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Background: The present study aimed to estimate the salivary immunoglobulin A and total salivary proteins in minor RAS and in healthy controls. 50 patients with known history of minor RAS were diagnosed based on the major criteria with the absence of any other systemic disease or conditions and presenting with single and multiple ulcers and 50 healthy control group were included in the study. Minor aphthous were selected as they are more common than the major and herpetiform ulcers. Unstimulated saliva was collected by spit method in a calibrated measuring cup from 100 participants (50 RAS and 50 healthy controls) to assess the salivary IgA levels and total salivary proteins. A detailed case history and informed consent was taken from all the participants prior to our study. As results we found the mean age of study group was 31.58 years where as in control group it was 30.16 years with a range of 20-50 years in study group and 19-50 years in the control group with a p value of 0.03 that's significant. Out of 50 participants 36 (72%) were males and 14 (28%) were females in the study group where as in control group 38 (76%) were males and 12 (24%) were females. When compare between group A and group B showed significantly higher in study group as compare control group and concluded in our study RAS showed a male predominance with maximum number of patients in the age group of 20-50 years. The salivary immunoglobulin A levels was significantly higher in minor RAS group than the healthy control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Previous studies have shown that Creosote bush-derived nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) exerts beneficial actions on the key components of metabolic syndrome including dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance and hypertension in several relevant rodent models. Here, we synthesized and screened a total of 6 anti-hyperlipidaemic analogues of NDGA and tested their efficacy against hepatic lipid metabolism in a high-fructose diet (HFrD) fed dyslipidaemic rat model.Experimental Approach: HFrD fed Sprague-Dawley rats treated with NDGA or one of the six analogues were used. Serum samples were analysed for blood metabolites, whereas liver samples were quantified for changes in various mRNA levels by real-time RT-PCR.Key Results: Oral gavage of HFrD-fed rats for 4 days with NDGA analogues 1 and 2 (100 mg·kg-1 ·day-1 ) suppressed the hepatic triglyceride content, whereas the NDGA analogues 2, 3 and 4, like NDGA, decreased the plasma triglyceride levels by 70-75%. qRT-PCR measurements demonstrated that among NDGA analogues 1, 2, 4 and 5, analogue 4 was the most effective at inhibiting the mRNA levels of some key enzymes and transcription factors involved in lipogenesis. All four analogues almost equally inhibited the key genes involved in triglyceride synthesis and fatty acid elongation. Unlike NDGA, none of the analogues affected the genes of hepatic fatty acid oxidation or transport.Conclusions and Implications: Our data suggest that NDGA analogues 1, 2, 4 and 5, particularly analogue 4, exert their anti-hyperlipidaemic actions by negatively targeting genes of key enzymes and transcription factors involved in lipogenesis, triglyceride synthesis and fatty acid elongation. These analogues have therapeutic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Dexmedetomidine is very dynamic drug, used for analgesia, sedation, blunting the laryngoscopic responses and as adjuvants in regional anesthesia. Studies have shown that intravenous (iv) dexmedetomidine given during spinal anesthesia increases the quality of subarachnoid block (SAB). In this study, we compare the two iv regimen of dexmedetomidine on analgesic effect of spinal anesthesia. One is bolus dose of dexmedetomidine and other is infusion during the surgery, both given after induction of spinal anesthesia. Subjects and Methods: Sixty American Society of Anesthesiologists I and II patients scheduled to undergo surgeries under SAB were randomly allocated into two groups namely B and I. After SAB with 3.0 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% heavy, Group B received 0.5 µg/kg of dexmedetomidine bolus over 15 min, Group I received 0.5 µg/kg/h of dexmedetomidine infusion until the end of surgery. Statistical Analysis Used: All parametric data were statistically analyzed using Student's t-test and nonparametric data analyzed using Chi-square test and Fischer exact test as appropriate. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS. Results: Time to reach desired level T10 was quick in Group B compared to Group I. Regression of sensory and motor was prolonged in Group I compared to Group B. Total duration of analgesia was significantly prolonged in Group I 230.39 ± 16.20 compared to Group B 196.01 ± 14.32 and the difference is statistically significant (P = 0.0001). Both groups had Ramsay sedation score of 3 which lasted for 45 min in Group B while it was maintained in Group I. Side effects profile of both groups was comparable with few incidence of bradycardia and hypotension in both groups requiring treatment. Conclusions: We conclude that the continuous infusion of dexmedetomidine after SAB results in prolonged analgesia than just a bolus dose. Therefore, we suggest use of the maintenance dose of iv dexmedetomidine after SAB for prolonging the duration and achieving adequate sedation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), a plasma membrane protein mediates sodium reabsorption in epithelial tissues, including the distal nephron and colon. Syntaxin1A, a trafficking protein of the t-SNARE family has been reported to inhibit ENaC in the Xenopus oocyte expression and artificial lipid bilayer systems. The present report describes the regulation of the epithelial sodium channel by syntaxin1A in a human cell line that is physiologically relevant as it expresses both components and also responds to aldosterone stimulation. In order to evaluate the physiological significance of syntaxin1A interaction with natively expressed ENaC, we over-expressed HT-29 with syntaxin1A constructs comprising various motifs. Unexpectedly, we observed the augmentation of amiloride-sensitive currents with wild-type syntaxin1A full-length construct (1-288) in this cell line. Both gammaENaC and neutralizing syntaxin1A antibodies blocked native expression as amiloride-sensitive sodium currents were inhibited while munc18-1 antibody reversed this effect. The coiled-coiled domain H3 (194-266) of syntaxin1A inhibited, however the inclusion of the transmembrane domain to this motif (194-288) augmented amiloride sensitive currents. More so, data suggest that ENaC interacts with multiple syntaxin1A domains, which differentially regulate channel function. This functional modulation is the consequence of the physical enhancement of ENaC at the cell surface in cells over-expressed with syntaxin(s). Our data further suggest that syntaxin1A up-regulates ENaC function by multiple mechanisms that include PKA, PLC, PI3 and MAP Kinase (p42/44) signaling systems. We propose that syntaxin1A possesses distinct inhibitory and stimulatory domains that interact with ENaC subunits, which critically determines the overall ENaC functionality/regulation under distinct physiological conditions.