R. N. Chopra

Bio: R. N. Chopra is an academic researcher from Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine. The author has contributed to research in topics: Malaria & Holarrhena. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 61 publications receiving 6823 citations.

Kurchi Bismuthous Iodide, Its Value in the Treatment of Chronic Amœbic Infections of the Bowel.

Abstract: Holarrliena antidyscntcrica belongs to the natural order Apocynacere, and is a small deciduous tree with white flowers. There are many Sanskrit names for it, the better known being kutajci and kidinga. The other vernacular names are Bengali kurchcc, Hindi kitrcya and dudlii, and Tamil kulappatai. The .seeds are called in Sanskrit indmyava or Indra's seeds, in Hindi tJ>drajaba, and in Persian indrajavatalkh. The Reason why these seeds have been named after the god Indra is due to the following mythological story. The god Indra came to the aid of Rama before they crossed over to Lanka (Ceylon) and defeated the king and demon Ravana in a great battle. After a fight in India, the god Indra noticed the large number of Rama's soldiers, i.e., the monkey army of Hanuman, who had been slain during the fight. Indra in compassion lestored them to life by sprinkling cimrita, or the Y^ter of life, over the dead monkeys, and the yrops that fell on the ground became the seeds lndrayava from which this plant sprang into being.

The Trend of Immunity Studies in Malaria.

Abstract: enlargement. After the end of the immunization period, which according to both the above workers covered almost 15 years of life in childhood, the man becomes immune with a latent infection with scanty parasites in the blood. The work of Sarkar (1932) in the Chittagong Hill tracts and also in the tea gardens of Jalpaiguri Duars corroborates the above observation. Gill (1914) further drew attention to the fact that an interruption in infection destroys the immunity and brings about severe epidemics of malaria. This is v.ery interesting from the Indian point of view, specially for those places where malaria is seasonal.

The Significance of the Antimony Test in the Diagnosis of Kala-Azar: Part I-Serum Tests.

Abstract: at once opened up the possibility of this reaction being developed into a test for the diagnosis of kala-azar. A large number of kala-azar and nonkala-azar sera were tested and three papers were published giving the results of this work. The first of these was merely a preliminary note recording the observation of the reaction on which the test was dependent. The second recorded results of the test as compared with the aldehyde test, and showed that the percentage of positive factions with this test was somewhat higher than that with the aldehyde test. In the third paper standards of positivity were laid down, and it ^vas shown that this test was more sensitive than the aldehyde test and appeared much earlier. Fhe variations produced in the test during the course of treatment of the disease were also forked out in a small number of cases. This new serum test held out a promise of being a useful adjuvant in the diagnosis of this disease. As time went on and more and more sera were tested it was found that the test was rarely positive in some non-kala-azar conditions, such as very big enlargement of spleen and liver produced by malaria, advanced tuberculosis, {eiicocythaemia, and in a few cases of leprosy, etc. ^ the meantime Dr. Napier, in charge of the ^ala-azar Research at the School of Tropical Medicine, returned from leave and further work testing the practical utility of the test was jakerj over by him, though the senior author's laboratory carried out all the routine examinatlons of sera sent by the Carmichael Hospital as WeU as the Medical College Hospitals, Calcutta, in Jfder to keep the standards of positivity uniform. Uring this period also Chopra and Choudhury w?rked out the changes in kala-azar serum which gave rise to this precipitation with antimony impounds. The precipitate formed by the interaction of the serum and urea-stibamine was colloidal in character and consisted mainly of_ euglobulin, possibly contaminated with traces