A thyroid storm is a rare endocrinological emergency caused by severe hyperthyroidism. Reducing circulating levels of free T3 in blood and beta-adrenergic inhibition are the basis of medical treatment for thyroid storms. Propranolol, due to its additional effect of preventing the peripheral conversion of dormant T4 to active form T3, is the chosen drug for blockade in hyperthyroidism and thyroid storm. We describe a rare clinical case of cardiovascular collapse following propranolol administration in a setting of thyroid storm. The patient presented with symptoms of dyspnea and palpitations and had an ejection fraction of 10%. He was started on a calcium channel blocker (diltiazem). Further investigations revealed that the patient also had a thyroid storm and was immediately shifted to methimazole and propranolol. However, following the administration of a beta-blocker, the patient developed circulatory failure as a result of cardiac arrest, necessitating the use of vasopressors and inotropes. This implores the need for further investigations and treatment regimens for cardiovascular conditions, especially atrial fibrillation arising in thyrotoxicosis, as there are no solid treatment guides in the literature to the best of our knowledge.

Listeria monocytogenes (LM) is a gram-positive intracellular pathogen that can cause central nervous system infections such as meningitis, meningoencephalitis, rhombencephalitis, or cerebritis. It rarely causes a brain abscess. Listerial meningitis and brain abscess most commonly occur in immunocompromised individuals, neonates, pregnant females, alcoholics, and the elderly. We present a unique case of a young immunocompetent male who presented with listerial meningitis and brain abscess. Coexisting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection was also present. Since LM was not included in the differentials, the standard antibiotic regimen started for the meningitis therapy was ineffective. Remdesivir was administered to treat the coexisting COVID-19 infection. When the lumbar tap polymerase chain reaction pointed out that the causative agent was Listeria, we shifted to ampicillin and gentamicin therapy, to which the patient responded very effectively. LM is an atypical cause of meningitis and brain abscesses. A high index of suspicion is therefore required for early detection and effective treatment of listerial meningitis and brain abscess.

Data regarding the therapeutic potential of Caladium lindenii (C. lindenii) are insufficient. It becomes more important to explore plants as an alternative or palliative therapeutics in deadly diseases around the globe. The current study was planned to explore C. lindenii for its anticancer activity of ethanolic and hexane extracts of C. lindenii leaves against hepatic carcinoma (HepG2) and human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cell lines. HepG2 and HEK293T cells were treated with 10, 50, 100, 200, and 400 μg/mL of ethanolic and hexane extracts of C. lindenii and were incubated for 72 h. Antiproliferative activity was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-biphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and percentage viability were calculated through crystal violet staining and cellular morphology by Floid Cell Imaging Station. The study showed ethanolic extract exhibiting a significantly higher antiproliferative effect on HepG2 ( IC 50 = 31 μg/mL) in a concentration-dependent manner, while HEK293T ( IC 50 = 241 μg/mL) cells showed no toxicity. Hexane extract exhibited lower cytotoxicity ( IC 50 = 150 μg/mL) on HepG2 cells with no effect on HEK293T ( IC 50 = 550 μg/mL). On the other hand, the percentage viability of HepG2 cells was recorded as 78%, 67%, 50%, 37%, and 28% by ethanolic extracts, and 88%, 80%, 69%, 59%, and 50% by hexane extracts at tested concentrations of both extracts. Toxicity assay showed significantly safer ranges of percentage viabilities in normal cells (HEK293T), i.e., 95%, 90%, 88%, 76%, and 61% with ethanolic extract and 97%, 95%, 88%, 75%, and 62% with hexane extract. The assay validity revealed 100% viability in the control negative (dimethyl sulfoxide treated) and less than 45% in the control positive (cisplatin) on both HepG2 and HEK293T cells. Morphological studies showed alterations in HepG2 cells upon exposure to >50 μg/mL of ethanolic extracts and ≥400 μg/mL of hexane extracts. HEK293T on the other hand did not change its morphology against any of the extracts compared to the aggressive changes on the HepG2 cell line by both extracts and positive control (cisplatin). In conclusion, extracts of C. lindenii are proved to have significant potential for cytotoxicity-induced apoptosis in human cancer HepG2 cells and are less toxic to normal HEK293T cells. Hence C. lindenii extracts are proposed to be used against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after further validations.

The current study is aimed at examining the overall effects of steroids on the tissues of organisms and pharmacotherapeutics and pharmaco-histokinetics of several steroids, including Bromocriptine as mesylate and estradiol valerate in common quails (Coturnix coturnix). A total of 100 birds were used for pharmaco-histokinetics. The research was carried out in two separate trials, one during the fall season and the other during the spring season. Each experiment lasted for five, ten, fifteen, and twenty days. Each study group used 20 birds while basing their experiments on a control group of 5. At the stretch of five, ten, fifteen, and twenty days in each season, therapeutic dosages were administered to a sum of two groups representing two separate steroid trial groups. Each steroid was administered to each bird in a therapeutic dose, which was three drops administered twice daily. Clinical symptoms include despondency, sluggishness, and variations in weight and temperature that almost all treated birds display. However, only in trials conducted in the fall was a sizable degree of body enlargement in one treated bird noticed. The winter testing showed a mortality rate. Four birds have died in the twenty-day group. One bird died when treated with estradiol valerate, and three birds died treated with Bromocriptine as mesylate. Both the male and female birds showed signs of having lost some of their body weight. The treated birds’ kidney, stomach, hearts, and livers exhibited some edema. In comparison, almost all birds show enteritis, which indicates that steroids mainly affect the intestine. There were apparent differences in the histological analysis of heart and skeletal muscle and some treated birds with the control group. The kidney, liver, and intestine show the major histopathological change in all treated birds.

Bovine mastitis is a host response to the microorganisms linked with the host immune system efficiency. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays a significant role in the innate and adaptive immune response. In this study, we characterized the upstream regulatory region and evaluated the relative mRNA expression of TNF-α gene of Sahiwal cows. A single nucleotide polymorphism A>G was identified located within a sequence (MT_919286) at the 5´ upstream region. For gene expression, the ΔΔCt was calculated by adjusting the target gene expression for the expression of the housekeeping gene (GAPDH) through real-time qPCR. The results revealed that relative mRNA expression of TNF-α most explains the change in the unit of ΔCt and would result in a significantly higher expression of TNF-α gene in animals with mastitis. The relative mRNA expression of TNF-α gene was 35 and 9.53 times higher in animals with clinical and subclinical mastitis respectively, as compared to non-mastitic animals. The effect of the fold change of TNF-α and GAPDH was also assessed based on response surface methodology via Box Behnken design. The analysis depicted that all parameters had a significant impact on mastitis incidence in Sahiwal cows. This study would hopefully contribute towards a better understanding of the use of TNF-α gene marker as an authentic source of identification of severity of bovine mastitis. The findings of study may be helpful for the development of new strategies to control mastitis and preserve the health of dairy animals. © 2021 Friends Science Publishers