C. Rajagopalan Endowment Award

Ms. R. Selvi, Junior Research Fellow, Biochemistry Research Department received the C. Rajagoplan Endowment Award for best paper presentation in the University Grants commission (UGC) sponsored National Workshop / National conference on Recent Trends in Biochemistry and Biotechnology, with Special Reference to Natural Products in Health. The workshop was organized by the Annamalai University, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology (Department of Science & Technology (DST) - Fund for Improvement of Science and Technology Infrastructure in Universities and other Higher Education Institutions (FIST) & Univeristy Grants Commission (UGC) - SAP Sponsored Department) on February 24, 2006 to February 26, 2006 in association with Society of Biological Chemists (India), Annamalainagar Chapter & Biochemistry Society.

Ms. Selvi presented a paper on "Effect of amino acid mixture on the Chinese Hamster Ovarian (CHO-K1) Cell morphology, viability and glycation". The study investigated the importance of amino acids mixture apart from free amino acids on the cell morphology in phase contrast microscope, viability by Trypan blue, labeled studies by Liquid scintillation, assay on glucose metabolism and studies on cell metabolic activity.

The study concluded that glucose uptake was seen to increase with increase in glucose conc. in the cell environment and the viability was found to decrease with increase in glucose concentration. The amino acid showed protective effect that was dose dependent and the dependent on the type of the amino acid even after the cells were exposed to the effects of high glucose concentration.

Dr. N. Angayarkanni, Lecturer, Biochemistry Research Department was invited to give a lecture in the same Workshp. She also chaired a session. Dr. Angayarkanni spoke on Hyperhomocystenemia in ocular diseases. The objective of her study was to see if hyperhomocystenemia was associated with ocular diseases with retinal inflammation and vascular events and if oxidative stress is related to increase in homocysteine. The incidence of mild hyperhomocystenemia was found to be 67.56% in Uveitis, 55% in Eales Disease, 51.5% in Central Retinal Vein Occlusion (CRVO) and 75 % in Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) in the study subjects.