Madhu Swamy

Heat shock proteins: a therapeutic target worth to consider.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are the molecular chaperones, that are not only expressed during the normal growth process of cell cycle consecutively, but also get induced in cells during various stress conditions produced by cellular insult, environmental changes, temperature, infections, tumors etc. According to their molecular weight and functions, HSPs are divided into five major families. HSP90, HSP70, HSP60 and HSP100 are the most studied members of the family. Experimental studies have proved that overexpression and/or inhibition of HSPs play an important role in maintaining the tolerance and cell viability under above-described stress conditions. HSP90 is found to be a promising the candidate for the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cancer. Similarly, HSP70, HSP60 and small HSPs experimentally and clinically have potential for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease, ischemia, cell death, autoimmunity, graft rejection, etc. In a way, exploring, the cytoprotective and immunoregulatory role of HSPs can open a new avenue for the drug discovery and treatment of critical diseases.

Prevalence and burden of gastrointestinal parasites in cattle and buffaloes in Jabalpur, India

Aim: The study was conducted to determine the prevalence and burden of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites in cattle and buffaloes of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Materials and Methods: The presence of helminths eggs and coccidial oocysts in fecal samples were detected using standard qualitative and quantitative methods. Identification of eggs or oocysts was done on the basis of morphology and size of the eggs or oocysts. Results: Out of 120 cattle and buffaloes examined, 73.33% were found positive for eggs of one or more species of GI parasite. The prevalence of parasitic infection was higher in cattle (75%) as compared to that of buffaloes (70.45%), but the difference was nonsignificant (p>0.05). Sex wise prevalence of GI parasites was higher in males as compared to that of females, but the difference was nonsignificant (p>0.05). The animals above 2 years of age were more affected by GI parasites as compared to animals of 6 months - 2 years of age, but the age wise differences were nonsignificant (p>0.05). Single parasitic infections were more common than mixed infections. The monthly prevalence of GI parasites in cattle and buffaloes were highest in the month of September (81.81%) and least in December (61.11%). The eggs/oocysts per gram in most of the animals, was in the range of 201-300. Conclusion: GI parasites are problem in cattle and buffaloes of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. The prevalence rate of GI parasites varied with month. The burden of parasitic infection was moderate in most animals warranting treatment.

Prevalence of tuberculosis lesions in goats of Jabalpur

The present study was conducted on 266 goat carcasses of different breeds, age and sex to estimate the prevalence of tuberculosis lesions. The prevalence of tuberculosis lesions in goats was found to be 1.12%. Lesions comprised of caseous necrotizing granulomas in the lungs as well as regional lymph nodes. Impression smears from the lesions showed presence of numerous intra and extracellular acid fast bacilli.

Evaluation of progression and regression stages of canine transmissible venereal tumour using cell proliferation markers

Sixteen dogs with canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), which is high frequency round cell tumour of dogs, were treated with either vincristine or doxorubicin to study the cell proliferation markers like mitosis and agyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNOR) during the progression and regression stage of the tumours. Expression of these markers were decreased during the early and late regressive phases of CTVT, indicating that these aspects can be successfully utilized in the diagnosis, prognosis and chemotherapy of CTVT.

Clinico-pathological effect of feeding Fusarium sporotrichioides and T-2 toxin contaminated diet in broiler chicken

Mycotoxins in combinations may exert a greater negative health impact than the sum of their individual effects. A study was undertaken to investigate the clinico-pathological effect of feeding Fusarium sporotrichioides and T-2 toxin contaminated diet in broiler chicken Thirty six day old broiler chicks were randomly divided into two groups of 18 each. Treatment group was fed with diet containing Fusarium sporotrichioides culture with 4 mg T-2 toxin from 0 to 28 days and observed weekly for feed intake, body weight and various haematobiochemical parameters on 14th, 21st and 28th days of age. Control birds were fed with standard normal diet. Treatment group showed significant reduction in feed intake and body weight gain from 1st wk to 3rd wk, in addition to significant decrease in total erythrocyte count, hematocrit value and leukocyte count. There was significant increase in the serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase, blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, and insignificant decrease in the total protein and albumin concentration. Gross pathological changes included anemic carcasses, enlarged and pale yellowish tan friable liver and generalized atrophy of lymphoid organs. Microscopically, extensive degenerative changes were observed in hepatocytes and depletion of lymphocytes in different lymphoid tissues, which increased in severity with the duration of experiment.

Spontaneous rupture of intracranial dermoid cyst with chemical meningitis

Intracranial dermoid cysts are rare benign lesions of neuraxis. They present with symptoms of a space occupying lesion or rupture leading to chemical meningitis. Rupture of dermoid cyst result in the characteristic neuroimaging pattern. We recently encountered an interesting patient in sixth decade of life who presented with spontaneous rupture of intracranial dermoid cyst leading to chemical meningitis. We report the case for its unusual presentation and complete recovery.

Prevalence of bovine rota virus infection in diarrhoeic calves

The study was conducted to detect bovine rota virus infection in diarrhoeic bovine calves. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed for detection of bovine rota virus antigen in calf faeces. During the study, 62 faecal samples were collected from buffalo and cow calves below 3 months of age belonging to organized dairy farms and with clinical finding of diarrhoea. Bovine rota virus antigen was detected in faeces of 17.74% diarrhoeic faecal samples. A higher percentage (24.24%) of diarrhoeic buffalo calves were found positive for rota virus antigen in comparison to cow calves (10.34%). Rota virus antigen was not detected in the faecal samples of non-diarrhoeic buffalo and cow calves.

Pathomorphology of bovine tuberculous granuloma

The pathomorphology of the 24 granulomatous lesions were studied in paraffin embedded HE stained sections. Staging of granulomas was done as per the microscopic observations of tissue sections. The stage IV granuloma was encountered with maximum frequency, although, variable number of all four stages granulomas were seen in the same lung tissue. The cases of generalized tuberculosis with extra pulmonary tubercles had more numbers of microscopic features of stage III granuloma in the pulmonary tissue. Stage IV (necrotic and mineralized) granulomas were characterized by a thick fibrous capsule surrounding irregular multicentric granulomas with multiple necrotic cores. The present study on tuberculous lesions in bovine revealed different stages of the granuloma in naturally occurring cases with a predominance of stage IV granuloma.

Polymerase chain reaction based detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis IS6110 in cattle faeces

PCR amplification of insertion element IS6110 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in fecal samples was evaluated in the diagnosis of intestinal tuberculosis (ITB). Single intradermal tuberculin test was carried in 125 cattle from organized dairy farms, off which, 36 animals gave a positive reaction. Blood and faecal samples were collected from all the tuberculin positive (36) animals. Demonstration of acid fast bacilli was done in the faecal samples by using the Ziehl - Neelsen staining. DNA was extracted and PCR was carried out in the blood and faecal samples by using IS6110 insertion sequence. Acid fast bacilli were observed in 10 (27.77%) faecal smears whereas, 18 (50%) faecal samples and 4 (11.11%) blood samples were found positive for the insertion sequence IS6110 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. This result shows that IS6110 insertion sequence-PCR assay may be applied to detect tuberculous bacilli directly from faecal sample of dairy cows and therefore could be a valuable diagnostic or screening test for herds.

Fluorescent microscopy for detection of acid fast bacilli in bovine lungs and lymph node

A study was undertaken to demonstrate the acid fast bacilli in the impression smears and bovine tissue sections by the fluorescence microscopy technique. Out of 252 necropsies conducted, 24 cases withcaseous lung lesions suggestive for bovine pulmonary tuberculosis were taken. Impression smears were prepared from the caseated mass of lung lesions and stained by the Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) method. Acidfast bacilli were observed. Staining by HiFluo Phenol free kit and examination under fluorescent microscope showed red-orange fluorescence rods which were considered positive for tuberculosis by fluorescent microscopy. Similarly, in cryosections out of twelve cases found positive for acid fast bacilli and in additional six cases in which acid fast bacilli could not be demonstrated, red-orange fluorescence (rods) against dark background were observed and considered positive. Thus, a total of 18 cases (75%) revealed acid-fast bacilli by fluorescent microscopy as against only 12 cases (50%) found positive by ZN staining.