Biomedical subjects

Vinita Das

Publications and source records attributed to Vinita Das.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

MTHFR 677C-->T and 1298A-->C polymorphisms: evaluation of maternal genotypic risk and association with level of neural tube defect.

BACKGROUND: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are common birth defects (1 in 1,000) leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Periconceptional folic acid supplementation helps in prevention of 70% of NTDs. Recently, polymorphisms in genes encoding enzymes of the folate pathway have been implicated in causation of NTDs. Since the closure of neural tube occurs at multiple sites, the etiology of defect at different sites may be different - which explains the failure of folic acid supplementation to prevent all NTDs. METHODS: Molecular analysis of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphisms was carried out using polymerase chain reaction and restriction enzyme digestion. We studied the association of these polymorphisms in mothers with a previous child with NTD and further refined the risk by stratification based on level of defect. RESULTS: The frequency of 677C-->T homozygotes was higher in mothers with a previous child with NTD than the controls (OR = 1.6 (0.38-6.7), 95% CI, p = 0.72) but the difference was statistically insignificant. There was a significant difference in frequency of T alleles among mothers with a previous child with a 'lower' type of defect compared to controls (OR = 2.15 (1.13-4.1), 95% CI, p = 0.02). We did not find any significant association of 1298A-->C polymorphism with the level of NTDs. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that in the North Indian population, the 677C-->T allele of the MTHFR gene may be associated with the occurrence of a lower type of NTD. This points towards the differential role of thermolabile MTHFR at different sites of neural tube closure.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Role of different etiological factors in progression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

Implication of high risk-human Papillomavirus in the process of cervical carcinogenesis is well documented. However, carcinogenesis in the cervix is recognized as multifactorial and other unknown etiological factors are also presumed to contribute to development of cancer. The present communication was aimed to investigate the role of risk factors such as age, parity, cervical lesions, and gynecological symptoms in the progression of the intra-epithelial cervical neoplasia. The study followed 571 cytologically diagnosed cases of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) during 35 yr of cytological screening, which is in progress at Gynae OPD of Queen Mary's Hospital of the University since April 1971 and until June 2005, a total of 33,658 cervical smears have been cytologically evaluated. Analysis of different risk factors in 571 HSIL cases revealed high parity coupled with increasing age to play a significant role in the progression of SIL. Further aggravated cervical lesions such as suspicious and unhealthy cervix and persistent vaginal discharge were found to be contributing factor in the progression of SIL. All these factors were predominantly seen in 35 cases of severe dysplasia that have shown progression from moderate dysplasia. The study indicates that women of high parity, especially with high age, are more prone to progression of SIL and hence this group needs mandatory cytological evaluation. Further adequate treatment of mild cervical lesions and persistent vaginal discharge is necessary to avoid the aggravation of the lesion/symptom and subsequent progression of dysplasia.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Diffusion tensor imaging of the developing human cerebrum.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was performed on 15 fresh spontaneously or therapeutically aborted normal fetuses and five term infants at different gestational ages. Regional cortical fractional anisotropy (FA) values were observed to increase with gestational age (GA) from 15 to 28 weeks, followed by a decrease through 36 weeks. The early increase in the cortical FA value, which has never been reported before, is consistent with neuronal migration from the germinal matrix. A statistically significant inverse correlation between GA and the FA values in the germinal matrix was observed (r = -0.81, P = 0.004). In addition, there was a significant difference in the FA values in the right and left frontal cortices (P = 0.007, sign test), suggesting cortical lateralization during the early stage of development. Our studies suggest that the DTI-estimated anisotropy could be useful in following neuronal migration, cortical maturation, and associated changes in the germinal matrix during early brain development.

Anisotropy↗

PubMed2005

High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women and their newborns in northern India.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in India, a finding that is unexpected in a tropical country with abundant sunshine. Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy has important implications for the newborn and infant. There are few data from India about the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in pregnancy and in the newborn. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to determine the prevalence of osteomalacia and hypovitaminosis D in pregnancy and in cord blood and to correlate maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] status with sun exposure, daily calcium intake (dietary plus supplemental), and intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations. DESIGN: Serum calcium, inorganic phosphorus, 25(OH)D, heat-labile alkaline phosphatase, and PTH were studied in 207 urban and rural pregnant subjects at term. Alkaline phosphatase and 25(OH)D were measured in the cord blood of 117 newborns. RESULTS: Mean maternal serum 25(OH)D was 14 +/- 9.3 ng/mL, and cord blood 25(OH)D was 8.4 +/- 5.7 ng/mL. PTH rose above the normal range when 25(OH)D was <22.5 ng/mL. Eighty-four percent of women (84.3% of urban and 83.6% of rural women) had 25(OH)D values below that cutoff. Fourteen percent of the subjects had elevated alkaline phosphatase (17% of urban and 7% of rural subjects). Calcium intake was uniformly low, although higher in urban (842 +/- 459 mg/d) than in rural (549 +/- 404 mg/d) subjects (P < 0.001). Maternal serum 25(OH)D correlated positively with cord blood 25(OH)D (r = 0.79, P < 0.001) and negatively with PTH (r = -0.35, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: We observed a high prevalence of physiologically significant hypovitaminosis D among pregnant women and their newborns, the magnitude of which warrants public health intervention.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

AgNOR counts in cervical smears under normal and other cytopathologic conditions.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the diagnostic value of AgNOR counts in cervical smears in the process of cervical carcinogenesis and in discriminating the different grades of squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL). STUDY DESIGN: Silver nitrate staining for AgNOR counts was performed in 50 cervical smears of cytologically diagnosed normal, inflammatory, low grade SIL (LSIL) (mild dysplasia), high grade SIL (HSIL) (moderate and severe dysplasia) and squamous cell carcinoma. The smears were derived from the ongoing routine outpatient cytology screening at Queen Mary's Hospital, Lucknow, India. RESULTS: In normal and inflammatory smears, the number of AgNOR dots varied from 1 to 2, in mild dysplasia from 2 to 4, in moderate dysplasia from 4 to 6 and in severe dysplasia from 6 to 8. Frank cervical carcinoma cases revealed 8-10 dots. Thus, a progressive increase in AgNOR counts was observed when the severity of pathologic lesions increased. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference in AgNOR counts between normal and inflammatory smears, but it was highly significant between inflammatory and LSIL cases, between LSIL and HSIL, and between severe dysplasia and frank malignancy. CONCLUSION: This study underscored the diagnostic importance of AgNOR counts, especially in discriminating between LSIL and HSIL of the cervix. Another study is under way to assess the potentiality of AgNOR counts as tumor markers in cervical carcinogenesis.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗

PubMed2004

Assessing the feasibility of single lifetime PAP smear evaluation between 41-50 years of age as strategy for cervical cancer control in developing countries from our 32 years of experience of hospital-based routine cytological screening.

In view of the huge expenditure involved in mass cytological screening as well as lack of cytology manpower in the developing countries, single lifetime screening at 45 yr of age has been suggested as feasible strategy for control of cervical cancer. The present study is aimed at testing this hypothesis in a broader prospective, accommodating women between 41 and 50 yr of age from the data derived from the ongoing long-term hospital-based routine cervicovaginal cytology at Queen Mary's Hospital, Lucknow, India. The cervical smears of 31,032 women have been evaluated cytologically during a span of 32 yr (April 1971-March 2003) for early detection of carcinoma cervix and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The incidence of squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) was found to be 6.1% while frank malignancy was seen in 0.5% of cases. The following observations were made from the accumulated cytological data: (a) approximately 30% of the total cancer cases was in the age group of 41-50 yr; (b) the maximum number of SIL cases was detected in women between 41 and 50 yr of age (35% of the total SIL cases), and adequate management of these SIL cases would prevent cancer cases from occurring in later years, thus minimizing the maximum incidence of 1.3% observed in women beyond 50 yr of age; (c) the incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection also was found quite high in women between 41 and 50 yr old, the adequate management of which would prevent onset/progression of any premalignant changes in the cervix. Our experience of 32 yr of cytological screening substantiates the hypothesis of single lifetime screening between 41 and 50 yr of age as an effective strategy for control of carcinoma cervix in developing countries like ours.

Adolescent↗