pradeep kumar

It is now a well-established fact that paraspinal muscle integrity plays a critical role in low back pain. We aimed  to determine the association of the cross-sectional area (CSA), muscle disc ratio (muscularity), and muscle fat ratio of the paraspinal muscles with chronic low back pain (CLBP) of varied pathologies, and  the effect of aging and BMI.

The CSAs of the muscles did not differ significantly between the two groups except for multifidus (p<0.05) and psoas (p<0.001) at L1-L2, and psoas (p<0.001) at L2-L3. There was significant difference in CSA of disc at L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1 (p<0.05), muscle fat ratio (p<0.01) and muscularity of multifidus and psoas (p<0.05) from L1 to L5 levels. There was no correlation of age and BMI with the CSA. Aging led to fatty infiltration in both the groups. The CSAs of muscles and discs were comparable (p>0.05) among subgroups except at few spinal levels. Muscularity among the subgroups varied at different levels. The muscle fat ratio were comparable (p>0.05).

Muscularity and composition rather than overall CSA of important spinal stabilizers  are associated with CLBP. Age and BMI has no correlation to CSA of paraspinal muscles. Various disc and muscle parameters do not differ much among common lumbar pathologies.

Transforming Growth Factor-Beta 1 (TGF-β1) is a pleiotropic cytokine with potent anti-inflammatory property, which has been considered as an essential risk factor in the inflammatory process of Ischemic Stroke (IS), by involving in the pathophysiological progression of hypertension, atherosclerosis, and lipid metabolisms. -509C/T TGF-β1 gene polymorphism has been found to be associated with the risk of IS. The aim of this meta-analysis was to provide a relatively comprehensive account of the relation between -509C/T gene polymorphisms of TGF-β1 and susceptibility to IS.
A review of literature for eligible genetic association Studies published before October 20, 2014 was conducted in the PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar and Trip database. The strength of association was calculated by pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals using RevMan 5.3 software. Heterogeneity was examined using Higgins I-squared, Tau-squared, and Chi-squared tests.
A total of 2 studies involving 614 cases and 617 controls were found. The overall estimates did not show any significant relation between TGF-β1-509C/T polymorphism and risk of IS under dominant (CC vs. TT: OR=1.01, 95%CI=0.31 to 3.26; P=0.99), recessive (CC vs. CT: OR=0.94, 95%CI=0.47 to 1.90; P=0.87), and allelic models (T vs. C: OR=1.06, 95%CI=0.55 to 2.04; P=0.86).
This meta-analysis showed that TGF-β1-509C/T gene polymorphism no significant association with the susceptibility of IS. Further well-designed prospective studies with larger sample size are needed to confirm these findings.

In the present study, variation among different bacterial strains was observed in the plaques of tobacco chewers (TC) as compared to those from normal persons (non tobacco chewers) (NTC). Bacterial strain J1 (dominant in the plaques of NTC) did not initiate the process of adhesion (biofilm formation) until it appeared to have reached a required population density necessary for the production of adhesive substances by the bacterium, which indicating the involvement of quorum-sensing mechanism. The spent media of bacterial strain J15 (dominant in the plaques of TC) also substantially reduced the adhesion of the respective bacteria to the acrylic particles by bacterial strain J1. This indicates the possibilities of existence of some quorum-quenching molecules in the spent medium of strain J1 as well as strain J15 bacteria. These molecules might be exploited for efficient management of dental plaque-biofilms. It may help to avoid the use of extremely high doses of antibiotics which may be harmful in the long run.

The aim of this study was to formulate and evaluate microencapsulated controlled release preparations of a highly water/soluble drug, salbutamol sulphate by (water in oil) in oil emulsion technique using ethyl cellulose as the retardant material. Various processing and formulation parameters such as drug/polymer ratio, stirring speed, volume of processing medium were optimized to maximize the entrapment. The release of salbutamol sulphate from ethyl cellulose microsphere was compared and possible release mechanism proposed. Microspheres were prepared by water in oil emulsion technique using acetonitrile/dichloromethane (1:1 ratio) solvent system. Span 80 was used as the dispersing agent and n-hexane was added to harden the microspheres. The prepared microspheres were characterized for their micromeritic properties and drug loading, as well as compatibility by infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray powder diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The in-vitro release studies were carried out in phosphate buffer at pH 7.4. The prepared microspheres were white, free flowing and spherical in shape. The drug-loaded microspheres showed 55.7 - 76.6 % of entrapment and release was extended up to 10 h. Various processing and formulation parameters such as drug/polymer ratio, stirring speed, volume of processing medium, etc. significantly affect the drug release from the microspheres. The best/fit release kinetics was achieved with Higuchi plot followed by zero order and first order. The release of salbutamol sulphate was influenced by altering the drug to polymer ratio and the drug release was found to be diffusion controlled.