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Reliability of Davidson Body to Determine the Nuclear Sex ofthe Individual: Interobserver variability between pathologists

Basavaraj P Bommanahalli*, Chandrashekar M*, Shashikala P**, Vijayakumar B Jatti***

*Assistant Professor, **Professor & Head, Dept. of Pathology, SSIMS & RC, Davangere, ***Assistant Professor, Dept. of ForensicMedicine, SSIMS & RC, Davangere, Karnataka

Abstract

Determination of the sex of the individual has greatmedicolegal importance to solve many criminal and civilproblems. But, identifying the sex of hermaphrodites,pseudohermaphrodites, concealed sex and body in advancedstate of putrefaction or mutilation, might be difficult. Where,determination of the genetic or nuclear sex by identifyingDavidson body in neutrophils would solve issues. Thus, our studyaimed to identify the sex of individual by screening neutrophilsfor the percentage of Davidson bodies and to check interobservervariability.Peripheral blood smears of 200 subjects (a range of 1 yr to90 yr) were studied by two pathologists. The pathologists wereunaware of sex of the subjects. Smears were well made andstained with leishman stain. Percentage of Davidson bodies wasrecorded separately in all cases by both the pathologists. Later,the observation was correlated with sex. Interobserverconcordance was calculated by Kendall’s tau test. One wayANOVA test was used to find out relation between age andnumber of barr bodies. Davidson bodies were not seen in 103cases and these individuals were phenotypically males. All (97)the females showed Davidson body (mean of 3.7% and 3.6% asobservation made by pathologist I & II respectively). Findings ofboth the pathologists were concordant in determining thepresence or absence of Davidson body. Age had no influence onthe number of barr bodies. In conclusion, identification ofDavidson body in the neutrophil is very simple, cost effectiveand rapid method to determine the genetic sex of the individual

 

Bayer loses another appeal against Roundup cancer verdict

An appeals court in San Francisco upheld the 2019 ruling in favor of a couple who claimed they got non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after using Roundup for years.

• Reuters
 
• Updated: August 10, 2021, 17:46 IST

San Francisco: German pharmaceutical and chemical giant Bayer on Monday lost another appeal against a verdict that found its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, the latest setback in its bid to end thousands of lawsuits over the product.

An appeals court in San Francisco upheld the 2019 ruling in favor of a couple who claimed they got non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after using Roundup for years.

The court also upheld a judge's decision to reduce the jury's compensation award to Alva and Alberta Pilliod from $2 billion to $86.7 million.

Bayer has been plagued by problems since it bought Monsanto, which owns Roundup, in 2018 for $63 billion and inherited its legal woes.

The German firm says it has not committed any wrongdoing, and maintains that scientific studies and regulatory approvals show Roundup's main ingredient glyphosate is safe.

Glyphosate is nonetheless classified as a "probable carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer at the World Health Organization (WHO).

In the latest ruling, the appeals court said Monsanto displayed an "intransigent unwillingness to inform the public about the carcinogenic dangers of a product it made abundantly available at hardware stores and garden shops across the country."

"Monsanto knew that studies supporting the safety of Roundup were invalid when the Pilliods began spraying Roundup in their yards, wearing no gloves or protective gear, spurred on by television commercials."

"We respectfully disagree with the Court's ruling as the verdict is not supported by the evidence at trial or the law," a Bayer spokesperson said. "Monsanto will consider its legal options in this case."

"We continue to stand strongly behind the safety of Roundup, a position supported by four decades of extensive science and the assessments of leading health regulators worldwide that support its safe use."

Bayer has set aside more than $15 billion to deal with a wave of US lawsuits linked to the weedkiller.

After allotting its latest tranche of $4.5 billion for potential costs, the German company posted huge losses for its second quarter last week.

In February, it said it had settled some 90,000 cases.

In May, a San Francisco court upheld a damages award of $25 million against Bayer and in favor of California resident Edwin Hardeman.

Bayer has said it will petition the US Supreme Court to review the Hardeman case this month.

 

Asymptomatic diabetes the new concern for Hyderabad

Majority of new patients do not have any of the typical symptoms of diabetes like frequent urination, fatigue, excessive thirst or hunger, weight loss and blurry vision. Nutritionists and diabetologists say it could be linked to the change in food intake and limited or no exercise during the pandemic.

• Amrita Didyala
• TNN
• July 31, 2021, 07:34 IST

HYDERABAD: In a worrying trend that has left health experts baffled, hundreds of asymptomatic diabetes cases are coming to light during routine health checks across Hyderabad with no tell-tale symptoms of blood sugar increase, said doctors.

Majority of new patients do not have any of the typical symptoms of diabetes like frequent urination, fatigue, excessive thirst or hunger, weight loss and blurry vision. Nutritionists and diabetologists say it could be linked to the change in food intake and limited or no exercise during the pandemic.
Take the case of 47-year-old Suhasini Kumar, who had a blackout at home for 45 seconds and her family insisted on a master health check-up the next day. “During the check-up, my blood sugar levels were higher. Since I don’t have a family history of diabetes, the doctors decided to go for a more fool-proof test which proved that I indeed have moderately high blood sugar,” Kumar who lives in Banjara hills said.

“It was a jolt for me as I never had the usual signs diabetes symptoms and had I not gone for tests, I would not have known that I am asymptomatic diabetic. Thankfully with change in food and lifestyle, I can reverse it, I am told,” she added.

Doctors say more and more people during the lockdown have developed higher blood sugar and are completely in the dark about it. Even overweight children as young as 12 years old are testing positive to asymptomatic diabetes and pre-diabetes.

“In the last one and a half year with restricted physical activity and same amount of calorie intake leading to drastic weight gain, we are seeing many people who come for regular check-ups and have a chance discovery of diabetes,” said K Sunitha Premalatha, chief dietician, Yashoda hospitals. She gave an example of chance discovery of pre-diabetes in a 23-year-old who came with leg swelling on Thursday. The boy’s mother too was detected to be diabetic during the check-up.

“When we ask for typical symptoms, they don’t have any but the common thing is restricted physical activity. Weight gain of 6-8 kg in a span of one year is seen in these patients,” she added. While a lot of importance is laid on weight gain, increase in waist size for keeping a check on diabetes, the awareness about pre-diabetes is also equally important, say doctors. Higher levels of stress during the pandemic have also played their role, believe doctors.

“The number one reason for diabetes is stress. Diabetes can be stress-induced, drug-induced or even Covid-induced. Whenever high levels of stress remain unaddressed in time, it brings out hidden diabetes and hypertension,” said Dr Ashish Chauhan, senior consultant diabetologist at Apollo Hospitals, who has seen 100 new cases since the pandemic. “Many patients also have vague symptoms like depression, irritation, drowsiness, insomnia and sexual dysfunction but they don’t know that it can be a symptom due to less awareness,” he added

 

US CDC internal report calls Delta variant as contagious as chickenpox

The Delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu, and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, the newspaper added, citing the document.

• Reuters
 
• July 30, 2021, 15:12 IST

reuters

The Delta variant is much more contagious, more likely to break through protections afforded by the vaccines, and may cause more severe disease than all other known versions of the virus, according to an internal presentation by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The Delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu, and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, the newspaper added, citing the document.

First CRISPR test for the coronavirus approved in the United States

The kit has been granted approval under ‘emergency use’ provisions, and should help to ease testing backlogs in the country.

Giorgia Guglielmi

•  
•  

More than 60 coronavirus tests have been approved for emergency use in an effort to keep pace with the pandemic.Credit: Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty

The US drug regulator has granted its first emergency-use approval for a new coronavirus test that takes advantage of the gene-editing technology CRISPR.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) emergency-use authority allows it to make tests and drugs available faster than usual in a public-health emergency. The new diagnostic kit is based on an approach co-developed by CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It will be used to test for the novel coronavirus behind the ongoing pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, in laboratories that are certified to provide clinical-test results.

Coronavirus and COVID-19: Keep up to date

Although the United States has ramped up testing in the past week — averaging nearly 250,000 tests per day, according to the non-profit organization The COVID Tracking Project — there are test shortages in some places. Widespread use of the new FDA-approved kit could help to alleviate backlogs and increase testing, says Mitchell O’Connell, a biochemist at the University of Rochester in New York, who was not involved in developing the test. But O’Connell cautions that it remains to be seen how well the test performs in real-world conditions, such as hospitals, compared with standard tests.

The CRISPR-based diagnostic kit has been developed by Sherlock Biosciences, a biotechnology company also based in Cambridge. It works by programming the CRISPR machinery, which has the ability to home in on certain genetic sequences, to detect a snippet of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in a nose, mouth or throat swab, or in fluid from the lungs. If the virus’s genetic material is found, a CRISPR enzyme generates a fluorescent glow. The test can return results in about an hour, according to the company.

Researchers led by Zhang and bioengineer James Collins at MIT first described the basis of the test approach in 20171. A team composed of some of the same scientists showed that it could detect low levels of Zika and Dengue virus in 20182.

Other labs are also developing SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests based on CRISPR. Last month, researchers in San Francisco, California, published details of an assay that could return results in about 40 minutes3. A similar approach has been reported in a preprint by scientists in Argentina and in California4.

Coronavirus tests: researchers chase new diagnostics to fight the pandemic

The chief executive of Sherlock Bioscience, Rahul Dhanda, says that the company is now working to create a single cartridge that would not need to be processed in a laboratory and could be used at home. But such a test would need additional validations and another FDA authorization, Dhanda says.

Since early April, the agency has issued emergency-use authorizations for more than 60 SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests. None of these tests have received clearance to be used and processed entirely at home.

Covid-19

HCQ not the magic drug you’re waiting for?

Instead, the study showed that HCQ administration was associated with an increased need for escalation of respiratory support compared to supportive treatment only. The study was conducted by researchers from Sinai Grace and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, the largest and most populous city in the US state of Michigan. Both hospitals have been designated for Covid-19.

• TNN
 
• April 13, 2020, 07:22 IST

New Delhi: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) might not be the magical drug for Covid-19 that everyone has been waiting for. A study conducted in the US showed the administration of this drug — originally used to treat malaria and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus — in hospitalised Covid-19 patients brought no significant benefits in reducing the mortality rate, compared to those who received only supportive treatment.

Instead, the study showed that HCQ administration was associated with an increased need for escalation of respiratory support compared to supportive treatment only. The study was conducted by researchers from Sinai Grace and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, the largest and most populous city in the US state of Michigan. Both hospitals have been designated for Covid-19.

According to researchers, they enrolled 63 Covid-19 patients for the study to assess the efficacy of HCQ. One group consisting 32 hospitalised Covid-19 patients was given HCQ — initially 400mg twice daily for one to two days and then three to four subsequent days of 200mg to 400mg once daily dose — in addition to the supportive treatment. The other group consisting for 31 patients, meanwhile, received only supportive treatment.

“The HCQ group had a significantly higher respiratory support need after five days compared to the support-only group. The HCQ group also had a strong but no statistically significant trend towards worsening Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR), which is used as a marker of systemic inflammation,” the researchers claimed in the study, which is now under review for publication by the New England Journal of Medicine — one of world’s top medical journal. “We recommend a more judicious prescription of HCQ in the setting of SARS-CoV2 (Covid-19) before a larger analysis can be completed,” the authors claimed.

India is the world’s largest producer and exporter of HCQ. Recently, US President Donald Trump appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open up its exports. Trump has, in a controversial move, cleared the use of this anti-malarial drug against Covid-19. India has allowed the use of the drug as prophylactic for frontline healthcare workers, but not yet as treatment.

Anthony Fauci, the doctor at the forefront of US’s response to the pandemic, stressed that the evidence for clinical efficacy of HCQ for Covid-19 treatment was ‘anecdotal’. The French agency for safety of health products has also recently stated how cases of adverse reactions had been reported in connection with medicines.

Dr S K Sarin, director of ILBS, said, “The drug has known side-effects, which must be accounted to while looking at its efficacy.”

AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria said: “Like any other drug, HCQ has side effects. It should be taken by only those it has been recommended to by ICMR because that has been decided after looking into the risk-benefit analysis.”