Kasturba Medical College, Manipal

About: Kasturba Medical College, Manipal is a education organization based out in Manipal, Karnataka, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Diabetes mellitus. The organization has 7034 authors who have published 8488 publications receiving 103415 citations.

Treatment of mice with stem bark extract of Aphanamixis polystachya reduces radiation-induced chromosome damage.

Abstract: Purpose: Normal tissue radiosensitivity is the major limiting factor in radiotherapy of cancer. The use of phytochemicals may reduce the adverse effects of radiation in normal tissue. The effect of ethyl acetate fraction of Aphanamixis polystachya (EAP) was investigated on the radiation-induced chromosome damage in the bone marrow cells of Swiss albino mice exposed to various doses of γ-radiation.Materials and methods: The mice were divided into two groups, one group was exposed to 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 Gy of γ-radiation, while another group received 7.5 mg/kg body weight (BW) of EAP 1 h before exposure to 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 Gy of γ-radiation. Various asymmetrical chromosome aberrations were studied in the bone marrow cells of mice at 12, 24 or 48 h post-irradiation. To understand the mechanism of action of the free radical scavenging activity of 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 or 70 μg/ml EAP, assays were carried out in vitro.Results: Irradiation of mice to different doses of gamma radiation caused a dose depe...

Evaluation of fetal echocardiography as a routine antenatal screening tool for detection of congenital heart disease

Abstract: Background: Fetal echocardiography plays a pivotal role in identifying the congenital heart defects (CHDs) in utero. Though foetal echocardiography is mostly reserved for high risk pregnant women, its role as a routine prenatal screening tool still needs to be defined. Performing foetal echocardiography based on only these indications can lead to a significant numbers of CHD cases going undetected who will be deprived of further management leading to increased early neonatal mortalities. The aim of this study is to assess the incidence of CHDs by fetal echocardiography in an unselected population of pregnant women in comparison with pregnant women with conventional high risk factors for CHD. Methods: This study enrolled consecutive pregnant women who attended antenatal clinic between 2008 and 2012 in a tertiary care hospital. These pregnant women were categorized into two groups: high risk group included pregnant women with traditional risk factors for CHD as laid down by Pediatric Council of the American Society of Echocardiography and low risk group. Detailed fetal 2 D echocardiography was done. Results: A total of 1,280 pregnant women were included in study. The 118 women were categorized as the high risk group while remaining 1,162 were included in the low risk group. Twenty six cases of CHDs were detected based on abnormal foetal echocardiography (20.3 per 1,000). Two of the 26 cases of CHD occurred in high risk group whereas the remaining 24 occurred in low risk pregnancy. The difference in the incidence of CHDs between the two groups was not significant statistically (P=0.76). Conclusions: Our study shows no difference in incidence of CHDs between pregnancies associated with high risk factors compared to low risk pregnancies. So we advocate foetal echocardiography should be included as a part of routine antenatal screening and all pregnant women irrespective of risk factors for CHDs.

Comparison of computer-aided design and rule of nines methods in the evaluation of the extent of body involvement in cutaneous lesions.

Abstract: Precise determination of the area involved in cutaneous lesions is needed for an accurate therapeutic assessment of disease activity. Various methods, with their advantages and disadvantages, have been described. 1-4 We used computer-aided designing (CAD) software to determine the percentage of body area involved in the dermatoses and compared it with results of the conventional rule of nines method. Patients and Methods. In 45 patients (20 with psoriasis, 15 with exfoliative dermatitis [ED], and 10 with vitiligo), the percentage of body area involved was determined by both the rule of nines and CAD methods. On a 480-cm 2 graph sheet, the ventral (69.57-cm 2 ) and dorsal (69.57-cm 2 ) surface of a human figure was graphically constructed ( Figure 1 ) on the digitizer and visualized on a monitor. Proportionate graphical representations of site, size, and shape of the cutaneous lesions were marked ( Figure 2 ) on the CAD graph. In ED, since the skin involvemnet was generalized, the uninvolved areas were marked.

Maternal and fetal indicators of oxidative stress in various obstetric complications.

Abstract: The present study demonstrates the incidence of increased lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation in both maternal and fetal erythrocytes as markers of oxygen radical activity in different complications of pregnancy. In fetuses born after premature rupture of membranes, lipid peroxidation was significantly elevated as indicated by increased malondialdehyde levels (p<0.05) as compared to controls. Proteolytic activity in the erythrocytes of mothers in this group was also significantly high (p<0.01). In patients delivered by lower segment cesarian section, lipid peroxidation and proteolytic activity in maternal erythrocytes were significantly high (p<0.05 and p<0.001 respectively). In patients with prolonged second stage of labour, lipid peroxidation and proteolytic activity in maternal erythrocytes was significantly higher than in controls (p<0.001 and p<0.05 respectively). In this group, endogenous protein damage due to oxidative stress was significantly high both in the mother and the fetus (p<0.001 and p<0.05 respectively).