Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine

510-515

Authors: Moussa Soleimani-Ahmadi, Hassan Vatandoost, Ahmad-Ali Hanafi-Bojd, Mehdi Zare, Reza Safari, Abdolrasul Mojahedi, Fatemeh Poorahmad-Garbandi

Objective To determine the effects of environmental parameters of larval habitats on distribution and abundance of anopheline mosquitoes in Rudan county of Iran. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted during the mosquito breeding season from February 2010 to October 2011. The anopheline larvae were collected using the standard dipping method. The specimens were identified using a morphological-based key. Simultaneously with larval collection, environmental parameters of the larval habitats including water current and turbidity, sunlight situation, and substrate type of habitats were recorded. Water samples were taken from breeding sites during larval collection. Before collection of samples, the water temperature was measured. The water samples were analysed for turbidity, conductivity, total alkalinity, total dissolved solid, pH and ions including chloride, sulphate, calcium, and magnesium. Statistical correlation analysis and ANOVA test were used to analyze the association between environmental parameters and larval mosquito abundance. Results In total 2 973 larvae of the genus Anopheles were collected from 25 larval habitats and identified using morphological characters. They comprised of six species: An. dthali (53.21%), An. stephensi (24.22%), An. culicifacies (14.06%), An. superpictus (4.07%), An. turkhudi (3.30%), and An. apoci (1.14%). The most abundant species was An. dthali which were collected from all of the study areas. Larvae of two malaria vectors, An. dthali and An. stephensi, co-existed and collected in a wide range of habitats with different physico-chemical parameters. The most common larval habitats were man-made sites such as sand mining pools with clean and still water. The anopheline mosquitoes also preferred permanent habitats in sunlight with sandy substrates. The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between mean physico-chemical parameters such as water temperature, conductivity, total alkalinity, sulphate, chloride, and mosquito distribution and abundance. Conclusions The results of this study showed a correlation between certain environmental parameters and mosquito larvae abundance, and these parameters should be considered in planning and implementing larval control programs.

520-524

Authors: Jadhav Priyanka, Lal Hingorani, Kshirsagar Nilima

Objective To investigate in-vivo anti-plasmodial activity of aqueous extracts of plants selected based on the symptomology mentioned in Ayurveda. Methods The aqueous extracts of Holarrhena antidysentrica (H. antidysentrica) (Kutaja) and Azadirachta indica (A. indica) (Neemb) for their antiplasmodial potential in Plasmodium berghei (P. berghei) infected mice was assessed using Peters four day suppressive test. Both the extracts were administered at 2 dose levels, full dose (1 000 mg/d) and minimized dose (200 mg/d). 106 P. berghei infected RBCs were injected on day ‘0’ and treated from day ‘0’ till day ‘3’ post-infection. Tail blood smears were collected, giemsa stained and analyzed. The mice were observed for survival and parasitemia was assessed till 50% of mice in control survived. Results It was observed that the percentage of parasitemia increased gradually in all the groups, with maximum in control group (Day 3-35, Day 9-46.98) and minimum in Chloroquine arm (Day 3-14.06, Day 9-19.92). The percentage of parasitemia was compared using Mann-Whitney U test depicting that all test groups exhibited reduction in parasitemia as compared to control (P-value<0.002 for all groups). These groups showed similar percentage of survival as Chloroquine. Conclusions The present investigation demonstrated the anti-plasmodial effects of H. antidysentrica and A. indica, which are two most commonly used medicinal plants in Ayurved for treatment of fever.

537-543

Authors: B Ganga Rao, Y Venkateswara Rao, T Mallikarjuna Rao

Objective To evaluate hepato protective and antioxidant capacity of Melochia corchorifolia (M. corchorifolia) aerial part extracts. Methods Antioxidant activity was evaluated by using three free radicals (Superoxide, Hydroxyl and DPPH) and hepatoprotective activity was assessed against CCl4 induced liver intoxication in rats. Results The extracts produced concentration dependent percentage protection in decrease of serum enzymes and percentage inhibition on free radicals. Among all extracts methanol extract showed better activity with percentage protection of SGOT (78.98%), SGPT (79.65%), ALP (82.48%) and total bilirubin (80.0%) levels against CCl4 liver intoxication and also methanolic extract showed better activity with IC50 values on superoxide, hydroxyl and DPPH radicals were 127 μ g, 240 μ g and 179 μ g. Conclusions From the results obtained during the study it could be concluded that M. corchorifolia aerial part extracts have antioxidant and hepatoprotective components. Further study is necessary for isolation and characterization of bioactive molecules which are responsible for hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity.

548-551

Authors: Yun Li, Ya-Zhen Liu, Jing-Ming Shi, Song-Bai Jia

Objective To determine whether alpha lipoic acid (LA) can effectively protect lenses from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced cataract. Methods Lens from adult Sprague-Dawley rats were cultured in 24-well plates and treated without or with 0.2 mM of H2O2, 0.2 mM of H2O2 plus 0.5 mM, 1.0 mM, or 2.0 mM of LA for 24 h. Cataract was assessed using cross line grey scale measurement. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH-Px), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and malondialdehyde (MDA) activity or level in lens homogenates was measured. Apoptosis of lens epithelial cells in each group were detected by Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase dUTP Nick End Labeling (TUNEL) Assay. Results A total of 0.2 mM of H2O2 induced obvious cataract formation and apoptosis in lens' epithelial cells, but 0.5-2.0 mM of LA could block the effect of 0.2 mM H2O2 in inducing cataract and apoptosis. Furthermore, 0.2 mM of H2O2 significantly decreased SOD, GSH-Px, and LDH activity and significant increased MDA level in the lens, but 0.5-2.0 mM of LA blocked the effect of 0.2 mM H2O2. One mM of LA was found to be the most effective. Conclusions LA can protect lens from H2O2-induced cataract. LA exerts protective effects through inhibition of lens' epithelial cell apoptosis and activation of anti-oxidative enzymes.

556-560

Authors: A Rafiei, Azizi M Darzyani, S Taheri, MR Haghshenas, A Hosseinian, A Makhlough

Objective To determine the patterns of distribution of HCV genotypes among high risk population in north of Iran. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 135 HCV RNA-positive high risk individuals including thalassemia, hemophilia, patients under hemodialysis and intravenous drug addicts. HCV genotypes were determined based on amplification with type-specific primers methods. Results Among the 187 anti-HCV positive samples, only 135 (72.2%) gave HCV-RNA positvity. Over all, the most identified HCV type was genotype 3a (51.1%) followed by 1a (27.4%), 1b (8.2%). Sixteen (11.9%) out of 135 HCV RNA-positive participants have infected with more than one genotype or subtypes as follow; 1a/1b in 11 (8.2%), 2/3a in 3 (2.2%), and 1a/1b/3a in 2 (1.5%). Stratification of participants revealed that HCV subtype 3a was more prominent in thalassemia, hemophilia and HD patients but 1a and 1b were frequent in intravenous drug addicts. Conclusions This study is the first report on HCV genotypes among Iranian subjects with different exposure categories resided in Mazandaran, where genotype 3a was found to be the most frequent genotype in thalassemia, hemophilia, and hemodialysis patients but not in IDAs. Since the addiction age is decreasing in Iran and a lot of addicts are IDAs, it might change the subtype pattern of HCV in general population.

570-573

Authors: Wei-Tao Cheng, Ning Wang

Objective To investigate the correlation between expressions of MMP-2 and NF-κ B in the intracranial aneurysm wall, and explore their role in the mechanism of the occurrence, growth and rupture of intracranial aneurysms. Methods RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of MMP-2 and NF-κ B mRNA of 30 cases of intracranial aneurysm tissue and 10 cases of normal intracranial arterial tissue; Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of MMP-2 and NF-κ B protein. Results The semi-quantitative analysis of MMP-2 and NF-κ B in aneurysms tissues and normal tissues were statistically significant different from each other (P<0 05). Immunohistochemical staining results showed NF-κ B was expressed in different layers. The expression of them were positive in intimal and medial, and the expression sites were located in the nucleus. MMP-2 were expressed in different layers of the aneurysm wall, and the expressions were positive in media and extima. The MMP-2 and NF- κ B-positive expression of aneurysm wall were significantly higher than in normal cerebral arteries (P <0.05). MMP-2 and NF-κ B mRNA expression showed positive correlation in the aneurysm wall tissue (r = 0.689, P = 0.005). Conclusions The expressions of MMP-2 and NF-κ B in the intracranial aneurysm wall tissue were significantly higher than in the normal intracranial arterial tissues. They have a synergistic effect on the formation of intracranial aneurysms.

574-577

Authors: Yi Hou, Yi-Yi Liu, Xiao-Kun Zhao

Objective To study the expression of ALDH1 in colon cancer and its clinical significance. Methods The expression of ALDH1 was examined in 98 surgical specimens of primary colonic carcinoma and 15 normal colon tissues with immunohistochemistry method. The correlations of the expression with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of colon cancer were analyzed. Results The positive rate of expression of ALDH1 was 76.5% (75/98) in the cancer tissues and 13.3% (2/15) in normal colon tissues. There were an obvious statistical difference (P<0.05) between the two groups. The ALDH1 expression was significantly correlated with the histological grade, TNM stages and lymph node metastasis in colon cancer (P<0.05). It was also related with patients' survival time, those with positive expressions had a poor prognosis (P<0.05). Conclusions The results suggeste that the overexpression of ALDH1 plays important roles in proliferation and progression in colon cancer, the ALDH1 may be a valuable marker to predict the biological behavior and trend of metastasis of colon cancer.

583-588

Authors: Diganta Goswami, Indra Baruah, Sunil Dhiman, Bipul Rabha, Vijay Veer, Lokendra Singh, Dhirendra Kumar Sharma

India reports the highest number of malaria cases in Southeast Asia, of which Plasmodium falciparum contribute more than half of the cases every year. North eastern states of India contribute only 3.96% of country's population but account for >10% of total reported malaria cases, 11% of Plasmodium falciparum cases and 20% of malaria related deaths annually. In India, chloroquine resistance was reported for the first time from northeast region and since then chloroquine treatment failure is being reported from many parts of the region. Increased chloroquine treatment failure has led to change of the drug policy to artemisinin combination therapy as first line of malaria treatment in the region. However, replacing chloroquine to artemisinin combination therapy has not shown significant difference in the overall malaria incidence in the region. The present review addresses the current malaria situation of northeastern region of India in the light of antimalarials drug resistance.