Publications by authors named "Radhakrishna Pillai"

Background: While recommending a human papillomavirus (HPV) single-dose vaccination schedule in 2022, the World Health Organization highlighted the need for long-term follow-up studies to monitor waning of protection. We report on vaccine efficacy against HPV infections in 1-, 2-, and 3-dose schedules and protection against cervical precancers at a median follow-up of 12 years postvaccination.

Methods: This randomized multicenter study in India was originally designed to vaccinate unmarried girls aged 10-18 years with either 2 or 3 doses of quadrivalent HPV vaccine.

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The adoption of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) as a partial replacement of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is increasing in anticipation of reducing the carbon footprint of cement and concrete industry. The resistance of concretes with SCMs against natural carbonation (a reactive-diffusion mechanism) is still a topic of research. Most literature adopt accelerated carbonation tests (under constant humidity and temperature conditions) to estimate the natural carbonation depth (d) in concrete.

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Quinolone synthase from Aegle marmelos (AmQNS) is a type III polyketide synthase that yields therapeutically effective quinolone and acridone compounds. Addressing the structural and molecular underpinnings of AmQNS and its substrate interaction in terms of its high selectivity and specificity can aid in the development of numerous novel compounds. This paper presents a high-resolution AmQNS crystal structure and explains its mechanistic role in synthetic selectivity.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focuses on the role of telomerase in cancer, highlighting how its reactivation contributes to cell immortality and tumor growth, as well as its telomere length-independent functions that aid in cell survival.
  • - Researchers investigated how three specific telomerase inhibitors induce cell death through mechanisms involving early cell cycle inhibition and significant redox changes in both the cytosol and mitochondria, leading to DNA damage.
  • - Findings indicate that these telomerase inhibitors cause mitochondrial dysfunction characterized by oxidation and loss of membrane potential, and silencing telomerase (hTERT) further emphasizes its role in preserving mitochondrial redox balance.
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Long-term follow-up of a cohort of unmarried girls who received one, two, or three doses of quadrivalent HPV vaccine, between 10 and 18 years of age, in an Indian multi-centric study allowed us to compare antibody responses between the younger and older age cohorts at 10-years post-vaccination, and study the impact of initiation of sexual activity and cervical HPV infections on antibody levels. Among the younger (10-14 years) recipients of a single dose, 97.7% and 98.

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Background: Oral diseases like periodontitis and mucositis often require home care using topical agents in the form of mouthwashes. Many herbal mouthwashes are found to be beneficial; however lack proper scientific evidence to support their use.

Objectives: Study 1 evaluated clinical efficacy of herbal mouthwash in the management of chronic periodontitis in comparison with chlorhexidine mouthwash.

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Article Synopsis
  • Some types of breast cancer, like triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), have issues with finding good treatment targets and show different ways they grow and behave.
  • Researchers studied a protein called galectin-3 in breast cancer tissues and found that higher levels of it are linked to more serious tumors and could help explain why some tumors resist treatment.
  • They discovered that galectin-3 often works together with another protein called vimentin, and when both are present, they help cancer cells survive, spread, and grow more aggressively in TNBC patients.
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Background: The recent World Health Organization recommendation supporting single-dose of HPV vaccine will significantly reduce programmatic cost, mitigate the supply shortage, and simplify logistics, thus allowing more low- and middle-income countries to introduce the vaccine. From a programmatic perspective the durability of protection offered by a single-dose will be a key consideration. The primary objectives of the present study were to determine whether recipients of a single-dose of quadrivalent HPV vaccine had sustained immune response against targeted HPV types (HPV 6,11,16,18) at 10 years post-vaccination and whether this response was superior to the natural antibody titres observed in unvaccinated women.

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Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections worldwide. Although the efficacy of the HPV vaccine in preventing the development of cervical pre-malignant lesions has been well demonstrated, the efficacy of the HPV vaccine in preventing HPV infection in the upper respiratory tract has been poorly studied.

Methods: In the context of the IARC cohort study of two versus three doses of HPV vaccine in India, we compared the HPV type prevalence in the oral cavity of women vaccinated with three doses, two doses, or a single dose of quadrivalent HPV vaccine with that of unvaccinated women.

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Background: SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19 pandemic is a RNA virus prone to mutations. Formation of a stable binding interface between the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) of host is pivotal for viral entry. RBD has been shown to mutate frequently during pandemic.

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Background: A randomised trial designed to compare three and two doses of quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in adolescent girls in India was converted to a cohort study after suspension of HPV vaccination in trials by the Indian Government. In this Article, the revised aim of the cohort study was to compare vaccine efficacy of single dose to that of three and two doses in protecting against persistent HPV 16 and 18 infection at 10 years post vaccination.

Methods: In the randomised trial, unmarried girls aged 10-18 years were recruited from nine centres across India and randomly assigned to either two doses or three doses of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine (Gardasil [Merck Sharp & Dohme, Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA]; 0·5 mL administered intramuscularly).

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Macrophage apoptosis is a key contributor to the progression of atherosclerosis. Cyclophilin A, a monocyte secretory protein associated with the initiation of atherosclerosis has an inherent nuclease activity. This study reports the mechanism by which cyclophilin A causes apoptosis of macrophages and accelerates the progression of atherosclerosis.

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Background: Progression of chronic inflammatory disease, atherosclerosis is a multifactorial process. Cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) mediated downstream activation of Toll like receptor 2 (TLR2) and NLRP3 (Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3) inflammasome signaling pathway actively participates during chronic inflammation. Nowadays, synergistic combinations of bioactive compounds attained priority in the field of drug discovery and development as therapeutic agents.

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Purpose: Phytochemicals of ethno medicines are being developed as effective drugs with minimum or no toxic side effects. Dhanwantaram Kashayam (DK) is a polyherbal formulation used as a potent general health tonic and is found to have antioxidant activities, but there are no proper scientific studies on its possible benefits. In this study we investigated the antioxidant and antidiabetic properties of DK and trying to explore the possibility of employing DK for the treatment of diseases like diabetes mellitus caused by the imbalance in Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS).

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Article Synopsis
  • A study in India from 2012-2015 followed unvaccinated married women aged 18-23 to assess HPV infection prevalence and factors affecting it, collecting cervical samples annually for four years.
  • The overall HPV prevalence was 36.4%, with HPV types 16 and 31 being the most common, and higher persistence rates for HPV types 35 and 52.
  • Findings suggest lower HPV prevalence and acquisition rates in Indian women compared to Western women, highlighting the potential benefits of HPV vaccination, especially for those with longer time between marriage and first cervical sample collection.
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Literature on the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in head and neck cancer (HNC) in Italy is limited, especially for non-oropharyngeal tumours. Within the context of the HPV-AHEAD study, we aimed to assess the prognostic value of different tests or test algorithms judging HPV carcinogenicity in HNC and factors related to HPV positivity at the European Institute of Oncology. We conducted a retrospective cohort study (2000-2010) on a total of 696 primary HNC patients.

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At the onset, few cancer cells amidst the tumor bulk, identified as cancer stem cells (CSCs) or early disseminated cancer cells (eDCCs) are capable of survival post conventional therapy and persist as minimal residual disease (MRD). Metastatic subclones emerge both early and late in the life of primary tumor ensuing an ongoing regional clonal evolution of progenitor cells in metastatic and primary tumors. In the last decade, multiple studies proposed various identities of stem-like cells that undergo transitions to adapt to the changing microenvironment as the disease progresses.

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Most epithelial cancer types are polygenic in nature and are driven by coordinated dysregulation of multiple regulatory pathways, genes, and protein modifications. The process of coordinated regulation of cancer promoting pathways in response to extrinsic and intrinsic signals facilitates the dysregulation of several pathways with complementary functions, contributing to the hallmarks of cancer. Dysregulation and hyperactivation of cell surface human epidermal growth factor receptors (HERs) and cytoskeleton remodeling by p21-activated kinases (PAKs) are two prominent interconnected aspects of oncogenesis.

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Non-communicable diseases contribute to 71% of the deaths worldwide, of which cancers rank second after cardiovascular diseases. Among all the cancers, head and neck cancers (HNC) are consequential in augmenting the global cancer incidence as well as mortality. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are emphatic for the matter that they serve as biomarkers aiding the analysis of tumor progression and metastasis as well as diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic progression in the patients.

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The human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are among the first layer of molecules that receive, interpret, and transduce signals leading to distinct cancer cell phenotypes. Since the discovery of the tooth-lid factor-later characterized as the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-and its high-affinity binding EGF receptor, HER kinases have emerged as one of the commonly upregulated or hyperactivated or mutated kinases in epithelial tumors, thus allowing HER1-3 family members to regulate several hallmarks of cancer development and progression. Each member of the HER family exhibits shared and unique structural features to engage multiple receptor activation modes, leading to a range of overlapping and distinct phenotypes.

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Background: Hyperglycemia and hyper oxidative stress are indicators of diabetes mellitus which is also accompanied with decreased levels of antioxidant enzymes. While oxidative stress is important in increasing insulin secretion and controlling blood sugar level at the same time excess oxidative stress leads to the destruction of beta cells of pancreas resulting in to low insulin production and hyperglycemia. A balance between the levels of oxidative radicals and insulin production is needed, but is not defined yet.

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Rediscovery of known compounds and time consumed in identification, especially high molecular weight compounds with complex structure, have let down interest in drug discovery. In this study, whole-genome analysis of microbe and Global Natural Products Social (GNPS) molecular networking helped in initial understanding of possible compounds produced by the microbe. Genome data revealed 10 biosythethic gene clusters that encode for secondary metabolites with anticancer potential.

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Development of gastric diseases such as gastritis, peptic ulcer and gastric cancer is often associated with several biotic and abiotic factors. Helicobacter pylori infection is such a well-known biotic factor. However, not all H.

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Influenza A (H1N1) continues to be a major public health threat due to possible emergence of a more virulent H1N1 strain resulting from dynamic changes in virus adaptability consequent to functional mutations and antigenic drift in the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) surface proteins. In this study, we describe the genetic and evolutionary characteristics of H1N1 strains that circulated in India over a period of nine years from 2009 to 2017 in relation to global strains. The finding is important from a global perspective since previous phylogenetic studies have suggested that the tropics contributed substantially to the global circulation of influenza viruses.

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Aspergillus fumigatus is the most common etiologic agent of primarily all clinical manifestations of aspergillosis. A steady increase in the number of azole resistant A. fumigatus (ARAF) isolates from environment and clinical samples leading to therapeutic failures in clinical settings have alarmed the mycologists and clinicians worldwide.

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