the contrary, a slightly decreased number of HLA-DR positive cells was seen in the non-smoker group of active-TB patients. The present study suggests that infection and smoking induce the accumulation of macrophages in the lung. The implication of these findings in relation to tuberculosis is discussed

Effect of plasma lysozyme on live Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The role of plasma lysozyme of normal healthy subjects (NHS, n = 12) and active pulmonary tuberculosis (ATB) patients (n = 15) on the innate immune mechanism was studied by the binding activity of lysozyme on live Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Plasma samples of NHS and ATB patients treated with live M. tuberculosis for 4 h and 24 h time points showed a significant decrease in the plasma lysozyme level when compared to the untreated samples (4 h, P < 0.001; 24 h, P < 0.001). Pretreatment of live M. tuberculosis with plasma of NHS and ATB patients showed a trend in the reduction of viability of live M. tuberculosis. Moreover, M. tuberculosis pretreated plasma of NHS showed a trend towards an increased spontaneous as well as antigen-induced lymphocyte response when compared to ATB plasma. The enzymatic action of the lysozyme and other enzymes on the cell wall may induce M. tuberculosis to release some antigenic components which may be immunogenic and induce lymphocyte proliferation. The present study suggests that lysozyme and other enzymes may play an important role in the first line defence, i.e. the innate immunity, against M. tuberculosis infection