Indian J Med Res
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The silent epidemic of micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs) continues to be a major public health challenge in the developing world, including India. The prevalence of iron, iodine, zinc, vitamin A and folate deficiencies is alarmingly high worldwide. India is additionally facing a high prevalence of vitamin D and B12 deficiencies. ⋯ Hence, overdependence on supplementation and fortification alone may be counterproductive. Instead, food based dietary diversification approach can be the way forward. In this article, we list the common MNDs in India, evaluate major policy interventions, discuss concerns pertaining to fortification and suggest the need for a concurrent food-based approach, in particular dietary diversification, as a long-term and sustainable strategy to address population-based MNDs.
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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is known to induce inflammation and activation of neutrophils causing the release of neutrophil elastase (NE), a pro-inflammatory proteinase. The activity of NE is regulated by endogenous inhibitors alpha1-antitrypsin (α1-AT) and alpha2-macroglobulin (α2-MG). Disrupted proteolytic homeostasis in T2DM patients is one of the causes for vascular complications. This study was carried out for evaluating the levels of plasma NE, α1-AT, α2-MG and NE-α1-AT complex to understand their roles in the pathophysiology of diabetic nephropathy (DN) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). ⋯ Homeostasis of NE, α1-AT and α2-MG is disrupted in T2DM, DN and DR. Strikingly reduced levels of α1-AT observed in DR are indicative of its possible role in the pathophysiology of retinopathy and emphasizes α1-AT as a plausible therapeutic target.
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The National Monitoring Framework for the prevention and control of NCDs in India has set targets for reduction of risk factors relative to the measure recorded in 2010. Estimates for 2010 and 2015 were established using meta-analyses in the absence of a national risk factor survey till 2017. ⋯ The estimates are consistent with other available estimates and with current national-level initiatives focused on tobacco control and improving access to clean fuel. These estimates can be used to monitor progress on non-communicable disease risk factor targets for India.
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The treatment of brain cancer is still challenging for an oncologist due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) which inhibits the entry of more than 98 per cent of drugs used during the treatment of brain disease. The cytotoxic drugs used in chemotherapy for brain cancer treatment also affect the normal cells due to lack of targeting. Therefore, the objective of the study was to develop tween 80-coated solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) loaded with folic acid-doxorubicin (FAD) conjugate for site-specific drug delivery to brain cancer cells. ⋯ The cell line studies confirmed the cytotoxicity and internalization of SLN-C in U87 MG brain cancer cells. The results confirmed that tween 80-coated SLNs have the potential to deliver the doxorubicin selectively in the brain cancer cells.
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Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signalling pathway has been reported to be involved in metastasis and at the same time has been considered compellingly an important mediator of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Besides, EMT process is maintained by zinc-finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) gene which is induced by TGF-β pathway. TGF-β has been shown to be associated with elevated microsatellite alterations at selected tetranucleotide repeats (EMAST) phenomenon, which is one of the prognostic biomarkers of colorectal cancer (CRC). This study was conducted to determine the link among ZEB1-induced TGF-β, EMAST status and metastasis. ⋯ Our results validated significant association between activated TGF-β signalling pathway and EMAST+ phenotype with higher expression of ZEB1 and higher level of metastasis.