Ramnarain Ruia College

Lithium is an emerging contaminant of land and aquatic ecosystems. Continuous discharge of anthropological inputs could raise lithium concentration in ecosystems to alarming levels, toxic for many animals. Interestingly, lithium is also a neuromodulator in vertebrates. Here, we used local species of diploblastic cnidarian-Hydra viridissima to assess lithium-induced toxicity to aquatic ecosystems. Lethal concentration (LC-50) of lithium was determined by scoring morphology of Hydra. Feeding response and phototactic response was assessed to test effect of sub-lethal dose of lithium on behaviour of Hydra. Sequence alignment of direct intracellular targets of lithium in Hydra and humans was done using multiple sequence alignment tools. At 96 h of exposure, LC-50 of LiCl was found to be 0.5 mM (3.45 mg/L of lithium). At 72 h of exposure, LC-50 of LiCl was found to be 0.97 mM (6.69 mg/L of lithium). Sub-lethal concentration of 0.05 mM LiCl (0.345 mg/L lithium) at 96 h, significantly affected feeding behaviour of Hydra, but had no effect on phototactic response. Our molecular sequence analysis revealed conserved lithium binding sites on direct molecular targets of lithium across Hydra and humans. Lithium contaminated surface waters could be toxic to Hydra, and may affect its behaviour. Molecular targets for action of lithium are possibly conserved across Hydra and humans. Further understanding of the mechanism and scope of the lithium-induced toxicity would help us regulate environmental hazards caused by increased lithium levels in ecosystems due to anthropogenic activities.

Introduction: During the last two decades, the evaluation and management of renal and upper ureteric stones has vastly altered. The era of endoscopic surgery replaced open pyelolithotomy or nephrolithotomy which caused a significant morbidity. During this decade we saw evolution of endoscopic surgery where Mini PCNL (Mini Perc), Ultra Mini and Micro Perc have further achieved stone clearance with better outcomes pertaining to reduced morbidity because of reduction in caliber of tract dilatation, even avoiding a nephrostomy post rocedure in select cases. Aim of this study summarizes the outcome of patients undergoing Mini Perc. The primary objective of the study was to get post-Operative evaluation of complications associated with Mini Perc by Modified Clavien Dindo Grading and secondary objectives were to see Post-Operative pain assessment by Visual Analogue scale and to see Stone clearance rate of the surgical procedure. Materials and Methods: Research was carried out in the form of a Hospital-based prospective observational study as per the guidelines shared by the Prospective Observational Clinical Studies Good Research Practices Task Force (formed May 16, 2010). Hospital-based prospective observational study of 78 consecutive patients who underwent Mini Perc between Aug 2018 and May 2020 at tertiary care centre were vetted against the criteria for inclusion and exclusion. The management policy for pelvicalyceal calculi at the study centre has closely followed those of the American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines for managing renal stones. Results: The mean age of the group was 43.3 years (range 16-84) with 47 males and 38 females. Mean stone size was 20.11 mm (range 11-38 mm) and mean operative time was 44.5 min (range 29-98 min). Double J (DJ) stent was placed in all patients as a prophylaxis to prevent obstructive uropathy / post op urinary leak. Postoperatively, the most commonly noted complication was fever recorded in 12 (15.38%) patients followed by bleeding at the surgical site in 03 (3.84%) patients. Sepsis was noted in 02 (2.56%) patients, pleural injury in 01(1.28) patient. Haemorrhage requiring intervention was recorded in 01 (1.28%) of patients. Pain assessment done at specified interval showed progressive decreasing trend in intensity as evaluated by visual analogue scale. The stone clearance rate in our study was 96.15% at the end of one month following post op period. Conclusion: The study shows that Mini Perc remains standard of care for management of Renal and upper ureteric stone. The technique beyond doubt is safe, efficient, feasible and economical in achieving excellent stone clearance rates. The Modified Clavien-Dindo system of grading for perioperative complications is easy to use and reproducible. It can be used as an objective and reliable method for describing the complications of the surgical procedure.

Polypyrrole (PPy)-molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) is a polymer-metal oxide composite (99.9% pure) obtained when two are mixed mechanically with different wt% in acetone medium to obtain different PPy-MoO3 composite materials. The thick films of pure PPy and PPy-MoO3 polymer-metal oxide composite are prepared by screen printing technique. The prepared mixed composite polymer-metal oxide materials are calcinated at 800 degrees C for 8 h in air. The thick films are investigated for structural, electrical, and morphological properties. The surface morphology of the thick films is studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM) which shows that the films are granular and porous in nature. The gas responses of pure PPy and PPy-MoO3 polymer-metal oxide composite thick films are studied for different gases such as ammonia gas (NH3) and ethanol gas at room temperature. The pure PPy thick film shows the poor response to ammonia and ethanol gas, while the thick film 40PPy-60MoO(3) gave good responses to ethanol gas (50 ppm) at room temperature. The gas selectivity, sensitivity, stability, gas response, and recovery time of the sensor are measured and presented.

Nanotechnology has come up as a protean field integrating concepts of alternate drug delivery systems using nanocarriers. The idea of encapsulating a drug molecule into a colloidal carrier like solid lipid nanoparticle has been a promising approach for development of nanomedicines. In this research work, a hydrophobic, natural, and an anticancer bioflavonoid, morin hydrate (MH) was encapsulated into solid lipid nanoparticles to overcome the issues of its poor aqueous solubility and low oral bioavailability. The prepared morin hydrate loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (MSN) were characterized by DLS, FTIR, and DSC analysis. The MSN showed nanoscale size, good steric stability, and release in simulated intestinal fluid. The in vitro anticancer studies against human cervical cancer cells revealed the higher cytotoxicity of encapsulated MH than free or pure MH. MSN also demonstrated a significant improvement in pharmacokinetics of encapsulated MH.

The fruits from graviola trees (Annona muricata) are used to make a juice that is quite popular in Puerto Rico in the United States, as well as in Mexico, Brazil, Malaysia, China, India and many other countries. Graviola is also known as soursop and guanábana. The vast majority of the scientific literature on graviola describes its potential health effects—especially its anticancer activity. However, overconsumption of graviola fruit and products made from it has been linked to an atypical form of Parkinson's disease that does not respond to the standard treatment (l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine or l-DOPA) (Caparros-Lefebvre and Elbaz, 1999). More recently, it was shown that chronic consumption of graviola juice can trigger and aggravate the phosphorylation of cerebral tau protein, leading to tau pathologies, including Parkinson's disease (Rottcholl et al., 2016). This is due to the presence of a class of neurotoxic compounds called acetogenins (Smith et al., 2015). They are present in not just graviola fruit, seeds, and leaves, but also the fruit, seeds, and leaves of other plants in the Annonaceae family (Höllerhage et al., 2015). Acetogenins exhibit their neurotoxic and anticancer properties by inhibiting the mitochondrial NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I of the respiratory chain) (Höllerhage et al., 2009). Neurotoxicity is also caused by redistributing the tau protein and modulating the phosphorylation of histone proteins (Lee et al., 2011). There are four goals of this chapter. First, the chemical properties of neurotoxic acetogenins are described. Second, the previously published in vitro, in vivo, and epidemiological data that demonstrated the ability of acetogenins and graviola juice to cause atypical Parkinson's disease is given. Third, the concentrations of acetogenins that were found in graviola and other fruits in the Annonaceae family is presented, along with a description of the methods used to quantify them. Finally, other important compounds and nutrients that are present in graviola and other fruits in the Annonaceae family are listed. This includes fatty acyl glycosides that act as detergents that suspend lipophilic acetogenins in juices and other aqueous solutions, making them more bioavailable.