PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P M Bulakh

Publications and source records attributed to P M Bulakh.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Sensitivity and specificity of rapid HIV testing of pregnant women in India.

OBJECTIVE: Efforts to prevent HIV transmission from mother to infants in settings like India may benefit from the availability of reliable methods for rapid and simple HIV screening. Data from India on the reliability of rapid HIV test kits are limited and there are no data on the use of rapid HIV tests for screening of pregnant women. METHODS: Pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic and delivery room in Pune agreed to participate in an evaluation of five rapid HIV tests, including (a) a saliva brush test (Oraquick HIV-1/2, Orasure Technologies Inc.), (b) a rapid plasma test (Oraquick HIV-1/2) and (c) three rapid finger prick tests (Oraquick HIV-1/2; HIV-1/2 Determine, Abbott; NEVA HIV-1/2 Cadila). Results of the rapid tests were compared with three commercial plasma enzyme immunoassay (EIA) tests (Innotest HIV AB EIA, Lab systems/ELISCAN HIV AB EIA, UBI HIV Ab EIA). RESULTS: Between September 2000 and October 1, 2001, 1258 pregnant women were screened for HIV using these rapid tests. Forty-four (3.49%) of the specimens were HIV-antibody-positive by at least two plasma EIA tests. All of the rapid HIV tests demonstrated excellent specificity (96-100%). The sensitivity of the rapid tests ranged from 75-94%. The combined sensitivity and specificity of a two-step algorithm for rapid HIV testing was excellent for a number of combinations of the five rapid finger stick tests. CONCLUSION: In this relatively low HIV prevalence population of pregnant women in India, the sensitivity of the rapid HIV tests varied, when compared to a dual EIA algorithm. In general, the specificity of all the rapid tests was excellent, with very few false positive HIV tests. Based upon these data, two different rapid HIV tests for screening pregnant women in India would be highly sensitive, with excellent specificity to reliably prevent inappropriate use of antiretroviral therapy for prevention of vertical HIV transmission.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Elimination of superoxide dismutase interference in fructosamine assay.

OBJECTIVE: Superoxide dismutase (SOD) (EC 1.15.1.1) is reported to decrease the reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) in the fructosamine assay. The study was undertaken to find a method to eliminate this interference. DESIGN AND METHODS: We studied the NBT reduction in the presence and absence of added bovine erythrocyte SOD during fructosamine assay. Formation of reduced NBT decreased with the increasing concentration of SOD. Various inhibitors of SOD were experimented with for effectively eliminating this interference. RESULTS: Cyanide eliminates the interference due to SOD, but is unsuitable because in it's presence glucose becomes reducing under the conditions of fructosamine assay. SOD inhibitors such as EDTA and Azide did not eliminate the effect of SOD. Guanidine. HCl gives opalescence in the reaction mixture. Addition of 2M HCl to the serum and incubation at 37 degrees C for 10 min eliminated the effect of added SOD (70 kU/L). The correlation between deltaA10-20 min of serum treated with HCI in presence and absence of added SOD is y = 0.9011x + 0.01055 with r = 0.9789 and S.E. (y) 0.007686. CONCLUSION: SOD does not interfere in globin bound fructosamine assay as acid-acetone treatment in preparation of heme free globin inhibits SOD. Pretreatment of serum with HCl can satisfactorily eliminate the interference due to SOD in fructosamine assay. The acid treatment could be used to inhibit SOD in various other reactions that are followed with NBT reduction.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Efficacy of potassium and magnesium in essential hypertension: a double-blind, placebo controlled, crossover study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the antihypertensive activity of potassium given alone or in combination with magnesium in patients with mild hypertension. DESIGN: A double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, crossover trial of 32 weeks' duration. SETTINGS: Cardiology outpatient department, Sassoon General Hospitals, Pune, India. PATIENTS: 37 Adults with mild hypertension (diastolic blood pressure less than 110 mm Hg). INTERVENTION: Patients received either placebo or potassium 60 mmol/day alone or in combination with magnesium 20 mmol/day in a crossover design. No other drug treatment was allowed. MEASUREMENTS: Blood pressure and heart rate assessed at weekly intervals and biochemical parameters at monthly intervals. RESULTS: Potassium alone or in combination with magnesium produced a significant reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressures (p less than 0.001) and a significant reduction in serum cholesterol concentration (p less than 0.05); other biochemical variables did not change. Magnesium did not have an additional effect. Urinary potassium excretion increased significantly in the groups who received potassium alone or in combination with magnesium. The drug was well tolerated and compliance was satisfactory. CONCLUSION: Potassium 60 mmol/day lowers arterial blood pressure in patients with mild hypertension. Giving magnesium as well has no added advantage.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Effect of inhibition of lens membrane Na+-K+ ATPase by ouabain pre-treatment--an in vitro study.

The precise factors responsible for the cataract formation are not known. The role of Na+-K+-ATPase in maintaining ionic concentration of lens and lens membrane permeability and its involvement in the formation of cataracts has been of recent interest. Thus the present study was undertaken to study the effect of pre-treatment with Ouabain, a known Na-K-ATPase inhibitor, on the intra-lenticular ionic concentration and the rule of lens membrane permeability in cataractogenesis. Fresh goat lenses were used for the experimental work. Isolated lens culture technique was used. The electrolytes were estimated before and 24 hours after Ouabain pre-treatment. The electrolyte pattern showed significant changes after pre-treatment with Ouabain. Lens sodium ion concentration increased significantly with a concommitant decrease in potassium ion concentration. Intra-lenticular chloride concentration also showed a significant increase as compared to control. Calcium and magnesium ion concentrations also showed slight increase after the inhibition of Na+-K+-ATPase system by Ouabain.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Clofazimine in lepra (ENL) reaction, one year clinical trial.

Twenty patients of lepromatous leprosy with lepra reaction and suspected dapsone resistance were treated with tapering doses of clofazimine. Clinical assessment was carried out every week. Bacteriological examination was carried out every six month. Fifteen patients became reaction free at the end of three months and severity and frequency of reactions was reduced in other patients. Nerve tenderness, arthralgia, nodular eruptions and all other signs and symptoms except anaesthesia showed complete recovery in fifteen patients and severity of the reactions was reduced in others. Gynaecomastia regressed in two out of three patients within nine months. In a majority of patients, the BI and MI was reduced at the end of 3 months, and further reduced after 6 months, and in one case both BI and MI became negative. Clinical and bacteriological improvement is attributed to the antibacterial effect of clofazimine while reduction in incidence of (ENL) reactions was attributed to anti-inflammatory effect of clofazimine. Regression of gynaecomastia may be due to either improvement of involvement of testes or liver or both. Apart from dyschromia clofazimine did not produce any severe side effects or toxicity.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

The effect of clofazimine on liver function tests in lepra reaction (ENL).

Twenty patients with suspected DDS resistance and repeated attacks of lepra reactions were selected for the study. Clofazimine was administered in different doses over a period of 12 months. Elevated levels of transaminases and Alkaline phosphatase prior therapy attained values to near normalcy. Progressive fall in serum Bilirubin and Proteins with normal A/G ratio at the end of therapy was also observed. Clofazimine by its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial action could inhibit the process of liver damage and happened to have minimal deleterious effect on liver by studying the liver function tests.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed1983

Effect of one year clofazimine therapy on autonomic functions in lepromatous leprosy with lepra (ENL) reaction.

Twenty patients of either sex of Lepromatous leprosy with frequent type II (ENL) reactions were selected for the study after exclusion of autonomic disorders. ANS functions were evaluated before and after Clofazimine therapy at an interval of two months for one year. Sweat function test, valsalva manoeuvre, Histamine triple response, cold pressor test and Homatropine instillation were carried out in twenty normal healthy volunteers (controls) and the (ENL) patients. Clofazimine was administered initially 100 mg three times daily for one month and then gradually reduced to a dose of 100 mg biweekly for the last three months. Before the clofazimine therapy, eighteen patients had abnormal sweat functions, five patients had abnormal valsalva score, five patients had abnormal cold pressor response and all the eighteen patients had abnormal histamine triple response test. Homatropine instillation test was normal in all the patients. ANS functions did not improve significantly with Clofazimine therapy, except in one patients with abnormal cold pressor response who showed slight improvement in pressor response which, however, did not reach the normal value. ANS function tests indicate complete involvement of local axon reflex and hyporeactivity of sympathetic system and cardiac regulatory mechanisms in these patients. Parasympathetic system seems to be normal as seen from Homatropine instillation test.

Autonomic Nervous System↗
PubMed1983

Serum lipoproteins in lepromatous leprosy.

Serum total cholesterol and the lipoprotein fractions were studied in forty subjects of lepromatous leprosy and age matched controls. The study revealed a significant decrease in serum cholesterol in the disease group as compared to control group. The decrease in cholesterol was 28.76% An alteration in serum lipoprotein fractions was observed in disease group. The beta-lipoprotein fraction showed a significant decrease along with a rise in alpha-lipoprotein fraction. A positive correlation was also observed between total cholesterol and beta-lipoproteins. The significance of the above findings are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Electrophoretic pattern of proteins in lepromatous leprosy.

Serum total proteins and the various protein fractions were studied in fifty cases of lepromatous leprosy and in eleven cases of lepromatous leprosy with lepra reaction. The study revealed a significant increase in serum total proteins in both lepromatous leprosy and lepra reaction groups, when compared with normal healthy subjects. The percentage rise was found to be 14.5% and 22.95% for lepromatous leprosy and lepra reaction respectively. The globulin fraction showed a significant elevation, while albumin showed a decrease. Thus a reversal of A/G ratio was observed in both the disease groups. Alpha-1 and Alpha-2 globulins were found to be significantly increased in both the disease groups. Beta globulins did not reveal any significant alteration. It was interesting to note the presence of an additional globulin fraction in seventeen patients of lepromatous leprosy and two cases of lepra reaction. Gammaglobulin showed a significant rise in lepromatous leprosy (56.16%) and in lepra reaction (60.72%). The significance of the above findings are discussed in the light of available literature.

Alpha-Globulins↗
PubMed1982

Study of renal changes in leprosy.

Renal lesions observed in 50 cases of chronic leprosy are reported. They include membranous and membranoproliferative glomerular lesions and amyloidosis forming one type possibly resulting from immune complexes. They also include lesions like chronic interstitial nephritis resulting from opportunistic secondary infections and/or drug toxicity. The evaluation of these lesions is discussed and appropriate remedial measures are suggested in the management of leprosy.

Amyloidosis↗
PubMed1982

Serum enzyme profile in tuberculoid leprosy.

Serum enzyme profile was studied in 74 patients with Tuberculoid leprosy and compared with that of 100 healthy controls. The enzymes studied were Aspartate and Alanine Transaminase, Isocitric dehydrogenase, Alkaline phosphatase Choline esterase and Creatine kinase. Both Transaminase and Alkaline phosphatase were in general within normal limits in Tuberculoid leprosy. Creatine kinase levels were found to be significantly elevated. In some of these cases raised levels of Serum Aspartate Transaminase was also noticed--evidence for skeletal muscle destruction. Mild increases in Isocitric dehydrogenase and a concomitant increase in Alanine Transaminase in some of the patients suggest a sub-clinical hepatic damage. A statistically significant decrease in Serum Choline esterase level was noticed in this study on Tuberculoid leprosy patients.

Adolescent↗