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Water quality index (WQI) of Narora channel and health of endemic fish Bagarius bagarius and plant Eichhornia crassipes, district Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh, India were studied. Among the physicochemical properties of water, pH, D.O, Cr, Fe, Ni, and Cd were above the recommended standards. These factors lead to high WQI (4124.83), indicating poor quality and not suitable for drinking and domestic usage. In fish tissues, the highest metal load was reported in the liver (58.29) and the lowest in the kidney (33.73). Heavy metals also cause a lowering of condition indices. As expected, decreased serum protein (− 63.41%) and liver glycogen (− 79.10%) were recorded in the exposed fish. However, blood glucose (47.22%) and serum glycogen (74.69%) showed elevation. In the plant, roots (21.50) contained the highest, and leaves (16.87) had the lowest heavy metal load. Bioaccumulation factor (BAF) > 1, indicates hyperaccumulation of all metals. E. crassipes roots showed the highest translocation factor (TF) > 1 for Ni (1.57) and Zn (1.30). The high mobility factor (MF) reflected the suitability of E. crassipes for phytoextraction of Mn, Cd, Zn, Fe, Ni, and Cu. Moreover, Bagarius sp. consumption could not pose any non-cancer risk. Although, lower cancer risk can be expected from Ni and Cr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Video endoscopic inguinal lymphadenectomy (VEIL) is a minimally invasive technique that gives superior surgical outcomes than open inguinal lymphadenectomy (IL) for treating lymph node metastasis in penile, vulvar, and skin cancers. This study compared surgical outcomes obtained with two different approaches of VEIL, standard VEIL and lateral VEIL (L-VEIL), in cancer patients. Methods: Sixty-two patients who underwent standard VEIL (n = 15) or L-VEIL (n = 47) for treatment of lymph node metastasis were evaluated retrospectively from three centers in Brazil, Egypt, and India. Primary endpoint analyzed was conversion rate to open IL in the two groups, and the secondary endpoints included operative time, estimated blood loss, nodal yield, nodal positivity, postoperative drain duration, and postoperative complications. Results: The conversion rate to open IL was higher in L-VEIL compared with VEIL group (2% vs. 0%). Significantly lesser blood loss was reported with L-VEIL compared with VEIL (mean difference: 3.63 mL; P = .01). Postoperative drain duration was significantly lower with L-VEIL (-4.34 days; P < .05) than VEIL. The L-VEIL group had a higher number of lymph nodes without infiltration (mean difference: -0.48; P = .02). Operative time, nodal yield, nodal positivity, and hospitalization duration were similar in both groups. Postoperative complications were higher in the L-VEIL versus VEIL group (35 vs. 11 cases). Lymphedema events were significantly higher with L-VEIL in comparison with VEIL (38.8% vs. 16.7%; P = .03). Among patients with penile cancer, no significant difference was observed in outcomes obtained with VEIL and L-VEIL. Conclusion: As L-VEIL and VEIL approaches lead to comparable surgical outcomes, surgeons may choose either of these as per their convenience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caralluma edulis is a leafless succulent herb native to India and Pakistan, where it is used as emergency food and as potential herbal medicine. It was investigated for its bioactive chemicals and further medicinal properties. The objective of the current study was to accomplish the chemical and biological characterization of C. edulis. Chemical profiling was done through estimation of total bioactive contents and UHPLMS analysis. Biological screening was achieved through six different antioxidant and enzyme inhibition assays. Estimation of its phenolic and flavonoid contents revealed that ethyl acetate fraction (Ce-E) contains 14.15 mg GAE/g extract and 26.13 mg RE/g extract of phenolics and flavonoids, respectively, followed by the methanolic (Ce-M) and the water (Ce-W) soluble fractions. In free radical inhibitory assays, Ce-E fraction also exhibited highest activity (DPPH: 19.72 mg TE/g extract, ABTS: 48.66 mg TE/g extract) followed by Ce-M, whereas, in CUPRAC and FRAP assays, all the extracts, except water fraction, exhibited nearly equal potential in the range of 53.85–57.96 and 25.42–32.12 mg TE/g extract, respectively. In metal chelating antioxidant assay, only Ce-M and Ce-W fractions displayed considerable activities (25.88 and 23.55 mg EDTAE/g extract respectively), whereas, Ce-H exhibited the highest activity in phosphomolybdenum assay (1.03 mmolTE/g extract), against BChE (6.43 mg GALAE/g extract), α-glucosidase and α-amylase (6.98 and 0.47 mmol ACAE/g, respectively) and tyrosinase (64.46 mg KAE/g extract) enzymes. Ce-M and Ce-E also exhibited significant activity against tyrosinase (59.85 and 58.40 mg KAE/g extract, respectively). Crude methanolic extract (Ce-M) was analyzed to unveil its secondary metabolic picture; the UHPLCMS analysis discloses 105 compounds as phenolic acids, flavonoids, steroids and their glycosides, which makes the C. edulis extract a strong candidate for nutraceutical and functional food ingredient. Some of the metabolites were docked against all the tested enzymes to predict mode of actions and to substantiate the pharmaceutical nature of C. edulis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]