Awareness Regarding Thalassemia in General Population of Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan

Background: Thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder represents a significant burden for many countries across the globe and the knowledge related to this illness is very limited. The preventive practices, among people especially from developing countries. In Pakistan, Thalassemia is a serious health problem bearing 5 to 8% frequency of beta-Thalassemia gene without discrimination of ethnic groups. Objective: To assess the awareness level regarding Thalassemia in general population of Rahim Yar Khan, a district of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. Methodology: Study Design: Cross sectional study. A total of 400 adults of 18 years and above age, were selected randomly, from the households of the Rahim Yar Khan City and one Rural Union council. Out of 400 subjects, only 131, reported that they had heard the name ”Thalassemia”, hence for analysis of awareness, the data of only these 131 was used. A structured questionnaire was designed which included information on; gender, age and 24 questions about awareness of Thalassemia disease. Level of Awareness was ascertained by response of these 24 questions and was categorized as poor, average and good. The persons answering less than 12 questions correctly were considered to have poor knowledge, answers of 13-18 questions were labeled as possessing average knowledge and the persons were included in category of having good knowledge who answered more than 18 questions correctly. Data was analyzed by using SPSS 20. Results: Out of 131 study subjects , who reported to have ever heard of word Thalassemia, level of awareness about Thalassemia was found to be “Good” among 7 (5.4%) persons, 27 (20.6%) persons have an average knowledge about Thalassemia and a large number of people 97 (74%) have poor knowledge about Thalassemia disease. Conclusion: Public knowledge regarding Thalassemia was found to be poor among general population of Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan.

Efficacy of Doxycycline as Peluridising Agent in Cases of Malignant Pleural Effusion (MPE)

Objective: To determine the efficacy of doxycycline as pleuridising agent in cases of malignant pleural effusions (MPE). Subject and methods: This was a descriptive case series that was conducted at Medical and Pulmonology Department of Combined Military Hospital Lahore from January 2018 to August 2018. In this study, the cases of malignant pleural effusion assessed on history and proven by histopathology on any biopsy of either gender falling in range of 30 years or more were included. The pleural fluid was drained by appropriate size intercostal chest tube (ICT). These cases then underwent pleurodesis with Doxycycline. For pleurodesis 10 capsule of Doxycycline each carrying 100 mg in it were taken and mixed with 50 ml of normal saline. A repeat chest X-ray and USG chest was done to see for presence of fluid, complete absence of fluid was labelled as efficacious pleurodesis. Results: In this study, there were total 60 cases of malignant pleural effusion (MPE) included, out of which 35 (58.33%) were females and 25 (41.67%) females. The mean age of the subjects was 57.32 ± 7.28 years. There were 29 (48.33%) cases with CA breast, 22 (36.67%) with CA lung and 9 (15%) had the other miscellaneous malignancies. The efficacy of pleurodesis with Doxycycline was seen in 26 (43.33%) of cases. There was significant better efficacy (p=0.001) in cases that had pleural effusion less than 1 liter at presentation where it was seen in 14 (63.64%) of cases as compared to 12 (31.58%) cases that had effusion less than 1 liter. There was no significant difference in terms of duration of pleural effusion with p=0.21. Conclusion: Doxycycline is efficacious in almost half of the cases and it is significantly better in cases that had effusion less than 1 liter.

In vitro antioxidant and anti-cancer activities and phytochemical analysis of Commelina benghalensis L. root extracts

Objective: To explore antioxidant potential, anti-cancer activity, and phytochemicals of Commelina benghalensis L. Methods: The roots of Commelina benghalensis were extracted in different solvents (methanol, ethanol, benzene, chloroform, n-hexane) with a range of polarity. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by reducing power assay, DPPH radical scavenging activity and phosphomolybdenum method, cytotoxicity by MTT assay, apoptotic and cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry, migratory and invasive potential by wound scratch assay and invasion assay, respectively, functional groups analysis by FT-IR spectroscopy and phytochemicals by aluminum chloride colorimetric and Folin-Ciocalteu methods. Results: The extracts showed worthy antioxidant potential. The chloroform extract demonstrated the most significant cytotoxic effect on MDA-MB-231 (breast cancer) cell line, induced apoptosis and reduced migratory and invasive potential of MDA-MB-231 cells. Methanol and ethanol extracts presented good yield of total phenolic and total flavonoid contents. The FTIR spectroscopic studies revealed different characteristic peak values with various functional compounds such as alkenes, alkanes, aliphatic amines, aromatics, alkyl halides, carboxylic acid, alcohols, ester, aldehydes and ketones. Conclusions: The results demonstrate the potential use of Commelina benghalensis as a good antioxidant with significant anti-cancer effect.

Biological activity of synthesized 5-{1-[(4-chlorophenyl)sulfonyl]piperidin-4-yl}-2-mercapto-1, 3, 4-oxadiazole derivatives demonstrated by in silico and BSA binding studies

We synthesized a series of compounds bearing pharmacologically important 1,3,4-oxadiazole and piperidine moieties. Spectral data analysis by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, IR and EI-MS was used to elucidate the structures of the synthesized molecules. Docking studies explained the different types of interaction of the compounds with amino acids, while bovine serum albumin (BSA) binding interactions showed their pharmacological effectiveness. Antibacterial screening of these compounds demonstrated moderate to strong activity against Salmonella typhi and Bacillus subtilis but only weak to moderate activity against the other three bacterial strains tested. Seven compounds were the most active members as acetyl cholinesterase inhibitors. All the compounds presented displayed strong inhibitory activity against urease. Compounds 7l, 7m, 7n, 7o, 7p, 7r, 7u, 7v, 7x and 7v were highly active, with respective IC50 values of 2.14±0.003, 0.63±0.001, 2.17±0.006, 1.13±0.003, 1.21±0.005, 6.28±0.003, 2.39±0.005, 2.15±0.002, 2.26±0.003 and 2.14±0.002 µM, compared to thiourea, used as the reference standard (IC50 = 21.25±0.15 µM). These new urease inhibitors could replace existing drugs after their evaluation in comprehensive in vivo studies.

Plant-derived anticancer agents: A green anticancer approach

Cancer is a frightful disease and represents one of the biggest health-care issues for the human race and demands a proactive strategy for cure.Plants are reservoirs for novel chemical entities and provide a promising line for research on cancer.Hitherto,being effective,chemotherapy is accompanied by certain unbearable side effects.Nevertheless,plants and plant derived products is a revolutionizing field as these are Simple,safer,ecofriendly,low-cost,fast,and less toxic as compared with conventional treatment methods.Phytochemicals are selective in their functions and acts specifically on tumor cells without affecting normal cells.Carcinogenesis is complex phenomena that involves many signaling cascades.Phytochemicals are considered suitable candidates for anticancer drug development due to their pleiotropic actions on target events with multiple manners.The research is in progress for developing potential candidates (those can block or slow down the growth of cancer cells without any side effects) from these phytochemicals.Many phytochemicals and their derived analogs have been identified as potential candidates for anticancer therapy.Effort has been made through this comprehensive review to highlight the recent developments and milestones achieved in cancer therapies using phytomolecules with their mechanism of action on nuclear and cellular factors.Furthermore,drags for cancer treatment and their limitations have also been discussed.

Hereditary Folate Malabsorption with Extensive Intracranial Calcification.

Background: Anemia is a common accompaniment of cerebral palsy, mental retardation and neurodegenerative disorders. Clinical Characteristics: A 4-year-old boy with chronic megaloblastic anemia, global developmental delay, seizures, intracranial calcification and new onset neuro-regression. Observation: A diagnosis of hereditary folate malabsorption was made, and he was put on oral and injectable folinic acid. Outcome: Marked improvement at 6 month follow up. Message: Hereditary folate malabsorption should be suspected in any child having megaloblastic anemia and neuro degeneration disorder.

Urinary Bladder Endometriosis.

Endometriosis is characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue in the ectopic foci outside the uterus.Usual sites of its occurence are ovaries, uterine ligaments, fallopian tubes, rectum and cervico-vaginal regions. Urinary tract is a rare site of occurence and accounts for 1-2% cases.84% of cases in urinary tract occur in urinary bladder. We report a case of urinary bladder endometriosis in a 35 years old female patient who presented with cyclical pain and hematuria with a mass in right posterolateral wall of the urinary bladder.

Frequency of hypoglycemia in non-diabetic patients undergoing hemodialysis

To determine frequency of hypoglycemia in non-diabetic patients undergoing hemodialysis. Fifty non-diabetic patients were studied during hemodialysis for hypoglycemia for period of six months from January 2009 to June 2006 in the Department of Medicine, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan. Out of 50 non-diabetic patients, 9 patients developed hypoglycemia dueing hemodialysis in the study mostly were in old age above 55 years and were on maintenance dialysis. hypoglycemia should be considered as a complication during hemodialysis and blood sugar should be checked, if any sudden change in patient is observed during hemolysis

Quantitative analysis of stress and cholesterol levels in university teachers and housewives of hyderabad-Pakistan

To evaluate environmental, psychological and physiological stresses in university teachers and housewives and correlate it with serum total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Eighty females from middle socioeconomic groups [40 university teachers and 40 housewives] aged between 30-45 years were selected for this study. All subjects were selected from Hyderabad and its adjoining areas. Environmental, psychological and physiological stress levels were measured using Likert scale. Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol were measured by CHOD-PAP method and triglyceride levels were measured by GPO method. Housewives had high levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride but low levels of HDL cholesterol than the university teachers. Environmental, psychological and physiological stresses were also significantly high in housewives as compared to university teachers. High levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride and low levels of HDL cholesterol in housewives correlated to their stressful lifestyle