Measuring climacteric symptoms and age at natural menopause in an Indian population using the Greene Climacteric Scale.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to establish the age at onset of natural menopause and the prevalence of symptoms and identify any sociodemographic, physical, or other factors that may influence the onset of menopause among women in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, a state located in northern India.

Methods: Women in the age group of 30 to 65 years were interviewed using a questionnaire that has a four-point scale. Participants (N = 129) were divided into three categories: premenopause, early postmenopause (1-5 years after last menstrual cycle), and late postmenopause (>5 years after last menstrual cycle).

Biofilm formation by Candida albicans isolated from intrauterine devices.

Our survey revealed that infected intrauterine devices (IUDs) recovered from patients suffering from reproductive tract infections (RTIs) were tainted with Candida biofilm composed of a single or multiple species. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of C. albicans biofilm topography showed that it consists of a dense network of mono- or multilayer of cells embedded within the matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS).

Identification of antimicrobial activity from goat cervical epithelium.

1. In mammals, antimicrobial peptides are present in epithelial cells of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and urinogenital tracts. In the present study, we report the identification and partial characterization of an antimicrobial peptide in extracts prepared from goat cervical epithelial tissue.

A treatise on hazards of endocrine disruptors and tool to evaluate them.

Hormones mediate a major part of our essential physiological functions. Both endogenous and exogenous compounds and their metabolites are known to act through hormone receptors leading to regulation of endocrine function. The endogenous ligands that control reproductive functions are generally steroids such as 17beta-estradiol, androgens, progesterone, pregnenolone and glucocorticoids.

Phospholipase C from two bacterial strains acts differently on pure phospholipids and membrane bound glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors.

Phospholipase C (PLC) was purified to homogeneity from the culture filtrate of Bacillus cereus (65-fold, 540 U/mg protein) and B. thuringiensis (76-fold, 306 U/mg protein) by conventional techniques of enzyme purification. The purified enzymes have the molecular mass of 34 kDa and 38 kDa respectively, as determined by SDS-PAGE.

Toxic effects of pulp and paper-mill effluents on male reproductive organs and some systemic parameters in rats.

The effect of pulp and paper-mill effluents on terrestrial animals was investigated using male albino rats as a test organism, under controlled laboratory conditions. Effluent consumption for 15 days caused a reduction in the relative weight of the testis (mg/100g body weight), compared to the control rats. The effects were not so pronounced in other regions of the male reproductive tract.

Reproduction in male rats is vulnerable to treatment with the flavonoid-rich seed extracts of Vitex negundo.

A partially purified flavonoid-rich extract was prepared from the seed of Vitex negundo. The effect of this extract on the reproductive system of male rats was investigated at four different concentrations. All the major accessory sex organs shed weight when the preparation was administered at doses of >or=15 mg/rat/day after 15 days of treatment.