ABSTRACT
The current study was designed in order to elucidate the most sensitive method for daily practice as well as to evaluate the risk factors for HCV infection associated with blood transfusion in District Peshawar. A total of 1400 healthy volunteer blood donors were tested for Anti-HCV. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the risk factors. Initial testing of all blood samples was done by Immuno Chromatographic Technique [ICT] and confirmed by micro particle enzyme immunoassay [MEIA] and Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay [ELISA]. The comparison among ICT, ELISA and MEIA techniques was also evaluated for the purpose of sensitivity. Among 1400 blood donors, 26 [1.85%] cases were found positive for Anti-HCV. These 26 cases were positive on MEIA, 16 individuals were positive on ELISA while 14 were positive on ICT. These 26 cases had different histories of dental treatment [50%], traveled abroad [23.07%], surgery [11.53%], blood transfusion [7.69%] and unknown reason [7.69%]. Among all these different histories of dental treatment and blood transfusion were the main risk factors for HCV infection. The results revealed that MEIA ia a quick and reliable technique for routine screening of blood donors particularly for controlling the spread of HCV
ABSTRACT
In the current study, the antimicrobial, phytotoxic, haemagglutination and antioxidant potential of crude methanolic extract [Crd. MeOH Ext.] and four organic fractions of Arisaema tortuosum was investigated. All fractions have been screened for antimicrobial properties against eight bacterial pathogens and six fungal pathogens using agar well diffusion and tube dilution method, respectively. Furthermore, the organic fractions were also screened for its phytotoxicity against Lemna minor. Haemagglutination was performed against all human blood groups while free radical scavenging activity was performed to investigate the antioxidant potential of A. tortuosum. Results obtained for antibacterial activity exhibited various degree of zone of inhibition and significant activity was observed for Pseudomonas aeruginosa [27.16 +/- 0.60] followed by Bacillus cereus [18.55 +/- 0.69] for Crd. MeOH Ext. and chloroform [CHCl3] fraction, respectively while some strains showed resistant at same concentration. Similarly, non-significant antifungal activity was observed for the plant extracts. However, the highest activity among the strains was observed for Alternaria alternata [22 +/- 1.24%] and Aspergillus niger [20 +/- 1.00%] for ethyl acetate [EtOAc] fraction and Crd. MeOH Ext., respectively. The plant extracts showed good phytotoxic activity with 77.06% inhibition for n-hexane fraction at 1000microg/mL. The result of Nitric Oxide [NO] reducing assay revealed that the plant has less antioxidant activity with 46.06% inhibition for CHCl3 fraction at 900microg/mL. For haemagglutination assay, the result displayed no agglutination in all the testing concentration. Based on the current results, it can be concluded that A. tortuosum has significant antimicrobial and moderate phytotoxic potential and therefore can leads to antibiotics and herbicide production