Search

Background: Hypoglossal nerve schwannomas are uncommon, benign, and slow growing tumors arising from Schwann cells of the peripheral nerve sheath. They are well-documented in adult population. To the best of our knowledge, dumbbell-shaped hypoglossal schwannomas are rare and only 40 cases have been described in literature till date. They are managed surgically which poses signicant challenges including preservation of facial nerve. A 57 year old female presented with periodic spells of headache Case presentation: , imbalance while walking, trouble swallowing, right-sided tongue atrophy, and chronic chest infection. She was subsequently diagnosed with right cerebello-pontine (CP) angle hypoglossal schwannoma with extracranial extension. The tumor was managed by surgery and was performed in two stages: Stage one involved right retromastoid-sub occipital (RMSO) craniectomy with gross total excision of the lesion in the right CP angle followed by endoscopic assisted transoral-transpharyngeal excision of the tumor in the neck. Post-surgery, the patient showed gradual improvement. She could walk independently, her headache sub-sided and she showed slow improvement of lower cranial nerve function. However, during last follow up, it was observed that atrophy on the right side of the tongue still persisted. This case highlights t Conclusion: he importance of accurate diagnosis and treatment of hypoglossal schwannoma. Complete surgical excision is the recommended treatment for hypoglossal schwannoma which subsequently lowers the risk of recurrence and gives a good prognosis

Purpose: Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) is a central nervous system (CNS) World Health Organization (WHO) grade 1 glial tumor that is highly prevalent in children and young adults. The main aim of the study was to assess the frequency, clinicopathological features and treatment of PAs along with their immunohistochemical and molecular analyses. Methods: Approximately, 144 glial tumors were diagnosed in patients from 3 to 75 yrs of age from January 2015 to March 2022. The tumors were classified according to 2021 CNS WHO classification. Nine pediatric PA patients were identified and their clinical data analyzed. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) and molecular analysis using the real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were performed for the PAs. Standard deviations were calculated using the Microsoft excel for statistical validations. Results: The mean age of the glioma patients was 41.7 yrs ± 18.2 with a male/female ratio of 1.3:1. The most common form of glial tumor was found to be astrocytoma CNS WHO grade 2 (31.9 %). Other frequently occurring tumors were astrocytoma CNS WHO grade 3 (29.2 %), astrocytoma CNS WHO grade 4 (13.9 %), diffuse astrocytoma CNS WHO grade 2 (7.4 %), PA CNS WHO grade 1 (6.9 %), and oligodendroglioma CNS WHO grade 3 (4.2 %). The pediatric PA cohort had a mean age of 9.2 yrs ± 4.9 with a male/female ratio of 2:1. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) positive immunostaining and retention of transcriptional regulator ATRX expression was seen in all the tested PAs. None of the PAs showed isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1), MIB1, and tumor protein p53 expression. The KIAA1459-BRAF fusion was detected in four PAs. Surgical intervention with total or radical tumor excision was performed for the PA patients. Most PA patients exhibited improved condition post-surgery. Conclusion: With the advent of healthcare and newer diagnostic facilities there is increased incidence of glial tumors in developing countries. Combination of histological, immunohistochemical, and molecular analysis is very important for the diagnosis, accurate treatment, and prognosis of PA patients.

The study aims to monitor pesticide and antibacterial drug residues in food of animal origin namely eggs, chicken, chevon and cow milk using two modified multi-residue analytical methods for simultaneous detection and quantification of thirteen pesticides with gas chromatography-electron capture detector (GC-ECD) and four antibacterial drugs with high performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). A total of 462 egg, 503 chicken, 575 chevon and 570 milk samples were collected from the local markets, dairy farms and households in twelve districts of West Bengal and four districts of Odisha, India. Samples were procured in summer and winter season. The validation of the method included the determination of limit of detection, limit of quantification, linearity, accuracy and precision and an inter- and intra-day assay of the method. Good linearity was obtained (r2 > 0.99), the recovery % ranged from 85.07 to 93.53% for antibacterial drugs and from 82.0 to 99.47% for pesticides, inter-assay and intra-assay variability were below 10 and 15% and repeatability was

Antitumor potential of a 1,4-dihydropyridine derivative (DHP-8) has been successfully studied previously in a number of cancer cell lines including the human melanoma cells, A375. In order to validate its anticancer activity, DMBA induced tumor in Swiss Albino mice was considered for this study. DMBA causes skin carcinoma in murine systems and is an important in vivo model for evaluating the efficacy of any new chemical entity against skin cancer. Topical administration of DHP-8 at the dose rate of 33.3 and 50.0 mg/kg body weight showed a significant reduction in tumor parameters. It also prevented the progression and differentiation of squamous cell carcinoma, as evidenced from histopathological studies. Immunohistochemical analysis for the expression of Ki67 indicated that it also reduced cancer cell proliferation. Additionally, it induced apoptosis in the tumor cells by activation of Caspase3. Our results indicated that DHP-8 efficiently attenuated DMBA induced tumor progression and it could be a potent therapeutic agent for skin cancer treatment.

Leaf senescence is an intricate process that requires time-dependent transitions of cellular physiology and metabolism. It is a coordinated process that includes interaction between cells and organs. It requires the combined functions of hundreds of genes, enzymes, and signaling pathways that desegregate various endogenous and exogenous signals, controlled by many layers of regulation. The timing of senescence is affected by developmental and environmental signals throughout the leaf life span. In plants, the process involves morphological, biochemical, and molecular changes that permit the remobilization of nutrients in a well-synchronized way from senescence-affected leaves toward the growing leaves, developing fruits, seeds, and buds. Significant research has been done to understand leaf senescence by means of genetic and molecular studies. Recently developed omics techniques help in the identification, isolation, and characterization of senescence-associated genes (SAGs) and functions of relative proteins in the last few years. The functioning of SAGs is regulated genetically and epigenetically by plant hormones, nutrients, protein degradation, and nitrogen mobilization. Hormonal regulation and sugar signaling play a central role in leaf senescence, which can influence the plant growth, stress responses and timing of leaf senescence. All known phytohormones to date affect leaf senescence by some means, but the functions of ethylene and cytokinin in the process still need to be explored. It has been hard to study the role of various hormones in regulating the initiation and development of leaf senescence. Some studies have proved that phytohormones play an important role in delaying and accelerating leaf senescence by declining or increasing their levels and site of action. This chapter includes information about the potential biochemical and molecular events that take place during developmental senescence and the prominent roles of hormones that involve developmental aging, initiation, and progression of senescence.

Persistence of antibacterial drugs for prolonged period in milk increases the probability of antimicrobial resistance progress. Ceftizoxime was found to be excreted in milk for a prolonged period in goats, cows and buffaloes following intravenous injection of ceftriaxone and ceftizoxime. A single dose of ceftriaxone was administered intravenously in healthy control goats (group I) and a single oral dose of the commercial mammary protective polyherbal drug (1.9 gm) was given one hour prior to intravenous ceftriaxone injection in healthy (group II) and induced mastitic (group III) goats to evaluate milk disposition of ceftizoxime following single intravenous dosing of ceftriaxone at 42.25 mg kg−1.Ceftriaxone/ceftizoxime was analyzed by HPLC. The t1/2α and t1/2β values were 14.755 ± 2.733 and 149.079 ± 18.565 hour, respectively indicating prolonged persistence of ceftizoxime in milk. The polyherbal drug increased the milk concentration at later hours and hastened the excretion of ceftizoxime from milk compared to control group. Ceftriaxone could not be detected in milk. The study suggested that adjunct single or repeated therapy of the polyherbal drug may cause non persistence of ceftriaxone and shorter persistence of ceftizoxime in milk.

Terpenoids are the most functionally and structurally varied group of plant metabolites. These are synthesized in all organisms but are especially abundant and diverse in plants. Despite their diversity of functions and structures, all terpenoids are derived from the common five-carbon (C5) building unit, isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and its isomer dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) through MEP pathway in all living organisms. The MEP pathway synthesizes IPP and DMAPP in plastids in plants and more complex terpenoids are usually formed by “head-to-tail” or “head-to-head” addition of isoprene units. Monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs) are one of important class of terpenoids which are C10 terpenoids, consisting of two isoprene units and are the components of more than 2000 defined compounds. These are a large group of plant-derived natural products with a range of pharmacological properties. These MIAs are potent drugs, such as anticancer, antimalarial, and antiarrhythmic agents. These MIAs have been found in eight different plant families, being most common in Apocynaceae, Rubiaceae, and Loganiaceae. Madagascar periwinkle, Catharanthus roseus, the best-characterized MIA-producing plant species, is the source of the valuable MIAs. It has approximately 130 alkaloids of indole group, out of which 25 are dimeric in nature. Some of these compounds have important medicinal properties such as anticancerous property (vincristine and vinblastine) and antiarrhythmic property (ajmalicine and serpentine). In the present chapter, molecular network of monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs) signaling in plants with reference to Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don has been reviewed.