Desmoplatic Small Round Cell Tumor Of Paratesticular Origin

Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor (DSRCT) of the paratesticular region is an extremely rare mesenchymal tumor occurring in adolescence with a tendency for extensive metastases. We report a rare case of DSRCT of paratesticular origin in a 24 year old male who presented with painless right testicular mass and disseminated abdominal disease. The patient underwent right inguinal orchidectomy and on Histopathology and Immunohistochemistry the diagnosis was confirmed. The patient was treated with multi agent chemotherapy with partial remission. Prognosis of such patients is generally dismal despite multimodality treatment.

Relative popularity level of medicinal plants in Talagang, Punjab Province, Pakistan

ABSTRACT This is the first ethnobotanical exploration with the aim to document the traditional medicinal usage of plants with the therapeutic values in Tehsil Talagang of Punjab province, Pakistan. The study shows the dependence of local people on medicinal plants in their daily life and provides practical evidence regarding the traditional usage of medicinal plants in health care practices. A total of 196 respondents including residents of the study area with gender representation and traditional healers were interviewed by using visual appraisal approach and rapid rural appraisal methods along semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaire. The data was quantitatively analyzed by using quantitative indices like use value, the relative frequency of citation, informant consensus factor, fidelity level and relative importance. A comparison with 25 published ethnobotanical and pharmacological studies was carried out to authenticate the ethnomedicinal relevance of the data recorded. The ethnomedicinal practices of 101 medicinal plants belonging to 36 families were reported. The results indicated that the dominant family was Brassicaceae (nine species). Herbs (57%) were the most dominant life form and leaves (29%) were the frequently used plant part with 45 reports. Mentha arvensis was found as highly cited plant species by respondents. The highest informant consensus factor value (0.65) was found for gastrointestinal disease category. There are 25 plant species having 100% fidelity level value. Use value and relative frequency of citation ranges from 0.04 to 0.16 and 0.15 to 0.36, respectively. The majority of the plant species were found to have strong pharmacological evidence. The current study will provide the basis for the preservation of ethnomedicinal heritage, knowledge and practices as well as for the further scientific investigations regarding the development of new herbal drugs.

Element Content of Some Ethnomedicinal Ziziphus Linn. Species Using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Technique.

Ziziphus species have wide distribution and uses worldwide traditionally as medicine. The flame atomic absorption spectroscopy was employed for the estimation of element contents of different plant parts of Ziziphus species collected from different areas of Pakistan. The results of the present study provide justification for the medicinal usage in the treatment of different diseases. The metal contents in the samples were found at different levels which play a vital role in cure of diseases. These results can give the importance about the herbal drugs prepared from these plant materials in herbal remedies and in pharmaceutical companies.

Hypoglycemic potential of genus Ficus L.: A review of ten years of Plant Based Medicine used to cure Diabetes (2000-2010).

Medicinal plants play an important role in cure of Diabetes mellitus all over the world. The aim of this paper is compile data to investigate the effects of plant extract, compounds and active constituents against diabetes. The present review is therefore, an effort to give specifically literature on the pharmaceutically important species of genus Ficus L. (Moraceae) with anti diabetic properties, reported in the literature from 2000-2010. Our literature survey showed that there is no comprehensive and systematic data on genus Ficus with particularly emphasis on antidiabetic potential based on clinical trials is published elsewhere. There are about 850 species of genus Ficus worldwide and among them only 6 species reported to use against diabetes. The profile presented includes its methodology used and their bioactive agents with anti diabetic activity. The species of genus ficus include: Ficus bengalensis L., Ficus carica L., Ficus racemosa L., Ficus hispida L. f., Ficus microcarpa L.f., and Ficus religiosa L. Among these, Ficus microcarpa L. f., and Ficus hispida L.f., are incorporated first time in this review to be used against diabetes by using experimental animals. Based on biochemical and histological findings, it can be concluded that these plants may develop the healing action of diabetic complications and reflected anti diabetic potential through its glucose lowering activity in alloxan or streptozotocin induced diabetic laboratory animals.

Ethno-medicinal Species of genus Ficus L. Used to Treat Diabetes in Pakistan.

The present paper deals with species of genus Ficus L. used for the treatment of diabetes by different communities in Pakistan. Diabetes Mellitus is a syndrome of disordered metabolism in which β cells damaged or work improperly, it is caused by hereditary and environmental causes, resulting in abnormally high blood sugar levels. In this present investigation, it is observed that the local communities and herbal practitioners use 8 species of genus Ficus (Moraceae) F. bengalensis, F. virens, F. racemosa, F. carica, F. lacor, F. hispida and F. microcarpa to treat diabetes in Pakistan. Plant specimens collected, identified, preserved and mounted were deposited in the department of Plant sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan for future references.

Treatment options for Guillain-Barre syndrome [GBS] - a comparative assessment of treatment efficacy between intravenous immune globulin [IVIG] with plasmaphoresis

To compare the therapeutic efficacy of Intravenous immune globulin [IVIG] with Plasma exchange [plasmaphoresis] in patients of Acute Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy i.e. Guillain-Barre syndrome [GBS]. Randomized Controlled Trial [RCT]. The study was of 12 months duration conducted at Department of Medicine, Neurology Unit of Military Hospital Rawalpindi from Jun 2008 to Jun 2009. 60 Patients of GBS were randomly assigned to two treatment groups. Group A received Intravenous immune globulin [IVIG] and Group B Plasma Exchange. Patient's functional status according to London scale grade was assessed at the time of admission and at 02 and 04 weeks after giving treatment. Improvement in mean London scale Grades in each group was calculated at different weeks from baseline and then both groups were compared to each other. In each group there was significant improvement [P-value< 0.001] from baseline-2weeks and baseline-4 weeks. But when compared to each other both the groups had comparable improvement [p-value> 0.05]. Both IVIG and Plasma Exchange have equal therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of patients of GBS