Indian J Med Res
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Pre-eclampsia (PE), a multifactorial de novo hypertensive pregnancy disorder, is one of the leading causes of foeto-maternal morbidity and mortality. Currently, antihypertensive drugs are the first-line therapy for PE and evidence suggests that low-dose aspirin initiated early in high risk pregnancies may reduce the risk of development or severity of PE. However, an early prediction of this disorder remains an unmet clinical challenge. ⋯ Therefore, monitoring changes in pEXO expression profiles could provide new insights into the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of PE. This narrative review comprehensively summarizes the available literature on the candidate predictive circulating biomarkers evaluated for PE to date. In particular, the review elucidates the current knowledge of distinct molecular signatures emanating from pEXO in pre-eclamptic women to support the discovery of novel early predictive biomarkers for effective intervention and management of the disease.
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Microvessel density (MVD) is a surrogate measure of tumour angiogenesis, and is well known for over two decades to identify individuals with a high risk of recurrence with greater prevision than traditional markers. This study aims to assess the utility of MVD and its correlation with the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) and other routine histopathological parameters in carcinoma breast. ⋯ A positive linear correlation of the microvessel counts and the NPI scores suggest that with an increase in tumour angiogenesis, there was increased proliferative potential. Based on the significant correlation between the microvessel counts and the vascular invasion of the tumour masses in this study, it can be assumed that there will be vascular invasion if the microvessel count is higher and vice-versa. Although it is established that angiogenesis and neovascularization are required for the expansion of the solid tumour tissue, the heterogeneous nature of this entity makes it difficult for obtaining a linear correlation. Hence, it is suggested that though neovascularization permits advanced tumour spread it, however, does not guarantee it.
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A new indigenously developed technology, coronavirus disease (COVID) Kavach, an IgG immunoglobulin-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit, was developed in 2020 by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV), Pune, India. The primary objective of this study was to determine the total cost of development of COVID Kavach IgG ELISA and estimate the unit cost (UC) as well. ⋯ The estimates from this study can be useful for conducting economic evaluations, which will help in deciding upon the subsidy in government health facilities. The data may be useful to set up laboratory facilities analogous to the National Reference Laboratory located at the ICMR-NIV, Pune and for allotting sufficient budget to develop such assays in government-funded laboratories.
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Semaphorins were initially characterized as axon guidance factors but were subsequently implicated in the regulation of immune responses, angiogenesis, organ formation and a variety of other physiological and developmental functions. Various semaphorins enhance or inhibit tumour progression through different mechanisms. The objective of this study was to assess the expression of various semaphorins and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene transcripts as well as the serum level of Sema3A in individuals with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). ⋯ Increased expression of Sema3C but decreased expression of Sema4D in tumour tissue of LSCC may introduce these two growth factors as crucial mediators orchestrating tumour growth in individuals with LSCC. This result could open a new vision for the treatment of this malignancy.