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Background: It has been seen that 90% of municipal solid waste is disposed off in open dumps and landfill sites, causing problems for the environment, and public health in developing countries. Many technological options can convert waste into various forms of energy. Heat and electricity can be generated and utilized for specific thermodynamic conversion processes and different types of biofuel can also be extracted from the organic municipal solid waste. Objective: This study evaluates the different treatment options available to convert waste into energy, and also concludes its environmental aspect with suggestions, which may be beneficial for encouraging the researchers to work for further improvement in this aspect. Methods: For each technological area, results from the literature review and the different expert opinions were considered to provide an analysis of the treatment technology, identify the internal and external environmental threats and important gaps in treatment technologies for MSW in India. Results: It has been observed from various studies that the pyrolysis/gasification is the suitable option for the treatment of different compositions of solid waste with high energy recovery in India, while bio-methanation is suitable for a decentralized system with a high energy value, and a minimum level of pollution & health hazards. Conclusion: The study and observations show that there are multiple technological options for the treatment of municipal solid waste. Research and development in the MSW sector is not a priority in India, therefore, it has been recognized that expert research advice is required while selecting technology as well as for deciding the tools and techniques to handle this issue.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the major global health threats and delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis continues to fuel the global epidemic. The conventional diagnostic approaches have shortcomings that might hinder the process of diagnosis of the disease and ultimately affect the prognosis.Area covered: We emphasize on the process of the synthesis of liposomes, its physicochemical properties affecting the formulation and their utilization in the field of molecular diagnostics for TB. The review also sheds a light on other nanoparticle-based molecular diagnostic approaches for TB. Despite the advent of science, we are yet to have a diagnostic tool that is simple, rapid, sensitive, and specific, and most importantly, one that enables us to demarcate patients with active tuberculosis from those with quiescent lesions, prior vaccination, or other diseases.Expert opinion: The utility of liposomes for diagnostic purposes has been attempted so as to overcome the challenges posed by conventional diagnostic tools for TB. Through this review, we present insights into liposome formulation and selection processes, various studies that report the use of liposome-based diagnostic tools for TB, as well as the limitations associated with the same that can be improvised to make the technology more efficient.

A wide array of therapeutic strategies has been implemented against cancers, yet their clinical benefit is limited. The lack of clinical efficacy of the conventional treatment options might be due to the inept immune competency of the patients. Dendritic cells (DCs) have a vital role in initiating and directing immune responses and have been frequently used as delivery vehicles in clinical research. The recent clinical data suggest the potential use of DCs pulsed with nucleic acid, especially with RNA holds a great potential as an immunotherapeutic measure with compare to other cancer therapeutics. This review mainly deals with the DCs and their role in transfection with RNA in cancer immunotherapy.

With the interventions of globalization, the human race is lagging behind in its health management. Some of the major health risks involved are cardiac arrest, loss of sleep, lack of concentration, regular muscular pain, arthritis, etc. Arthritis and its various forms lead to regular joint pain and are hampering the daily lives of human beings. Garlic is reported to be one of the best natural medicines for arthritis. The pungency of garlic is due to its various sulfur compounds. Studies have been carried out in determining the effect of these sulfur compounds as antiinflammatory compounds and their role in the signaling pathways of arthritis. Also, there is a scope for advanced level research such as incorporation of nanotechnology and biotechnology for exploiting the potential of this wonder drug garlic for the treatment of arthritis.

The advent of new drugs has resulted in cures for many neural, cancerous, muscular, musculoskeletal, cardiac, and pulmonary diseases that were found incurable in earlier times. Still, from ancient times through today, natural products have been seen as the best way to cure diseases. On the same path, for many decades curcumin has been reported as an alternative cure for various diseases, the major one being arthritis. In this chapter, we have compiled and discussed the potential and prospect of curcumin in alleviating arthritis. The promising results of curcumin's effect on arthritis signaling pathways have been experimentally proved on various natural and induced animal models, paving the way for clinical trials and finally reaching patients. The incorporation of nanotechnology with curcumin administration has increased both the bioavailability and absorption into the patient's body. Curcumin's derivatives and analogs also seem to play a vital role in strengthening the backbone of arthritis treatment.

Background Survivin expression is often associated with aggressive tumor behavior and therapy resistance. In this study, we investigated the effect of survivin knockdown by survivin-siRNA lentiviral vector (Svv-Lent) on the response of HNSCC to chemo-radiotherapy, tumor growth and metastasis. Methods Four human HNSCC (OSC19, Cal27, Cal33 and FaDu) and one normal HOK cell lines were included in the study, and survivin knockdown was achieved with Svv-Lent treatment. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were measured by MTT and TUNEL assay, respectively. Transwell assays were performed to measure in vitro cell migration and matrigel invasion. Xenograft tumors were developed in nude mice by injecting Cal27 cells subcutaneously and following tail-vein injection of lung and liver metastasis. Results Knockdown of survivin significantly suppressed HNSCC cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in vitro . Survivin inhibition could also significantly reduce in vitro cell migration and matrigel invasion that might be due to inactivation of matrix metalloproteinases. In vivo studies showed significant repression of Cal27 xenograft tumor growth and tissue metastasis leading to improvement in mice survival in the Svv-Lent treated group compared to controls. Our data indicated that survivin expression in HNSCC cells contributed to chemo-radioresistance, and its down-regulation increased anti-cancer effects of paclitaxel, cisplatin and radiation. Conclusions Our findings suggest that sustained survivin expression facilitates HNSCC tumor growth and confers resistance to chemo-radiotherapy. Svv-Lent therapy may be able to enhance the cytotoxic effect of commonly used anticancer drugs such as cisplatin and paclitaxel, and radiotherapy that could provide a promising strategy for the effective control of resistant head and neck cancer.

Globally, increased dependence on fossil fuels for manufacturing plastics, scarcity of space for disposal, and ongoing environmental concerns for nonbiodegradable chemical-based plastics have fueled research toward sustainable process development of cost-effective, eco-friendly, and biodegradable polymers. In this context, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) have drawn much attention as a good candidate and are classified as both biodegradable and biocompatible polyesters which closely resemble conventional plastics. At present, though the technology for PHA and its copolymer production is on an industrial scale, its usage and distribution in varied industrial sectors are still limited due to the relatively high production cost. A high cost is incurred due to the use of expensive, chemically synthesized carbon sources (~ 40% of the total cost), which thereby make it difficult to compete with petroleum-based polymers. In this respect, efforts are being made to reduce cost and make it an environmentally benign process by the development of better bacterial strains, an efficient fermentation and recovery strategy, use of low cost, renewable resources (as carbon source) such as cheese whey, starch, cane molasses, industrial waste glycerol, wastewater, oil, and fats. In the past few years, renewable resources have attracted much interest in producing value-added products. In this review, the current developments in biodegradable polymers in term of their production process through the biotechnological route mainly by Gram-positive bacteria using renewable resources and the applications of widely studied PHA, i.e., poly-3-hydroxybutyrate in different industrial sectors with emphasis on the biomedical sector, will be explored.

The advent of various health care policies and digital revolution has fuelled interest in the direction of food supplements, and as preventive or curative drug containing live non-pathogenic bacteria, probiotics. The widespread usage of probiotics by consumers and in clinical practice has emphatically made to understand the benefits associated with these products. The probiotic products are now being marketed worldwide by several multinational companies. Present review attempts to overview the health benefits of probiotics in impeding various lifestyle or metabolic associated disorders, clinical significance, their efficacy and influence on immune system.

Microbial exopolysaccharides (EPS) are considered as natural bio-thickeners abundantly used in dairy and fermented food industries for quality improvement. In fermentation based dairy industries, researchers are seeking their attention on substitution of artificial food stabilizers with naturals by exploring EPS, especially for improving the rheology of fermented food products. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) being a starter player for fermented food products are believed to be as one of the best natural producers of EPS. These EPS are basically sugar residues, secreted by microbes in their surrounding environment but their in-vitro production is not economical due to the media and processing costs involved. The process of production is also complex due to the involvement of various enzymes and regulatory proteins. With modernization in dairy sector, our understanding towards EPS needs improvement. The review focuses on a brief explanation on the behavior and functionality of EPS from lactic acid bacteria.

The study validated the antidyslipidemic, antioxidant, and antihyperglycemic effects of Lagenaria siceraria fruit extract in human subjects with dyslipidemia along with subjects of normal health. A total of 200 mL of freshly prepared Lagenaria siceraria fruit extract was administered daily on empty stomach for 90 days. Significant reductions ( P < .01) were found in triglycerides and total cholesterol levels in blood. Cardiac risk ratio, atherogenic coefficient, and atherogenicity index of plasma were also improved. Appreciable reductions in body mass index ( P < .01) and blood pressure (systolic P < .01, diastolic P < .05) along with a significant reduction ( P < .05) in fasting blood glucose levels were also observed in these subjects. Lagenaria siceraria fruit extract exhibited significant antioxidant activity in dyslipidemic subjects as evident from elevations in SOD ( P < .05) and GSH levels ( P < .01) with marked improvement in catalase ( P < .01) and TBARS levels ( P < .05). Phytochemical screening confirmed the presence of saponins, glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoids, and phenolic compounds. Lagenaria siceraria fruit extract serves as dietary adjunct in treatment of human dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease.

The screening for the management of diabetes mellitus must be included into regular HIV clinical care and clinicians must consider the metabolic effects of combinatorial drug therapy for HIV infection and its outcome. Studies are desirable to conclude the pathophysiologic explanation for the high prevalence of diabetes among HIVinfected who are on ART, and cohort studies with significant sample size are required to support.

The spread of cancer in high intensity is a major cause of concern globally. It is developing in an alarming rate irrespective of age, sex, racial/ethnic group, geographic location and tissue invaded. It is marked by uncontrolled division of cells with the ability to invade other tissues, either by direct growth into the adjacent tissue through invasion, or by the migration into the distant sites by metastasis. According to the latest cancer statistics, there were 14.1 million new cancer related deaths which is expected to rise by 70% over the next two decades with nearly 22 million cases. The rate of cancer related incidence is almost 25% higher in men than in women

Lagenaria siceraria, commonly known as bottle gourd, is extensively grown in India and other tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. The bottle gourd is rich in a number of phytoconstituents, minerals, vitamins, fibre etc. with potent neutraceutical and therapeutic functions. Leaves and roots are used as emetic to reduce baldness and to relieve headache. Flowers are used as antidote in certain kinds of poisons. L. siceraria is reported to exhibit cardioprotective, antihyperlipidemic, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and hepatoprotective functions in human subjects as well as in experimental models. The bottle gourd is proved to be a potential source of prophylactic and therapeutic neutraceuticals and can serve as ‘medicinal food’ particularly in metabolic disorders associated with carbohydrate and lipid metabolisms. The objective of this article is to work out the ethnopharmacological and other medicinal applications of L. siceraria along with phytochemical and biochemical composition.

Background Survivin, an inhibitor of apoptosis, is overexpressed in cancer. It has been implicated in both prevention of apoptosis and cell cycle regulation. We investigated the distribution of antiapoptotic protein survivin in 29 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and 16 oral premalignant lesions. It has been suggested that wild-type p53 represses survivin expression. Therefore, we investigated the status of p53 in relation to survivin to determine the potential involvement in oral tumorigenesis. Methods Oral cancer tissues were freshly obtained at the time of surgery and classified as per general rules of head and neck cancer (TNM classification). Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction were conducted to study the expression of survivin and p53. The Fisher's exact test was employed to determine the association of survivin and p53 with clinicopathologic parameters of the subjects being studied. Results Positive staining for survivin was found in 72% OSCC and 44% oral premalignant lesions with no immunoreactions in the corresponding normal tissues. For p53, 59% OSCC, 38% premalignant lesions, and 14% normal tissues were positive. Importantly, about half of the p53-positive OSCC and premalignant tissues also showed survivin positivity (28% OSCC and 18% premalignant lesions). Further, it is observed that the number of survivin positive cells was significantly higher in the p53-positive group. Survivin is expressed in a varying proportion of cells, and in majority of patients it was localized in cytoplasm, whereas p53 is strictly restricted to the nucleus. The survivin expression levels in both primary OSCC and premalignant lesions were significantly higher than in normal oral tissues (OSCC, p < .0008; premalignant lesions, p < .04). No significant correlations between survivin and p53 expression with clinicopathologic parameters were found. Conclusions Frequent overexpression of apoptosis regulators, survivin and p53, in OSCC as well as in oral premalignant lesions were found. Overexpression of these 2 markers in premalignant lesions suggest a role in early stages of oral carcinogenesis. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2009

Oral cancer is one of the main causes of cancer-related deaths in South-Asian countries. There are very limited treatment options available for oral cancer. Research endeavors focused on discovery and development of novel therapies for oral cancer, is necessary to control the ever rising oral cancer related mortalities. We mined the large pool of compounds from the publicly available compound databases, to identify potential therapeutic compounds for oral cancer. Over 84 million compounds were screened for the possible anti-cancer activity by custom build SVM classifier. The molecular targets of the predicted anti-cancer compounds were mined from reliable sources like experimental bioassays studies associated with the compound, and from protein-compound interaction databases. Therapeutic compounds from DrugBank, and a list of natural anti-cancer compounds derived from literature mining of published studies, were used for building partial least squares regression model. The regression model thus built, was used for the estimation of oral cancer specific weights based on the molecular targets. These weights were used to compute scores for screening the predicted anti-cancer compounds for their potential to treat oral cancer. The list of potential compounds was annotated with corresponding physicochemical properties, cancer specific bioactivity evidences, and literature evidences. In all, 288 compounds with the potential to treat oral cancer were identified in the current study. The majority of the compounds in this list are natural products, which are well-tolerated and have minimal side-effects compared to the synthetic counterparts. Some of the potential therapeutic compounds identified in the current study are resveratrol, nimbolide, lovastatin, bortezomib, vorinostat, berberine, pterostilbene, deguelin, andrographolide, and colchicine.

Oral cancer is one of the most commonly found cancers in many South-Asian underdeveloped countries, especially among men in comparison to women. When considering the mortality rate among all types of existing cancers, in India oral cancer is the primary reason for death in men. Some of the major reasons contributing to the high mortality rate are late diagnosis, lack of treatment options and high prevalence of tobacco consumption. Oral cancer is often diagnosed at a stage when cancer cells have already become aggressive and become resistant to standard therapeutic options. Progression, apoptosis, angiogenesis, metastasis and invasion behold great capability to treat and detect cancer at the molecular level. Dysregulation of apoptosis is one of the most common molecular events known to be associated with the development of oral cancer. In this review, we discuss key apoptotic markers which can be used as prognostic and/or therapeutic targets in oral cancer.

Corresponding author: Prakash S Bisen, School of Studies in Biotechnology, Jiwaji University, India, Tel: +91 751 2462500; Fax: +91 751 4043850; E-mail:psbisen@gmail.comRec date: Nov 24 2014; Acc date: Nov 24 2014; Pub date: Nov 26 2014Copyright: © 2014 Bisen PS. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

The aim of study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) ATPIII Criteria, International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization (WHO) definitions were used in quantifying the metabolic syndrome and also the concordance between these three criteria’s used for identifying metabolic syndrome. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 700 type 2 diabetic subjects from the urban areas of Gwalior Chambal region (Central India). Subjects in the age group of 28- 87 yrs were included in the study. Type I diabetics, pregnant ladies and those with chronic viral and bacterial infections and serious metabolic disorders were excluded from the study. Fasting blood glucose, Blood lipids (T-cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol) were assessed and anthropometry blood pressure were measured from all the subjects. Results: The Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was found to be 45.8%, 57.7% and 28% following NCEP-ATPIII Criteria, IDF and WHO definitions, respectively. Using all the three definitions the prevalence was higher in women in all age groups. ATP III and IDF criteria showed good agreement (k 0.68) compared to ATP III with WHO (k 0.54) and IDF with WHO (k 0.34) criteria. Highest prevalence was observed following IDF definition. Conclusions: A good agreement was observed between ATPIII and IDF criteria. Maximum prevalence of Metabolic syndrome was recorded when IDF criteria was followed. NCEP-ATPIII criteria for the diagnosis of MetS and this criterion reflected equal importance to the every variable and showed a good agreement between the different criteria used.

Antioxidants play a very crucial role in terms of disease incidence and its complications. Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are now more prevalent than any other disorder. In this regard this study focuses on type 2 diabetic subjects with MetS having highest incidence of cardiovascular disease. Hence the aim of the study was to reveal the level of antioxidants and lipid peroxidation in MetS and non-MetS groups of type 2 diabetic subjects characterized by three different criteria.Present study was based on 70 type 2 diabetic subjects and 20 healthy controls. The metabolic syndrome criteria were defined by National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)-Adult Treatment Panel III (ATPIII), International Diabetes Federation (IDF), and World Health Organization (WHO). The selected subjects were of similar age group. The participants were selected from a diabetic camp being run in the University Campus. The antioxidant enzymes estimated were reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) while Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) measured as a marker of lipid peroxidation.The level of GSH, CAT, SOD decreases in non-MetS and MetS subjects as compared to normal. When comparison was made for GSHSOD in the mentioned groups resulted a significant differences in non-MetS and MetS compared with normal subjects. TBARS levels was increased in non-MetS and MetS group of subjects. The results indicate reduction in antioxidant enzymes and elevation of lipid peroxidation in type 2 diabetic subjects with or without MetS defined by using any of the International criteria.The study revealed that absolute reduction of antioxidant and involvement of lipid peroxidation in MetS group may lead to progressive intensification of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetic subjects irrespective of using any criteria.

The landmark decision to rejection of patent to anti-cancer drug 'Glivec' by Indian Supreme Court has catalysed range of debates around importance of innovation in research and development. The patent plea by Novartis for beta crystalline for of imanitib (i.e. glivec) was considered as an attempt to extend period of market exclusivity by filing patent for minor modification of molecule for which US patent was already been granted on 1996. Novartis has firmly stated court's ruling as a setback to patent protection for its years of research invested in development of more stable and bioavailable form of imanitib, and offended by this decision they have issued host of statements about not investing in drug discovery RD however after reviewing history of imanitib and its subsequent refinement into glivec, one cannot avoid thinking about it as a typical case of patent evergreening (1-3). The cause of disagreement in this patent war is section 3(d) of Indian Patent Act, which limits scope of incremental innovation by recognizing only those incremental inventive steps, which are associated with significant increase in efficacy of drug; this section was added with an intention to curb evergreening. The importance of controlling patent evergreening cannot be denied, especially for developing and underdeveloped nations, which cannot afford to buy patented drugs at premium price to meet their health care requirements and are heavily dependent on generic version of the drug, as is evident from the impact of availability of low cost generic version of anti-retroviral drugs. At the same time, we cannot deny importance of incremental innovation in making effective and safer drug.

century, there were other diseases like cholera, plague etc., which took lives of millions of people around the world, because of absence of proper medical facility [1]. Life expectancy in those times was much less than that of today’s because of absence of proper medical facility, and other factors like war. Simplicity in life style, food habits, was also responsible for keeping a check on cancer related incidences. In the last couple of centuries, we have witnessed tremendous progress in medical science and healthcare, because of which average life expectancy has increased. Owing to increased life expectancy, there are more chances for age related malignancies like cancer to appear in the life time of an individual. The so called ‘modern life’ is often accompanied by various vices like processed food, sedentary life style, smoking, drinking etc. which are known to trigger cancer initiation [2]. Cancer has become one of the biggest killers of our time, which ranks second only to deaths caused by cardiovascular disease. The huge mortality and economic burden associated with cancer, has brought it into prominence for policy makers, pharmaceutical companies, researchers with the common objective to control mortality and improve survival of the affected persons. The economic burden due to cancer incidences is increasing every day, according to an estimate the amount of money spent on cancer treatment has doubled in past two decades. The mental agony it puts on cancer patients, and their near and dear ones cannot be enumerated by any statistics [3]. The multifactorial role of cancer is established beyond any doubt, which necessitates devising treatment and detection strategies which address these factors. Cancer research is moving towards establishing strength of causality for various factors, which contribute in various phases of cancer (initiation, progression, tumorigenesis). The cancer research started with a reductionist approach, wherein scientific experiments were designed to understand the role of individual factor (gene/protein) in causing cancer. The knowledge gained through such reductionist approach has helped to get the basic understanding of biological complexity of cancer. Since the nature of cancer is multifactorial, it is logical to search for medicinal compound, which have the capability of modulating multiple factors at a same time. It also explains why combination therapy works in case of cancer treatment. The combination therapy is designed to address these multiple factors and bring about synergistic effect [4-6]. Timely detection of cancer in its nascent stages can be regarded as one of most effective method, to control mortalities due to cancer. The majority of the cancers are detected on the basis of appearance of some overt symptoms. The detection of cancer at more advanced stages makes management of cancer more complex, with a little hope of recovery with existing treatment options. Incorrect identification of cancer subtype is also one of the reasons why cancer patient doesn’t respond to drugs designed for specific class of cancer. With the current advances in technologies like next generation sequencing, now it is possible to accurately characterise, cancer related features like stage, subtype, resistance to certain drugs etc. It is more than obvious that cancer is predominately man-made malignancy, which means our concerted and sincere efforts can bear fruit by eradication of causal factors like tobacco, alcohol, harmful chemicals, and other carcinogens. Adapting health life-style and diet can also help tremendously in preventing us from cancer. We are living in fast changing world with path-breaking technological advancements as a norm of the day. With these advancements, it should not be the over-optimistic expectation to believe that cancer would be treated as routine diseases like flu, infection etc. I firmly believe that this would be possible by effective diagnosis and treatment strategy tailored to address phenotypic and genotypic heterogeneity associated with cancer. The availability of therapeutic targets is most important pre-condition for rational drug discovery and equally the effective treatment options are highly desirable for management of oral cancer. Gene expression profiling through microarrays is regarded as promising tool to understand transcriptional changes linked with cancer formation [7].

Gymnema sylvestre (Asclepiadaceae) also known as ‘gurmar’ or ‘sugar destroyer’ is a woody, climbing traditional medicinal herb which has many therapeutic applications in Ayurvedic system of medicine. It is used for lowering serum cholesterol, triglycerides and blood glucose level (hypoglycemic or antihyperglycemic), hypolipidaemic, weight loss, stomach ailments, constipation, water retention and liver diseases, either high or low blood pressure, tachycardia or arrhythmias, and used as aperitive, purgative, in eye troubles, antiinflammatory, smooth muscle relaxant, prevention of dental caries, cataract and as anticancer-cytotoxic agent. Its flowers, leaves, and fruits contains alkaloids, flavones, saponins, sapogenins, anthraquinones, hentri-acontane, pentatriacontane, α and β-chlorophylls, phytin, resins, d-quercitol, tartaric acid, formic acid, butyric acid, lupeol, β-amyrin related glycosides and stigmasterol having main principle bioactive compunds viz. gymnemic acids, gymnemasides, gymnemagenin, gurmarin, gymnemosides, gymnemanol, gymnemasins, gypenoside, and conduritol which act as therapeutic agent and play vital role in many therapeutic applications. Gymnemic acids are thought to be responsible for its antidiabetic activity and it is the major component of an extract shown to stimulate insulin release from the pancreas. Another anti-sweet agent gumarin is utilized as a pharmacological tool in the study of sweet-taste transduction. The commercial exploitation of this plant and their secondary metabolites are some of the major prospective of this rare medicinal herb. The focus of the present review is to achieve the potential of therapeutic value of this herb and mechanism and action of their secondary metabolites.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the leading cause of death worldwide, with early diagnosis still being difficult. Promising new cardiac biomarkers such as troponins and creatine kinase (CK) isoforms are being studied and integrated into clinical practice for early diagnosis of AMI. The cardiac-specific troponins I and T (cTnI and cTnT) have good sensitivity and specificity as indicators of myocardial necrosis and are superior to CK and its MB isoenzyme (CK-MB) in this regard. Besides being potential biologic markers, cardiac troponins also provide significant prognostic information. The introduction of novel high-sensitivity troponin assays has enabled more sensitive and timely diagnosis or exclusion of acute coronary syndromes. This review summarizes the available information on the potential of troponins and other cardiac markers in early diagnosis and prognosis of AMI, and provides perspectives on future diagnostic approaches to AMI.

Growing awareness about the role of diet and quest for human wellness has fuelled interest in ‘Functional foods’ and functional attributes of many traditional foods are being reinvented. Flax continues to surge forward in its recognition as a functional food and has recently gained attention in the area of cardiovascular disease primarily because it is the richest known source of alpha-linolenic acid, the phytoestrogen, lignans, as well as being a good source of soluble fiber. Lignans have diverse range of biological activities and flax seeds contain a lignin derivative, secoisolariciresinol diglucoside which get metabolized into the mammalian lignans. The flax lignans influence the early risk markers of mammary and colonic carcinogenesis in animal models. Regular consumption of flaxseed products can affect serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations, reduce postprandial glucose absorption, decrease some markers of inflammation and raise serum levels of the omega-3 fatty acids, ALA and eicosapentaenoic acid. The flax seed has been shown to possess significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functions in experimental as well as human studies. The flax seed supplementation in diet revealed potential health benefits in situations like cardiovascular risk, certain types of cancers and other metabolic disorders. There are number of studies indicating the role of raw flaxseed and its baked products in health promotion and disease prevention. This review highlights the potential of ‘flax seed’ as a ‘neutraceutical’ and its role as a protective and therapeutic medicinal food.

Ellagic acid is an antioxidant and an anti-proliferative compound present in fruits, nuts and vegetables. In spite of evidences for anticancer activity in various cancer cell-lines, human cancer cells, the mechanistic role of ellagic acid is not conclusive enough to be recommended for a clinical use. The present review provides information about the chemopreventive role of ellagic acid in oral cancer and proposes molecular basis for ellagic acid’s inhibitory activity against oral cancer. We show that ellagic acid modulates growth of tumor cells through regulation of multiple cell signaling pathways including cell proliferation pathway (cyclin dependent kinase 2, cyclin A2, cyclin B1, cyclin D1, c-myc, PKCα), cell survival/apoptosis pathway (Bcl-XL, Bax, Caspase 9/3, Akt), tumor suppressor pathway (p53, p21), inflaming Metastasis pathways (IL-1 beta, TNF-α, matrix metalloproteinases 9/3, COX-2), angiogenesis pathways (VEGF), cell immortalization (TERT), NF-κβ.

Abiotic stress can lead to changes in development, productivity, and severe stress and may even threaten survival of plants. Several environmental stresses cause drastic changes in the growth, physiology, and metabolism of plants leading to the increased accumulation of secondary metabolites. As medicinal plants are important sources of drugs, steps are taken to understand the effect of stress on the physiology, biochemistry, genomic, proteomic, and metabolic levels. The molecular responses of plants to abiotic stress are often considered as a complex process. They are mainly based on the modulation of transcriptional activity of stress-related genes. Many genes have been induced under stress conditions. The products of stress-inducible genes protecting against these stresses includes the enzymes responsible for the synthesis of various osmoprotectants. Genetic engineering of tolerance to abiotic stresses help in molecular understanding of pathways induced in response to one or more of the abiotic stresses. Systems biology and virtual experiments allow visualizing and understanding how plants work to overcome abiotic stress. This review discusses the omic approach to understand the plant response to abiotic stress with special emphasis on medicinal plant.

Background Oxaliplatin is integrated in treatment strategies against a variety of cancers including radiation protocols. Herein, as a new strategy we tested feasibility and rationale of oxaliplatin in combination with radiation to control proliferation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells and discussed survivin-related signaling and apoptosis induction. Methods Cytotoxicity and apoptosis induced by radiation and/or oxaliplatin were examined in relation to survivin status using two HNSCC cell lines viz., Cal27 and NT8e, and one normal 293-cell line. Survivin gene knockdown by siRNA was also tested in relevance to oxaliplatin-mediated radiosensitization effects. Results Survivin plays a critical role in mediating radiation-resistance in part through suppression of apoptosis via a caspase-dependent mechanism. Oxaliplatin treatment significantly decreased expression of survivin in cancer cells within 24–72 h. Apoptotic cells and caspase-3 activity were increased parallely with decrease in cell viability, if irradiated during this sensitive period. The cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin and radiation combination was greater than additive. Survivin gene knockdown experiments have demonstrated the role of survivin in radiosensitization of cancer cells mediated by oxaliplatin. Conclusions Higher expression of survivin is a critical factor for radioresistance in HNSCC cell lines. Pre-treatment of cancer cells with oxaliplatin significantly increased the radiosensitivity through induction of apoptosis by potently inhibiting survivin.

All diseases have a genetic component. However, the extent to which genes contribute to disease varies and much remains to be learned. Mutations may be inherited or developed in response to environmental stresses such as viruses or toxins. The ultimate goal is to use this information to treat, cure, or if possible, prevent the development of disease. Advances in understanding the genetic mechanisms behind these diseases enable the development of early diagnostic tests, new treatments, or interventions to prevent disease onset or minimize disease severity.

Molecular diagnostics has become a growing part of the clinical laboratory. It includes all tests and methods to identify a disease and understand the predisposition for a disease analyzing DNA or RNA of an organism. Rapid advances in molecular diagnostics enable basic research and results in practical diagnostic tests. The basic application is to determine changes in sequence or expression levels in crucial genes involved in disease. The use of molecular diagnostics, such as pre-implantation diagnostics or predictive genetic testing, still has technical problems as well as novel, and to date unclear, social, ethical and legal implications. The scope of molecular diagnostics in molecular medicine could be expanded well beyond current nucleic acid testing. It plays an important role in practice of medicine, public health, pharmaceutical industry, forensics and biological warfare and drug discovery. The molecular diagnostic marketplace offers a growth opportunity given the interest in utilizing molecular tools to precisely target therapeutics.

As molecular techniques for identifying and detecting microorganisms in the clinical microbiology laboratory have become routine, questions about the cost of these techniques and their contribution to patient care need to be addressed. Molecular diagnosis is most appropriate for infectious agents that are difficult to detect, identify, or test for susceptibility in a timely fashion with conventional methods. During the last 10 years, the detection of infectious disease agents has begun to include the use of nucleic acid-based technologies. Diagnosis of infection caused by parasitic organisms is the last field of clinical microbiology to incorporate these techniques and molecular techniques (e.g., PCR and hybridization assays) have recently been developed for the detection, species differentiation, and phylogenetic analysis.

There is a great concern within the scientific and security communities on the ongoing revolution in Genomics research. Genomics revolution may be used to enhance detection, protection and treatment so that biological warfare agents are never used. Biological weapons have the greatest potential for lethality of any weapon. Biological weapons are accessible to all countries; there are few barriers to developing such weapons with a modest level of effort. The current level of sophistication for many biological agents is low, but there is enormous potential based on advances in modern molecular biology, fermentation, and drug delivery technology for making more sophisticated weapons.