Journal of Advanced Laboratory Research in Biology

5-9

Authors: A.S. Gowtham Kumar, G. Thiyagarajan, V. Ramakrishnan, N. Madhusudhanan and C. Anbu Selvam

N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) is a potential carcinogenic agent that induces liver cancer. To evaluate the chemotherapeutic effect of Allyl isothiocyanate in the experimental model, Wistar male rats were administered single dose of intra peritoneal (IP) injection of NDEA. Two weeks after administration of NDEA, Phenobarbital at the concentration of 0.05% was incorporated in rat chow for up to 14 successive weeks to promote liver cancer. Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) (2mg/kg body weight) in addition with 0.5ml of corn oil was given orally on a daily basis. At the end of this experimental period, the rats were sacrificed and the blood samples were taken for biochemical studies. The levels of the marker enzymes for liver function were measured in serum. The results of the biochemical studies showed that NDEA administration followed by phenobarbital induces macro and microscopic liver tumors that increase the levels of marker enzymes and decreases the level of antioxidant in the serum in addition to loss of body weight. Conclusively, the administration of AITC as therapeutic treatment for hepatocarcinoma has significantly reduced the tumor development and counteracted all the biochemical effects induced by NDEA.

15-17

Authors: Rudra Prasad Nath, Suman Pratihar and Jayanta Kumar Kundu

Faces are of utmost importance for human social life. They provide valuable information about the identity, expression, gaze, health and age of a person. Recent face processing models assume highly interconnected neural structures between different temporal, occipital, and frontal brain areas with several feedback loops. A selective deficit in the visual learning and recognition of faces is known as prosopagnosia, which can be found both in acquired and congenital form. Any neural tissue damage in the face recognition network of the brain can cause a prosopagnosia, a condition which can best be defined as a selective impairment of the visual learning and recognition of faces. Recently, a hereditary sub-type of congenital prosopagnosia with a very high prevalence rate of 2.5% has been identified.

23-30

Authors: Thiyagarajan Gurunathan, S. Gowtham Kumar, C. Anbu Selvam and Asit Baran Mandal

New characters emerge in the population of microorganisms living in the extreme environments due to its adaptation to ecological association. The microorganisms living in saline habitat utilize complex nutrients by adopting different strategies in Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and Ribonucleic Acid (RNA), which are related to their metabolic and ecological diversities. Isolation and characterization of the organisms producing extracellular protease from such environment were the prime focus of this investigation, which can indicate the importance of metabolic diversity in phylogeny. Norberg medium was used to isolate halotolerant microorganisms from salt-cured skin. The isolates were screened for high activity of protease and the strain showing maximum activity of protease was taken for further studies. The biochemical characterization and 16s ribosomal RNA sequencing studies confirm that the isolate is Acinetobacter baumannii. Moreover, hydrolysis positive for starch and casein, negative for gelatin shows that the organism is a variant form of A. baumannii. Cell growth parameters such as pH and temperature were optimized and their values are 8 and 37oC respectively. The extracellular production of protease was optimized in the suitable medium and its enzyme activity was 165μg/ml/min. The results imply that the isolate had acquired operational genes through lateral gene transfer (LGT) probably from unrelated species in the environment. This indicates that the isolate identified possesses metabolic and ecological diversities with values of phylogenetic delineation.

35-40

Authors: V. Ramakrishnan, V. Jaikumar, S. Gowtham kumar, G. Thiyagarajan and S. Vincent

Several genetic investigations have been attempted to elucidate the association of gene polymorphism of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in coronary artery disease. This study was conducted to investigate the role of gene polymorphism of ACE in patients with coronary artery disease. The study included fifty-six numbers of patients with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease where proven angiographically and fifty-six numbers of healthy individuals of sex matched as a control group. The patients and control group were subjected to routine investigations, assays like, serum cholesterol, triglycerides, high density Lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C).Genomic DNA was extracted and analyzed for angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion polymorphism using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).When we compared the genotypes of patients with coronary artery disease and controls, it was observed that all three genotypes were not statistically different also no significant difference of alleles in ACE gene genotypes was found. Inpatient serum cholesterol, triglyceride and HDL-C (P <0.001, P <0.001 and P <0.001: respectively) showed a significant increase than the control group. In patients, LDL-C level was not more significant than controls. In the evaluated population, we conclude that the gene I/D polymorphism for ACE are not risk associated and may not be a useful marker for coronary artery disease.