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Biomedical subjects

N Biswal

Publications and source records attributed to N Biswal.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Enteric fever: a changing perspective.

All the cases of enteric fever admitted between 1988-1992 were studied. There was a gradual rise in the number of admitted cases. Central nervous system (CNS) complications like encephalopathy (14.9%), meningitis (8.8%), seizures (8.5%) and cerebellitis (3.4%) were noted more during 1991 and 1992. Other complications like myocarditis (4.6%), hepatitis (9.5%) and gastrointestinal bleeding were noted in increasing numbers during 1991-1992. Multidrug resistant (MDRT) cases were 46.3% in 1991 and 33.5% in 1992. There was a significant difference in the time taken for defervescence (a gradual rise) between the years but between the individual drugs there was no such significant difference. Deaths were noted only in 1991 and 1992 in cases of MDRT with complications. There has been an increase in resistance of S. typhi to commonly used drugs like ampicillin, chloramphenicol and cotrimoxazole. S. typhi resistant to ciprofloxacin was cultured in 2 cases each from 1990-1992. Further, the time taken for defervescence with ciprofloxacin also showed a gradual rise from 3.5 days in 1990 to 6.2 days in 1992. Nevertheless, ciprofloxacin is still the drug of choice for treatment of complicated cases of MDRT.

Anti-Bacterial Agents

In vitro multidrug resistance of P388 murine leukemia selected for resistance to diaziquone.

P388 leukemia sublines were isolated from leukemia-cell-bearing CD2F1 mice that had been treated in vivo with increasing amounts of diaziquone (AZQ). The sublines isolated for in vitro studies were AZQ19 and AZQ30 which corresponded to the 19th and 30th in vivo passages, respectively. The AZQ19 subline displayed a very low degree of resistance to AZQ (1.5-fold), whereas the AZQ30 subline was sensitive. Both sublines, however, had much higher degrees of resistance to Adriamycin than to AZQ (24-fold for AZQ30 cells and 10-fold for AZQ19 cells). Both cell lines were also more resistant to actinomycin D, colchicine, and vincristine than to AZQ. The AZQ19 line was resistant to the alkylator thio-TEPA to the same degree that it was to AZQ, but the AZQ30 line was sensitive to thio-TEPA. On the other hand, AZQ30 cells were resistant to hydrogen peroxide with a very low degree of resistance (1.27-fold, P less than 0.05), whereas the AZQ19 line was sensitive. Drug accumulation experiments indicated that AZQ-resistant cells differed from the parental line in that they did not accumulate Adriamycin or vinblastine. In the case of AZQ, however, resistant and parental lines accumulated the same amounts of exchangeable AZQ. Using the immunoblotting technique, no P-glycoprotein was found in resistant cells. The resistant lines consumed oxygen at greater rates than the parental line. Oxygen consumption (Mean +/- SD) in sensitive cells was 2.0 +/- 0.4% O2 consumed/min, whereas in resistant cells it was nearly 3.1 +/- 0.6% O2 consumed/min. The increase in oxygen consumption with drug resistance was statistically significant (P less than 0.01). The kinetics of production of hydroxyl free radicals and of AZQ free radicals were faster in the resistant lines reflecting, in essence, their increased oxygen consumption. It appears that the two sublines analyzed here show resistance mechanisms that may have been elicited by the two distinct chemical constituents of AZQ. Therefore, in the AZQ19-resistant line, the alkylating aspect of AZQ was emphasized, whereas in the AZQ30 line, the quinone and, thus, free radical aspect was emphasized. This is consistent with AZQ30 cells being sensitive to the alkylator thio-TEPA and resistant to hydrogen peroxide, and the AZQ19 line being resistant to thio-TEPA and sensitive to hydrogen peroxide. In addition, the AZQ30 cell line was relatively more resistant than the AZQ19 line to Adriamycin.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem

Regulation of viral and cellular genes in a human neuroblastoma cell line latently infected with herpes simplex virus type 2.

A latent state of the herpes simplex virus type 2 genome was established in a human neuroblastoma cell line (SMS-KCNR) to initiate studies on the mechanism by which host cells interact and regulate latent viral genes. To establish viral latency, it was necessary to prevent virus replication by briefly exposing the infected cells to antiherpetic acycloguanosine (20 microM) and human interferon (120 U/ml). Subsequently however, these cells could be propagated without any antiherpetic agents and almost 60% of the cell population contained viral genome. While these cells did not produce any infectious virus, immunoblot analysis revealed two intracellular polypeptides with molecular weights of 87.5 kDa and 67 kDa, respectively, that interacted with hyperimmune anti-HSV2 rabbit serum. Two cellular enzymes, acetylcholinesterase and choline acetyltransferase, involved in metabolism of neurotransmitters were expressed at a higher level in the latently infected cells than in the mock-infected control cells. Infectious HSV-2 could be reactivated from these cells only after the cells had undergone massive morphological differentiation and maturation to flat cell types by extensive treatment with 20 micron bromodeoxyuridine.

Acetylcholinesterase

Reductive activation of diaziquone and possible involvement of free radicals and the hydroquinone dianion.

To analyze the mode of action of diaziquone [AZQ] on DNA, we examined the activity of two AZQ analogues and N,N',N"-triethylenethiophosphoramide on three forms [supercoiled (Form I), open circular (Form II), and linear (Form III)] of PM-2 DNA. The AZQ analogues contained chlorine atoms which substituted either the carbethoxyamino groups or the aziridine groups of the parent compound. N,N',N"-triethylenethiophosphoramide is a triaziridine compound containing pentavalent phosphorus instead of a quinone group. We found that only when reduced with sodium borohydride did AZQ change the topology of the three forms of PM-2 DNA by introducing mainly single strand breaks. The AZQ analogue containing only aziridines (RQ2) was active in both its oxidized and its reduced forms, while the analogue containing only the carbethoxyamino groups (RQ14) or N,N',N"-triethylenethiophosphoramide were not active in either form. Under similar experimental conditions, Adriamycin alone altered the electrophoretic mobility of PM-2 DNA, while borohydride reduced Adriamycin did not. By using electron spin resonance spectroscopy, we showed that dihydrodiaziquone (AZQH2) oxidizes to the semiquinone in the presence of oxygen. Although AZQH2 was active against DNA, it was not active against cellular DNA synthesis as measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation into exponentially growing HEp-2 cells. However, AZQ alone prevented [3H]thymidine incorporation into HEp-2 cells. We found that HEp-2 cells have the ability to reduce AZQ to its free radical anion, but AZQH2 does not autoxidize to the free radical in the presence of cells. The reductive ability of HEp-2 cells may be responsible in part for preventing the oxidation of AZQH2 to the free radical. We found that under our conditions (1-h incubations) the aziridines are essential for the activity of aziridinyl quinones against PM-2 DNA and that in the case of AZQ the hydroquinone is also required.

Aziridines

A DNA topoisomerase activity copurifies with the DNA polymerase induced by herpes simplex virus.

A DNA-relaxing enzyme was found to copurify along with herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1)-induced DNA polymerase throughout a multistep purification scheme. Both the enzymes had similar sedimentation velocity, required high ionic strength for optimal enzymatic activities and showed time dependence of reaction. The DNA-relaxing enzyme however, differed from the HSV-1 DNA polymerase in its requirement for higher Mg2+ concentration, rATP and much broader pH dependence. Furthermore, phosphonoacetic acid, a potent inhibitor of HSV-1 DNA polymerase did not influence the DNA-relaxing activity even at a much higher concentration. On the other hand, the DNA-relaxing enzyme associated with the DNA polymerase may be specified by HSV-1 since IgG fraction of rabbit antisera against the virus-infected cells but not against the mock-infected cells strongly inhibited both the enzymatic activities. Thus, HSV-1-induced DNA polymerase which is known to be associated with a 3' to 5' exonuclease may also be associated with yet another enzymatic activity involved in DNA metabolism.

Animals

Persistence of herpes simplex virus type-2 genome in a human leukemic cell line.

To study the nature of virus-cell interaction in persistently infected cells we have examined production of infectious virus, synthesis of viral DNA and DNA polymerase in a human leukemic cell line K562. It was found that only one of three K562 cell lines was permissive for limited growth of HSV-2 and infectious virus was released in a cyclical fashion. Intranuclear inclusions with electron-dense fibrils and particles resembling viral structures were observed in the virus-infected but not control K562 cells. Viral DNA synthesis could not be detected by centrifugation in CsCl density gradients; but was readily identified by Southern blot hydridization of virus-infected intracellular DNA with purified viral DNA. Viral DNa polymerase was synthesized by infected cells during active infectious virus production. In one of the two K562 cell lines that did not produce infectious virus, a few DNA fragments from infected cells were found to hybridize with purified viral DNA. These results suggest that variable lengths of HSV-2 genome can be harbored and propagated by different human leukemic K562 cells.

Cell Line

The fate of parental herpesvirus DNA after infection with normal and photoinactivated virions.

The fate of the 3H-dT-labelled parental DNA of normal and photoinactivated herpes simplex virus type 1 (KOS strain) was followed for 8 h after infection. The sedimentation coefficients of parental virus DNA from cells infected with normal virons increased and became associated with the replicative intermediates of HSV-1 DNA. When cultured in 5-bromodeoxyuridine-containing medium, the buoyant density of the normal parental virus DNA shifted to the hybrid region (containing heavy and light molecules) of the caesium chloride density gradient. The parental virus DNA of photoinactivated virions, however, degraded quickly and did not participate in progeny virus DNA replication.

Centrifugation, Density Gradient