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Authors are the souls of any journal, and deserve much respect. To publish a journal manuscripts are needed from authors. Authors have a great responsibility for producing facts of their work in terms of number and results truthfully and an individual honesty is expected from authors in this regards. Both ways its true "No authors-No manuscripts-No journals" and "No journals–No manuscripts–No authors". Reviewing a manuscript is also a very responsible and important task of any peer-reviewed journal and to be taken seriously. It needs knowledge on the subject, sincerity, honesty and determination. Although the process of reviewing a manuscript is a time consuming task butit is expected to give one's best remarks within the time frame of the journal.
Salient features of the JCDR: It is a biomedical, multidisciplinary (including all medical and dental specialities), e-journal, with wide scope and extensive author support. At the same time, a free text of manuscript is available in HTML and PDF format. There is fast growing authorship and readership with JCDR as this can be judged by the number of articles published in it i e; in Feb 2007 of its first issue, it contained 5 articles only, and now in its recent volume published in April 2011, it contained 67 manuscripts. This e-journal is fulfilling the commitments and objectives sincerely, (as stated by Editor-in-chief in his preface to first edition) i e; to encourage physicians through the internet, especially from the developing countries who witness a spectrum of disease and acquire a wealth of knowledge to publish their experiences to benefit the medical community in patients care. I also feel that many of us have work of substance, newer ideas, adequate clinical materials but poor in medical writing and hesitation to submit the work and need help. JCDR provides authors help in this regards.
Timely publication of journal: Publication of manuscripts and bringing out the issue in time is one of the positive aspects of JCDR and is possible with strong support team in terms of peer reviewers, proof reading, language check, computer operators, etc. This is one of the great reasons for authors to submit their work with JCDR. Another best part of JCDR is "Online first Publications" facilities available for the authors. This facility not only provides the prompt publications of the manuscripts but at the same time also early availability of the manuscripts for the readers.
Indexation and online availability: Indexation transforms the journal in some sense from its local ownership to the worldwide professional community and to the public.JCDR is indexed with Embase & EMbiology, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, Chemical Abstracts Service, Journal seek Database, Indian Science Abstracts, to name few of them. Manuscriptspublished in JCDR are available on major search engines ie; google, yahoo, msn.
In the era of fast growing newer technologies, and in computer and internet friendly environment the manuscripts preparation, submission, review, revision, etc and all can be done and checked with a click from all corer of the world, at any time. Of course there is always a scope for improvement in every field and none is perfect. To progress, one needs to identify the areas of one's weakness and to strengthen them.
It is well said that "happy beginning is half done" and it fits perfectly with JCDR. It has grown considerably and I feel it has already grown up from its infancy to adolescence, achieving the status of standard online e-journal form Indian continent since its inception in Feb 2007. This had been made possible due to the efforts and the hard work put in it. The way the JCDR is improving with every new volume, with good quality original manuscripts, makes it a quality journal for readers. I must thank and congratulate Dr Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief JCDR and his team for their sincere efforts, dedication, and determination for making JCDR a fast growing journal.
Every one of us: authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher are responsible for enhancing the stature of the journal. I wish for a great success for JCDR."
Thanking you
With sincere regards
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey, M.S., M. Ch., FAIS
Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Gandhi Medical College & Associated
Kamla Nehru & Hamidia Hospitals Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462 001 (India)
E-mail: drrajendrak1@rediffmail.com
On May 11,2011
Dr. Shankar P.R.
"On looking back through my Gmail archives after being requested by the journal to write a short editorial about my experiences of publishing with the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), I came across an e-mail from Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor, in March 2007, which introduced the new electronic journal. The main features of the journal which were outlined in the e-mail were extensive author support, cash rewards, the peer review process, and other salient features of the journal.
Over a span of over four years, we (I and my colleagues) have published around 25 articles in the journal. In this editorial, I plan to briefly discuss my experiences of publishing with JCDR and the strengths of the journal and to finally address the areas for improvement.
My experiences of publishing with JCDR: Overall, my experiences of publishing withJCDR have been positive. The best point about the journal is that it responds to queries from the author. This may seem to be simple and not too much to ask for, but unfortunately, many journals in the subcontinent and from many developing countries do not respond or they respond with a long delay to the queries from the authors 1. The reasons could be many, including lack of optimal secretarial and other support. Another problem with many journals is the slowness of the review process. Editorial processing and peer review can take anywhere between a year to two years with some journals. Also, some journals do not keep the contributors informed about the progress of the review process. Due to the long review process, the articles can lose their relevance and topicality. A major benefit with JCDR is the timeliness and promptness of its response. In Dr Jain's e-mail which was sent to me in 2007, before the introduction of the Pre-publishing system, he had stated that he had received my submission and that he would get back to me within seven days and he did!
Most of the manuscripts are published within 3 to 4 months of their submission if they are found to be suitable after the review process. JCDR is published bimonthly and the accepted articles were usually published in the next issue. Recently, due to the increased volume of the submissions, the review process has become slower and it ?? Section can take from 4 to 6 months for the articles to be reviewed. The journal has an extensive author support system and it has recently introduced a paid expedited review process. The journal also mentions the average time for processing the manuscript under different submission systems - regular submission and expedited review.
Strengths of the journal: The journal has an online first facility in which the accepted manuscripts may be published on the website before being included in a regular issue of the journal. This cuts down the time between their acceptance and the publication. The journal is indexed in many databases, though not in PubMed. The editorial board should now take steps to index the journal in PubMed. The journal has a system of notifying readers through e-mail when a new issue is released. Also, the articles are available in both the HTML and the PDF formats. I especially like the new and colorful page format of the journal. Also, the access statistics of the articles are available. The prepublication and the manuscript tracking system are also helpful for the authors.
Areas for improvement: In certain cases, I felt that the peer review process of the manuscripts was not up to international standards and that it should be strengthened. Also, the number of manuscripts in an issue is high and it may be difficult for readers to go through all of them. The journal can consider tightening of the peer review process and increasing the quality standards for the acceptance of the manuscripts. I faced occasional problems with the online manuscript submission (Pre-publishing) system, which have to be addressed.
Overall, the publishing process with JCDR has been smooth, quick and relatively hassle free and I can recommend other authors to consider the journal as an outlet for their work."
Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
KIST Medical College, P.O. Box 14142, Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
On April 2011 Anuradha
Dear team JCDR, I would like to thank you for the very professional and polite service provided by everyone at JCDR. While i have been in the field of writing and editing for sometime, this has been my first attempt in publishing a scientific paper.Thank you for hand-holding me through the process.
Dr. Anuradha
E-mail: anuradha2nittur@gmail.com
On Jan 2020
Original article / research
Full Version
Role Of Free Radicals In Menopausal Distress
Correspondence Address :
Dr. Khushdeep Singh Arora,(Asstt.Prof.), Dept ofPhysiology,Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences andResearch, Bathinda-151101, Punjab(India).E-mail: khushdeep@gmail.com, Tel: +91-9878467666
Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the extent of free radical damage in the form of oxidative stress and the antioxidant status in postmenopausal females as compared to premenopausal females.
Methods: 100 female subjects (age group 40-50 years) were studied of which 50 were premenopausal and 50 postmenopausal. Oxidative stress was assessed by estimating malondialdehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxidation product in the form of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Antioxidants in the form of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), vitamin C and E were measured in both the groups.
Results: On comparative evaluation, SOD, GPx and vitamin C levels were significantly decreased (p <0.001) whereas MDA and CAT levels were significantly increased (p <0.001) in postmenopausal females as compared to premenopausal females. However there was no significant difference in levels of vitamin E in both the groups (p >0.05).
Conclusion: Postmenopausal females are exposed to greater risk of oxidative stress as compared to premenopausal females and many of the health problems of menopause may be related to increased oxidative damage.
Introduction
Menopause marks the time in a woman's life when her menstruation stops and she is no longer fertile due to depletion of ovarian follicles and gradual decrease in ovarian production of estrogen and other hormones (1). During menopause women face various physiological, psychological and sociological alterations that impair quality of life or may be life threatening. The adverse effects of menopause are attributed to decrease in estrogen level which leads to alterations in lipid profile, body mass index, insulin levels and also to increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, cancer and other degenerative changes in postmenopausal females. It has been observed that there is increased production of free radicals after menopause which is due to sudden alterations in hormonal status (2). These free radicals lead to enhanced oxidative stress. Free radicals are potentially harmful to almost all the biomolecules including lipids, carbohydrates and proteins (3). The lipids of cell membranes are favourite targets of the free radicals which get oxidized leading to lipid peroxidation. The lipid peroxidation is specifically dangerous for the cell as it propagates as a self-perpetuating chain reaction (4). There are certain naturally occurring antioxidants in our body which neutralize the effects of these free radicals thereby protecting the body against their deleterious effects. These antioxidants can be enzymatic e.g. superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) or non-enzymatic which includes Vitamin C and Vitamin E (5).
In this study an effort was done to find out if there is any relation between menopause and oxidative stress as enhanced oxidative stress may be a reason for increased tissue damage and other physiological symptoms that women face after menopause. To assess the level of oxidative stress we measured malondialdehyde, the end product of lipid peroxidation reaction that is produced as a result of damage to cell membrane lipids by free radicals. To determine the extent of protection against these oxidants, we estimated the levels of antioxidants (SOD, GPx, CAT, Vitamin C and E) in the erythrocytes and plasma of pre- and post-menopausal females.
To conduct this study, 100 female subjects were selected in the age group of 40-50 years out of which 50 were premenopausal (with no history of menstrual irregularities) and 50 were postmenopausal (having menopause for more than one year). A narrow range of age group was taken to reduce the effect of aging as it is an independent factor which can increase oxidative stress. The study was conducted in the department of Physiology, Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Bathinda with approval of ethical committee. All the selected subjects were healthy and were not suffering from any disease like hypertension, diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, malignancy, collagen disorders, or any other disease that could affect the oxidant status of the body. Also none of the subjects was on any medication or taking vitamins or mineral supplements. A detailed history of all the subjects included in the study was taken and their general physical and systemic examination was done. Informed consent was taken from all the subjects.
For assessment of various parameters, 10 ml of blood was collected under aseptic conditions from the antecubital vein of the subjects in heparinized vials. The Erythrocytes were washed with cold isotonic saline and used for estimation of SOD, GPx and CAT and the plasma was used for estimation of estradiol, MDA, vitamin E and vitamin C. Malondialdehyde (MDA) was used as an indicator of lipid peroxidation and was estimated in terms of thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) by the method of Satoh (6). SOD activity was assayed based on the method of Marklund and Marklund (7). The activity of Glutathione Peroxidase was measured as described by Paglia and Valentine (8). CAT was measured colorimetrically by the method of Sinha (9). Concentration of vitamin C was estimated in plasma according to the method of Natelson (10) and concentration of vitamin E was estimated by method of Baker and Frank (11). Serum estradiol level was estimated by using ELISA kits (Diametra, Italy) according to manufacturer protocol.
Statistical analysis was carried out by Student’s paired‘t’-test. The data were expressed as Mean ± SD and the p value < 0.05 was taken as significant.
(Table/Fig 1) shows the mean ± SD of the various parameters studied in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. The postmenopausal females were found to have significantly lower levels of estradiol as compared to premenopausal females. There was a statistically significant increase in MDA and CAT levels with decrease in levels of SOD, GPx and Vitamin C in postmenopausal women as compared to premenopausal women while there was no significant variation in Vitamin E levels in both the groups.
Menopause is characterized by a number of untoward effects like hot flushes, palpitations, angina pectoris, psychogenic alterations, senile vaginitis, osteoporosis, degenerative arthropathy, hirsutism, etc. (12). The pathophysiology of menopause is attributed to decreased levels of estrogen. Estrogen is known to have antioxidant properties and its deficiency after menopause predisposes the body to increased free radical damage (13). Estrogen acts as an antioxidant by preventing oxidation of LDL lipoproteins, terminating the lipid peroxidation chain reaction and may also stimulate the action of other antioxidant enzymes (14).
In this study we observed that the levels of MDA were significantly increased in postmenopausal females as compared to premenopausal females. Similar results of increased lipid peroxidation have been observed in ovariectomized rats used as an oxidative stress model (15). Lipid peroxidation occurs as a result of oxidative destruction of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) located in cell membranes that are readily attacked by oxidizing radicals (4). The lipid peroxidation proceeds as self-perpetuating chain reaction to form lipid peroxides and aldehydes like MDA which are cytotoxic and mutagenic (16). Moreover, lipid peroxidation has been implicated in a wide range of tissue injuries and diseases e.g. atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease.
Antioxidants like SOD, GPx and Catalase are present in erythrocytes which prevent lipid peroxidation. The present study shows that levels of SOD and GPx were significantly decreased and that of CAT was increased in postmenopausal females. Similar reports of decreased antioxidant enzyme activities have been reported in postmenopausal females by other authors (17). The antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD), the most important enzyme present virtually in all aerobic organisms, catalyzes the dismutation of superoxide into oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. Glutathione peroxidase is a selenoenzyme which catalyzes the reduction of hydroperoxides at the expense of reduced glutathione. Catalase is a primary antioxidant defense component that works to catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to water, sharing this function with GPx (5). SOD and GPx concentrations are reduced as they continuously work to neutralize the superoxides, hydrogen peroxide and hydroperoxides produced in increased amount after menopause. Levels of CAT were observed to be increased which may be explained by the fact that the activity of catalase increases when the level of GPx decreases because they both work together to perform similar task of neutralizing hydrogen peroxide (18).
We observed a significant decrease in the levels of plasma vitamin C in postmenopausal females as compared to premenopausal females while there was no difference in vitamin E levels in both the groups. The decrease in the levels of vitamin C in postmenopausal females might be due to its increased consumption to counteract the increased oxidative stress and to inhibit membrane lipid peroxidation. Because of antioxidant properties, vitamin E neutralizes reactive oxygen species and reduces oxidative DNA damage and genetic mutations (19). Vitamin C can restore the antioxidant properties of oxidized vitamin E, suggesting that a main function of vitamin C is to recycle the vitamin E radical (20). This may result in decreased levels of vitamin C while maintaining the normal activity of vitamin E.
It is evident from this study that there is enhanced oxidative stress and decreased antioxidant defence in postmenopausal females as compared to premenopausal females which can play an important role in the pathogenesis of the various diseases related to menopause. Therefore antioxidants in the form of micronutrients and vitamins can be given as supplements in postmenopausal women along with or as a substitute to hormone replacement therapy which itself is associated with serious side effects.
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