No abstract

Cellular remodeling of first trimester villous placenta requires a complex homeodynamics involving proliferation in cytotrophoblast, development-associated syncytialization and apoptosis in syncytiotrophoblast.

Background: Medical students experience stress at every phase of curriculum more so before examination. This stress may affect physiological, psychological and cognitive functions of the students. Aim:The present study aimed to evaluate stress status among first year MBBS students by recording pulse rate (PR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and using stress questionnaire; its effect on cognitive function by recording auditory reaction time (ART) and visual reaction time (VRT). Setting and Design:It is a cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods:A total of 100 (49 males and 51 females) first year healthy MBBS students participated. Stress questionnaire was given and assessed. Cardiovascular parameters were also assessed. The ART and VRT were recorded before (pre examination setting) and after 3 month of examination (post-examination setting).Statistical Analysis: The data were analysed by using SPSS 21.0 version.Results: All parameters namely PR, SBP, DBP, ART, VRT and stress scores were increased in preexamination setting irrespective of gender. Increased PR was observed in female learners where as stress score and SBP were increased in males in pre-examination setting. ART and VRT were more in females as compared to males in both setting.

Objectives: Micro and macrovasculopathy are common complications of undertreated or undiagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. One of the underlying factors of macrovasculopathy is arterial stiffness, which may lead to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Understandably, diabetic micro and macrovasculopathy affect vital functions, which may affect the well-being of the individual. However, few studies have attempted to determine arterial stiffness, cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) and lipid profile separately in South Asian population and examined its associations with T2DM. Moreover, there is a need to understand the mechanistic links among cardiovascular risk factors. This forms the basis of the present study. Materials and Methods: T2DM patients of 53–62 years and age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects were recruited in the cross-sectional and observational study (n = 30 each, eight women). Anthropometric measurements, physiological parameters such as resting heart rate, peripheral blood pressure (PBP), central blood pressure (CBP), augmentation index% (AIx%), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and lead II ECG for analysis of heart rate variability parameters were recorded after obtaining the consent of the study participants. The lipid profile and fasting blood glucose were also analysed. Results: Peripheral systolic blood pressure was significantly higher (P = 0.05) in T2DM patients. Dyslipidaemia was evident in T2DM patients. Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) was also significantly higher in T2DM patients. Correlation analysis revealed a positive association between AIx% with PBP and CBP as well as between AIP index and central systolic blood pressure, serum triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) levels. AIP index was found to be negatively associated with HF (nu). Serum TG, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and AIP index have emerged as significant independent predictors of T2DM vasculopathy by multiple regression analysis. Conclusion: In the present study, atherogenic dyslipidaemia was observed in T2DM patients in combination with increased serum levels of TG, VLDL-C and decreased serum levels of HDL-C. Moreover, AIP index, a predictor cardiovascular risk, was found to be significantly higher in T2DM patients. Dyslipidaemia was found to be associated with dysregulation of autonomic nervous system in those patients. A positive association between noninvasive, surrogate markers of arterial stiffness with PBP and CBP indicates that enhanced arterial stiffness may elevate systemic arterial pressure. Therefore, early screening of T2DM patients for the estimation of serum lipid profile, arterial stiffness and cardiac autonomic neuropathy may be performed to unravel diabetic vasculopathy.

No abstract