PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

N Rai

Publications and source records attributed to N Rai.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Development of rabies DNA vaccine using a recombinant plasmid.

A recombinant plasmid pTargeT.rabgp containing the glycoprotein (G) gene of Rabies virus (RV) was constructed and produced for immunogenicity studies on mice and dogs. The mice immunized twice with 50 microg or 100 microg of pTargeT.rabgp intramuscularly (i.m.), showed a serum antibody titer of 256 or 64, respectively 14 days post immunization (p.i.). When the vaccinated mice were challenged at 14 days p.i. with RV i.c., they were protected in 81.25% or 87.5%, respectively. A positive cell mediated immune response was observed by lymphocyte proliferation assay and macrophage migration inhibition test. These results indicate that the pTargeT.rabgp plasmid can be used as a rabies DNA vaccine.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Problems and pitfalls in cardiac drug therapy.

Medical errors in the care of patients may account for 44,000 to 98,000 deaths per year, and 7,000 deaths per year are attributed to medication errors alone. Increasing awareness among health care providers of potential errors is a critical step toward improving the safety of medical care. Because today's medications are increasingly complex, approved at an accelerated rate, and often have a narrow therapeutic window with only a small margin of safety, patient and provider education is critical in assuring optimal therapeutic outcomes. Providers can use electronic resources such as Web sites to keep informed on drug-drug, drug-food, and drug-nutritional supplements interactions.

California↗
PubMed1998

Solar retinopathy. A study from Nepal and from Germany.

319 patients with a solar retinopathy were seen in an eye clinic in Nepal within 20 months. All patients had either a positive history of sun-gazing or typical circumscribed scars in the foveal area. In more than 80% of the patients the visual acuity was 6/12 or better and did not deteriorate over time. 126 (40%) patients had a history of gazing at the sun during an eclipse, 33 (10%) were sun worshipers and 4 (1%) were in both categories. Three years later 29 patients were re-examined in a follow-up study. Only 16 had had visual disturbances directly after they had gazed into the sun. No colour vision defects were seen in any of the 44 affected eyes, when tested with Panel D 15, while four patients (6 eyes) had some uncertainty with the tritan plates of the Ishihara test charts. Metamorphopsia were recorded in 11 eyes. Five German patients with solar retinopathy were examined in more detail. Colour contrast sensitivity (CCS) was tested for the central and the peripheral visual field. CCS for tritan axis was raised in all patients for the central visual field, while it was normal for the peripheral visual field.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Toxoplasma antibody prevalence in Nepalese pregnant women and women with bad obstetric history.

Sera from randomly selected 345 pregnant Nepalese women aged 16-36 years and 13 women with bad obstetric history (BOH) were tested for the presence of Toxoplasma antibodies using microlatex agglutination (MLA) and ELISA methods. The overall prevalence was 55.4% (191/345). Prevalence was slightly higher (59.0%) in older age-group (27-36 years) compared with younger age-group (16-26 years) (52.2%). No significant difference in antibody prevalence in women belonging to two different ethnic-groups (Tibeto-Burmans 57.8%, Indo-Aryans 52.7%) was observed (p>0.05). MLA antibody titer ranged from 1:16 to 1:2,048. Over three-fourth of the women showed either high (1:510 or over) or low (1:16 or 1:32) antibody titer. Three percent (6/191) of MLA antibody positive subjects had Toxoplasma IgM antibodies by IgM-ELISA. All six IgM antibody positive pregnant women had MLA antibody titer of over 1:510. Of the total 13 women with BOH, 5 (38.5%) had Toxoplasma antibodies of which 2 (40.0%) were positive for Toxoplasma-IgM antibodies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Ultrastructure of the tegument of the trematode Ganeo tigrinum parasitizing the intestine of Indian frogs.

The surface tegument of G. tigrinum generally resembles that described for other digeneans. It contains surface tubercles and is covered with a glycocalyx. In the anterior region the tegument bears spines while tubular-like canals and occasional deep invaginations are present on the anteroventral surface. Two types of secretory body are present in the tegumental syncytium and produced in separate tegumental cells. Mitochondria are present in the surface syncytium, suggesting active transport occurs across the tegument in non-hibernating frogs.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

A histological study of the eye lesions in 12 leprosy patients with tuberculoid lesion in 4 eyes.

The histological reactions in 12 eyes of 12 leprosy patients were studied (5 BT, 1 BB, 1 BL and 5 LL). Granuloma lesions composed of epithelioid cells, Langerhans giant cells, macrophages and lymphocytes were found in various intraocular tissues, e.g. cornea, sclera, iris, ciliary body or retina in 4 patients (1 BT and 3 LL). Of the 3 LL patients, according to the records, 2 were cured and in the other patient the outcome of the treatment was not mentioned. In view of the finding of the granulomatous lesions in the clinically cured patients and tuberculoid granuloma in the intraocular tissues in the LL patients, could there be some peculiarities in the intraocular sites? Or perhaps the tuberculoid reaction is just a manifestation of an upgrading reaction? More examinations on human leprosy eye specimens will be needed to answer these questions.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Histopathological findings in the iris of dapsone treated leprosy patients.

From 43 Nepalese leprosy patients skin smear negative, and treated with dapsone (diamino diphenyl sulphone), and without any sign of active leprosy or iritis, specimens from iridectomy during cataract surgery were studied histopathologically. Of 49 iris specimens only six (12%) were found to be without any histopathological change. Atrophy of the iris stroma was seen in 63% and neovascularisation in 6% of all cases. In 16% in which the dilator muscle could be detected, it was atrophic, and in 11% the pigmented epithelium was thinned and atrophic. Cellular inflammatory infiltrations were seen in 88% of all specimens. They were mostly slight in eyes which before operation had been without posterior synechiae of the iris. In most of the eyes in which posterior synechiae had been present moderate or heavy inflammatory cell infiltrates composed of lymphocytes and plasma cells, often associated with macrophages, neutrophils, or eosinophils, were found. In five iris specimens acid fast bacilli were present. This raises the question whether these can survive systemically despite dapsone chemotherapy in the iris, thus leading to dapsone-resistant leprosy and to recurrent iritis.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

A spectrophotometric method for calmodulin assay.

The activity of calmodulin as an activator of cAMP phosphodiesterase was assayed. AMP was hydrolyzed by 5'-nucleotidase, and the adenosine formed was measured by both liquid scintillation counting and spectrophotometry at 265 nm. Calmodulin activities measured by the two methods were equivalent, indicating that spectrophotometric assay of calmodulin can be used in place of the isotopic method.

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases↗
PubMed1987

Intestinal brush border calmodulin: key role in the regulation of NaCl transport in Giardia lamblia infected mice.

Activity of calmodulin and uptake of Ca2+, Na+ and Cl- was studied in control and Giardia lamblia infected mice. The activity of calmodulin was found to be significantly increased (p less than 0.001) in the experimental group as compared to control group. The uptake of Ca2+ increased significantly (p less than 0.001) while that of Na+ and Cl- decreased (p less than 0.001) in brush border membrane (BBM) vesicles from experimental group as compared to control group. In the presence of calmodulin inhibitor, trifluoperazine (TFP), the transport of Na+ and Cl- increased significantly (p less than 0.05) as compared to in the absence of inhibitor while transport of Ca2+ remained unaltered.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Changes in total and mitochondrial nucleic acid content in aging Caryedon serratus Oliver (Coleoptera).

Aging in the beetle Caryedon serratus was accompanied by a decline in total DNA content (9.28% in males and 9.79% in females). Mitochondrial DNA remained constant until the 11th day of age and then decreased gradually with advancing age in both sexes. RNA content and the RNA/DNA ratio showed similar changes in whole body as well as mitochondrial fractions. The two parameters decreased continuously and significantly (p less than 0.001) in males whereas in females an initial rise during the reproductive period was followed by decline until death. The observations suggest that there is a loss of mitochondria in the senescent period and a decline in the total nucleic acid content and protein synthetic capacity of C. serratus.

Aging↗
PubMed1986

Life span studies in Zaprionus paravittiger with sodium hypophosphite feeding.

The median and maximum life spans of Zaprionus paravittiger at 26 +/- 2 degrees C were 35.45 +/- 0.39 and 70.0 +/- 1.00 days, respectively, in males and 39.93 +/- 0.40 and 77.67 +/- 0.58 days in females. Feeding of an antioxidant-sodium hypophoshite (SHP), 1, 10 1 X 10(2) and 1 X 10(3) microM-resulted in increased survival of both sexes. Further increase in SHP concentration accelerated the mortality rate. Secondly, the lipid peroxide level as measured by malondialdehyde content showed an age-related increase in normal as well as SHP-fed cohorts. However, the rate of increase was much slower in the latter. It is suggested that SHP, by virtue of its free-radical scavenging property, prolongs the life span of Z. paravittiger.

Aging↗
PubMed1984

Age-related changes in nucleic acids and protein in Callosobruchus maculatus Fabr. (Coleoptera).

The mean life span of Callosobruchus maculatus male is 7 days and female is 5 days at 30 +/- 1 degrees C. Age-related study on C. maculatus shows that RNA and protein contents gradually decline with age in male bruchids, whereas in females initially these increase up to the second day of post-emergent life and subsequently decrease. DNA increases up to the third day in males and the fourth day in females representing post-emergent growth, and then declines sharply on the sixth day. The RNA and protein contents per unit DNA decrease steadily in males; however, in females both are highest during the first 2 days, which synchronizes the egg-laying peak. These observations have been found to be statistically significant (p less than 0.01) and suggest that aging is accompanied by a decrease in both RNA and protein synthesis potential.

Aging↗