Browsing by Author "John, R.P."

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Establishment of human endometriai stromal cell cultures as in-vitro models to test the effects of metalloestrogens in women with or without endometriosis
(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2012) Silva, N.; Tennekoon, K.; Senanayake, H.; Samarakoon, S.; Fernando, S.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.; John, R.P.
INTRODUCTION: Effects of metalloestrogens like cadmium (Cd), lead (PbJ and nickel (Ni) are difficult to demonstrate in-vivo due to toxicity and therefore requires suitable in-vitro models. AIMS: To establish endometriai stromal cell (ESC) cultures as in-vitro models to demonstrate the effects of metalloestrogens in women with and without endometriosis. METHODS: Stromal cells were isolated from eutopic endometriai samples from five women with endometriosis (patients) and five women without endometriosis (controlsj. ESC cultures were established and maintained in RPMI medium. Cultures were treated with Cd, Pb and Ni at concentrations of 10-6M, 10-9M and 10-9M respectively. At 24 h and 48 h, cell number was counted using the Neubauer haemocytometer. Sulphorhodamine(SRB) cytotoxicity assay was used to test the effect of different concentrations of metals on ESC cultures. After 24 h of treatment, caspase levels in ESC cultures were evaluated with a commercially available ELISA kit Relative cell proliferation, SRB assay results and caspase levels were analyzed with ANOVA. RESULTS: ESC cultures were maintained up to 30 days. In both patients and controls Cd, but not Pb or Ni increased the relative proliferation in ESC cultures (p<0.05). At 48 h, Cd induced ESC proliferation was higher in patients than in controls (p=0.02). SRB assay results and caspase levels were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Established ESC cultures served as stable in-vitro models. Cd induced the proliferation of ESC from women with endometriosis which appears to be independent of reduced apoptosis. Similar effects of Pb and Ni could not be demonstrated in this in vitro model.
Road injuries among older people in a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka – a comparative analysis
(College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka, 2020) Tennakoon, V.; John, R.P.; Wickremasinghe, R.; Kool, B.; Ameratunga, S.
INTRODUCTION: With escalating incidence of road traffic crashes (RTCs), related injuries and deaths in Sri Lanka, understanding its burden on vulnerable road users such as older people and people with disability have important implications for traffic injury prevention and transport policy planning. OBJECTIVES: To determine crash characteristics and patterns of injuries sustained by victims of RTCs admitted to a tertiary-care hospital and investigate if these differ for older people. METHODS: Recorded data of all victims of RTCs admitted to the Colombo South Teaching Hospital from 1 January to 31 March 2017 were systematically extracted and analysed. RESULTS: Of the 573 victims, 70 (12.2%) were older people aged 60 years and above. Pedestrians (46%) were the most common road user type injured among older people. In contrast, among younger victims, the motorcyclists dominated (54%). Older people were involved in RTC between 9.01 am and 12.00 noon more often than those who were younger (22% vs. 9.5%), and had significantly higher incidence of severe head injuries (13% vs. 3%), fractures (54% vs. 40%) and deaths (10% vs. 2%), and referrals to rehabilitation services at discharge (60% vs. 39%). CONCLUSIONS: Older road crash victims are at higher risk of head injuries, fractures, and deaths than younger people. Given the lack of documented data, the influence of pre-existing disability on road injury outcomes could not be investigated. Future injury surveillance, intervention and evaluative efforts should explicitly consider the needs of these vulnerable road users. KEYWORDS: Road traffic injuries, Hospital-based, Older-people, Sri Lanka