Search

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus cases are continually rising all over the world. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) used as a diagnostic test to measure long-term average glycaemic control in diabetic patients. Aim: To assess the precision and reproducibility of the Ion Exchange Column Chromatography Resin (IECR) method and nephelometry in comparison to High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with respect to the estimation of HbA1c. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted on 50 blood samples, collected from the diabetic subjects at the Department of Biochemistry and their HbA1c values were estimated by HPLC based BioRad D-10, nephelometry and IECR techniques. HPLC was used as a gold standard method, to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of nephelometry and IECR techniques. Data were expressed as mean±standard deviation and intraclass Correlation Coefficient and Pearson correlation were calculated. Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 53.06±7.67 years. The mean plasma HbA1c levels were 8.16±2.9, 7.62±2.5 and 7.84±2.5 and mean estimated Average Glucose (eAG) was 187.00±84.4, 172.0±76.8, and 289.46±199.9 by HPLC, Nephelometry and IECR, respectively. Compared with HPLC, nephelometry had excellent correlation (r-value 0.925); p<0.001) and IECR (r-value 0.869; p<0.001). Conclusion: Nephelometry and IECR both had better performance and showed a greater concordance with gold standard HPLC. Therefore, nephelometry and IECR can be used as an alternative assay for HbA1c estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The absorbing aerosols, primarily black carbon (BC), play a unique and important role in the Earth’s climate system primarily by warming the atmosphere. This warming effect contrasts with the cooling effect of aerosols such as sulphates that are mostly of the scattering type. With a view to studying the characteristics of both absorbing and scattering aerosols within the boundary layer, collocated measurements using an aethalometer and a nephelometer were carried out over Dibrugarh (27.3° N, 94.6°E, 111 m amsl), Northeast India. The diurnal variation of BC mass concentration (MBC) shows a primary peak during late evening (2000–2200 local time (LT)) while a weak secondary peak is observed in the morning (0600–0800 LT). A seasonal shift in diurnal peakMBCwas also observed. Both diurnal and seasonal variations in the scattering coefficient (βsca) resemble that ofMBC. It may, therefore, be inferred that the majority of both absorbing and scattering types of aerosol prevalent over the study location have common production sources. The seasonal spectral variation in absorption coefficient (βabs) shows monotonic decrease from shorter to longer wavelength in all seasons. The wavelength dependence of absorption by aerosols, as obtained from the absorption Ångström exponent (αabs), indicates a stronger presence of absorbing aerosols originating from biomass burning than those originating from fossil fuel burning over Dibrugarh. The high values of single-scattering albedo (SSA) obtained over Dibrugarh reveal that the scattering type of aerosol is predominant in the ambient air. SSA, together withMBCm, is a useful parameter for estimation of radiative forcing and hence the climatic impact of aerosols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a clinical condition which could be fatal if not identified and managed appropriately. Knowledge of this condition is mostly confined to individual case reports and literature reviews in India. In this retrospective study we describe HAE cases which presented to a tertiary care centre in India over a period of three and half years., Materials and Methods: Clinical case records of forty-two HAE patients diagnosed based on clinical and laboratory features were accessed after due approval from the Ethics committee. C1 esterase inhibitor (C1 INH) and C4 levels were measured using nephelometry. All relevant data was entered into Microsoft EXCEL worksheet and analysed using simple statistical tools., Results: Among the 42 patients diagnosed as having HAE, 37 had low C1INH levels and were diagnosed to have type 1 HAE. The remaining 5 had normal C1 INH levels and were considered probable HAE based on family history and response to HAE specific treatment. The median age of onset of symptoms was 15 years (range 5-49) and median age at diagnosis, 27.5 years (range 5-55). The median delay in diagnosis was 10 years (range 1-27 years). Family history of HAE was observed in 52.6% and 29% reported deaths in the family with HAE like disease. Low dose androgens or tranexamic acid or both were prescribed in 64.2% of the patients. Orofacial edema was the commonest clinical presentation (76%) followed by edema of the extremities (38%), GI tract symptoms (19%) and genital involvement (11.9%)., Conclusion: Many cases of HAE may be going undetected in India. There is a need for clinical awareness and laboratory means to accurately identify and administer appropriate treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest financial or otherwise., (Copyright © 2021 Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)