Response of a single 'mega intramuscular dose' of vitamin d on serum 25OHD and parathyroid hormone levels

To determine the changes produced in serum 25OHD and iPTH levels after 600,000 IU of injection cholecalciferol in volunteers. Interventional study. Section of Chemical Pathology, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from June 2009 - June 2010. Volunteers of either gender aged 18-40 years with known 25OHD, calcium [Ca], creatinine [Cr] and phosphorous [P] levels were included in the study. Subjects on therapy like vitamin D and calcium supplements, corticosteroids or anti-epileptic medicines, primary hyperparathyroidism and hypercalcaemia, with co-morbidity like renal failure, liver disease and history of malabsorption, diarrhea or hyperthyroidism were excluded. All volunteers were given an intramuscular injection of vitamin D3 [cholecalciferol, 600,000 IU]. After 8 weeks, serum 25OHD, iPTH, Ca and P levels were determined again. For 25OHD level, cut-off of /= 75 as optimal level. Mean 25OHD and iPTH levels were 35.06 +/- 16.6 nmol/l and 81.15 +/- 76.78 pg/ml respectively at baseline. Seventeen volunteers were 25OHD deficient. Five had high iPTH levels [25%] [mean 156 +/- 123.7 pg/ml]. 25OHD and iPTH showed a significant inverse correlation at baseline [< 0.01]. After 8 weeks of injection vitamin D 25OHD levels became optimal in 6 subjects [35%] [mean 92.9 +/- 16.6 nmol/l]. It remained low in 5 volunteers [25%] [mean 41.6 +/- 9.6 nmol/l] while insufficient levels were seen in 9 volunteers [40%] [mean 63.3 +/- 5.8 nmol/l]. Follow-up mean Ca, P and iPTH were 2.25 mmol/l [ +/- 0.09], 1.1 [ +/- 0.1] and 47.52 pg/ml [ +/- 22.56] respectively. A significant increase in mean 25OHD level was seen at follow-up [p < 0.01], while the change in PTH was insignificant [p=0.05]. Single mega-dose of cholecalciferol achieved optimal levels of 25OHD in 35% of subjects after eight weeks of supplementation

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of pubmed-indexed biomedical publications in Oman from years 2005-2009

Research activities are promoted at the government and the institutional levels in Oman. However, the quantity and quality of research conducted in various institutes of Oman has not been measured. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze the quantity and quality of biomedical publications emanating from Oman over the last five years [2005-2009]. Data regarding the biomedical publications of Omani origin published from January 2005 to December 2009 were retrieved from Pubmed. All abstracts were manually checked to exclude false retrievals. The journal impact factor [IF] for 2008 was applied for every publication. Full-length original articles, review articles and publications mentioning new research methods/new technique were assigned full IF of the journal. However, half of the journal IF were assigned to correspondences/commentaries, case reports/series and short communications. Of biomedical publications, 752 were retrieved from Pubmed and 519 publications were included for final analysis after excluding false positives. The number of biomedical publications steadily increased over the last five years, but it was not statistically significant. Original research articles constituted more than half [54.3%] of all the publications, followed by case reports/series [30.1%]. Sultan Qaboos University [SQU] contributed more than half of the biomedical publications [51.5%], followed by the Ministry of Health [MoH], which contributed 38% of the publications. Interestingly, the mean IF of the publications was not significantly different throughout the years. The number of publications emanating from Oman increased over the last five years; however, the quality of research has not improved. Furthermore, the research in Oman is mainly conducted by the government-run institutions and there is hardly any contribution from the private institutions

Modes of presentation and reasons of hospitalization for patients with decompensated chronic liver disease at civil hospital Karachi

To determine different modes of presentation and reasons that need hospitalization of patients with established chronic liver disease [CLD] and associate the presenting features with age, and severity of disease with the co-morbidity. Cross sectional, observational study. The study was conducted at Medical Wards of Civil Hospital, Karachi from July, 2006 to December, 2006. Patients who were admitted to the Medical Wards of Civil Hospital, Karachi and who already had established diagnosis of chronic liver disease were included in the study. Patient's charts were reviewed, Demographic information was noted from the charts and for more clarification, patients or their attendants were interviewed. The reason of hospitalization was noted. Different modes of presentations of chronic liver disease were analyzed and were compared with different demographic and clinical characteristics, using chi-square test. A total of 427 patients' charts were reviewed. Average ages of patients was 48.7 years. Hepatitis C was most common cause of CLD [64.6%]. Other causes included Hepatitis B [23.7%], both Hepatitis B and C [3%] and others [8.7%]. Majority of patients with CLO were hospitalized due to more than one signs and/or symptoms [63.5%], Common reasons of hospitalization in decreasing order were altered sensorium, hematemesis, abdominal distension, fever, abdominal pain and melena. More signs and symptoms of decompensation were seen in age groups 45-70 years [p=0.032]. Patients with any co-morbidity presented with greater number of sign and symptoms of decompensation when compared to patients without any co-morbidity [p=0.002]. No statistically significant association was found when presenting features of CLD were compared with duration of CLD and different co-morbidities. Hepatitis C was the common cause of CLD in this study. The reasons of hospitalization were a combination of neurological and gastrointestinal clinical features. These features did not associate with the duration of CLD or the cause of CLD