Massive Fluid Requirements and an Unusual BUN/Creatinine Ratio for Pre-Renal Failure in Patients with Cholera

Background

Cholera is an important infectious cause of secretory diarrhea. The primary symptom of infection is the sudden onset of watery diarrhea with subsequent volume depletion causing renal insufficiency. The objective of this research is to study the level of dehydration at presentation and subsequent fluid management in patients with cholera.

Methods

This study was conducted on 191 patients of Cholera admitted at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan during the period of 5 years. Medical charts were evaluated retrospectively for initial hydration status, baseline lab investigations on admission and discharge and fluid therapy given to all the patients while their stay in the hospital and the data was analyzed on SPSS 15.0.

Results

Out of the 191 patients, 83(43%) were males and 108 (57%) were females with mean age of 42.3 years (SD±18.34). The average duration of symptoms was 3.75 days (SD±2.04). Of 191 patients, 175 (92.1%) presented with dehydration, 80 (42.3%) were given Ringer''s Lactate (R/L) + Normal Saline (N/S), 45 (24%) patients were given R/L + N/S + Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORS), 27 (14.3%) of the patients were kept on R/L only and remaining were given various combinations of R/L, N/S, ORS and Dextrose Saline (D/S). On admission mean Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) was 24.54 (SD±16.6), mean creatinine was 2.47 (SD±2.35) and mean BUN/Creatinine ratio was 11.63 (SD±5.7).

Conclusion

Aggressive fluid rehydration remains the cornerstone of management of cholera. Instead of presenting with a classical BUN/Creatinine ratio of >20∶1, patients with pre-renal failure in cholera may present with a BUN/Creatinine ratio of <15∶1.     

Oligomers of carrageenan regulate functional activities and artemisinin production in Artemisia annua L. exposed to arsenic stress

Protoplasma - Recently, a promising technique has come forward in field of radiation-agriculture in which the natural polysaccharides are modified into useful oligomers after depolymerization....     

Potential of Bacillus species against Meloidogyne javanica parasitizing eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and induced biochemical changes

Aims

The biocontrol potential of three Bacillus species, namely Bacillus subtilis (BS), Bacillus firmus (BF), and Bacillus coagulans (BC) was tested against the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica (Treub) Chitwood in eggplants (Solanum melongena L.). Plant growth and biochemical effects were also measured in these interactions.

Methods

Bacillus species were inoculated in soil around the seedlings of eggplants (Solanum melongena L.) with and without nematodes in a greenhouse experiment. Plant growth, biochemical changes, and nematode parasitism were observed at 15 and 45 days after inoculation (DAI).

Results

BC significantly enhanced plant growth, chlorophyll “b” and total chlorophyll contents, and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity in the leaves of eggplants, while BS showed greatest reduction in root-knot nematode parasitism. Non-infected and untreated control (C?) plants showed lesser chlorophyll “b,” carotenoids, soluble protein contents, and guaiacol peroxidase but higher catalase and PPO activities compared to infected and untreated controls (C+) at 15 and 45 DAI. Superoxide dismutase activity declined in most of the treated plants at 45 DAI following rise at 15 DAI. Ascorbate peroxidase activity increased at 45 DAI compared to 15 DAI in C? and C+ plants. PAL activity was greatly enhanced at 45 DAI in all treatments and controls over that at 15 DAI.

Conclusions

BC is a potentially plant growth-promoting bacteria although it was less effective against nematode infection compared to BS. Enzymes activities varied with infection and DAI. BC at 15 DAI in general increased the activity of most of the stress enzymes and thereby overcoming the effect of nematode parasitism.     

Sugar beet extract acts as a natural bio-stimulant for physio-biochemical attributes in water stressed wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum aestivum</Emphasis> L.)

The present study investigated the role of sugar beet extract (SBE) as a bio-stimulant to ameliorate the adverse effects of drought on seed germination and growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Different concentrations of SBE (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50%) were used for priming the wheat seeds. The experiment was conducted in laboratory (PEG-8000 was used to create water stress) as well as under natural environmental conditions (using soil with 100 and 60% field capacity). Significant ameliorating effects of seed priming with SBE were recorded on different germination attributes, i.e., time to 50% emergence (E₅₀), germination index (GI), mean emergence time (MET), germination percentage (G%), coefficient of uniformity of emergence (CUE) and germination energy (GE) under water stress. Without priming, the plants exhibited symptoms of water stress like decreased biomass, reduction in photosynthetic pigments, e.g., chlorophyll, carotenoids. Seed pre-conditioning with SBE improved the plant growth, photosynthetic pigments, antioxidants’ activities and nutrient homeostasis of plants facing water deficit and grown under well-watered conditions. The maximum increase in biomass, content of chlorophyll, carotenoids and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) was 13.4, 8.5, 11.9, 7.6, 13.6, 42.0, 19.8%, respectively, with SBE seed priming under water stress. In conclusion, SBE seed priming effectively reduced the negativities of water stress on seed germination which resulted in better plant growth in terms of enhanced biomass, photosynthetic pigments, antioxidant defense mechanism and better nutrient homeostasis. Overall, the findings suggest that seed pre-conditioning with SBE as a bio-stimulant will be helpful for better crop stand establishment under low field capacity, especially in semi-arid and arid agricultural fields.     

Role of Organic Amendments to Mitigate Cd Toxicity and Its Assimilation in <i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.

In soil biota, higher and enduring concentration of heavy metals like cadmium (Cd) is hazardous and associated with great loss in growth, yield, and quality parameters of most of the crop plants. Recently, in-situ applications of eco-friendly stabilizing agents in the form of organic modifications have been utilized to mitigate the adverse effects of Cd-toxicity. This controlled experiment was laid down to appraise the imprints of various applied organic amendments namely poultry manure (PM), farmyard manure (FYM), and sugarcane press mud (PS) to immobilize Cd in polluted soil. Moreover, phytoavailability of Cd in wheat was also accessed under an alkaline environment. Results revealed that the addition of FYM (5–10 ton ha^-1 ) in Cd-contaminated soil significantly increased germination rate, leaf chlorophyll content, plant height, spike length, biological and grain yield amongst all applied organic amendments. Moreover, the addition of FYM (5–10 ton ha^-1 ) also reduced the phytoavailability of Cd by 73–85% in the roots, 57–83% in the shoots, and 81–90% in grains of wheat crop. Thus, it is affirmed that incorporation of FYM (5–10 ton ha^-1 ) performed better to enhance wheat growth and yield by remediating Cd. Thus, the application of FYM (5–10 ton ha^-1 ) reduced the toxicity induced by Cd to plants by declining its uptake and translocation as compared to all other applied organic amendments to immobilize Cd under sandy alkaline polluted soil.     

Antioxidant,antibacterial, and catalytic performance of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles of Rhus javanica,Rumex hastatus,and Callistemon viminalis

Rhus javanica (Anacardiaceae) containing abundant glucopyranosidal constituents, is traditionally used to treat gastric and duodenal ulcer, dysentery, and diarrhea. Rumex hastatus (Polygonaceae) widely distributed in Pakistan, has traditional importance in treating wound healing, jaundice, rheumatism, and skin diseases. Callistemon viminalis (Myrtaceae), a rich source of essential oils, saponins, triterpenoids, phloroglucinols, and flavonoids is used in industries, perfumes, nutrition, and cosmetics. Taking the importance of the subject plants, this study is designed to synthesize silver nanoparticles via aqueous extracts of R. javanica (RJAgNPs), R. hastatus (RHAgNPs), and C. viminalis (CVAgNPs). Synthesis, surface, and sizes of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were confirmed using spectroscopic techniques including ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis), Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). AgNPs were produced in ratios 1:15, 1:16, and 1:9 and inferred via appearance of a sharp surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption peak (400–435 nm), which represented well-defined, stable, and spherical AgNPs. From SEM analysis, the sizes of RJAgNPs, RHAgNPs, and CVAgNPs were found to be 67 nm, 61 nm, and 55 nm, respectively. The synthesized AgNPs exhibited potential free radical scavenging, antibacterial, and catalytic properties in degradation of dyes including Congo red, methylene blue, methyl orange, rhodamine B, ortho and para-nitrophenols, and several food colours. Hence, the subject AgNPs in the current study might display promising role in drug development and remediation of environmental/industrial effluents.