Anticonvulsant effect of lercanidipine against pentylenetetrazole induced kindling in mice

Background: Emerging evidence has demonstrated the role of high-voltage -sensitive activated dihydropyridine (L-type, CaV1.x) channels in the development of epilepsy. Based on that we hypothesized that lercanidipine, a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, would protect against Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced kindling in mice model of epilepsy.Methods: Kindling was induced in Swiss albino mice with PTZ in subconvulsive dose (30 mg/kg i.p.) thrice a week for nine weeks and the effect was scored using ‘4 point scoring system’. Rechallenging on the 3rd and 10th day with the same dose of PTZ was carried out after the last chronic dose.Results: The data of the present study demonstrated that pretreatment with lercanidipine (½ h before PTZ, in doses of 1 and 3 mg/kg i.p. daily) alone and in combination with diazepam (2mg/kg i.p.) had decreased the incidence and severity of seizure as well as prolonged the onset of kindling in a dose-dependent manner (p <0.05). On rechallenging, lercanidipine resulted in reduction of seizure score (p <0.05) and increased the seizure latency.Conclusions: The present study suggested that lercanidipine offered neuroprotection against PTZ induced kindling in mice

Drug utilization pattern in pregnancy at a tertiary care hospital in Puducherry: a cross sectional observational study

Background: Drug utilization pattern in pregnancy population provide insights regarding drug profile and interventional measures and also minimizes the inherent risk occurring due to unethical prescription.Methods: It was a prospective cross sectional study where prescription slips were collected. Further drugs were categorized according to the classification defined by US Food and drug Administration for pregnancy. Using Pre validated questionnaire the pregnant women were interviewed and parameters regarding knowledge about antenatal visit and contraception, self-medication practices were noted.Results: Among the total 365 participants, 81.4% had finish their high schooling and were in reproductive age group of 22-25. Study revealed predominant usage category- A drugs in I (95.5%), II (97.8%), III (96.4%) trimester. None of them received Category D or X drugs. Almost 100% and 98.6% in III and II trimester respectively received iron. Other drugs prescribed were calcium, anti-emetics, anti-ulcer, NSAIDS and antimicrobial. The awareness about Intra Uterine Contraceptive Devices and Oral Contraceptive Pills were 48.2% and 31.5% respectively. Unfortunately only 4.9% felt that drug use could be dangerous to foetus. 58.9% were aware about antenatal examination during pregnancy.Conclusions: Evaluation of drug utilization pattern periodically will minimize incidence of risk to foetus and mother during pregnancy

Study on Web-Site Attributes and Predatory Efficiency of Dark Tetragnathid Spider in Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary

Abstract. Spiders represent one of the most abundant components of the predatory arthropods in terrestrial ecosystem. Their effectiveness at restricting pest populations, both alone and as part of natural enemy complex has well demonstrated in many countries. The web, web-site attributes and predatory efficiency of Dark Tetragnathid Spider Tetragnatha mandibulata were assessed in Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary between August 2015 and March 2016. In the present study, the spiders used limited number of plants species. The relationship between web architecture and web-site attributes was estimated using Pearson&apos;s correlation. Number of spiders recorded in the web showed the positive correlation with web horizontal and vertical length of the capture areas (p&lt;0.05). Similarly, the web circumference showed the positive interaction with plant height and canopy width (p&lt;0.05), which clearly indicated the importance of vegetations across the webs of Dark Tetragnathid Spider. Further, the microhabitat selection and utilization could also be impacted by non-trophic factors like structural features of plants that provide architectural supports to spiders. A total of 4620 insect pests comprising seven orders were entangled by the webs of dark tetragnathid spiders. Number of spiders in the web were positively correlated with number of insect pests (p&lt;0.05), which clearly explained that the Dark Tetragnathid spiders restricting pest populations and therefore they are considered as useful organism in biological control

An Integrated approach for Proteomic and Immunological analysis of Cell wall and Cell membrane proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium cell wall and cell membrane proteins serve as key modulators in the host immune response. Some of these proteins, like MPT63, are known as immunodominant antigens, and others, such as LpqS and LpqH, are being explored as subunit vaccine candidates. However, due to their hydrophobic nature, conventional separation methods are not able to solubilize and isolate these proteins individually, leading to limited research on their systematic separation and immunological characterization. In this study, we successfully employed a combination of Preparative Isoelectric focusing and Preparatory SDS-PAGE to separate mycobacterial cell wall and membrane proteins into 234 fractions. These fractions were pooled based on the proteins molecular weight, resulting in 24 pooled fractions labelled as Ag1 to Ag24. Immunological analyses on these pooled fractions were carried out in 3 different study groups (subjects with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI, N=20), tuberculosis-diseased patients (PTB, N=20), and healthy subjects (HC, N=20). In these study groups, Interferon-γ and TNF-α responses against these antigens were analysed using the cytokine ELISA method. Notably, one pooled fraction (Ag24 - Cell wall high molecular weight proteins pool) induced significantly higher IFN gamma response in LTBI compared to PTB, while also triggering significantly higher TNF-alpha response in PTB compared to LTBI. Additionally, three other pooled fractions (Ag6 - Cell Membrane Medium molecular weight proteins Pool, Ag11 - Cell Membrane high molecular weight proteins Pool, Ag23 - Cell wall high molecular weight proteins pool) induced significantly higher IFN gamma response in LTBI compared to PTB. Proteomic analysis of the Ag24 fraction identified four proteins (ACN, KatG, Rv2623, and Rv0404). Among them, KatG and Rv0404 were previously reported as immunodominant T-cell antigens. On the other hand, ACN lacks immunological information, and limited information is available on protein Rv2623. In conclusion, extensive immunological studies on these four proteins could enhance their development as tuberculosis prognostic biomarkers, while our systematic 2-dimensional separation method shows promising potential for characterizing cell wall and membrane proteins in other pathogen