DiagnosticI accuracy of contrast enhanced computed Tomography in staging of colorectal Carcinoma

Objectives: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of CT scan in staging of colorectal carcinoma among biopsy proven patients of colorectal carcinoma by taking histopathological finding as gold standard

Study Design: Cross-sectional validation study

Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi, Six months, from Jul 2015 to Dec 2015

Material and Methods: A total of 176 cases of 15-70 years of age, diagnosed of colorectal carcinoma oncolonoscopic biopsy, were included in the study. Patients with previous malignancies other than colorectal carcinoma, allergy to the contrast agent and pregnant patients were excluded from the study. All the patients then underwent CT scan for detection of the stage of cancer. After surgery, histopathology of the resected specimen was compared with the findings on CT scan

Results: Mean age was 50.27 +/- 14.50 years. Out of these 176 patients, 113 [64.20 percent] were male and 63 [35.80 percent] were females with ratio of 1.8:1. Among CT positive, 80 were true positive while 11 were false positive. Among, CT negative patients, 12 were false negative while 73 were true negative. Overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of CT in staging colorectal carcinoma taking histopathology as gold standard was 87.91 percent, 85.88 percent, 86.96 percent, 86.90 percent and 86.93 percent respectively

Conclusion: This study concluded that CT scan is a highly sensitive and accurate modality for pre-operative detection of stage of colorectal carcinoma

Isolation, Identification and Molecular Characterization of Highly Pathogenic Newcastle Disease Virus From Field Outbreaks

ABSTRACT Newcastle disease (ND) is a major infectious disease of the poultry caused by a virulent strain of Avian Paramyxovirus - 1, that is a single strand non-segmented negative sense RNA virus. ND virus is major threat to the poultry industry in many countries of the world. The study was aimed to isolate and identify Newcastle disease virus (NDV) by using a haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. A total 100 samples of infected and dead birds were collected from different poultry farms. The weight of the birds was ranged 1000-1200g. The birds were divided into 3 groups. Haemagglutination assay (HA) was performed to detect the presence of NDV in suspension of infected homogenized tissues and it was found that HA is not the best method to detect the virus when it is in trace amounts. RT-PCR using NDV specific primers analyzed different clinical and postmortem samples. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and specific primers was used for determining the presence of viruses. It was found that the virus was present in most of the infected samples except the serum of infected birds. During multiple sequence alignment (MSA) it was found that, our isolates have high homology (98%) with other reported NDV isolates. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that our isolate was closely related with viscerotropic velogenic types of NDV, which are highly pathogenic Newcastle disease virus.

Antioxidant and antiacetylcholine esterase potential of aerial parts of Conocarpus erectus, Ficus variegata and Ficus maclellandii

The current study was designed to check the antioxidant and enzyme inhibition potential of various extracts/fractions of three selected plants. The aerial parts of Conocarpus erectus [Combretaceae], Ficus variegata [Moraceae] and Ficus maclellandii [Moraceae] were extracted with ethanol [95%] and the resulting crude extracts were partitioned with n-hexane, chloroform and n-butanol successively. Folin-Ciocalteu reagent was used to calculate the total phenolic contents, flavonoids contents were calculated with aluminum chloride while antioxidant and enzyme studies were carried out through standard protocols. All extracts/fractions contained reasonable amount of phenolic compounds ranging from 0.58-58.23mg CE/g of DW and 0.43-30.56mg GAE/g of DW. Total flavonoids were determined using rutin and quercetin standards, ranging from 2.65-18.2 mg rutin equivalent/g of dry weight and 0.92-5.41mg quercetin equivalent/g of dry weight. Antioxidant studies such as DPPH inhibition FRAP and total antioxidant capacity [TAC] was checked. The crude ethanolic extract of C. erectus showed maximum antiradical scavenging power [90.43%; IC[50]=7 micro g] and ferric reducing antioxidant power [16.5micro M eq.FeSO[4].7H[2]O], respectively while leave extract of F. variegata [chloroform] was the most active [0.6577] in TAC among other extracts of the selected medicinal plants. Butanolic leave extract of C. erectus exhibited maximum enzyme inhibition activity [91.62% with IC50 40micro g/ml] while other extracts showed significant activity. It was observed from results that all extracts/fractions of under consideration plants, exhibited significant bioactivities especially ethanolic and butanolic fractions, which may be the richest source of such type of activities

Secretion of total solids [solutes] in the saliva of long-term tobacco users

It is generally believed that repeated exposure of a receptor to a stimulus results in inactivation [suppression or adaptation] of the receptor .Most of the methods of tobacco use are linked to the oral cavity where the taste receptors, a primary site for stimulation of salivary secretion, are constantly exposed to tobacco for long time. The present study was designed to document changes in salivary concentration of total solids in response to this effect in chronic tobacco users, if any. Subjects of the study were divided into smokers, pan [tobaccobetel- lime quid] chewers, niswar [moist oral snuff] dippers and non tobacco users as controls. The saliva of each subject was collected under resting condition and following application of crude nicotine and citric acid solutions to the tip of his tongue. After stimulation with nicotine all groups showed a decrease in the total solids concentration but the decrease was not significant in any group. After stimulation with citric acid, further decrease was seen in all groups but it was also insignificant statistically. We conclude that the total solids concentration decreases with the increase in salivary flow rates [and vice versa] in long-term tobacco users, salivary reflex is not adversely affected by long-term use of tobacco and this observation is not much different from that in non users

Effects of long-term use of tobacco on taste receptors and salivary secretion

Most of the methods of tobacco use are linked to the mouth, where the taste receptors, a primary site for stimulation of salivary secretion, are constantly exposed to tobacco. The main purpose of this study was to observe the effects of long-term use of tobacco on taste receptors and salivary flow rates. Subjects of the study were divided into smokers, pan, [tobacco-betel-lime quid] chewers, niswar [moist oral snuff] dippers and non-tobacco users as controls. Each group was comprised of 20 healthy male adults. The saliva of each subject was collected under resting condition and following application of crude nicotine and citric acid solutions to the tip of his tongue. The appreciation of taste sensations perceived by each subject of each group was different for nicotine [bitter unpleasant burning sensations] than citric acid [sour burning sensations] but no subjective difference was observed among the corresponding groups. After stimulation with both nicotine and citric acid, all subjects of each group showed a significant rise [p<0.05] in their salivary flow rates but the increase was highly significant [p<0.005] in pan chewers only. We found that the taste receptors response and salivary flow rates of tobacco users were not much different from that of non-tobacco users. Therefore, we conclude that long-term use of tobacco does not adversely affect the taste receptors response and hence salivary secretion

Serum homocysteine in patients with acute myocardial infraction

A number of risk factors are known to predispose to coronary artery disease. Some of these for example age; sex and family history can not be modified, whereas others can be changed. These associations include dyslipidemia, hypertension, tobacco use and diabetes mellitus. Other risk factors include physical inactivity, obesity, family history of CAD, age, gender, hemostatic factor, homocysteine, alcohol consumption and psychosocial factors. Hyperhomocysteinemia is an emerging risk factor, independently associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease, cerebral vascular disease and peripheral vascular disease. To compare scrum TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-Q and total homocycteine levels in patients with documented acute myocardial infarction with the serum levels of controls without established myocardial infarction. Thirty one patients < 60 years of age fulfilling the WHO criteria for acute myocardial infarction were selected from NICVD Karachi and were matched with thirty one controls having a normal ECG and no history of IHD. Patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction had a mean total homocysteine level 14.97 +/- 1.13 while in the control the mean total homocysteine level is 10.57 +/- 0.31 [p<0.001], other lipid parameters i.e. TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C are significantly different in patients with acute myocardial infarction as compared to controls. Although the serum total cholesterol level [192.85 +/- 10.84] is higher in patients with acute myocardial infarction as compared to controls [166.14 +/- 11.89], but is not significant statistically. The patients with acute myocardial infarction have higher levels of scrum total homocysteine than control subjects suggesting that this variable may strongly predispose to CAD in our country

retrospective study on the management of fatal cases of acute hepatic coma in the military hospitals

In the recent past the invalidity and mortality due to infectious Hepatitis has increased Fatal cases of acute .hepatic coma were studied, The importance of relevant points in history and physical examination have been high lighted and lack of certain laboratory Investigations pointed out. Few lapses in the management and the subject in general is discussed