Pesticide exposure promotes disease activity by decreasing lymphoproliferative activity and increasing IL-4 production in systemic sclerosis patients.

Background: One of the common findings in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients has been long-term exposure to environmental toxins such as pesticides. However, the data available shows an equivocal association between pesticide exposure and autoimmunity in SSc.

Methods: We investigated the levels of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in blood of 20 SSc patients and 17 healthy controls, and also studied their effect on T lymphocytes and their functional responses.

Role of myeloid-derived suppressor and Th17/Treg cells in post-COVID-19 Rhino-Orbital mucormycosis cases.

Rhino-Orbital-Cerebral Mucormycosis (ROCM) cases increased sharply in India during the second COVID-19 wave. Due to uncontrolled hyperglycemia, prolonged steroid use, and high ferritin levels, the immune system was dysregulated throughout this surge. Our study examined post-COVID-19 ROCM patients' T regulatory cell (Treg), T helper 17 cell (Th17) and Myeloid derived suppressor cell (MDSC) levels before and after three months of treatment.

Cytomegalovirus Infections in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant: Moving Beyond Molecular Diagnostics to Immunodiagnostics.

Human CMV, regularly reactivated by simple triggers, results in asymptomatic viral shedding, powerful cellular immune responses, and memory inflation. Immunocompetent individuals benefit from a robust immune response, which aids in viral management without causing clinically significant illness; however, immunodeficient individuals are always at a higher risk of CMV reactivation and disease. Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients are consistently at higher risk of CMV reactivation and clinically significant CMV illness due to primary disease, immunosuppression, and graft vs.

Furcuncular Myiasis of the Scalp Caused by Chrysomya bezziana.

We report a rare case of furuncular myiasis in a 7-year-old boy presenting with a discharging nodule over the scalp. The report details the clinical presentation, examination findings, and dermoscopic features of furuncular myiasis. To the best of our knowledge, Chrysomya bezziana has never been reported to cause furuncular myiasis.

Acute kidney injury in critically ill obstetric patients: Incidence and role of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalcin - A prospective observational cohort study.

Background And Aims: Data focussing on acute kidney injury (AKI) in obstetric patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) are scarce and even more so regarding the role of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalcin (NGAL) in detecting AKI or predicting outcomes in these patients. Hence, we aim to evaluate the incidence of AKI in obstetric ICU patients and validate the role of urinary and serum NGAL in predicting the onset of AKI and mortality.

Methods: This prospective observational cohort included 45 obstetric patients admitted in ICU, excluding those with prior renal dysfunction.

Assessment of change in antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of bacteria causing orthopaedic infections by sequential sampling: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Management of Orthopaedic wound infections often depend on isolation of bacteria species ( and its subsequent antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). However, the susceptibility to antibiotics may change over time in the same bacterial particularly after initiation of antibiotic therapy. Repeating AST through sequential sampling can be used for the early detection of changes in antimicrobial susceptibility pattern.

Dermoscopic Findings and Assessment of Treatment Response in Patients with Tinea Incognito: A Pilot Study.

Background: Tinea incognito presents with atypical, widespread, and recurrent lesions. Dermoscopy can aid its rapid diagnosis.

Aim And Objectives: This study aimed at assessing dermoscopic features and response to treatment in patients with tinea incognito.

Implications of CD45RA and CD45RO T cell subsets in patients of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis infected with Aspergillus flavus.

T cell subsets (CD4 and CD8) play a prominent role in the development of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP). Colonization with Aspergillus flavus is recognized as a trigger for the growth of nasal polyps. The fungal proteins initiate the recruitment of T cells into the nasal mucosa, which contributes to the progression of nasal polyps.

Ungual Scabies: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

Introduction: Nail unit infestation by scabies mites (ungual scabies) is uncommon. It usually presents with distal subungual lesions, leading to recurrent and persistent disease by acting as a reservoir of infection. Periungual involvement in scabies with nail loss is rare and may lead to severe nail damage.

Shigella as a Cause of Diarrhea Hospitalization in Children Under Five: Evaluation by Conventional and Molecular Methods.

Background And Objectives: is an important cause of diarrhea in children under five, often missed by conventional laboratory methods. Blood in stools has always been a syndromic indicator for diarrhea, but most cases present with watery diarrhea without blood. This study aimed to determine the frequency of detected by molecular and conventional methods in children under five.

Organochlorine pesticides disrupt T helper cell regulation and reduce IL-2 and IFN-γ favoring infection and production of autoantibodies among pemphigus patients.

The list of environmental factors that trigger autoimmune diseases in genetically susceptible individuals has grown in the recent years and is far from complete. The possible intervention of the environment in triggering these diseases is ever more perceived by the clinicians. This study investigated the effect of environmental factors like organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) on proportions of different T lymphocyte subsets and their cytokine secretion in-vitro among pemphigus patients, before and after specific immunosuppressive therapy.

Clinico-Mycological Study of Onychomycosis in Indian Diabetic Patients.

Background: Onychomycosis (OM) is the most common nail disorder accounting for 40-50% of all onychopathies. Onychomycosis is caused by dermatophytes in majority, mostly () followed by . .

Low monocytic HLA-DR expression in critically ill patients of sepsis: An indicator for antimicrobial and/or immunomodulatory intervention.

Background: Sepsis is a result of suppressed host immune response which leads to fatal multi-organ dysfunctionality. Low frequency of active monocytes or reduced expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR on monocytes shows the suppressed immune response in sepsis patients. One of the well-studied markers in patients with sepsis is procalcitonin (PCT).

Incompetent memory immune response in severe COVID-19 patients under treatment.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) associated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected millions of people worldwide and declared a Public Health Emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) on January 30, 2020. Albeit, unprecedented efforts have been made from the scientific community to understand the pathophysiology of COVID-19 disease, the host immune and inflammatory responses are not explored well in the Indian population. Continuous arrival of new variants fascinated the scientists to understand the host immune processes and to eradicate this deadly virus.

Association of predictive factors and neurosurgical postoperative infections: A retrospective analysis.

Objective: To identify the factors that predispose neurosurgical patients to surgical site infections (SSI) as well as assess the risk factors attached to infection by a specific microorganism.

Methodology: A retrospective case-control study was conducted at University College of Medical Sciences and G.T.

Immunogenicity of measles-rubella vaccine administered under India's Universal Immunization Programme in the context of measles-rubella elimination goal: A longitudinal study.

Background & Objectives: There is a paucity of data regarding immunogenicity of recently introduced measles-rubella (MR) vaccine in Indian children, in which the first dose is administered below one year of age. This study was undertaken to assess the immunogenicity against rubella and measles 4-6 wk after one and two doses of MR vaccine administered under India's Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).

Methods: In this longitudinal study, 100 consecutive healthy infants (9-12 months) of either gender attending the immunization clinic of a tertiary care government hospital affiliated to a medical college of Delhi for the first dose of routine MR vaccination were enrolled.

Prevalence of onychomycosis in patients with diabetes mellitus: A cross-sectional study from a tertiary care hospital in North India.

Background Though diabetes mellitus (DM) is a well-recognised risk factor for onychomycosis (OM), the epidemiology of OM in diabetic patients remains largely unexplored, especially from the Indian subcontinent. Aims and objectives To estimate the prevalence of OM in diabetic patients, to identify and analyse risk factors, and correlate the severity of nail changes with glycemic control (HBA1c). Methods This cross-sectional, analytical study involved 300 diabetic patients.