The physico-chemical parameters and the fish parasites of the River Neelum were studied at three ... more The physico-chemical parameters and the fish parasites of the River Neelum were studied at three sampling sites, i.e., Pattika, Tali Mandi, and Domail. Water temperature and rate of flow of water were significantly higher at Domail than Pattika and Tali Mandi. ANOVA showed that dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids, inorganic suspended solids, and organic matter of the bottom mud kept on fluctuating and showed a significant difference between three selected sites. Although, these variables showed variations, they remained within tolerable limits set by WHO. Three species of potentially harmful parasites, i.e., Dactylogyrus vastator, Procamallanus laevionchus, and Argulus foliaceus were isolated from fish population of the River Neelum, however, these parasites do not pose any severe threats to general fish life
For DNA barcoding, the Cytochrome C Oxidase 1 gene (CO1) is a genetic marker used as uniform, tes... more For DNA barcoding, the Cytochrome C Oxidase 1 gene (CO1) is a genetic marker used as uniform, testimonial authentication and reliable evidence for a universal species-level bio-cataloguing system compared with the morphological identification. The barcoding of Catla catla, Cirrhinus mrigala and Labeo rohita of family Cyprinidae was accomplished in the present study. Amplified CO1 gene through PCR was sequenced and figured out using bioinformatic tools. Conspecific and congeneric, K2P nucleotide deviation and nucleotide composition, the number of haplotypes and haplotype diversity were calculated. All three species of studied fish (C. catla, L. rohita and C. mrigala) were G-deficient (17.2, 17.8 and 18.5%) than C (28.3, 27.0, 27.3), A (25.2, 27.3, 26.8) and T (28.0, 28.5, 28.1), respectively. The mean intraspecific and intergeneric K2P genetic distance was .031% and 1.23%, respectively, with a high rate of transitional substitutions. Study revealed that C. catla followed the neutral evolution (R ¼ .5), while C. mrigala (R ¼ 2.01) and L. rohita (R ¼ 2.84) deviated from it and offered very low genetic diversity (<.55).
In the folk medicine system different parts of Nerium oleander are utilized for the treatment of ... more In the folk medicine system different parts of Nerium oleander are utilized for the treatment of a variety of human disorders. In this study, the therapeutic potential of aqueous extract of N. oleander leaves extract was assessed in thioacetamide (TAA) directed chronic hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. TAA administration caused severe hepatic damage as evidence from significant decrease in level of serum total protein, albumin, ALT, total lipids, HDL (30%, 32%, 37%, 37% & 48% respectively) and concurrent rise in ALP and bilirubin total (129% & 153% respectively). The results illustrated that the treatment of N. oleander effectively increased the TAA induced low levels of serum total protein, albumin, ALT, total lipids, HDL (12%, 24%, 64%, 46% & 53% respectively) and reduced the TAA induced serum level of ALP and bilirubin total (66% & 35% respectively). Histopathology of hepatic tissues displayed that N. oleander extract has lessened the occurrence of liver lesions, along with infiltra...
This study aimed to find changes in white blood cell profile and liver functions in rats after st... more This study aimed to find changes in white blood cell profile and liver functions in rats after sterile muscle abscess with Nerium oleander leaves decoction and to find out correlation among serum proteins resolved through SDS PAGE. 10ml/ kg of the leaves extract injected intramuscularly in Wistar rats (225g, n=4). Control animals were injected with saline injection. All the animals were anesthetized and sacrificed after 3, 6, 12 and 24h of induction. Blood of the control and experimental animals was drawn and processed for analysis. The administration of N. oleander induced an acute condition reflected by change in total and differential leucocyte count. Animals in 3, 6 and 24h groups displayed leucocytosis while leucopenia was observed in animals of 12h group. Serum transaminases activity reflected functional changes in liver functions. SDS-PAGE scrutinized variations in serum protein of experimental and control samples and fractions ranged between 52 to 154 KDa. At 6h, 12h and 24h...
The fish in the genus Schizothorax from the Cyprinidae family live in high-altitude Rivers andstr... more The fish in the genus Schizothorax from the Cyprinidae family live in high-altitude Rivers andstreams, are threatened by various anthropogenic stressors. This study aims to characterize S. plagiostomus across Pakistan and throughout the world available on NCBI using the mitochondrial D-loop region, and in particular, to assess the degree of intra-specific pairwise distance among these sequences, as well as to establish their phylogenetic relationships. The percent overall nucleotide composition was 32.6% (A), 33.6% (T), 19.8% (C), and 14.0% (G), which infers that S. plagiostomus control regions is AT-rich (66.2%) and poor in G contents. The mean pair-wise intra-specific nucleotide diversity (Pi)of all the S. plagiostomus was 0.022. While, the inter-specific nucleotide diversity of all the Schizothorax species was 0.049. D-loop sequences for intra-specific variations revealed 765 sites were invariable and 10 were variable, 8 parsimony informative sites and only 2 were singletons. The...
Immunosuppressants are used clinically to lower rejection rates in transplant patients. Unfortuna... more Immunosuppressants are used clinically to lower rejection rates in transplant patients. Unfortunately, the adverse side effects of these immunosuppressants can be severe, which is one of the rationales that life expectancy of individuals after transplant still significantly falls short of that of the general population. The current experimental setup was designed to analyze the tacrolimus-induced hepatic iron overload in Wistar rats. Four experimental groups were orally given 1 ml of aqueous suspension of tacrolimus (12 mg/kg) through oral gavage, and rats were sacrificed after 6, 12, 24, and 48 h of tacrolimus dose. Hepatic hepcidin expression was found to be significantly augmented along with the upregulation of Tf and TfR1, Ferritin-L, Ferritin-H, TNF-α, and HO-1 gene expression at 6 and 12 h, and downregulation of Fpn-1, Hjv, and Heph at 6 h was detected. Significant downregulation of IL-6, IFN-α, IFN-β, and IFN-γ at all study time points was also observed. Serum iron level was ...
Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2019
BPA, a ubiquitously used plasticizer, has become one of the contaminants of emerging concern and ... more BPA, a ubiquitously used plasticizer, has become one of the contaminants of emerging concern and causes many serious health implications in humans due to multiple exposure pathways. The current study was aimed at investigating the deformities of structures that arise by exposure of the small intestine to BPA through trace elements estimation of tissues as well as the study of serum profile. Two major groups of Wistar rats were established: one control group and the other experimental group, which was further divided into four groups based on dose (10 mg/kg/bodyweight and 25 mg/kg/bodyweight, respectively) and duration of exposure (6 and 12 weeks, respectively). Histological study of the small intestine showed the distorted structures in the experimental groups. The special staining performed illustrated the accumulation of calcium deposits in the small intestinal tissue in treated groups. Trace metals estimation showed a significant increase in the metallic content of sodium and iro...
Chemokines also play an important role in the neoplastic transformation of a cell, encourage angi... more Chemokines also play an important role in the neoplastic transformation of a cell, encourage angiogenesis, tumor colonial expansion and changes in EMC and also mediate organ specific metastasis during carcinogenesis 7;8. Tumor metastatic potential can be determined by the tumor microenvironment and target organs 9;10. Chemokine receptors are G protein coupled receptors and numerous cells show the expression of these receptors including leukocytes, endothelial cells, stromal cells, epithelial cells and tumor cells 10-12. These receptors have vital roles in malignant tumor and cardiovascular diseases, also play role in allergic reactions, tissue damage and microbial infections 13;14. Chemokine receptors are classified into four subfamilies on the basis of four subfamilies of chemokines they bind, CXCR, CCR, CX3CR and XCR. Chemokine receptors play major role in tumor metastasis 14-16. At each step of metastasis these receptors potentially facilitate tumor dissemination. In order to estimate the clinical significance of these receptors few clinical studies have been done. But there is no comprehensive study regarding all the chemokine receptors in NSCLC 17-19 .
Background: Thioacetamide (TAA) has been used extensively in the development of suitable animal m... more Background: Thioacetamide (TAA) has been used extensively in the development of suitable animal models of acute and chronic liver injury employing various doses, times and routes of its administration, particularly in drinking water due to its resemblance with human liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare hematological alteration during the acute and chronic liver inflammation. Methods: Acute Liver inflammation was induced in Wistar rats via intraperitoneal injection of thioacetamide and the animals were sacrificed 12 h after the TAA administration. Induction of chronic liver inflammation was performed by continuous administration of TAA in the drinking water (200 mg/L) during 18 weeks of experiment. After that all animals were sacrificed and Blood samples were collected for further analysis. Results: Single intra peritoneal injection of TAA (300 mg/kg B.W.) induced an acute condition with hematological changes including leukocytosis with marked neutrophilia (P = 0.0429), lymphopenia, thrombocytosis as well as increased hemoglobin concentration (P < 0.05) and decline of erythrocytic count (P = 0.0009). Eighteen weeks of uninterrupted supply of TAA (200 mg/L) in drinking water lead to chronic inflammation and the hematological alterations were leucopenia (P = 0.0197) accompanied with neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Increase in RBCs (P = 0.0073) and Hb contents was also observed with a decline of red cell indices. Conclusion: Taken together these findings we can conclude that the animals respond differently under acute and chronic inflammatory condition with TAA administration. Leukocytosis with marked neutrophilia, thrombocytosis as well as increased hemoglobin concentration and decline of erythrocytic count were observed in acute while leucopenia accompanied with neutropenia and thrombocytopenia and increase in RBCs, Hb and Hct was also observed with a decline of other red cell indices during chronic phase.
This letter reports a measurement of the muon charge asymmetry from W bosons produced in proton-p... more This letter reports a measurement of the muon charge asymmetry from W bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The asymmetry is measured in the W → µν decay mode as a function of the muon pseudorapidity using a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 31 pb −1. The results are compared to predictions based on next-to-leading order calculations with various parton distribution functions. This measurement provides information on the u and d quark momentum fractions in the proton.
This study contributes to the preliminary development of the industrial process in water purifica... more This study contributes to the preliminary development of the industrial process in water purification, by introducing novel catalysts having immobilized silver oxide particles. For such a catalytic study, 4-NP was selected as a model sample. Synthesized catalysts Algi+Chito/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), Ag2O having SDS (Cs90 (Ag2O)), Algi+Chito/MWCNTs, Ag2O having CTAB (Cc90 (Ag2O)), and Algi+Chito/MWCNTs, Ag2O having DMF (CD90 (Ag2O)) were comparatively characterized with respect to supporting matrices (Cs90, Cc90, and CD90 nanocomposites without silver oxide particles) by Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, and mechanical testing. The catalysts have dispersed silver oxide particles, showed prominent peaks of participating components (Ag–O, COOH-MWCNTs, alginate, and chitosan), are more porous (surface area of (Cs90 (Ag2O)), Cc90 (Ag2O), CD90 (Ag2O) is 8.671, 8.902, and 7.89...
This study looked at the comprehensiveness of the primary health care approach being applied in P... more This study looked at the comprehensiveness of the primary health care approach being applied in Pakistan's National Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Programme launched in 2005. The methods included a review of the programme's guideline documents, in-depth interviews with managers/advisors and focus group discussions with community groups and service providers. The MNCH Programme is applying a selective primary care model. Programme advisors and managers were concerned about the quality of training, political interference and incomplete implementation. Service providers were not working together as envisioned. Community midwives complained about the community's perceptions of them. Community members were unaware of MNCH Programme implementation in their areas. Pakistan's primary health care programme needs to be reviewed and revised according current thinking on community participation and inter-sectoral collaboration to accelerate progress towards achievement of Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.
To determine the frequency of depressive symptoms among young people with Type-I diabetes. This c... more To determine the frequency of depressive symptoms among young people with Type-I diabetes. This cross sectional study was conducted at Baqai Institute of Diabetology & Endocrinology, Karachi, Pakistan from February to December 2015. All People aged between 12-20 years with Type-I diabetes for at least 1 year attending the OPD were included in the study. Information about participants' demographic characteristics, co morbidities and Complications, current treatment and medications were obtained. Acylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) levels were checked in all People. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale was used to assess the depressive symptoms in the study participants. A cut off value of ≥ 16 was used to screen for depression. SPSS 19 was used to analyze the results. Out of 104 people with Type-I diabetes, depressive symptoms were observed in 44 (42.3%) participants. Depressive symptoms were more frequent in females (28/55, 50.9%). Depressed people had more epis...
Objective: To screen out adult patients for HBV and HCV infections visiting Khyber College of Den... more Objective: To screen out adult patients for HBV and HCV infections visiting Khyber College of Dentistry Peshawar (KCD) for different dental treatments and to identify the associated risk factors. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar in the year 2013. A total of 1540 patients >15 years, visiting KCD for seeking different dental treatments were screened for hepatitis B & C. Informed consent was taken before blood collection and filling of a structured questionnaire. Blood samples were tested against HBsAg and anti HCV by using ICT that were further confirmed by ELISA. The data was analyzed using Epi info version 6. Results: A total of 1540 patients were screened during the study. Among these 36.4%(561) were males and 63.6%(979) were females. Overall prevalence of HBV and HCV was 5.12%(79). On screening, 2.14%(33) were found to be HBs Ag positive of which 2.5%(14) were males and 1.9%(19) were females. HCV was found positive in 2.98%(46) individuals having male to female ratio of 1.6% and 3.8%. Frequency of HBsAg was high in age group 56-65 year and HCV in 36-45 year group. Previous history of IV/IM injections, spouse patient of hepatitis, blood transfusion, surgical operation were found significant risk factors in the transmission of both hepatitis B and C, while previous history of dental treatment and sharing of clippers were significant risk factor in spreading hepatitis C infection only. Conclusions: Overall prevalence of HCV was higher than HBV. Previous history of injections, spouse patient of hepatitis, blood transfusion, surgical operation were found significant risk factors in the transmission of both hepatitis B and C.
The mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase 1 gene is used as a standardized, authenticated, and reliabl... more The mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase 1 gene is used as a standardized, authenticated, and reliable genetic marker for a global species-level bio-identification system. The present study was conducted to determine whether barcoding can help accurate species identification in fishes. The overall base composition of Schizothorax species was 29.6% of T, 25.5% of C, 26.5% of A, and 18.4% of G, A þ T content 56.1% and G þ C content 43.9%. The Ts/Tv bias (R) was 2.51. Complete COI gene was amplified using PCR and sequenced from 17 samples collected from river Neelum and Jhelum, and identification of species were done by following Mirza (1991), Jhingran (1991) classification and also through BOLD (99.3 to 99.9%) and NCBI (99.6 to 99.9%) reference sequences of those species. Multiple alignments of CO1 mtDNA gene resulted in a range of 1535-1551 base pairs. Out of 1535 consensus sites, 1490 were constant, 61 characters were variable, in which 54 were parsimony informative, and 7 variables were parsimony uninformative. This is the very first study reported from a reservoir of cold water bodies of Azad Kashmir which have a great potential for conservation of cold water fish species. We emphasized that, DNA barcoding is an accurate, reliable and has the great potential for identification of freshwater fish species.
Objective: To evaluate changes in serum lipoproteins in primiparous women with eclampsia and comp... more Objective: To evaluate changes in serum lipoproteins in primiparous women with eclampsia and compare it with pregnant women having normal blood pressure. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 65 primiparous eclamptic patients and 21 normotensive pregnant women in the tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar. History of each woman was recorded on a questionnaire. Blood pressure was measured using standard methods. About 5 ml of venous blood was drawn for the analysis of lipoproteins. The data was analyzed using computer software package SPSS version 10. The P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Mean age of hypertensive cases was 23.2 ± 0.52 years while that for controls was 23.9 ± 1.16 years. Significant differences were found in serum lipoproteins. Women having eclampsia had 28.8%, 29.5%, 31.1%, 32.9% and 65.3% higher, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDLC), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC):high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDLC) ratio, LDLC:HDLC ratio and TG:HDLC ratio respectively as compared to the control group. The HDLC concentrations, HDLC:VLDLC ratio and apolipoprotein-A1 level were 26.9%, 56.6% and 27.9% respectively, lower in the patient group as compared to the controls. Conclusion: This study suggests that evaluation of lipoprotein concentrations during antenatal period can be helpful in the early detection and prevention of developing eclampsia.
Objective: To find out the effect of combined oral contraceptives pills (COCPs) on lipid profile,... more Objective: To find out the effect of combined oral contraceptives pills (COCPs) on lipid profile, blood pressure and body mass index in females of reproductive age. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted from January 2011 to December 2011 in Family Planning Department of tertiary referral health care hospitals of Peshawar. A total of 200 married fertile women of child bearing age (14-49 years) participated in the study. They were divided in two groups: Group 1 (COCPs users at least for six months) and group 2 (age matched controls not using COCPs). Fasting levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) were analyzed using chemistry analyzer. Haemoglobin (Hb) and platelets counts were measured on haematology analyzer. Body Mass Index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP) were measured in all subjects. Various parameters were compared among oral and control groups by using SPSS version 10. Results: Comparing females of group-1 vs group-2, there was significant increase of cholesterol (185+3.27mg/dl vs 158.26+2.81mg/dL; p=0.0001), triglycerides (207.33+4.92mg/dL vs 135.63+4.49mg/dL; p=0.0001), LDL-C (98.20+ 3.11mg/dL vs 85.19+2.65mg/dL; p= 0.002), BMI (27.52+0.371 vs 24.79+0.34 Kg/m2; p=0.0004), systolic BP (133.30+1.71 vs 122.69+1.35 mmHg; p=0.0007) and diastolic BP (84.85+1.16 vs 80.79+0.89 mmHg; p=0.009). Changes in the HDL-C (46.18+0.82 vs 45.92+0.91mg/dL; p=0.833), Hb (12.95+ 0.16 vs 12.47+0.17 g/dL; p=0.045) and platelet count (262510.00+8822.64 vs 258882.63+9843.44 thousand/uL) were not significant. Conclusion: Significantly elevated lipid profile, BP and BMI were recorded in women using COCPs.
Objective: To find the frequency of thrombocytopenia in women with pregnancy related hypertensive... more Objective: To find the frequency of thrombocytopenia in women with pregnancy related hypertensive disorders in patients presenting at tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted from January 2009 to January 2010 in the tertiary referral health care facilities of Peshawar. A total of 312 women of gestational age of >20 weeks with pregnancy related hypertensive disorders were investigated. They were subdivided into 102 women with gestational hypertension (Group A), 100 women with pre-eclampsia (Group B), and 110 women with eclampsia (Group C). Ninety healthy pregnant women (group D) were chosen as control. All the subjects were selected from the Gynecology and Obstetrics units of three tertiary health care facilities of Peshawar. Platelet count was measured by using Hematology Analyzer. The data was processed on SPSS version 10. Results: The frequency of thrombocytopenia in all patient groups was 21.8% (n=68/312). Individual groups showed thrombocytopenia in 14.6% (Group A), 15% (group B), 34.6% (group C) and 4.5% in controls (group D). Out of 68 patients with thrombocytopenia, 38(55.9%) were eclamptic. Overall severe thrombocytopenia was recorded in 27(8.7%) patients, of whom 15(55.6%) were eclamptic. These patients were nine times more likely to have eclampsia as compared to those having platelet count > 150,000/µL (OR: 9.41; CI: 1.33-188.8; p= 0.008). Conclusion: A high frequency of thrombocytopenia was recorded in the patients with pregnancy related hypertensive disorders in the tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar. The severity of thrombocytopenia is proportional to the severity of pregnancy related hypertensive disorders.
The physico-chemical parameters and the fish parasites of the River Neelum were studied at three ... more The physico-chemical parameters and the fish parasites of the River Neelum were studied at three sampling sites, i.e., Pattika, Tali Mandi, and Domail. Water temperature and rate of flow of water were significantly higher at Domail than Pattika and Tali Mandi. ANOVA showed that dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids, inorganic suspended solids, and organic matter of the bottom mud kept on fluctuating and showed a significant difference between three selected sites. Although, these variables showed variations, they remained within tolerable limits set by WHO. Three species of potentially harmful parasites, i.e., Dactylogyrus vastator, Procamallanus laevionchus, and Argulus foliaceus were isolated from fish population of the River Neelum, however, these parasites do not pose any severe threats to general fish life
For DNA barcoding, the Cytochrome C Oxidase 1 gene (CO1) is a genetic marker used as uniform, tes... more For DNA barcoding, the Cytochrome C Oxidase 1 gene (CO1) is a genetic marker used as uniform, testimonial authentication and reliable evidence for a universal species-level bio-cataloguing system compared with the morphological identification. The barcoding of Catla catla, Cirrhinus mrigala and Labeo rohita of family Cyprinidae was accomplished in the present study. Amplified CO1 gene through PCR was sequenced and figured out using bioinformatic tools. Conspecific and congeneric, K2P nucleotide deviation and nucleotide composition, the number of haplotypes and haplotype diversity were calculated. All three species of studied fish (C. catla, L. rohita and C. mrigala) were G-deficient (17.2, 17.8 and 18.5%) than C (28.3, 27.0, 27.3), A (25.2, 27.3, 26.8) and T (28.0, 28.5, 28.1), respectively. The mean intraspecific and intergeneric K2P genetic distance was .031% and 1.23%, respectively, with a high rate of transitional substitutions. Study revealed that C. catla followed the neutral evolution (R ¼ .5), while C. mrigala (R ¼ 2.01) and L. rohita (R ¼ 2.84) deviated from it and offered very low genetic diversity (<.55).
In the folk medicine system different parts of Nerium oleander are utilized for the treatment of ... more In the folk medicine system different parts of Nerium oleander are utilized for the treatment of a variety of human disorders. In this study, the therapeutic potential of aqueous extract of N. oleander leaves extract was assessed in thioacetamide (TAA) directed chronic hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. TAA administration caused severe hepatic damage as evidence from significant decrease in level of serum total protein, albumin, ALT, total lipids, HDL (30%, 32%, 37%, 37% & 48% respectively) and concurrent rise in ALP and bilirubin total (129% & 153% respectively). The results illustrated that the treatment of N. oleander effectively increased the TAA induced low levels of serum total protein, albumin, ALT, total lipids, HDL (12%, 24%, 64%, 46% & 53% respectively) and reduced the TAA induced serum level of ALP and bilirubin total (66% & 35% respectively). Histopathology of hepatic tissues displayed that N. oleander extract has lessened the occurrence of liver lesions, along with infiltra...
This study aimed to find changes in white blood cell profile and liver functions in rats after st... more This study aimed to find changes in white blood cell profile and liver functions in rats after sterile muscle abscess with Nerium oleander leaves decoction and to find out correlation among serum proteins resolved through SDS PAGE. 10ml/ kg of the leaves extract injected intramuscularly in Wistar rats (225g, n=4). Control animals were injected with saline injection. All the animals were anesthetized and sacrificed after 3, 6, 12 and 24h of induction. Blood of the control and experimental animals was drawn and processed for analysis. The administration of N. oleander induced an acute condition reflected by change in total and differential leucocyte count. Animals in 3, 6 and 24h groups displayed leucocytosis while leucopenia was observed in animals of 12h group. Serum transaminases activity reflected functional changes in liver functions. SDS-PAGE scrutinized variations in serum protein of experimental and control samples and fractions ranged between 52 to 154 KDa. At 6h, 12h and 24h...
The fish in the genus Schizothorax from the Cyprinidae family live in high-altitude Rivers andstr... more The fish in the genus Schizothorax from the Cyprinidae family live in high-altitude Rivers andstreams, are threatened by various anthropogenic stressors. This study aims to characterize S. plagiostomus across Pakistan and throughout the world available on NCBI using the mitochondrial D-loop region, and in particular, to assess the degree of intra-specific pairwise distance among these sequences, as well as to establish their phylogenetic relationships. The percent overall nucleotide composition was 32.6% (A), 33.6% (T), 19.8% (C), and 14.0% (G), which infers that S. plagiostomus control regions is AT-rich (66.2%) and poor in G contents. The mean pair-wise intra-specific nucleotide diversity (Pi)of all the S. plagiostomus was 0.022. While, the inter-specific nucleotide diversity of all the Schizothorax species was 0.049. D-loop sequences for intra-specific variations revealed 765 sites were invariable and 10 were variable, 8 parsimony informative sites and only 2 were singletons. The...
Immunosuppressants are used clinically to lower rejection rates in transplant patients. Unfortuna... more Immunosuppressants are used clinically to lower rejection rates in transplant patients. Unfortunately, the adverse side effects of these immunosuppressants can be severe, which is one of the rationales that life expectancy of individuals after transplant still significantly falls short of that of the general population. The current experimental setup was designed to analyze the tacrolimus-induced hepatic iron overload in Wistar rats. Four experimental groups were orally given 1 ml of aqueous suspension of tacrolimus (12 mg/kg) through oral gavage, and rats were sacrificed after 6, 12, 24, and 48 h of tacrolimus dose. Hepatic hepcidin expression was found to be significantly augmented along with the upregulation of Tf and TfR1, Ferritin-L, Ferritin-H, TNF-α, and HO-1 gene expression at 6 and 12 h, and downregulation of Fpn-1, Hjv, and Heph at 6 h was detected. Significant downregulation of IL-6, IFN-α, IFN-β, and IFN-γ at all study time points was also observed. Serum iron level was ...
Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2019
BPA, a ubiquitously used plasticizer, has become one of the contaminants of emerging concern and ... more BPA, a ubiquitously used plasticizer, has become one of the contaminants of emerging concern and causes many serious health implications in humans due to multiple exposure pathways. The current study was aimed at investigating the deformities of structures that arise by exposure of the small intestine to BPA through trace elements estimation of tissues as well as the study of serum profile. Two major groups of Wistar rats were established: one control group and the other experimental group, which was further divided into four groups based on dose (10 mg/kg/bodyweight and 25 mg/kg/bodyweight, respectively) and duration of exposure (6 and 12 weeks, respectively). Histological study of the small intestine showed the distorted structures in the experimental groups. The special staining performed illustrated the accumulation of calcium deposits in the small intestinal tissue in treated groups. Trace metals estimation showed a significant increase in the metallic content of sodium and iro...
Chemokines also play an important role in the neoplastic transformation of a cell, encourage angi... more Chemokines also play an important role in the neoplastic transformation of a cell, encourage angiogenesis, tumor colonial expansion and changes in EMC and also mediate organ specific metastasis during carcinogenesis 7;8. Tumor metastatic potential can be determined by the tumor microenvironment and target organs 9;10. Chemokine receptors are G protein coupled receptors and numerous cells show the expression of these receptors including leukocytes, endothelial cells, stromal cells, epithelial cells and tumor cells 10-12. These receptors have vital roles in malignant tumor and cardiovascular diseases, also play role in allergic reactions, tissue damage and microbial infections 13;14. Chemokine receptors are classified into four subfamilies on the basis of four subfamilies of chemokines they bind, CXCR, CCR, CX3CR and XCR. Chemokine receptors play major role in tumor metastasis 14-16. At each step of metastasis these receptors potentially facilitate tumor dissemination. In order to estimate the clinical significance of these receptors few clinical studies have been done. But there is no comprehensive study regarding all the chemokine receptors in NSCLC 17-19 .
Background: Thioacetamide (TAA) has been used extensively in the development of suitable animal m... more Background: Thioacetamide (TAA) has been used extensively in the development of suitable animal models of acute and chronic liver injury employing various doses, times and routes of its administration, particularly in drinking water due to its resemblance with human liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare hematological alteration during the acute and chronic liver inflammation. Methods: Acute Liver inflammation was induced in Wistar rats via intraperitoneal injection of thioacetamide and the animals were sacrificed 12 h after the TAA administration. Induction of chronic liver inflammation was performed by continuous administration of TAA in the drinking water (200 mg/L) during 18 weeks of experiment. After that all animals were sacrificed and Blood samples were collected for further analysis. Results: Single intra peritoneal injection of TAA (300 mg/kg B.W.) induced an acute condition with hematological changes including leukocytosis with marked neutrophilia (P = 0.0429), lymphopenia, thrombocytosis as well as increased hemoglobin concentration (P < 0.05) and decline of erythrocytic count (P = 0.0009). Eighteen weeks of uninterrupted supply of TAA (200 mg/L) in drinking water lead to chronic inflammation and the hematological alterations were leucopenia (P = 0.0197) accompanied with neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Increase in RBCs (P = 0.0073) and Hb contents was also observed with a decline of red cell indices. Conclusion: Taken together these findings we can conclude that the animals respond differently under acute and chronic inflammatory condition with TAA administration. Leukocytosis with marked neutrophilia, thrombocytosis as well as increased hemoglobin concentration and decline of erythrocytic count were observed in acute while leucopenia accompanied with neutropenia and thrombocytopenia and increase in RBCs, Hb and Hct was also observed with a decline of other red cell indices during chronic phase.
This letter reports a measurement of the muon charge asymmetry from W bosons produced in proton-p... more This letter reports a measurement of the muon charge asymmetry from W bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The asymmetry is measured in the W → µν decay mode as a function of the muon pseudorapidity using a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 31 pb −1. The results are compared to predictions based on next-to-leading order calculations with various parton distribution functions. This measurement provides information on the u and d quark momentum fractions in the proton.
This study contributes to the preliminary development of the industrial process in water purifica... more This study contributes to the preliminary development of the industrial process in water purification, by introducing novel catalysts having immobilized silver oxide particles. For such a catalytic study, 4-NP was selected as a model sample. Synthesized catalysts Algi+Chito/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), Ag2O having SDS (Cs90 (Ag2O)), Algi+Chito/MWCNTs, Ag2O having CTAB (Cc90 (Ag2O)), and Algi+Chito/MWCNTs, Ag2O having DMF (CD90 (Ag2O)) were comparatively characterized with respect to supporting matrices (Cs90, Cc90, and CD90 nanocomposites without silver oxide particles) by Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, and mechanical testing. The catalysts have dispersed silver oxide particles, showed prominent peaks of participating components (Ag–O, COOH-MWCNTs, alginate, and chitosan), are more porous (surface area of (Cs90 (Ag2O)), Cc90 (Ag2O), CD90 (Ag2O) is 8.671, 8.902, and 7.89...
This study looked at the comprehensiveness of the primary health care approach being applied in P... more This study looked at the comprehensiveness of the primary health care approach being applied in Pakistan's National Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Programme launched in 2005. The methods included a review of the programme's guideline documents, in-depth interviews with managers/advisors and focus group discussions with community groups and service providers. The MNCH Programme is applying a selective primary care model. Programme advisors and managers were concerned about the quality of training, political interference and incomplete implementation. Service providers were not working together as envisioned. Community midwives complained about the community's perceptions of them. Community members were unaware of MNCH Programme implementation in their areas. Pakistan's primary health care programme needs to be reviewed and revised according current thinking on community participation and inter-sectoral collaboration to accelerate progress towards achievement of Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.
To determine the frequency of depressive symptoms among young people with Type-I diabetes. This c... more To determine the frequency of depressive symptoms among young people with Type-I diabetes. This cross sectional study was conducted at Baqai Institute of Diabetology & Endocrinology, Karachi, Pakistan from February to December 2015. All People aged between 12-20 years with Type-I diabetes for at least 1 year attending the OPD were included in the study. Information about participants' demographic characteristics, co morbidities and Complications, current treatment and medications were obtained. Acylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) levels were checked in all People. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale was used to assess the depressive symptoms in the study participants. A cut off value of ≥ 16 was used to screen for depression. SPSS 19 was used to analyze the results. Out of 104 people with Type-I diabetes, depressive symptoms were observed in 44 (42.3%) participants. Depressive symptoms were more frequent in females (28/55, 50.9%). Depressed people had more epis...
Objective: To screen out adult patients for HBV and HCV infections visiting Khyber College of Den... more Objective: To screen out adult patients for HBV and HCV infections visiting Khyber College of Dentistry Peshawar (KCD) for different dental treatments and to identify the associated risk factors. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar in the year 2013. A total of 1540 patients >15 years, visiting KCD for seeking different dental treatments were screened for hepatitis B & C. Informed consent was taken before blood collection and filling of a structured questionnaire. Blood samples were tested against HBsAg and anti HCV by using ICT that were further confirmed by ELISA. The data was analyzed using Epi info version 6. Results: A total of 1540 patients were screened during the study. Among these 36.4%(561) were males and 63.6%(979) were females. Overall prevalence of HBV and HCV was 5.12%(79). On screening, 2.14%(33) were found to be HBs Ag positive of which 2.5%(14) were males and 1.9%(19) were females. HCV was found positive in 2.98%(46) individuals having male to female ratio of 1.6% and 3.8%. Frequency of HBsAg was high in age group 56-65 year and HCV in 36-45 year group. Previous history of IV/IM injections, spouse patient of hepatitis, blood transfusion, surgical operation were found significant risk factors in the transmission of both hepatitis B and C, while previous history of dental treatment and sharing of clippers were significant risk factor in spreading hepatitis C infection only. Conclusions: Overall prevalence of HCV was higher than HBV. Previous history of injections, spouse patient of hepatitis, blood transfusion, surgical operation were found significant risk factors in the transmission of both hepatitis B and C.
The mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase 1 gene is used as a standardized, authenticated, and reliabl... more The mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase 1 gene is used as a standardized, authenticated, and reliable genetic marker for a global species-level bio-identification system. The present study was conducted to determine whether barcoding can help accurate species identification in fishes. The overall base composition of Schizothorax species was 29.6% of T, 25.5% of C, 26.5% of A, and 18.4% of G, A þ T content 56.1% and G þ C content 43.9%. The Ts/Tv bias (R) was 2.51. Complete COI gene was amplified using PCR and sequenced from 17 samples collected from river Neelum and Jhelum, and identification of species were done by following Mirza (1991), Jhingran (1991) classification and also through BOLD (99.3 to 99.9%) and NCBI (99.6 to 99.9%) reference sequences of those species. Multiple alignments of CO1 mtDNA gene resulted in a range of 1535-1551 base pairs. Out of 1535 consensus sites, 1490 were constant, 61 characters were variable, in which 54 were parsimony informative, and 7 variables were parsimony uninformative. This is the very first study reported from a reservoir of cold water bodies of Azad Kashmir which have a great potential for conservation of cold water fish species. We emphasized that, DNA barcoding is an accurate, reliable and has the great potential for identification of freshwater fish species.
Objective: To evaluate changes in serum lipoproteins in primiparous women with eclampsia and comp... more Objective: To evaluate changes in serum lipoproteins in primiparous women with eclampsia and compare it with pregnant women having normal blood pressure. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 65 primiparous eclamptic patients and 21 normotensive pregnant women in the tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar. History of each woman was recorded on a questionnaire. Blood pressure was measured using standard methods. About 5 ml of venous blood was drawn for the analysis of lipoproteins. The data was analyzed using computer software package SPSS version 10. The P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Mean age of hypertensive cases was 23.2 ± 0.52 years while that for controls was 23.9 ± 1.16 years. Significant differences were found in serum lipoproteins. Women having eclampsia had 28.8%, 29.5%, 31.1%, 32.9% and 65.3% higher, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDLC), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC):high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDLC) ratio, LDLC:HDLC ratio and TG:HDLC ratio respectively as compared to the control group. The HDLC concentrations, HDLC:VLDLC ratio and apolipoprotein-A1 level were 26.9%, 56.6% and 27.9% respectively, lower in the patient group as compared to the controls. Conclusion: This study suggests that evaluation of lipoprotein concentrations during antenatal period can be helpful in the early detection and prevention of developing eclampsia.
Objective: To find out the effect of combined oral contraceptives pills (COCPs) on lipid profile,... more Objective: To find out the effect of combined oral contraceptives pills (COCPs) on lipid profile, blood pressure and body mass index in females of reproductive age. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted from January 2011 to December 2011 in Family Planning Department of tertiary referral health care hospitals of Peshawar. A total of 200 married fertile women of child bearing age (14-49 years) participated in the study. They were divided in two groups: Group 1 (COCPs users at least for six months) and group 2 (age matched controls not using COCPs). Fasting levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) were analyzed using chemistry analyzer. Haemoglobin (Hb) and platelets counts were measured on haematology analyzer. Body Mass Index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP) were measured in all subjects. Various parameters were compared among oral and control groups by using SPSS version 10. Results: Comparing females of group-1 vs group-2, there was significant increase of cholesterol (185+3.27mg/dl vs 158.26+2.81mg/dL; p=0.0001), triglycerides (207.33+4.92mg/dL vs 135.63+4.49mg/dL; p=0.0001), LDL-C (98.20+ 3.11mg/dL vs 85.19+2.65mg/dL; p= 0.002), BMI (27.52+0.371 vs 24.79+0.34 Kg/m2; p=0.0004), systolic BP (133.30+1.71 vs 122.69+1.35 mmHg; p=0.0007) and diastolic BP (84.85+1.16 vs 80.79+0.89 mmHg; p=0.009). Changes in the HDL-C (46.18+0.82 vs 45.92+0.91mg/dL; p=0.833), Hb (12.95+ 0.16 vs 12.47+0.17 g/dL; p=0.045) and platelet count (262510.00+8822.64 vs 258882.63+9843.44 thousand/uL) were not significant. Conclusion: Significantly elevated lipid profile, BP and BMI were recorded in women using COCPs.
Objective: To find the frequency of thrombocytopenia in women with pregnancy related hypertensive... more Objective: To find the frequency of thrombocytopenia in women with pregnancy related hypertensive disorders in patients presenting at tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted from January 2009 to January 2010 in the tertiary referral health care facilities of Peshawar. A total of 312 women of gestational age of >20 weeks with pregnancy related hypertensive disorders were investigated. They were subdivided into 102 women with gestational hypertension (Group A), 100 women with pre-eclampsia (Group B), and 110 women with eclampsia (Group C). Ninety healthy pregnant women (group D) were chosen as control. All the subjects were selected from the Gynecology and Obstetrics units of three tertiary health care facilities of Peshawar. Platelet count was measured by using Hematology Analyzer. The data was processed on SPSS version 10. Results: The frequency of thrombocytopenia in all patient groups was 21.8% (n=68/312). Individual groups showed thrombocytopenia in 14.6% (Group A), 15% (group B), 34.6% (group C) and 4.5% in controls (group D). Out of 68 patients with thrombocytopenia, 38(55.9%) were eclamptic. Overall severe thrombocytopenia was recorded in 27(8.7%) patients, of whom 15(55.6%) were eclamptic. These patients were nine times more likely to have eclampsia as compared to those having platelet count > 150,000/µL (OR: 9.41; CI: 1.33-188.8; p= 0.008). Conclusion: A high frequency of thrombocytopenia was recorded in the patients with pregnancy related hypertensive disorders in the tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar. The severity of thrombocytopenia is proportional to the severity of pregnancy related hypertensive disorders.
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