Cohort profile of the largest health & demographic surveillance system (Dibrugarh-HDSS) from North-East India.

Dibrugarh Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Dibrugarh-HDSS), was started in the year 2019 with the objective to create the health and demographic database of a population from a defined geographical area and a surveillance system for providing technical assistance for the implementation of programmes and formulating intervention strategies for reducing disease morbidities and mortalities in the population. Dibrugarh-HDSS adopted a panel design and covered 60 contiguous villages and 20 tea gardens. Line listing of all the households was conducted and a unique identification number detailing State, district, village/tea garden and serial number was provided along with geotagging. Detailed sociodemographic variables, anthropometric measurements (subjects ≥five years) and blood pressure data (subjects ≥18 yr), disease morbidity and mortality were collected. All data were collected in pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaires using a mobile application package developed for this purpose. Dibrugarh-HDSS included a total of 106,769 individuals (rural: 46,762, tea garden: 60,007) with 52,934 males (49.6%) and 53,835 females (50.4%). The number of females per thousand males were significantly higher (1042 in tea garden vs. 985 in rural populations) in the tea-garden community as compared to the village population. More than one-third (35.1%) of tea populations were illiterate compared to the rural population (17.1%). Villagers had significantly higher body mass index than the tea-garden community. The overall prevalence of hypertension (adjusted for age) was 29.4 vs. 28.2 per cent, respectively, for the village and tea-garden population. For both these communities, males (village=30.8%, tea garden=31.1%) showed a higher prevalence of hypertension (adjusted for age) than females (village=28.2%, tea garden=25.8%). The findings of the present study give an insight into the profile of the native rural and tea-garden populations that will help to identify risk factors of different health problems, review the effectiveness of different ongoing programmes, implement intervention strategies for reducing morbidity and mortality and assist the State health authorities in prioritizing their resource allocation and implementation strategies.

Evaluation of Antioxidant and Hepatoprotective Activity of Fruit Rind Extract of Garcinia dulcis (Roxburgh) Kurz.

BACKGROUND: Garcinia spp. belongs to the family Clusiaceae has been traditionally used for the treatment of many ailments including the liver damage. Garcinia dulcis found in North Eastern region of Assam; India can be a potential candidature to combat different ailments. Objective: The present work has been designed in such a way to appraisal the antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of fruit rind extract of this plant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The antioxidant activity was investigated through the various in vitro models, namely, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazine, 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid, nitrite oxide. Phytochemical investigation for total phenolic and flavonoids contents were carried out by standard protocol. For the evaluation of hepatoprotective activity, albino Wistar rats were divided into five groups, five animals per group and activity was determined by measuring the contents of liver function marker enzymes such as serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and biochemical parameter, that is, Bilirubin and total protein. Histopathology observation of liver sections was conducted. RESULTS: Phytochemical investigation revealed the presence of both phenolic and flavonoid groups in the extract in a significant amount. Antioxidant activity of the plant extract was observed in all models and percentage of inhibition was dose-dependent. Intoxicated with carbon tetrachloride, elevated the liver function enzymes, bilirubin, and suppressed the production of total protein. Pretreatment with the extract decreased the SGOT, SGPT, ALP, and bilirubin level significantly and increased the production level of total protein in a dose-dependent manner. The histopathological observation supported the hepatoprotective potentiality of the extract. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that fruit rind part of G. dulcis is nontoxic and the plant can utilize as an antioxidant source. The plant has a protective agent for liver damages and other diseases caused by free radicals. SUMMARY: In vitro antioxidant and in vivo hepatoprotective activity was evaluatedMethanolic extract was subjected to quantify the both phenolic and flavonoid contents. The extract showed the significant amount of both phenolic and flavonoids contents. The extract showed the free radical scavenging activity in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazine, 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid and nitrite oxide modelsThe extract was administrated against the carbon tetrachloride intoxicated animal models to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity by determining the level of liver marker enzymes such as serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, SGOT, alkaline phosphatase and biochemical parameter such as protein and bilirubin. Pretreatment with the extract reversed the elevated level of the enzymes and increased the protein level in a dose-dependent mannerThe histopathological observations of the liver sections supported the hepatoprotective activity of the extractThe present study revealed that the Garcinia dulcis extract is a good candidature for preventing liver damage and other disease caused by free radicals. Abbreviations Used: DPPH: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazine, ABTS: 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid, SGOT: Serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, SGPT: Serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, ALP: Serum alkaline phosphatase.