Biocon (India)

ABSTRACTBackground:COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant social isolation, declined vaccination, and lack of school enrolment have contributed to undernutrition among children.Objectives:To assess nutritional status and associated factors among children aged 1–5 years enrolled in urban Anganwadis in Austin Town area, Bangalore city, during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methodology:A random sample of 100 children aged 1–5 years enrolled in two Anganwadis located in Austin Town was chosen. Data were collected using a structured face-validated questionnaire and measuring anthropometry. Nutrition status was classified using WHO Child Growth Standards.Result:There were 43% females and 57% males. The majority were in the age group of 4–5 years (32%) and belonged to a nuclear family 47%. 76% had a birth weight of more than 2.5 kg, 80% of them were full term, and 92% were immunized for age. Pre-COVID-19, 26% of the families were in lower middle and lower classes, and this proportion increased to 46% during COVID-19. Moderate acute malnutrition was observed among 12% of the children, and severe acute malnutrition was observed among 4% of the children. The factor which was significantly associated with malnutrition was the child’s diet history of 3 meals and 2 snacks per day (P value 0.02).Conclusion:The prevalence of severe acute malnutrition is 4%. Child’s diet history of 3 meals and 2 snacks is a significant protective factor against malnutrition. Community-based intervention such as nutrition education should be provided at Anganwadis for prevention of childhood malnutrition.

Abstract BackgroundLumpy Skin Disease (LSD) lacks targeted treatment options and is managed using antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. This study evaluated the efficacy of a polyherbal combination therapy in the management of LSD in affected bovines.Materials and Methods52 dairy cattle clinically diagnosed with LSD were enrolled in a field trial conducted under veterinary supervision. All animals received LUMPY-NIL Herbal Powder orally at 30 g twice daily, along with topical application of LUMPY-NIL Dermal Spray on closed nodules and LUMPY-NIL Ointment on open wounds. Daily monitoring included clinical signs, lesion progression, systemic symptoms, and milk yield recovery.ResultsTreatment duration varied from 7 to 21 days depending on severity of the disease. New lesion formation ceased within 2–4 days of treatment initiation. Systemic symptoms such as fever, lethargy, and inappetence resolved within 1–3 days. Open wounds showed progressive healing with no signs of infection, and nodules dried and sloughed off by day 15 in most animals. Milk yield showed partial recovery (20%) by day 7 and returned to baseline by day 15. The reduction in nodule size and number ranged from 81% to 94% by days 10-15. No adverse effects were observed during the treatment period.ConclusionThe polyherbal treatment combining demonstrated promising therapeutic benefits in managing clinical symptoms and accelerating recovery in LSD-infected cattle.

This trial evaluated the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of oral insulin Tregopil (Part 1; results discussed in this paper) and the post-prandial glucose control with different meal types in comparison with insulin aspart (Part 2) in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). This Phase 1, open-label, multiple ascending dose (30/45/60 mg/60 + 30 mg rescue insulin Tregopil) trial enrolled 37 patients with T1DM (3 female [8.1%], 34 male [91.9%]; median age: 39.5 years). Following screening, patients entered a run-in phase to optimize their basal-bolus (insulin glargine and insulin aspart) insulin therapy, and insulin Tregopil was administered orally 10 min before the three major meals of the day in all cohorts during this period. Safety assessments included adverse events and hypo-/hyperglycaemic episodes, vital signs, electrocardiograms, laboratory safety parameters and physical examination. PK and PD were the secondary objectives. The overall safety profile of insulin Tregopil indicated no safety concerns except a PD effect (hypoglycaemia). The incidence of hypoglycaemia did not increase with increasing doses of insulin Tregopil, and none of the episodes were severe. In general, the variability of the PK/PD parameters was high. Insulin Tregopil demonstrated a rapid onset of action, with peak blood concentrations reached within 15-20 min post-dosing. Subsequently, insulin Tregopil exerted a PD effect for up to 105 min. Fixed-dose insulin Tregopil reduced the requirement for insulin aspart supplementation, although it was not a viable stand-alone option for the daily management of T1DM. Insulin Tregopil could be explored with a flexible dosing approach and be titrated based on individual needs. The trial is registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (CT.gov identifier: NCT04141423). The ethical approval number for the protocol is 2019146.

Post COVID-19 pandemic, due to lack of access to nutritional services, malnutrition prevalence has exacerbated. The role of Anganwadi workers in provision of nutrition services is important in prevention of malnutrition in the community. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of training on malnutrition on the knowledge of malnutrition among Anganwadi workers in Anekal Taluk of Bengaluru Urban District, Karnataka. We conducted a cross-sectional before and after study among 381 Anganwadi workers on the knowledge of malnutrition. After 6 months of training, 303 among the 381 Anganwadi workers were reassessed for knowledge retainment. The tool used for the assessment of knowledge of malnutrition was a 10-item multiple choice questionnaire. Qualitative information regarding challenges of managing malnutrition was also collected during the training. As compared to the pretest scores, 45.9% of the participants had an increase in knowledge of malnutrition immediately after the training and after 6 months. 19.81% of the participants had an increase in knowledge. During the discussion, participants shared issues of referral mechanism, anthropometry devices, complexity of the nature of malnutrition, Poshan tracker app use, and practical aspects of management of malnutrition. A standardized curriculum for malnutrition, improved teaching-learning methods, and assessment methods for use among community health workers and calibration and functioning anthropometry tools are essential for malnutrition training. In the community, a strong link between the primary health care system and integrated child development scheme and services is crucial in community-based management of severe and moderate acute malnutrition.

Adsorption-based enzyme immobilization is a simple carrier bound technique that is cost-effective and readily implementable, requiring minimal activation steps and reagents. Single-layer nanosheets represent the optimal carriers for the adsorption of enzymes as they can expose maximal active sites for the binding of biomolecules. This study demonstrated that single-layer MnO2 nanosheets can serve as carriers for the effective immobilization of Agrobacterium radiobacter halohydrin dehalogenase (HheC) via a facile adsorption process without the use of any cross-linking reagents or additional surface modification. The immobilization of HheC on single-layer MnO2 nanosheets resulted in a high loading of 1026 mg·g–1 enzyme on the carrier, which represented the highest enzyme loading for HheC to date. Furthermore, the immobilized HheC on single-layer MnO2 nanosheets demonstrated a high enzyme activity recovery of 80.9%, which was employed for the efficient asymmetric synthesis of chiral epichlorohydrin from 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol. The efficient immobilization of HheC single-layer MnO2 nanosheets can be attributed to the enhanced molecular interactions (e.g., electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces) between the enzyme and carriers, which are facilitated by the large surface areas and the negative charge of the surface of single-layer MnO2 nanosheets. This work presents a general and efficient strategy that employs single-layer MnO2 nanosheets as carriers for enzyme immobilization, thereby enabling highly efficient biocatalysis.