Background: Thyroid hormones have a central regulatory role in body hemodynamics, thermoregulation, and metabolism. The profound influence of thyroid hormones is observed on renal hemodynamics, glomerular filtration, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and electrolyte balance. Thus, our main aim was to find out the electrolytes imbalance between subclinical hypothyroidism (SHO) and subclinical hyperthyroidism (SHE) and their correlation. Materials and methods: In our study, newly diagnosed 50 SHO and 35 SHE cases were selected. Blood samples were collected to analyze serum electrolytes (sodium, potassium, and chloride) by Electrolyte Analyzer from Roche. Mean, median, standard deviation, minimum value, maximum value, standard error of mean, and values at 95% confidence interval are calculated for the parameters. And the correlation between serum electrolytes with serum TSH was assessed. Results: There were no significant changes in levels of serum electrolytes in SHO and SHE, but the correlation between the levels of serum sodium and potassium with TSH showed little negativity or no changes in SHO and SHE, whereas the levels of serum chloride showed little positivity or no changes with TSH in SHO and little negativity or no changes with TSH in SHE. Conclusion: Hypothyroid and hyperthyroid patients in subclinical conditions will be having electrolyte imbalances and should be regularly checked for serum electrolytes. Also, electrolyte disturbances need to be monitored and treated appropriately to prevent further complications.

SLC25A38 gene produces a protein that belongs to the mitochondrial solute carrier family, SLC25. It is implicated in apoptotic pathways, which regulate intrinsic caspase-dependent apoptosis. The present study evaluates the expression of the SLC25A38 gene in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients. Among 30 leukemia patients, 25 were adult males and 5 were adult females. An average of 5.3-fold high expression of SLC25A38 gene among the ALL patients that was normalized to GAPDH relative to normal healthy volunteer was observed. There was a direct positive correlation between blast cell abundance and level of expression (r = 0.408, p = 0.025). The expression level was found to be associated with the proportion of blast cells in the bone marrow. The present results show that expression of SLC25A38 is a common feature in ALL and may be a novel biomarker for prognosis and diagnosis, as well as a potential therapeutic target for ALL.

Lupus nephritis (LN) develops as a result of immunological abnormalities. The pathogenesis of LN is a complex process, involving the deposition of autoantibodies in the glomerulus. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is widely accepted as the best overall measure of kidney function, enabling a statement of the complex functions of the kidney in a single numeric expression. The endogenous marker of GFR commonly employed is creatinine, but it does not complete the requirements of an ideal marker because apart from being subjected to tubular secretion it is also influenced by the muscle mass and gender of the patient. Cystatin C is a protein produced by all nucleated cells in the body, freely filtered by glomerulus; neither returned to the bloodstream nor secreted by the renal tubules and also is not influenced by gender or muscle mass. The above features make it a better marker of renal function than creatinine. The medical therapy for LN depends on the severity of the disease. Finding reliable biomarkers for LN will help to evaluate disease activity, identify patients at risk for kidney damage, and facilitate early diagnosis and intervention to improve favorable outcomes.

HaemurEx is a novel point-of-care (POC) battery-operated photo analyzer device designed for the potential clinical purpose(s). This novel device, if deployed in all primary health centers and subcenters and outreach clinics in combination with provisioning of physician consultation and essential medicine, can advance universal access to healthcare in countries like India. This device weighs approximately 500 g. It can analyze routine clinical chemistry parameters of blood and urine and transmitting them to a remote health platform which further needs validation by future studies. The validation study of this device is initiated to assess the comparability of HaemurEx with gold standards and determine the margin of error and the correction factor required to calibrate the analyzer further. In this study, glucose, total cholesterol, and triglyceride estimations were performed using HaemurEx by low-skill healthcare professionals, and the accuracy of these tests was done by comparison with the gold standard which was found to be in the range of 82–91%. HaemurEx as a screening tool has the potential to significantly impact the diagnosis and treatment of different diseases at the POC.

The learning style (LS) provides insights into the preferences of the student learning process. There are various tools used to assess the LS either alone or in combination. Many researchers concluded that the usefulness of knowing LS is to provide better education, such as by changing the pattern of teaching to suit all learners or the majority of learners in the classroom. This also allows to change the curriculum and bring required resources in the library to encourage the students to use their preferred LS to understand the content. The teachers can implement active sessions such as team-based learning, problem-based learning, case-based learning, group discussion, project works, interactive sessions, fieldwork, hands-on training, etc., to cater every learner LS in making them to understand the subjects. Finally, the main goal of knowing LS is to improve the quality of education.

Testosterone levels are very important to be maintained in males, but the level reduces as age advances. If symptoms of severe or chronic low testosterone are present, hormone deficiency is amenable, it may be caused by an active disease or condition. In this review, we have tried to summarize how testosterone biosynthesis, regulation, as well as metabolism occurs in the human body. How it plays numerous roles: starting from intrauterine life to an advanced age, various factors such as age, weight, sleep, food habits, etc., affecting testosterone levels in the body are also discussed. These factors are very important in understanding the clinical implications of testosterone on the health of an individual. We also summarize various assays that are currently done for testosterone evaluation.

Aim and objective: To seamlessly integrate the biochemical knowledge and clinical application of liver function tests (LFTs) for easy reference. Background: The LFTs are one of the key investigations done during patient care. Several times during the patient workup, the complete panel of tests is done which is not necessary and adds extra financial burden on the patients. Medical students and young doctors should be aware of the clear indication of tests, to diagnose the condition and treat it accordingly. Healthcare professionals must use these test results in the proper perspective of patient history and physical examination to arrive at the correct diagnosis. Conclusion and clinical significance: This article highlights the main parameters tested in LFTs and their interpretation in a convenient and easily accessible format.

Aim and background: Asthma is a clinical condition in which constriction of the airway occurs. It is a heterogeneous syndrome that manifesting different phenotypes. Coronary artery disease makes the arteries hardened and inflamed. Similarly, airway swelling occurs in asthma. Lipid accumulation and inflammation are the two common characteristics of coronary artery diseases. Therefore, many authors have described higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in asthmatics. Materials and methods: The search strategy selected 10 published articles that were related to asthma and coronary artery disease and published from May 2004 to April 2018. Results: In this study, the pooled analysis indicated that asthma overall was significantly associated with CHD [OR 2.26 (1.45, 3.52), p = 0.0003]. The values for heterogeneity test were higher (I² = 99%, p < 0.00001). Discussion: In this pooled analysis, we found that asthmatic patients have associated with a higher risk for coronary heart disease. Similarly, several previous studies also supported a positive association between asthma and the incidence of coronary heart disease.

Serological tests for estimation of total antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 for healthcare workers (HCWs) help to understand the epidemiology of COVID-19 disease in the healthcare setting. Aims and objective: To note the seroprevalence of COVID-19 among HCWs in a tertiary care hospital. Settings and design: This study was done at a tertiary care hospital, Mumbai. Detection of the “Total antibody to SARS-CoV-2” virus was offered as part of the health check-up from September 24, 2020, to December 31, 2020, after taking due consent and history of the HCWs. Materials and methods: The test was anti-SARS-CoV-2 on Elecsys, Roche Diagnostics by ECLIA. Results: Five hundred and seventy (25.8%) HCWs out of a total of 2,211 working in the hospital were tested for total antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Two hundred and forty-eight (43.5%) HCWs were positive for the total antibody test to SARS-CoV-2 virus. 86.8% of the HCWs who were diagnosed to have COVID-19 in past were seropositive. 65.2% of HCWs even when were PCR negative but had been in contact with an infected person but were PCR negative developed antibodies. Twenty-eight percent of HCWs did not have any symptoms of COVID-19 infection or were not in close contact of positive contact were seropositive. Of these 248 antibody-positive HCWs, 105 (42.3%) had tested positive for RT-PCR in the past, 30 (12.1%) were symptomatic/close contacts of COVID-19 patients but had tested negative for RT-PCR in the past and 113 (45.6%) were not symptomatic, had no high-risk contact and were never tested. Conclusion: There is a marked increase in seroprevalence rates in asymptomatic HCWs from 4.3% in June 2020 to 28% between September and December 2020 at our center. Clinical significance: An increase in COVID-19 seroprevalence among HCWs indicates continued subclinical exposure during and after the first wave during a global pandemic and this should be used to predict the next surge of infections.