The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

New research may lead to typhoid, TB vaccine
Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 29
City scientist Dr Javed N Agrewala, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award winner for research in the field of medical science, says that treatment of diseases like cancer and fighting infection could undergo a substantial change with new findings about the behaviour of cells in human blood.

This Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) scientist has achieved a pioneering breakthrough in the study of bidirectional signalling (co-stimulation), besides understanding how bacteria attack the human immune system.

In an interview with The Tribune, Dr Agrewala said his research had brought out two very important revelations that would help in the treatment of disease. He said, "We have concluded that white blood cells are mainly responsible for engulfing foreign invaders. We are trying to dissect the signals that antigen-presenting cells receive from other cells of body to eliminate pathogens and also cancer cells. Our second study demonstrate that

Macrophages infected with live bacteria could prime immune system of the body to fight against infections". This may lead to a vaccine against infectious diseases like tuberculosis, typhoid, etc.

Simply put in a layman's language, this means "We have demonstrated for the first time that signalling through CD80 molecule that is expressed on the surface of B lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) can specifically inhibit the production of antibodies and also induces death of cancer cells by enhancing the _expression of death inducing molecules. We took lead in this work and it is being widely appreciated worldwide and currently at least 10-12 laboratories abroad are following this type of work. This work may have implication in suppressing the immune system in the case of autoimmune diseases and may also work to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Further, our work on novel strategy of vaccination employing infected macrophages may have utility as a vaccine against infectious diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid etc", he said.

This year, 11 scientists have been awarded the SSB Award in seven disciplines. Dr Agrewala who got the award for research in medical sciences for demonstrating for the first time that B-lymphocytes also get activated when they contact T-lymphocytes through CD80 / CD86 molecules expressed on the surface of these white blood cells.

Basically a chemist, Dr Agrewala fell in love with immunology in 1985 when he visited the Immunology Laboratory at Central JALMA Institute for Leprosy, Agra. "I realised that I could do something quite interesting in the field of immunology since it is the recent and emerging branch of medical sciences where many things still need to be explored", he said.

This IMTECH scientist has been inspired by many people. In his own words "There is a long list of people who inspired me. My parents, family, supervisor, teachers, students, colleagues, friends, collaborators and advisers, etc. But my hero is Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. His enthusiasm, dedication and devotion for science was the main driving force of encouragement".

This young scientist sees a lot of improvement in the quality of research in India during the past five years. He says cutting-edge research in science is now being carried out within the country, though "We still needs to travel a long way to become a top country in the world".

He is convinced that every nation has to do its own research and, no country can simply wait to let others take the lead so that they can follow blindly. He says "following other nations in research is like riding a bike whose handle is controlled by someone else. For any developing nation basic research is like constructing a strong and long-lasting foundation of a multi-storyed-building. One cannot erect a big building without a strong foundation. Once a strong foundation is created then such building can provide comfort to people for years".

Lot of good research is being done in the country and he expects that the media and the government should make the people aware about this. This will help boost national esteem and make every citizen proud of his country.

Lecture on heart diseases
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 29
An extension lecture on “Clinical aspects of heart diseases and their management” was organised at the Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Sector 26, today. The lecture was delivered by Dr Arun Kochar, DM Cardiology, at Fortis Hospital.

Addressing the participants, Dr Kochar talked about the five points one needed to remember while treating a patient with chest pain — causes of pain, causes of dyspnoea, causes of palpitation, causes of fatigue and causes of syncope.

He also emphasised on the duration of pain, its character, modalities and location.

Dr Kochar added that if there was a sudden cardiac death (SCD) of a person above the age of 30 years, it was most likely because of myocardial infarction.

SPORTS

Chandigarh State Badminton Championship concludes
Oscar named player of the tournament
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, September 29
Star favourite Oscar Bansal could not have asked for more when he was adjudged the best player of the tournament in the Chandigarh State Badminton Championship and presented the D.K. Mukerjee Trophy by Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan on the concluding day of the championship at the Sector 42 Badminton Hall, here, today.

Mr Mohan, who was the chief guest on the occasion, announced Rs 1.25 lakh for the Chandigarh Badminton Association.

Current Indian junior ranked number one in under-16 category, bespectacled Oscar claimed titles in the boys under-16 singles and doubles and boys under-19 doubles besides finishing runners-up in the boys under-19 singles and men’s singles.

Vivek Sharma of the Northern Railways rallied to win double crown in both men’s singles and doubles event. He had a tough time from Oscar whom he defeated in three games. Oscar, a trainee of SAI coach Surinder Mahajan, was the darling of the crowd with his deft placements and neat play. He was at his best with his power play in the first game which he won 17-15. However, Vivek Sharma, also a trainee of the Panjab University coaching centre run by Mahajan, won the next two games 15-1, 15-2.

Vivek then partnered Gurjeet to down Rajnikant and Vikas Mahajan 15-8, 15-12 in the men’s doubles final.

Fancied H. Sarda won the women's singles title for the sixth time in a row when she defeated her doubles partner Isha Sharma 13-10, 11-2 in the final. Sarda was awarded the MC Gupta Trophy.

Sarda and lanky Isha Sharma also combined well to lift the Chandigarh Club Trophy after beating Mala Gaba and Monika in the women's doubles final.

Purnica won the Ashok Bansal Trophy after beating Rakhi in the girls under-16 final 21-17, 21-6. She also took home the Joginder Lal Trophy as she partnered Akriti to down Nisha and Rakhi 21-18, 21-15 in the under-16 girls doubles final. The under-13 and under-16 girls of Government Model Senior Secondary School coaching centre, Sector 23, which is being coached by Manju, did well in various events.

The founder of the Chandigarh Badminton Association, Mr D.K. Mukerjee, was all praise on the conduct of this four-day tournament and hoped the city players to do well in the forthcoming North Zone Inter-State Badminton meet to be held in Udaipur from October 1 to 3.

The CBA also introduced Sriram Chadha Trophy (Nisha, girls under-13 singles winner) and Saroj Trophy (Tarush, boys under-13 singles winner). Oscar Bansal earned the distinction of becoming the first player to lift the new trophy — Fazil Ahmed — for boys under-16 singles.

Results (all finals):

Girls under-13 doubles: Nisha and Japneet beat Chetna and Diksha 21-15, 21-10. Boys under-13 doubles: Tarush and Kanwar Cheema beat Rishab Rana and Parmeet 21-16, 21-11. Girls under-16 singles: Purnica beat Rakhi 21-13, 21-6. Doubles: Purnica and Akriti beat Nisha and Rakhi 21-18, 21-15. Girls under-19 doubles: Monika and Purnica beat Seema and Akriti 15-11, 15-12. Boys under-19 singles: Mandeep beat Oscar Bansal 17-15, 15-8. Doubles: Oscar Bansal and Ankur beat Mandeep and Neeraj 10-15, 15-8, 15-8. Women's singles: H Sarda beat Isha Sharma 13-10, 11-2. Doubles: H Sarda and Isha Sharma beat Mala Gaba and Monika 13-10, 11-3. Men's singles: Vivek Sharma beat Oscar Bansal 15-17, 15-1, 15-2. Doubles: Vivek and Gurjeet beat RajniKant and Vikas Mahajan 15-8, 15-12. Mixed doubles: Pankaj and Purnica beat Vivek and Isha 15-11, 15-12. Plus 35 veterans doubles: Col Raj Parmar and Jagdish Singh beat Vijay Sharma and Gurpreet. Pluse 45 veterans doubles: Varinder Mehta and MP Dogra beat Subhash Nagpal and Dharmendra Rastogi.