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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine/metabolic disease because of the elevated levels of androgen which could lead to anovulation. The angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) is a zinc metallopeptidase that converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II. ACE is bound to the plasma membrane and expressed in many tissues such as ovarian tissues. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS help the production of angiotensin, angiotensinogen, and ACE. Angiotensin II plays a major role in ovulation, steroidogenesis, follicular atresia and hyperandrogenic syndromes such as PCOS. This study aimed to determine the association of ACE polymorphism in PCOS to analyze the distribution allele frequency of insertion or deletion variation in PCOS patients of the South Indian cohort. A total of 430 women with PCOS confirmed based on the Rotterdam criteria and 300 age and sex-matched control samples were studied. PCR technique was used to determine the frequency of polymorphism in the ACE gene. The genotyping distribution of II, DD and ID in PCOS was 4.56%, 30.23%, and 65.11%, respectively, whereas the control group showed 30%, 20%, and 50% for II, DD and ID, respectively. The deletion (D) allele frequency was 62.79% and insertion (I) allele was 37.2 % in PCOS patients, whereas in the control group, it was 45% and 55% for D and I alleles, respectively. This study concludes that the distribution of deletion (D) allele frequency of ACE could be considered as a genetic marker for PCOS in the South Indian cohort.

Zaleya decandra is a prostrate, glabrous, succulent herb of the family Aizoaceae. In recent years the pharmacological efficacy of the plant such as the hepatoprotective, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities has been reported. However, a long-term toxicity study of Z. decandra is yet to be carried out. In the present study, the acute dose of 2000 mg/kg b.w. of ethanolic extract of Z. decandra (EEZD) administered orally to Wistar rats gained gradual weight with time and appeared healthy without any record of mortality. In the sub-chronic toxicity study, the rats showed no remarkable increase or decrease in their weight even at the highest dose of 500 mg/kg b.w. The haematological, biochemistry and serum marker enzyme parameters did not show any dose dependent change in the values. Further, the histology micrographs confirmed that the tissue architecture of all the vital organs were not affected by EEZD treatment. Hence, the EEZD (500 mg/kg b.w.) is considered safe for a 90-day period. Therefore, the present study warrants extensive investigation of EEZD using higher pre-clinical model system to substantiate the findings. The GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of 39 phytoconstituents including octadecenoic acid, hexadecanoic and phytosterols such as campesterol, sitosterol and stigmasterol.

Background Epilepsy is one of the most prevalent neurological disorders. Around 50 million people worldwide suffer from Epilepsy, 85% of them are from the developing countries. It is a most significant as well as common brain disorder worldwide. Sodium channel alpha 1 subunit gene (SCN1A) is most commonly mutated the gene in different forms of epilepsy. Objective To screen the genomic damage and SCN1A gene mutation in patients with epilepsy. Methods To screen the genetic instability of SCN1A gene using Buccal micronucleus cytome (BMCyt) assay and molecular analysis with Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) technique was used to observe the variations in SCN1A gene. Results We found significant differences in buccal cells of patients than controls. So, we can interpret that BMCyt assay would be a minimally invasive biomarker to detect DNA damage and mutation screening in the SCN1A gene with SSCP technique showed no variation in epileptic patients. Conclusion These data confirmed that there is certainly DNA damage and no mutations in the SCN1A gene; hence the genetic instability has occurred in epileptic patients.

Parents having Down syndrome children may not be aware of the reason for their child’s present condition and knowledge to hold the situation hence, in such conditions genetic counseling is important to guide the parents about caring for the child with Down syndrome. So the main aim of the researchers’ study is to understand the impact of Genetic counseling replica on the parents having Down syndrome in a language they understand better and also to understand the parent’s experience of Genetic counseling and knowledge of Down syndrome. The Genetic counseling session was carried out in two phases attended by eight parents having Down syndrome children and after Genetic counseling session parents were able to understand possible condition that may be the reason for their child’s current situation. The researchers’ study concluded that Genetic counseling should be the best replica to help the parents having children with Down syndrome.

Background The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), characterized by hyperandrogenism and chronic anovulation, is a common endocrine disorder in women. PCOS, which is associated with polycystic ovaries, hirsutism, obesity and insulin resistance, is a leading cause of female infertility. In this condition there is an imbalance in female sex hormones. All the sequelae symptoms of PCOS gradually lead to cancer in the course of time. It is heterogeneous disorder of unknown etiology so it is essential to find the exact cause. Materials and methods In this study both invasive and non-invasive techniques were employed to establish the etiology. Diagnosis was based on Rotterdam criteria (hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, PCOM) and multiparameters using buccal samples and dermatoglypic analysis and cytogenetic study for 10 cases and four age and sex matched controls. Results In clinical analysis we have observed the mean value of total testosterone level was 23.6nmol/L, total hirsutism score was from 12-24, facial acne was found in in 70% patients with 7-12 subcapsular follicular cysts, each measuring 2-8 mm in diameter. In dermatoglypic analysis we observed increases in mean value (45.9°) of ATD angle when compared with control group and also found increased frequency (38%) of Ulnar loops on both fingers (UU), (18%) whorls on the right finger and Ulnar loop on left finger (WU) and (16%) arches on right and left fingers (AA) were observed in PCOS patients when compared with control subjects. Features which could be applied as markers for PCOS patients are the presence of Ulnar loops in middle and little fingers of right and left hand. The buccal micronucleus cytome assay in exfoliated buccal cells, we found decrease in frequency of micronuclei and significant increases in frequency of karyolysed nuclei in polycystic ovarian syndrome patients. Chromosome aberration analysis revealed a significant increase in frequency of chromosome aberrations (CAs) in PCOS patients when compared with controls. Conclusions From this present work it can be concluded that non-invasive technique like dermatoglypics analysis and buccal micronucleus cytome assays with exfoliated buccal cell can also be effective biomarkers for PCOS, along with increased CAs in lymphocytes as a sign of genetic instability. There is a hypothesis that micronuclei and chromosomal aberrations could have a predictive value for cancer. From this present work it can be concluded to some extent that non-invasive technique like dermatoglypics and buccal cell analysis can also be effective for diagnosis.

Background: Beedi rollers are exposed to unburnt tobacco dust through cutaneous and pharyngeal route and it is extremely harmful to the body since it is carcinogenic in nature and can cause cancer during long exposure. This indicates that occupational exposure to tobacco imposes considerable genotoxicity among beedi workers. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 27 beedi workers and age and sex matched controls were enrolled for clinical, cytogenetics and molecular analysis. Clinical features were recorded. The workers were in the age group of 28-67 years and were workers exposure from 8-60 years. Blood samples were collected from workers and control subjects and lymphocyte cultures were carried out by using standard technique, slides were prepared and 50 metaphases were scored for each sample to find the chromosomal abnormalities. For molecular analysis the genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood, to screen the variations in gene, the exon 1 of CYP1A1 gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and then screened with Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. Results: A statistically significant increase was observed in the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations in exposed groups when compared to the respective controls and variations observed in Exon 1 of CYP1A1(Cytochrome P450, family 1, subfamily A, polypeptide 1) gene. Conclusions: This study shows that, the toxicants present in the beedi that enter into human body causes disturbance to normal state and behavior of the chromosomes which results in reshuffling of hereditary material causing chromosomal aberrations and genomic variations.

Many male infertility cases are because of genetic and environmental factors and most of them are idiopathic. About 10-20% of azoospermic patients are showing the microdeletion in Y-chromosome. The azoospermia factor or AZF region at the Yq11 position which consists of genes those are necessary for spermatogenesis. In Y chromosome microdeletion, deletion in AZFa region is very rare. The aim of our study is to find out the frequency of microdeletions in Y chromosome particularly in AZFa region in azoospermic men of Vellore cohort. For this study, we collected 10 azoospermic patient and 10 control men samples from the Sandhya hospital, Vellore. In this study, we mainly focused on AZFa region to analyze the frequency of microdeletions in Y chromosome using SY82 (264bp) and SY83 (275bp) STS markers. There was an absence of microdeletion in patient samples for SY82 and SY83 markers of AZFa region. We concluded that sample size should be increased to confirm our results.

Polycystic Ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a major cause of infertility in females of reproducing age and is typified by oligo-anovulation, hyperandrogenism, hirsutism and polycystic ovaries. FSHR gene located on chromosome 2 p21 is responsible for the normal follicular development and any deletion or mutation in the gene affects the interaction of FSH with its receptor. Thus, it becomes the candidate gene for PCOS study. Inactivating mutation in FSHR gene limits the receptor's function by creating a complete block, changing the receptor-ligand complex or the basic hormone signal transduction.To screen the inactivating mutations in Exon 6 and Exon 10E of FSHR gene in women diagnosed with PCOS.PCR-RFLP analysis indicated that there were no inactivating mutations found in Exon 6 and Exon 10E. Variations in hormone levels were seen amongst the PCOS patients. There were no inactivating mutations found in FSHR gene of the women diagnosed with PCOS according to the Rotterdam criteria in Vellore population.