Phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical evaluation of recombinant human thrombin in multiple surgical indications.
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Antibody Specificity↗
Biomedical subjects
N Singla
Publications and source records attributed to N Singla.
Diagnosing rubella: fallacies and pitfalls.
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Antibodies, Viral↗
Should pulmonary tuberculosis patients with heavy pre-treatment bacillary load be given more aggressive treatment even under the DOTS strategy?
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Antitubercular Agents↗
Survey of knowledge, attitudes and practices for tuberculosis among general practitioners in Delhi, India.
SETTING: Random survey of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) for tuberculosis among private practitioners (PPs) in Delhi, India, in 1995. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the KAP of private practitioners for tuberculosis in Delhi where the Revised National Tuberculosis Programme (RNTP) is being field tested. DESIGN: A pre-tested questionnaire survey was performed among 204 doctors attending updates/seminars on tuberculosis in various parts of Delhi. RESULTS: In a suspected case of tuberculosis, sputum examination was advised by only 12% of the PPs, while 89.5% would recommend chest X-ray. For treating tuberculosis 187 PPs were using 102 different regimens, and only 29.4% PPs were using the regimen recommended by the RNTP; 51.3% PPs were over-treating their patients. Only 23.5% of PPs requested sputum examination before the end of treatment, while 35.5% depended on X-ray clearance with clinical improvement. Only 19.5% of PPs emphasized the importance of regular treatment for their patients. CONCLUSION: Among PPs there is marked reliance on X-ray; sputum examination is being neglected for initial diagnosis, treatment monitoring and as a criterion for stopping treatment. The majority of PPs are not aware of, or are not prescribing, the treatment regimen recommended by the RNTP, and the majority of patients are being over-treated. There is a lack of emphasis on proper health education. PPs need more training, and more collaborative efforts are required between public health facilities and practising doctors for national control of tuberculosis.
Adult↗
Awareness about tuberculosis among nurses working in a tuberculosis hospital and in a general hospital in Delhi, India.
SETTING: A tuberculosis institute and a general hospital in Delhi, India. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the awareness of nurses about tuberculosis and to evaluate the differences in awareness, if any, between nurses working in tuberculosis and those in a general hospital. DESIGN: A pretested questionnaire survey was performed on 213 nurses. RESULTS: The present study showed that a substantial number of nurses have inadequate knowledge regarding causative factors, the importance of sputum examination, correct doses of routinely used short-course chemotherapy drugs, the minimum duration of short-course chemotherapy, instructions at discharge, and health education for patients and family members. If responding correctly to 75% of the questions asked is taken as the criterion for satisfactory awareness, only 40.2% of tuberculosis nurses and 10.7% of general hospital nurses had a satisfactory level of awareness. There was no effect of increasing age or years of experience on the level of awareness. CONCLUSIONS: There is a general lack of knowledge regarding various aspects of tuberculosis among nurses. Active interventions are required to improve awareness for a better implementation of the revised national tuberculosis control programme in India.
Adult↗
Leishmania donovani flagellum-specific epitopes mediating host-parasite interactions.
Monoclonal antibodies were developed against flagellar components of promastigotes of Leishmania donovani. The monoclonal antibody produced by clone A11 (mAb A11) recognised epitopes in the polypeptides with molecular weights of 86, 66 and weakly 53 kDa. These epitopes were found to be distributed along the flagellum and at the anterior end of promastigotes. The mAb A11 of IgG1 isotype strongly agglutinated the promastigotes of L. donovani. The prior treatment of promastigotes of L. donovani with mAb A11 resulted in a significant (P < 0.001) reduction in the attachment of promastigotes to cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages of line J774G8. The affinity-purified epitopes identified by mAb A11 were recognised by human sera of cases of visceral leishmaniasis. The present study suggest that flagellar-specific epitopes mediate host-parasite interactions and, therefore, the role of these epitopes in the disease process is speculated.
Animals↗
Anti-66 kDa antileishmanial antibodies as specific immunodiagnostic probe for visceral leishmaniasis.
A 66 kDa plasma membrane associated molecule of promastigotes of Leishmania donovani (MHOM/IN/1978/UR6) was affinity purified under acidic conditions. Employing purified 66 kDa antigen in micro ELISA, 36 (97.3%) of the 37 patients of visceral leishmaniasis (bone marrow aspirates positive for Leishman Donovan bodies) had detectable levels of anti 66 kDa anti leishmanial antibodies. The sera of the patients confirmed to have visceral leishmaniasis had significantly (P < 0.001) higher optical density values (0.636 +/- 0.230) as compared to sera (OD 0.185 +/- 0.131) from patients clinically suspected to have visceral leishmaniasis (bone marrow aspirates negative for Leishman Donovan bodies). None of the 35 sera from apparently healthy subjects from non endemic area had anti 66 kDa antibodies. However, sera from one (8.3%) of the 12 healthy subjects, who was a first degree relative of a patient of visceral leishmaniasis and residing in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis, had anti 66 kDa antibodies. It is felt that detection of anti 66 kDa antibodies in a micro ELISA assay provides a highly sensitive and specific tool for confirming ongoing visceral leishmaniasis.
Animals↗
Acid phosphatase activity of promastigotes of Leishmania donovani: a marker of virulence.
Seven cloned lines of promastigotes of Leishmania donovani (UR 6) were isolated by limiting dilution. One clone, UR6-C25, failed to multiply inside the macrophages of line J774G8 and thus was labelled as avirulent. Another, UR6-C24, multiplied inside macrophages, had a virulence index as high as 93 +/- 9.8 and was thus labelled as highly virulent. The other five clones had variable degree of virulence indices ranging from 46.4 +/- 5.8 to 67.6 +/- 3.5. No significant difference in the degrees of attachment of virulent and avirulent populations of promastigotes to macrophages was observed, suggesting no difference in the ligand utilised by these populations for attachment to the macrophages. Acid phosphatase activity of cloned promastigotes correlated with the degree of virulence. These data suggest that acid phosphatase activity could be used as a marker to differentiate avirulent from virulent populations of promastigotes of L. donovani.
Acid Phosphatase↗
Isolation of the 66-kilodalton polypeptide from promastigotes of Leishmania donovani as a ligand molecule for binding to macrophages.
A 66-kDa major plasma membrane-associated molecule of promastigotes of Leishmania donovani (UR6) was purified by affinity chromatography. The immunoreactivity of the 66-kDa molecule was lost upon exposure to heat or treatment with trypsin. The metaperiodate oxidation significantly reduced its immunoreactivity. The 66-kDa molecule is, therefore, glycoprotein in nature. With a fluorescent probe, the 66-kDa molecule was found to be located on the tip of flagellum and on the kinetoplast. The exposure of promastigotes of L. donovani to monospecific anti-66-kDa antibodies significantly reduced the percentage of macrophages with attached promastigotes in the cultured cell line (J774G8). The data suggested that promastigotes of L. donovani utilize the 66-kDa molecule in recognizing and as ligand for binding to macrophages.
Animals↗
Evaluation of the direct agglutination test as an immunodiagnostic tool for kala-azar in India.
The direct agglutination test (DAT) has been assessed as a diagnostic procedure for visceral leishmaniasis. Fifty-six of 58 sera (96.5%) from confirmed cases of visceral leishmaniasis, whose bone marrow aspirates contained Leishmania donovani amastigotes, had agglutinating antibodies above the cut-off titre of 1:800. None of the sera from healthy control subjects from non-endemic or endemic areas had anti-leishmanial antibodies. Similarly, none of the sera obtained from cases of malaria or tuberculosis had agglutinating antibodies above the cut-off titre. A significant decline in agglutinating antibody titre in 3 cases following antileishmanial chemotherapy appeared to correlate with regression of clinical symptoms and the absence of amastigotes from bone marrow aspirates. One of 3 cases developed post-kala-azar dermal lesions and sera from this subject had an elevated agglutinating antibody titre. It is concluded that the DAT is a sensitive and specific test to confirm visceral leishmaniasis. As the formalin-fixed promastigotes, stained with Coomassie blue, which are used as antigen could be stored at 4 degrees C for 6 months without any loss of ability to detect anti-leishmanial antibodies, the DAT is recommended for use under field conditions.
Agglutination Tests↗