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Biomedical subjects

R Aggarwal

Publications and source records attributed to R Aggarwal.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Hepatitis E virus RNA detection in serum and feces specimens with the use of microspin columns.

This report describes the use of microspin columns for extraction of hepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA from stool and serum specimens for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and compares this method with the glass powder method. The microspin column method was found to be 1- to 2-log more sensitive in detecting HEV RNA than the glass powder method and had better reproducibility. The microspin column method also detected HEV RNA in a larger number of specimens than the glass powder method from among a panel of serum and stool specimens. Use of this method may allow better assessment of viremia and fecal excretion in patients and experimental animals infected with HEV.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Oesophageal motility and gastro-oesophageal reflux: effect of variceal eradication by endoscopic sclerotherapy.

Endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) is known to produce oesophageal structural and motility changes; however, alterations in frequency and severity of gastro-oesophageal reflux (GER) following EIS have not been investigated in detail. We studied 22 patients with cirrhosis and oesophageal varices before EIS and 26 after variceal eradication with intravariceal EIS using manometry and 24 h pH monitoring. The post-EIS group had reduced oesophageal sphincter pressure (19.2+/-11.4 vs 26.1 +/-16.4 mmHg, P< 0.05) and slower velocity of oesophageal peristalsis (2.47+/-0.71 vs 3.06+/-0.77 cm/s, P< 0.01) than the pre-EIS patients. There was no difference in the amplitude or duration of the contraction. Abnormal contraction wave-forms were observed more frequently in post-EIS than in the pre-EIS patients (3/22 vs 12/26, P< 0.05). Various quantitative parameters for GER were not increased in post-EIS compared with pre-EIS patients. Abnormal GER was present in nine of 21 pre-EIS and eight of 17 post-EIS patients (no significant difference). These results suggest that although persistent oesophageal motility changes are frequent after intravariceal EIS, these do not lead to a significant increase in GER.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Significance of elevated IgG anticardiolipin antibody levels in patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is characterized by hepatic venous outflow obstruction. Though hypercoagulable states are implicated in the causation of BCS, the etiology remains unknown in most cases. Presence of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) is a known cause of hypercoagulable state. We therefore studied the frequency of IgG aCL in BCS. METHODS: Sera were obtained from 19 patients with BCS, 50 healthy controls, 18 age- and gender-matched patients with cirrhosis, and 15 patients with acute viral hepatitis. IgG aCL levels were measured using a solid-phase enzyme immunoassay. Values exceeding mean + 2 SD of healthy controls were taken as abnormal. RESULTS: Mean +/- SD IgG aCL levels (GPL units) in the four groups were: healthy controls, 6.3 +/- 4.4; BCS, 13.8 +/- 13.3 (p < 0.05, compared with healthy controls); cirrhosis, 15.1 +/- 14.9 (p < 0.05, compared with healthy controls and p = ns, compared with BCS patients); and acute viral hepatitis, 5.0 +/- 2.5 (p = ns, compared with healthy controls). The levels in BCS and cirrhosis patients were similar (p = ns). The number of patients with elevated aCL was: healthy controls, 3/50; BCS, 6/19; cirrhosis, 7/18; and acute viral hepatitis, 0/15. The number of patients with elevated IgG aCL was significantly higher among patients with BCS and cirrhosis, compared with controls (p = 0.03 and p = 0.002, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with BCS had higher IgG aCL levels than healthy controls. However, as aCL levels were also elevated in patients with cirrhosis, the pathogenetic role of IgG aCL in the causation of BCS is doubtful.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1998

Relationship of manometric findings to symptomatic response after pneumatic dilation in achalasia cardia.

BACKGROUND: Achalasia cardia is usually treated by pneumatic dilation or surgical esophagomyotomy. The role of esophageal manometry for objective assessment of symptom response is controversial. AIM: To study the relationship between symptoms and manometric parameters before and after pneumatic dilation in patients with achalasia cardia. METHODS: Sixteen patients with achalasia cardia underwent esophageal manometry before and after undergoing pneumatic dilation. At each time, lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure and mean basal esophageal-gastric pressure gradient (MIEP-MIGP) were measured. RESULTS: Good symptom response was obtained in 12 of 16 patients. Median (range) LES pressure fell from 42 (17-51) mmHg to 18 (8-39) mmHg in those patients with a good response, and from 51 (25-68) mmHg to 29.5 (23-42) mmHg in those who responded poorly. Mean intraesophageal pressure fell below mean intragastric pressure in both the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Esophageal manometry does not correlate with symptom improvement after pneumatic dilation in achalasia cardia. Dysphagia may persist in spite of reversal of the MIEP-MIGP gradient.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Tetrodotoxin-blockable calcium currents in rat ventricular myocytes; a third type of cardiac cell sodium current.

1. Whole-cell patch clamp currents from freshly isolated adult rat ventricular cells, recorded in external Ca2+ (Ca2+o) but no external Na+ (Na+o), displayed two inward current components: a smaller component that activated over more negative potentials and a larger component (L-type Ca2+ current) that activated at more positive potentials. The smaller component was not generated by Ca2+ channels. It was insensitive to 50 microM Ni2+ and 10 microM La3+ but suppressed by 10 microM tetrodotoxin (TTX). We refer to this component as ICa(TTX). 2. The conductance-voltage, g(V), relation in Ca2+o only was well described by a single Boltzmann function (half-maximum potential, V1/2, of -44.5; slope factor, k, of -4.49 mV, means of 3 cells). g(V) in Ca2+o plus Na+o was better described as the sum of two Boltzmann functions, one nearly identical to that in Ca2+o only (mean V1/2 of -45.1 and k of -3.90 mV), and one clearly distinct (mean V1/2 of -35.6 and k of -2.31 mV). Mean maximum conductance for ICa(TTX) channels increased 23.7% on adding 1 mM Na+o to 3 mM Ca2+o. ICa(TTX) channels are permeable to Na+ ions, insensitive to Ni2+ and La3+ and blocked by TTX. They are Na+ channels. 3. ICa(TTX) channels are distinct from classical cardiac Na+ channels. They activate and inactivate over a more negative range of potentials and have a slower time constant of inactivation than the classical Na+ channels. They are also distinct from yet another rat ventricular Na+ current component characterized by a much higher TTX sensitivity and by a persistent, non-fast-inactivating fraction. That ICa(TTX) channels activate over a more negative range of potentials than classical cardiac Na+ channels suggests that they may be critical for triggering the ventricular action potential and so of importance for cardiac arrhythmias.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Frequency dependent effects on Cai transients and cell shortening in myocytes that survive in the infarcted heart.

UNLABELLED: Myocytes that survive in the epicardial border zone of the healing canine infarcted heart provide the substrate for inducible reentrant ventricular arrhythmias. These myocytes have been shown to have altered Ca2+ currents which could impact on Cai homeostasis in these cells. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: To directly measure and compare intracellular Ca2+ transients and cell shortening in myocytes dispersed from control noninfarcted hearts with those from epicardial border zone of 5 day infarcted canine hearts using the Ca2+ sensitive indicator fura-2/AM. Studies were designed to determine and compare the effects of rate and premature stimulation on intracellular Ca2+ in the two cell types. RESULTS: Epicardial cells from noninfarcted hearts (1) exhibited an increase in amplitude of the fura-2 ratio with decreasing pacing cycle length (CL), while cells from the infarcted heart showed the opposite effect; (2) showed more marked acceleration of relaxation of the Cai transient with decreasing CL than myocytes from the infarcted heart; (3) exhibited little or no post rest potentiation in contrast to cells from the infarcted heart; and (4) showed a more rapid recovery during restitution protocols than cells from the infarcted heart. Cell shortening differences were also observed between cell populations in that most cells from the infarcted zone did not show any degree of cell shortening despite the reasonable intracellular Ca2+ transient. CONCLUSIONS: The handling of intracellular Ca2+ in myocytes that have survived in the epicardial border zone is very different from that of normal epicardial myocytes suggesting that there may exist marked heterogeneity in intracellular Ca2+ handling in cells in the in situ healing infarcted heart. Electrophysiologic implications of these findings are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Sexually-transmitted disease (STD) markers in multitransfused children in relation to human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection: impact of STD markers in blood donors.

Association of serological markers for various sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) with Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection among heterosexually promiscuous blood donors is well recognized. However, possibility of similar association among children receiving transfusion from these donors has not been adequately explored. Study on the association of some STD markers with HIV-1 infection in multitransfused (MT) children showed that both HIV-1 positive and HIV-1 negative groups of children had significantly higher prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers, i.e. HBsAg (23 and 30 per cent), anti-HBs (46 and 57 per cent), anti-HBc (18 and 23 per cent), antibodies to cytomegalovirus of IgM class (36 and 37 per cent) and IgG class (72.7 and 70 per cent), IgG antibodies to Herpes Simplex Virus type-2 (23 and 23 per cent) compared to control group. However, seropositivity for HIV-1 infection could not be attributed as a risk factor for any of these markers in the group of MT children. On the contrary, significant association of anti HBc, anti HCV, CMV IgG and antitreponemal antibody with HIV-1 infection could be recorded in the group of blood donors. It appeared that due to low prevalence of HIV-1 infection among blood donors in India, both HIV-1 positive and HIV-1 negative groups of MT children received transfusion from HIV negative donors predominantly resulting in a comparable prevalence of STD markers in both the groups of MT children due to cumulative effect of transfusion from HIV-1 negative donors.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed1997

Ca(2+)-dependent outward currents in myocytes from epicardial border zone of 5-day infarcted canine heart.

Myocytes from the epicardial border zone (EBZ) of the 5-day infarcted canine heart (IZ) have abnormal transmembrane action potentials, reduced L-type Ca2+ currents (ICa,L) and altered intracellular Ca2+ (Cai) transients compared with those of normal epicardial myocytes (NZ). We hypothesized that altered Cai cycling might be reflected in differences in Cai-dependent outward currents (Ito2). We recorded Ito2 in NZ and IZ using whole cell patch-clamp techniques. Ito2 was defined as the amplitude of the 4-aminopyridine-resistant transient outward current that was blocked by 200 microM 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS) or DIDS+ ryanodine (2 microM). Ito2 were present in both NZ and IZ, but peak density was significantly reduced in IZ, particularly at positive plateau voltages. Time course of decay of Ito2 was biexponential and similar in NZ and IZ. A given peak ICa,L was usually associated with a smaller peak Ito2 in IZ. These differences were exaggerated when Ito2 and Cai transients were determined in rapidly paced cells. In summary, myocytes surviving in the EBZ of the infarcted heart have Ito2, yet they are reduced in density and can vary, particularly at fast pacing rates.

4,4'-Diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-Disulfonic Acid↗
PubMed1997

Esophageal achalasia presenting during pregnancy.

We report a woman with achalasia cardia who developed dysphagia for the first time during pregnancy. She was initially mistakenly treated elsewhere as hyperemesis gravidarum. The diagnosis and treatment of achalasia during pregnancy is reviewed.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Professional advice on common breastfeeding problems: a primary care study.

This study investigated the advice given on breastfeeding problems by community health professionals involved with breastfeeding mothers in the Huntingdon area. A questionnaire on 10 common breastfeeding problems was used, and had a significant educational effect on the GP and health visitor groups.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1997

Rapid diagnosis of chlamydial infection in patients with pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility by immunoperoxidase assay.

The study describes the value of specific chlamydial IgM antibody detection by indirect immunoperoxidase assay (IPA) for early confirmation of cases of primary infertility and pelvic inflammatory diseases (PID) of chlamydial aetiology. Forty-eight infertile women and forty-six women with acute PID were screened. Seven (14.2%) infertility patients and twenty-one (45.6%) PID patients had positive titers for chlamydia trachomatis. The difference in incidence of antichlamydial antibodies in the study group as compared with control was statistically significant (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that in the absence of tissue culture facilities, detection of specific chlamydial IgM antibody is a sensitive serological marker for specific diagnosis of chlamydial infection.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗