ABSTRACT
Objective of the present study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of Sea buckthorn [Hippophae rhamnoides L.] berries and leaves against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] by using the standard disc diffusion method. Chloroform, n-hexane and aqueous extract of the plant parts were used. Doses of 2mg/ml, 4 mg/ml and 6mg/ml were tested against the microorganism, and the zone of inhibition was compared against the standard drug vancomycin. Results indicated that n-hexane and chloroform extracts of berries and n-hexane extract leaves showed significant [p<0.05] antibacterial activity comparable with vancomycin. It was concluded from the study that extracts berries and leaves of Hippophae rhamnoides have antibacterial activity against MRSA
ABSTRACT
Acute coronary artery syndrome [ACS] is the major cause of mortality in Pakistan with genetic and environmental influence on the incidence of the disease. This case-control study was designed to find out if a correlation is existing between ACS and single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs] in DNA repair genes XPD [at codon 751, rs 13181 [Lys to Gln]] and XRCC1 [at codon 399, rs25487 [Arg to Gln]; 280, rs25489 [Arg to His] and 194, rs 1799782 [Arg to Trp]] either individually or in various combination with each other [haplotype analysis]. The objective of this study was to find out the association of various studied risk factors and serum lipid profile of the subjects with the disease, if any. PCR-RFLP method was used to determine genotype at specific codon in 221 subjects [115 ACS patients and 106 healthy controls] from Southern Punjab population. Genotypic and allelic frequency distribution among the cases and controls revealed that all the studied SNPs were not individually associated with the ACS. Haplotype analysis revealed that subjects having wild type combination of all three XRCC1 SNPs had greater susceptibility to ACS than any other studied genotypic combinations. Analysis of risk factors revealed that hypertension [P<0.001], age [P=0.05], education [P<0.001], gender [P<0.001], family history [P=0.005], smoking habit [P=0.002] and diabetes [P<0.001] were significantly associated with the incidence of ACS. Serum lipid profile analysis indicated that cholesterol level was significantly higher [P=0.048] in patients [161.5mg/dL] than controls [142.1mg/dL] while triglyceride remained unaffected [P=0.87] when compared between the two treatments
ABSTRACT
Acute Coronary Syndrome [ACS] is the most common disease and cause of mortality in both genders across the world and certain risk factors i.e. age, gender, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, drugs usage, weight etc are known to be associated with the disease. The aim of this study was to find if there is any correlation exists between ACS and hereditary genetic defect in endothelial nitric oxide synthase [ecNOS] gene as eNOS generates Nitric oxide in blood vessels and regulates the vascular tone hence directly affecting the cardiovascular function. Single nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] [Glu 298 Asp] in ecNOS was determined in 280 subjects, from Southern Punjab [in Pakistan] population, including [160 ACS patients and 120 healthy controls] by PCR-RFLP method and genotype was correlated with various risk factors as well as with serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Our results indicated that the genotype Glu 298 Asp was not associated with ACS but when various studied parameters were compared among patients suffering from various forms of ACS and their healthy controls, it was observed that age [45-55 years] [P = 0.05], gender [male] [P < 0.001], education [P<0.001], family history [P=0.03], hypertension [P<0.001], diabetes [P<0.01] and smoking habit [P = 0.03] were the significantly different parameters among them and may be associated with the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Cholesterol [161.5 +/- 79 mg/dL] level was found to be higher in patients [P = 0.04] than controls while triglyceride remained unaffected [P = 0.87] in both groups