Seroprevalence of HCV and its co-infection with HBV and HIV among liver disease patients of South Tamil Nadu

AIM:To determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus(HCV) and its co-infection with hepatitis B virus(HBV),hepatitis delta agent(HDV) and human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) among liver disease patients of south Tamil Nadu. METHODS:A total of 1012 samples comprising 512 clinically diagnosed cases of liver disease patients and 500 apparently healthy age and sex matched individuals were screened for Hepatitis C virus(anti HCV and HCV RNA) ,Hepatitis B virus(HBsAg),Hepatitis delta agent(anti HDV) and Human immuno virus(antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2) using commercially available enzyme linked immunosorbent assay kits.HCV RNA wasdetected by RT-PCR.Liver function tests like ALT,AST,GGT,ALP,bilirubin and albumin were also studied. RESULTS:The seroprevalence of HCV was found to be 5.6%among liver disease patients by ELISA.27/512,49/512 and 12/512 patients were positive for HIV,HBV &HDV respectively.Co-infection of HCV&HBV was found in 8 patients,with 6 for HCV&HIV and 4 for HCV,HBV&HIV co-infections.Sex-wise analysis showed that HIV,HCV&HBV and HCV&HIV co-infection was high among females whereas for HBV it was high in males. The mean ALT and AST in HCV positive cases were 42.1±8.3 and 49±10.1.In people co-infected with HCV&HBV or HCV&HIV or HCV,HBV&HIV the mean ALT of 58.0±03.16,56.78±4.401 and 64.37±4.01 respectively. CONCLUSION:We strongly recommend routine test of the blood for HCV in addition to HBV and HIV.We also recommend individualized counseling to identify those at risk and testing for those who want it.Improved surveillance and periodic epidemiological studies will have to be undertaken to monitor and prevent these blood-borne viruses.

Molecular Phylogeny of Arctic Microbes Using Metagenomic Approach

Metagenomic approach to the characterization of uncultured and mixed bacterial consortium has been used in this study for a few arctic micro-organisms. Arctic soil, collected from one spot at Ny Alesund in Svalbard was used as the source of such organisms and enriched in culture medium. Only psychrotrophic microbes were chosen which could grow from 5&degC to 20&degC. Total genomic DNA isolated from the consortium was used as template for amplifying the 16S rRNA genes using the conserved forward and reverse primers. The amplified mixture of 1.4 kb DNA was cloned in pGEMT Easy vector and individual 16S rDNA sequences were determined by automated sequencing. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using MEGA 5 software which enlists 19 isolates in the consortium. Most of these arctic bacteria were Bacillus species as these were isolated from a single spot.

Pharmacological potentials of phenolic compounds from Prosopis spp.-a review

The shrub Prosopsis juliflora(Sw.)DC.revealed several medicinal properties due to its different chemical compounds such as alkaloids,flavonoids,terpenoids,saponins and phenolic compounds distributed in different parts of the plant body,such as woody parts(roots,stem,branches and bark)as well as leaves and pollen have been used for the extraction of medically active substances.Prosopsis juliflora containing a diverse group of secondary metabolites has unique and multifactorial medicinal properties.The utilization of this abundant resource provides a viable option for producing bioactive natural products that may serve as lead substances for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.This review highlights accessible bioactive sources from this plant that are of potential interest for industrial applications.