Implications of Safe Street Foods in Dhaka City: An Opinion

Street foods play an important role in large group of economic people in the Dhaka city. And it is also the major source of income for floating vendors. Huge numbers of vendors sell dishes, snacks, fruits, and beverages in the megacity of Dhaka. The objective of this article is to promote and maintain the hygienic environment of selling street foods among vendors in Dhaka city. Contaminated foods cause various kinds of diarrheal diseases. To prevent this contagious disease food safety needs much more awareness. To ascertain safe street foods, the government and non-government organizations should implement rules and regulations strictly and appropriate programmes should be conducted. The various facets of street foods available in Dhaka city have been briefly described in the present article.

Immunopathogenesis and Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Recent Developments.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease occurring three times more in females throughout the world affecting 1-2% of the adult population in all ethnic groups, usually in the age group of 25-60 years. Although the role of CD4 + T helper lymphocytes in the aetiopathogenesis has been studied for more than three decades, the focus on CD4 + T helper type 17 (Th17) lymphocytes and its associated cytokines is much more recent. The cytokines such as IL-17 and IFN-g induce secondary cytokines such as IL-1, TNF-a , etc which possibly cause inflammation in joints. This cytokine cascade, therefore, offers a number of points and opportunities for immunointervention in RA. The present review article highlights some of the major aspects of the immunopathogenesis that involve Th17 cells and their association relevant to recent developments in the treatment of RA.

Use of Gold Nanoparticles in Diagnostics, Surgery and Medicine: A Review.

Noble metals and their compounds have a long and distinguished history as therapeutic agents in medicine. Recent years have seen tremendous progress in the design and study of nanomaterials geared towards biological and biomedical applications. Particularly gold nanoparticles have attracted intensive interest, because they are easily prepared, have low toxicity and can be readily attached to molecules of biological interest. The gold nanoparticles have become more precious than pretty gold because of their wide use and applications. The present article gave a critical review of the wide applications and uses of gold nanoparticles in diagnostics, surgery and medicine.

Applications of free circulating nucleic acids in clinical medicine: recent advances.

The objective of this review article was to highlight briefly the recent advances made relevant to applications of free circulating nucleic acids (FcNAs) in clinical medicine. Detection of FcNAs in plasma, serum and other body fluids from healthy subjects as well as in patients has opened up the possibility of diagnosis and monitoring of diseases. With the rapid developments in molecular biology techniques such as real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (rt-qPCR), quantitative methylation specific PCR (qMS-PCR), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-ToF) mass spectrometry, quantitative fluorescent PCR (QF-PCR), single allele primer extension reaction (SAPER) method and other techniques the applications in clinical medicine have increased. The recent discovery of epigenetic changes in placental/fetal DNA and the detection of fetal/placental-specific RNAs have made FcNAs to be used for diagnosis of genetic disorders in all pregnancies irrespective of the gender of the fetus in early intrauterine life. It is now possible to detect very small amounts of, and specific mutations in, fetal DNA in the presence of excess non-specific maternal DNA. In oncology, detection and monitoring of tumors are now possible by the detection of tumor-derived FcNAs. In other conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, trauma and stroke FcNAs have been shown to be useful also. In spite of these advances questions regarding the origin and biologic significance of FcNAs remain to be answered. Standardization of methodologies including pre-analytical and analytical aspects will revolutionize the applications of FcNAs in the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases in clinical medicine in the next few years.

Serum complement (C3, C4) levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction and angina pectoris.

Serum complement (C3, C4) levels in Libyan patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI; 31 patients) and angina pectoris (AP; 11 patients) at the 1st day and 7th day of attack were estimated. A group of 26 healthy Libyans were taken as control subjects (CS). Serum C3 and C4 levels (mean +/- SD, mg/dl) were elevated at the 1st day in AMI as well as AP patients (C3 --> AMI1: 154.0 +/- 28.5, AP1: 152.0 +/- 45.0, CS: 132.0 +/- 8.0, ANOVA: p = 0.0072; C4 --> AMII1: 38 +/- 13, AP1: 37 +/- 17, CS: 29 +/- 6, ANOVA: p = 0.0160). No significant differences for the elevated C3 and C4 levels at the 1st day were observed between the two diseases groups (AMI1 vs AP1 --> C3: p = 0.879, C4: p = 0.818). At the 7th day, C3 and C4 levels were further elevated in AMI, while they remained at the similar elevated levels in AP (C3 --> AMI 7: 173.1 +/- 28.0, AP 7: 149.0 +/- 41.0, CS: 132.0 +/- 8.0, ANOVA: p = 0.0000; C4 --> AMI 7: 46.0 +/- 7.0, AP 7: 36.0 +/- 15.0, CS: 29.0 +/- 6.0, ANOVA: p = 0.0000). Again, no significance differences for the raised C3 and C4 levels at the 7th day was observed between AMI and AP patients (AMI 7 vs AP 7 --> C3: P = 0.059, C4: p = 0.06). The C3 elevation showed significant positive correlation in AMI group (r = 0.522, p = 0.003) while it was insignificant in AP patients (r = 0.037, p = 0.915). Regarding C4 levels, it was significantly correlated in AMI (r = 0.483, p = 0.006), and in AP, although it was positively correlated (r = 0.656, P = 0.028) the observed difference was not significant (t = 0.29, p = 0.778). In conclusion, serum C3 and C4 levels were more profoundly elevated in AMI compared to AP patients suggestive of an acute phase and inflammatory response.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha as a new therapeutic target for rheumatoid arthritis: an update.

In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the conventional therapies (first-line, second-line, third-line drugs) provide more or less effective symptomatic relief for a decade or so from the onset of the disease. However, the chronic inflammatory destructive processes involving connective tissue, cartilage and bone with their attendant disability progress relentlessly in majority of patients. Secondly, use of 'second-line' and 'third-line' drugs in RA are limited due to their side effects. Studies in animals and RA patients have confirmed that tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha), an inflammatory cytokine, is of major importance in the rheumatoid disease process and thus, it might be an effective therapeutic target in RA. Animal model experiments and clinical trials were conducted with anti-TNFalpha monoclonal antibody (anti-TNFalpha MoAb) in RA recently. This anti-TNFalpha MoAb therapy was found to be both effective and safe which documented the coming-of-age of cytokine-based immunointervention in RA. Researchers are optimistic that modern medicine would certainly witness the application of this noble immunotherapy enabling to selectively target cytokines, e.g. TNFalpha, in RA as well as in other inflammatory autoimmune diseases in the near future.

Complement components (C3, C4) in childhood asthma.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the involvement of complements (C3, C4) in the pathophysiology of bronchial asthma. METHODS: Selection of patients (n = 64) were made according to the recommended international criteria for diagnosis and classification of asthma. Serum levels of complement components (C3, C4) were measured by radial immunodiffusion technique in 64 Libyan children (age: 1-12 years, sex: 39 males, 25 females) with mild to moderately severe asthma (Group A). Among these patients, 35 had active disease (AA) and 29 had inactive disease (NA). According to age range, 20, 21 and 23 patients were between 1-3 years (A1), > 3-5 years (A2) and > 5-12 years (A3) respectively. A1 had 9 and 11 patients with active (AA1) and inactive (NA1) disease; A2 had 10 and 11 patients with active (AA2) and inactive (NA2) disease; A3 had 16 and 7 patients with active (AA3) and inactive (NA3) disease respectively. Age matched comparisons were made with 57 healthy children (age: 1-12 years; sex: 30 males, 27 females) (Group B). Among the controls, 15, 19 and 23 children were between 1-3 years (B1), > 3-5 years (B2) and > 5-12 years (B3) respectively. RESULTS: Mean C3 level was significantly elevated in patients, while C4 level was normal (A vs B --> C3: P < 0.2, C4: P > 0.2). Serum C3 level was significantly higher in patients with active disease only, while it was normal in patients with inactive disease (AA, NA, B --> P = 0.045); AA vs NA --> P < 0.05, AA vs B --> P < 0.02, NA vs B --> P > 0.05) and C4 levels were normal in both the groups (AA, NA, B --> P = 0.354). Further, C3 levels were significantly elevated in all the age groups, but in patients with active disease only (AA1, NA1, B1 --> P = 0.0024; AA2, NA2, B2 --> P = 0.0411; AA3, NA3, B3 --> P = 0.0102). CONCLUSION: The elevated C3 level was possibly due to induction by pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1 (IL-1). The probable mechanisms of C3 involvement in the pathophysiology of bronchial asthma were discussed.

Tumour necrosis factors in childhood asthma.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) and TNF beta levels in serum were measured by enzyme immunoassays in 64 Libyan children (age: 1-12 years, sex: 39 males, 25 females) with mild to moderately severe asthma (Group A). Among these patients, 35 had active disease (AA) and 29 had inactive disease (NA). According to age range, 20, 21 and 23 patients were between 1-3 years (A1), > 3-5 years (A2) and > 5-12 years (A3) respectively. A1 had 9 and 11 patients with active (AA1) and inactive (NA1) disease; A2 had 10 and 11 patients with active (AA2) and inactive (NA2) disease; A3 had 16 and 7 patients with active (AA3) and inactive (NA3) disease respectively. Age-matched comparisons was made with 57 healthy children (age: 1-12 years; sex: 30 males, 27 females) (Group B). Among the controls, 15, 19 and 23 children were between 1-3 years (B1), > 3-5 years (B2) and > 5-12 years (B3) respectively. It was observed that serum mean TNF alpha level was significantly higher in patients, while TNF beta levels was normal (A vs B-TNF alpha P < 0.001, TNF beta: P > 0.1). The TNF alpha level was elevated significantly in active disease, while it was normal in inactive disease (AA, NA, B: P = 0.0001; AA vs NA; P < 0.0001; NA vs B: P > 0.05) and TNF beta levels were normal in both groups (AA, NA, B: P = 0.25). Further, TNF alpha levels were significantly higher in all age ranges but in patients with active disease only (AA1, NA1, B: P = 0.0008; AA2, NA2, B: P = 0.0003; AA3, NA3, B: P = 0.0396). TNF alpha may therefore be involved in the pathophysiology of asthma possibly through various proinflammatory mechanisms.

Immunoglobulin isotypes in childhood asthma.

Immunoglobulin isotypes (IgG, IgA, IgM, IgD, IgE) in serum were investigated in 64 Libyan children with mild to moderately severe asthma (age: 1-12 years; sex: 39 males, 25 females) (Group A) and in 57 healthy Libyan children (age: 1-12 years; sex: 30 males, 27 females (Group B). The patients were classified according to age into three groups (A1: 1-3 years; A2: > 3-5 years; A3: > 5-12 years); according to disease activity into two groups (AA: active disease; NA: inactive disease); and according to age plus disease activity into six groups (AA1, NA1; AA2, NA2; AA3, NA3). The healthy children were also divided according to age into three groups (B1: 1-3 years; B2: > 3-5 years; B3: > 5-12 years). IgG, IgA, IgM and IgD were measured by radial immunodiffusion method and IgE was estimated by enzyme immunoassay technique utilizing immunokits from bioMerieux, France. Serum levels of IgG, IgD and IgE were elevated significantly in patients compared to controls (A vs B: p < 0.05) while IgA and IgM levels were normal (p > 0.05). IgG and IgD levels were raised in A3 (p < 0.05), while IgD levels were raised in both A2 and A3 (p < 0.05) and IgE was elevated in all age groups (p < 0.05). However, IgG was elevated significantly in AA only, while IgD and IgE levels were high in both AA and NA (p < 0.05) and IgE was even considerably higher in AA compared to NA (p < 0.02). Further elevated levels were observed for IgG in AA3 only (p < 0.05), for IgD in NA2 (p < 0.01), AA3 (p < 0.01) and NA3 (p < 0.05) and IgE was much higher in patients with active disease than with inactive disease in all age groups (p < 0.05). The fact that asthmatic attack in majority of our patients can be explained as mediated through IgE and the possibilities that IgG and IgD may play roles as aetiopathogenetic or protective regulatory factors in childhood asthma are discussed.