Background: Caveolin-1 (CAV-1), encoding the structural component of cellular caveolae, is a suggested tumor suppressor gene involved in cell signalling. Aberrant promoter methylation of CAV-1 is associated with inactivation of expression. We previously observed CAV-1 mutations in breast cancers and therefore devised this study to examine the hypermethylation status of the promoter region of CAV-1 with reference to breast cancer progression and development. Methods: Hypermethylation status of CAV-1 was analyzed by methylation specific PCR. Loss of expression of the CAV-1 gene was further evaluated by semi-quantitative rt-PCR. Results: 28/130 (21.5%) breast cancer cases showed promoter hypermethylation with reduced CAV-1 expression levels when compared with adjacent normal breast tissue. CAV-1 gene hypermethylation was significantly related to menopausal status, histopathological grade and age. Conclusion: The rationale of our study is that CAV-1 gene is transcriptionally repressed in breast cancer cells due to hypermethylation. Our results reveal that promoter hypermethylation and loss of expression of the CAV-1 gene is an important alternative mechanism for inactivation of CAV-1 leading to complete gene silencing.

Universal precautions are a set of tools formulated to prevent transmission of bloodborne pathogens while providing health care. Since identification of patients ABSTRACT Background: Health care workers (HCWs) are at risk of various occupational hazards in the hospital, including exposure to bloodborne infections such as HIV and hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV) infection from sharps injuries and contact with body fluids. All health care workers should routinely use appropriate barrier precautions to prevent skin and mucous membrane exposure during contact with any patient's blood or body fluids that require universal precautions. The objective of the study was to evaluate both the knowledge and the practice of standard precautions by nursing students in the teaching hospital. Methods: It is a cross sectional study conducted in Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital over a period of two months from November 2014 to December 2014 on nursing students. 100 nursing students were included in this study. All the nurses had been professionally active for 1 year or more in direct patient care and hospital hygiene. Results: Most of the nursing students were aware of the concept of universal precaution. 97% of nursing students used to wash their hands before and after patient care. In reasons for use of universal precaution it was found that100% of nursing student said use of universal precaution is to protect health care worker. While 100% said it protects HCW while handling infectious waste. Nursing students knowledge regarding indications of hand hygiene was found 97. Conclusions: The findings of this study highlight the need to implement a programme to improve knowledge on standard precautions.

Cyclin D1 (CCND1) is a critical gene in regulating the progression of cell cycle from G1 to S phases. Like other cyclins, cyclin D1 is frequently dysregulated in multiple cancers. Various clinical and epidemiological studies have suggested the possible association of cyclin D1 A870G polymorphism with the development of various cancers. Hence, we investigated the role of cyclin D1 A870G polymorphism in modulating the risk of prostate cancer (CaP) in a Kashmiri population. We examined a case-control study in which 129 CaP cases were studied for cyclin D1 A870G polymorphism against 221 controls taken from the general population by employing the polymerase chain reaction-restriction length fragment polymorphism technique. We observed the cyclin D1 A allele was more frequently present in the CaP group than the control group. Furthermore, men with AA genotype have an increased risk for developing CaP as compared to the control groups. We found AA genotype statistically significantly associated with dwelling, lymph node metastases, histopathological grade, and PSA levels. Therefore, our findings suggest that A870G polymorphism is a risk factor for CaP development. Furthermore, men with AA genotype have an increased risk of developing CaP.