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AIMTo study the levels of neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).METHODSThis was a non randomized case control study conducted at Department of Biochemistry, in collaboration with Regional Cancer Center over a period of one year. The study population included 50 adult newly diagnosed HNSCC patients reporting in outpatient department at Regional Cancer Center and compared with 50 healthy controls. NGAL was estimated by ELISA technique. Student t test and χ2 test were applied for comparison of means of study groups. Correlations between groups were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient (r) formula.RESULTSPatients with HNSCC exhibited significantly increased levels of NGAL (P < 0.05) as compared to healthy controls (978.88 ± 261.39 ng/mL vs 34.83 ± 7.59 ng/mL). Out of 50, 26 patients (52%) were in stage IV, 21 (42%) in stage III, 1 (2%) patient in stage II and 2 (4%) patients were in stage I. Metastasis was absent in 98% patients and mean NGAL levels were highest in these patients but P value was not significant. Mean NGAL levels were highest in stage IV [1041.54 ± 222.15 ng/mL (stage IV) vs 1040 ± 0.00 ng/mL (stage I); 900 ± 0.00 ng/mL (stage II) and 1031.90 ± 202.55 ng/mL (stage III)] and χ2 test was highly significant (P < 0.001). Thirty-six patients (72%) were having moderately differentiated HNSCC and mean NGAL levels were maximum in patients with well differentiated HNSCC (1164 ± 315.64 ng/mL vs 1013.33 ± 161.19 ng/mL in moderately differentiated and 890 ± 11.55 ng/mL in poorly differentiated) and the results were also highly significant (P < 0.001, χ2 test).CONCLUSIONThe present work demonstrates a potential role of NGAL as cancer biomarker and its use in monitoring the HNSCC progression.

BACKGROUND Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the world. It is now equally prevalent in developed and developing nations. Treadmill Test (TMT) remains a cost effective, easily available and widely applicable approach for early diagnosis of CAD, but has a relatively low sensitivity and specificity. Identification of CAD in women can be a diagnostic challenge because of several factors including the lower prevalence of obstructive CAD in women younger than 65 years, more atypical manifestations of ischaemic symptoms and more frequent resting ST changes.

The highlights of the manuscript are •Strengthening the Basics Approaches to protect the lab personnel in dedicated COVID hospital of Low-Resource Settings.• Designed and developed in-house standard operating procedure (SOP) to fill the gap and evaluate the effect in dedicated COVID-19 hospitals.• Innovative protective devices made from OHP sheets and cardboard boxes fitted with hypochlorite spraying devices as alternatives to biosafety cabinets on contamination of laboratory surfaces.• Performances of the devices were clinically validated and it can be used as alternative in low resources settings.

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