Contribution of insulin resistance to decreased baroreceptor sensitivity & cardiometabolic risks in pre-obesity & obesity.

Background & Objectives: Although insulin resistance (IR) is a known complication in obesity, the physiological mechanisms linking IR with cardiometabolic risks in obesity have not been well studied. This study was conducted to assess the difference in cardiovascular (CV) risk profile in IR and non-IR (NIR) conditions, and contribution of IR to cardiometabolic risks in pre-obese and obese individuals.

Methods: Basal CV, blood pressure variability, autonomic function test and cardiometabolic parameters were recorded in pre-obese (n=86) and obese (n=77) individuals during 2012 and 2015.

Rising trends of neurocysticercosis: A serological report from tertiary-care hospital in South India.

Introduction: is a common two-host parasitic cestode, residing in both humans (definitive) and pigs (intermediate). Invasion of this parasitic cyst into central nervous system leads to a condition known as neurocysticercosis (NCC). The World Health Organization (WHO) considers NCC as one of the "most neglected" tropical zoonotic diseases.

Gender Difference in the Role of Posterodorsal Amygdala on the Regulation of Food Intake, Adiposity and Immunological Responses in Albino Wistar Rats.

Lesion of posterodorsal amygdala (PDA) has been known to produce hyperphagia and obesity in animal models. However, the influence of gender on food intake (FI), body weight (BW) and immunological parameters following PDA lesion is not yet known. The present work was carried out to study the effect of gender on the regulation of FI, BW and immunological parameters following lesions of PDA in albino Wistar rats.

Efficacy of zinc supplementation on serum calprotectin, inflammatory cytokines and outcome in neonatal sepsis - a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To find out the efficacy of zinc supplementation in decreasing the levels of serum calprotectin and inflammatory cytokines with improvement in outcome in neonatal sepsis.

Methods: Neonates with clinical signs suggestive of sepsis and at least two screening tests positive were randomized into two groups - zinc group and control group. The zinc group received 3 mg/kg of zinc sulfate monohydrate twice a day orally for 10 days along with antibiotics.

Modified low cost SNP genotyping technique using cycle threshold (Ct) & melting temperature (Tm) values in allele specific real-time PCR.

Background & Objectives: Genotyping has now become one of the major diagnostic means for almost all diseases. Among the advanced techniques that are used to study single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), only a few are applicable for routine disease diagnosis. Their applicability mainly depends on three factors: cost, time, and accuracy.

Comparison of genomic DNA methylation pattern among septic and non-septic newborns - An epigenome wide association study.

DNA methylation is the current strategy in the field of biomarker discovery due to its prognostic efficiency. Its role in prognosis and early diagnosis has been recognized in various types of cancer. Sepsis still remains one of the major causes of neonatal mortality.

Decreased baroreflex sensitivity is linked to sympathovagal imbalance, body fat mass and altered cardiometabolic profile in pre-obesity and obesity.

Objective: Though decreased baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), the predictor of cardiac morbidities and mortality has been reported in obesity, the mechanisms and metabolic biomarkers influencing BRS have not been studied. We aimed to assess the difference in cardiovascular (CV) risk profile in pre-obesity and obesity, and the contribution of body composition and cardiometabolic factors to CV risks in these two conditions.

Methods: Obesity indices, body composition, blood pressure variability and autonomic function test parameters were recorded in 223 subjects divided into controls (n=72), pre-obese (n=77) and obese (n=74) groups.

Evaluation of role of Candida in patients with chronic paronychia.

Background: Chronic paronychia, earlier considered to be an infection due to Candida, is currently being considered as a dermatitis of the nail fold. Irritant, allergic and protein contact dermatitis are the suggested major pathogenic mechanisms. Hypersensitivity to Candida is more likely to be the etiology, rather than the infection itself.

Detection of Salmonella in Blood by PCR using iroB gene.

Background: Salmonella, a genus of more than 2500 serological variants (serovars), includes many organisms that can cause human disease. Enteric fever remains an important public health problem in developing countries. Non typhoidal Salmonella generally produce a self limited gastroenteritis in healthy individuals whereas in extremes of age and immunocompromised cause severe fatal disease.

Molecular analysis of fluoroquinolone-resistant Salmonella Paratyphi A isolate, India.

Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A is increasingly a cause of enteric fever. Sequence analysis of an Indian isolate showed a unique strain with high-level resistance to ciprofloxacin associated with double mutations in the DNA gyrase subunit gyrA (Ser83-->Phe and Asp87-->Gly) and a mutation in topoisomerase IV subunit parC (Ser80-->Arg).