Tuesday, October 30, 2012

7 Intriguing Genetically Modified Fruits & Veggies | Must Read….

Here are some of the genetically modified bizzares. I came across when i was viewing this blog. Though i would share and let others know. Follow the link
7 Intriguing Genetically Modified Fruits & Veggies | Must Read….

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Today i am going to write about Leishmania, a protozoa found to be infectious and causing Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL). 

The leishmaniases are a complex of diseases, caused by kinetoplastid flagellates of the genus Leishmania, which include visceral leishmaniasis (VL), the most severe form of the disease, lethal if left untreated, and several forms of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), which may be mutilating, disfiguring, or disabling when lesions are multiple. Three hundred fifty million people in 88 countries are at risk. The yearly incidence is 0.5 million cases of VL and 1.5 million cases of CL. The number of people suffering from these diseases has increased during the last decade.

Leishmaniasis is transmitted by the bite of female phlebotomine sandflies belonging to some 30 species, different throughout the world. Twenty Leishmaniaspecies are pathogenic for humans. The causative agents of VL are members of the Leishmania donovani complex, classified into four species: Leishmania archibaldiLeishmania chagasiLeishmania donovani, and Leishmania infantum, distinguished by their vectors and reservoir hosts and in pathology.

In the Indian subcontinent 200 million people are estimated to be at risk of developing Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL). VL, also known as kala-azar is a fatal parasitic disease caused by Leishmania donovani, an intracellular parasite transmitted in the Indian continent by Phlebotomus argentipes. The reported number of cases in the region was 100,000 per year in 2005, but the actual figure may be 5 to 8 times higher.

Life cycle of Leishmania is promastigote-amastigote-promastigote. In the life cycle, the parasite organism is engulfed by reticuloendothelial cells in which it multiplies by binary fission and then parasitizes macrophages.
The sandfly vector becomes infected when feeding on the blood of an infected individual or an animal reservoir host. The leishmania parasites live in the macrophages as round, non-motile amastigotes (3-7 micrometers in diameter). The macrophages are ingested by the fly during the blood- meal and the amastigotes are relesed into the stomach of insect. Almost immediately the amastigotes transform in to the motile, elongated (10-20 micrometers), flagellate promastigote form. The promastigotes then migrate to the alimentary tract of the fly, where they live extracellularly and multiply by binary fission. Four to five days after feeding the promastigotes move forward to the oesophagus and the salivary glands of the insect. When the sandlfy next feeds on a mammalian host, it's proboscis pierces the skin and saliva containing anti-coagulant is injected into the wound to prevent the blood from clotting, the leishmania promastigotes are transferred to the host along with the saliva. Once in the host the promastigotes are taken up by the macrophages where they rapidly revert to the amastigote form. The leishmania are able to resist the microbiocidal action of the acid hydrolases release form the lysozymes and so survive and multiply inside the macrophages, eventually leading to the lysis of the macrophages. The released amastigotes are taken up by additional macrophages and so the cycle continues. Ultimately all the organs containing macrophages and phagocytes are infected, especially the spleen, liver and bone marrow

Refer this - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=5661 for its taxonomical classification.

Note - The content is taken from different research papers - 1) Incidence of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Leishmania donovani Infections in High-Endemic Foci in India and Nepal: A Prospective Study, 2) Evolutionary and geographical history of the Leishmania donovani complex with a revision of current taxonomy, and some other web material.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Research Article


Abstract

Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec, STI571), a selective inhibitor of a restricted number of tyrosine kinases, has been effectively used for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemias and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Imatinib may also directly influence immune cells. Suppressive as well as stimulating effects of this drug on CD4+and CD8+ T lymphocytes or dendritic cells have been reported. In the current study, we have investigated the influence of imatinib mesylate on CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells (Treg), a critical population of lymphocytes that contributes to peripheral tolerance. Used at concentrations achieved clinically, imatinib impaired Treg immunosuppressive function and FoxP3 expression but not production of IL-10 and TGF-β in vitro. Imatinib significantly reduced the activation of the transcription factors STAT3 and STAT5 in Treg. Analysis of Treg TCR-induced signaling cascade indicated that imatinib inhibited phosphorylation of ZAP70 and LAT. Substantiating these observations, imatinib treatment of mice decreased Treg frequency and impaired their immunosuppressive function in vivo. Furthermore, imatinib mesylate significantly enhanced antitumor immune responses to dendritic cell-based immunization against an imatinib-resistant BCR-ABL negative lymphoma. The clinical applications of imatinib mesylate might thus be expanded with its use as a potent immunomodulatory agent targeting Treg in cancer immunotherapy.
Article info - The Journal of Immunology
                      November 15, 2008

                     vol. 181 no. 10 6955-6963

Have you watched Oh my god???

Hi there,

i never wanted to write but suddenly a thought came into my mind in the middle of the night (at 1p.m ) which made me narrate what i experienced yesterday.

it starts with nothing was ever going to happen. i was lying in the room at my home as i was not well. i was feeling lethargic. Suddenly, my father tells me to drive him to the bus station as he had to go to my other home. Usually, my father tells me to drive him to a nearby bus-stop where he catches a city bus and goes to the bus station. I certainly do not hope to drop him on that bus-stop and drive him all the way but that never happens. With the same mindset, i set forward to drop him. But things never go as you think it. When we reached to the bus-stop, he drove forward. I was not unhappy but the sluggishness feeling irritated me. The surprises than started to drop in intervals. My father did not took me to the bus-stop but instead we went to a merchant to collect something that was ordered. I am least interested in the business of my father ( at least this business of the two) so it was just considered to be a normal event.

we reached the shop. my father asked for the order but it was not yet prepared. he was a bit furious. i did not care though. they told us to wait. In the shop, there were 3 people. There was the owner ( 84 year old man which i came to know later), owner's son and owner's younger brother. My father was talking to the younger brother of the owner. When we were there, i did not have a glimpse of the owner. He was lying behind the desk as he was supposed to do. He had to do no work. I noticed the strength of his hearing and interpreting things later when i understood his enormous strengths. As soon as my father asked for the order, the owner engaged himself in the activity of bringing the order here ( it happened right in front of me but i took it as a pass-by event). I was amazed later how good his hearing powers were. Then, we had to sit there for an hour as said. I told my father that i would drop you first and than go to my friend's place and as the hour ends i would come and collect the order. But i had to experience what is coming next so my father decided to stay.

Suddenly, an old friend of my father passed from there. My father noticed him, called him and talked to him. The reason i am mentioning it is because the conversation with the owner was not bound to happen if that friend of my father had not passed through. There was a topic in conversation of my father with his old friend which intrigued the owner and attracted him to talk to my father ( although he liked to talk to people (he calls it 'satsang') which i came to know later). After that old friend parted, my father and the other started talking.
I was least interested in the conversation as i do not like those talks. But i kept hearing it. Soon i found that the owner is an expert in what he does. He is known for his work in the market. He has established greatness in his work. Apart from this, he has a vast range of experience of which i saw a glimpse. I would say he was an awesome person. I certainly got attracted to the talk. The talk was all worldly but it portrayed that man's knowledge which i was flabbergasted to see! I was also astounded with the energy with which he spoke and also the energy with which he acted. The most shocking part was when he asked my father that, "Have you watched the movie, Oh my god?". I laughed for a moment. I do not know whether it is a normal event for you all or not but certainly it was something extraordinary that happened to me that day. I just could not imagine that an 84 year old man could know all such. Certainly there are such older people who are energetic but i could not gulp the fact that he had all the knowledge about what was going on in the world especially movies. I really do not hope any elderly person to have knowledge of movies. This event was astounding. I felt happy that i had gone with my father and be there. Although, i believe that it was bound to happen. I could not stop myself imagining that what could be the IQ level of that person? What he could have become if he had not been working at the shop? A man with that energy in his days of youth would have been extraordinary. I also learned many things from him that you should always be energetic, never believe in those babas ( although i had belief in it before i met him) or the gurus who are all 'pakhandi' (fraud). I believe such an incident should happen everyday in one's life so that you can learn more....