Vitamin D deficiency and the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphism rs2228570 (FokI) are associated with an increased susceptibility to hypertension among the Bangladeshi population.

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene is implicated in hypertension vulnerability due to its role in regulating the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and blood pressure. In this case-control study, a carefully selected cohort of 111 hypertensive individuals and 100 healthy controls underwent serum analysis using HPLC to measure 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels. Polymorphic variations in the VDR gene were detected and characterized using the PCR-RFLP method. At first, lower 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels were observed in hypertensive individuals compared to controls (p<0.001). The genotype frequency of the VDR gene TaqI showed no significant difference between cases and controls (p>0.05). Similarly, no significant difference was found in the VDR gene BsmI genotype frequency between hypertensive patients and controls (p>0.05). However, a statistically significant distinction was observed in the VDR gene FokI genotype frequency between cases and controls (p<0.01). The odds ratios for FokI genotypes (CC, CT, TT, and CT+TT) were 1.0, 0.590, 1.566, and 0.963, respectively. Furthermore, serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels were significantly higher in control subjects compared to hypertensive patients across all genotypes of VDR (p<0.001). Hypertensive patients, excluding those with the FokI VDR gene CC genotype, exhibited significantly higher systolic blood pressure levels compared to the control group (p<0.05). Similarly, hypertensive subjects displayed elevated diastolic blood pressure levels compared to the control group (p<0.001). Overall, the results suggest the presence of a potential inverse correlation between serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels and hypertension. The association analysis conducted indicated that there is no significant association between TaqI and bsmI genotypic variants and the risk of developing hypertension. However, it was observed that VDR gene polymorphisms do have a clear association with hypertension susceptibility, as evidenced by the significantly higher occurrence of FokI genotypic variants in hypertensive patients. Our study therefore introduces the possibility of utilizing 25-hydroxy vitamin D deficiency and VDR gene polymorphisms as a biomarker for hypertension.

Functional Evaluation of Fermented Rice Bran and Extracted Rice Bran Oil Addressing for Human Health Benefit.

Rice bran (RB) and rice bran oil (RBO) are exploring as prominent food component worldwide and their compositional variation is being varied among the world due to regional and production process. In this study, Fermented Rice Bran (FRB) was produced by employing edible gram-positive bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Bifidobacterium bifidum) at 125×10 5 spore g -1 of rice bran, and investigated to evaluate nutritional quality. The Crude Rice Bran Oil (CRBO) was extracted from RB and its quality was also investigated compared to market available rice bran oil (MRBO) in Bangladesh. We found that fermentation of rice bran with lactic acid bacteria increased total proteins (29.52%), fat (5.38%), ash (48.47%), crude fiber (38.96%), and moisture (61.04%) and reduced the carbohydrate content (36.61%). We also found that essential amino acids (Threonine, valine, leucine, lysine, histidine and phenylalanine) and non-essential amino acids (alanine, aspartate, glycine, glutamine, serine and tyrosine) were increased in FRB except methionine and proline. Moreover, total phenolic content, tannin content, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity were increased in FRB. The RBO analysis showed that γ-oryzanol content (10.00 mg/g) were found in CRBO compared to MRBO (ranging 7.40 to 12.70 mg/g) and Vitamin-E content 0.20% were found higher in CRBO compared to MRBO (ranging 0.097 to 0.12%). The total saturated (25.16%) and total unsaturated fatty acids (74.44%) were found in CRBO whereas MRBO contained total saturated (22.08 to 24.13%) and total unsaturated fatty acids (71.91 to 83.29%) respectively. The physiochemical parameters (density, refractive index, iodine value) were found satisfactory in all sample except acid value and peroxide value higher in CRBO. Heavy metal concentration was found within an acceptable range in both CRBO and MRBO. Thus FRB and RBO could be value added food supplement for human health.

Interleukin-10 promoter polymorphisms and haplotypes in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a multifunctional cytokine that exerts both pro- and anti-inflammatory effects on the immune system as well as in the pathogenesis of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). We investigated whether the three common polymorphisms -1082 G/A(rs1800896), -819 C/T(rs1800871), and -592 C/A(rs1800872) in the promoter region of IL-10 have any influence on the susceptibility, severity, and clinical outcome of GBS. METHODS: IL-10 promoter polymorphisms were investigated in 152 patients with GBS and 152 healthy controls from Bangladesh using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and allele-specific oligonucleotide-PCR (ASO-PCR). Haplotype patterns and frequencies were analyzed using Heatmaply R-package, chi-square, and Fisher's exact test. The serum level of IL-10 was measured through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: IL-10 promoter polymorphisms -1082 G/A, -819 C/T, and -592 C/A were not associated with GBS susceptibility. The homozygous -819 TT genotype showed a tendency with susceptibility (p = 0.029; pc = 0.08) and was prevalent in axonal variants of GBS compared to demyelinating subtypes and controls (p = 0.042, OR = 8.67, 95% CI = 1.03-72.97; pc = 0.123 and p = 0.005, OR = 4.2, 95% CI = 1.55-11.40; pc = 0.015, respectively). Haplotype analysis revealed 19 patterns of genotypes and high IL-10 expression haplotype combinations (GCC/GTA, GCC/ATA, and GCC/GCA) may have influence on disease severity (p = 0.026; pc = 0.078). Serum expression of IL-10 was elevated in GBS patients ([GBS, 12.16 ± 45.71] vs. [HC, 0.65 ± 5.17] pg/mL; p = 0.0027) and varied with disease severity ([severe-GBS, 15.25 ± 51.72] vs. [mild-GBS, 3.59 ± 19.79] pg/mL, p = 0.046). INTERPRETATION: The -819 TT genotypes influence axonal GBS, and high frequency of IL-10 expression haplotype combination with elevated serum IL-10 may play an important role in disease severity.

Intronic Variants of the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 Gene Modulate Plasma ACE2 Levels and Possibly Confer Protection against Severe COVID-19.

Membrane-bound angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor acts as the entry point for the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Polymorphisms in the ACE2 gene may alter viral binding, regulate the expression of ACE2, and thus, affect disease severity. In this study, 68 COVID-19 patients with varying degrees of severity and 40 healthy controls were enrolled. The genetic landscape of the ACE2 gene was explored by whole exome sequencing of 29 individuals, and specific regions of ACE2 were analyzed for the rest of the participants via PCR, followed by barcode-tagged sequencing. The mean soluble ACE2 level in the plasma of healthy controls and patients did not vary significantly but was higher in the patient group (3.77 ± 1.55 ng/mL vs. 3.94 ± 1.42 ng/mL). Analysis of exon 1, exon 2, and exon 8 of the ACE2 gene revealed that these regions are highly conserved in our population. Investigation of exon 11 and its flanking intronic region revealed that deletions in a stretch of 18T nucleotides in the noncoding region significantly decrease ACE2 levels in plasma, as individuals harboring wild-type variants had higher plasma ACE2 levels compared to those harboring T1del, T2del, and T3del variants. However, the intronic variants were not found to be significantly associated with disease severity.

Biotin Enhances Testosterone Production in Mice and Their Testis-Derived Cells.

Late-onset hypogonadism, a male age-related syndrome characterized by a decline in testosterone production in the testes, is commonly treated with testosterone replacement therapy, which has adverse side effects. Therefore, an alternative treatment is highly sought. Supplementation of a high dosage of biotin, a water-soluble vitamin that functions as a coenzyme for carboxylases involved in carbohydrate, lipid, and amino acid metabolism, has been shown to influence testis functions. However, the involvement of biotin in testis steroidogenesis has not been well clarified. In this study, we examined the effect of biotin on testosterone levels in mice and testis-derived cells. In mice, intraperitoneal treatment with biotin (1.5 mg/kg body weight) enhanced testosterone levels in the serum and testes, without elevating serum levels of pituitary luteinizing hormone. To investigate the mechanism in which biotin increased the testosterone level, mice testis-derived I-10 cells were used. The cells treated with biotin increased testosterone production in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Biotin treatment elevated intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate levels via adenylate cyclase activation, followed by the activation of protein kinase A and testosterone production. These results suggest that biotin may have the potential to improve age-related male syndromes associated with declining testosterone production.

Mixed Nanocomposite Fertilizers Influencing Endophytic Symbiosis and Nutritional and Antioxidant Properties of Oryza sativa as a Sustainable Alternative for Commercial Fertilizers.

This study investigated the comparative effects of mixed nanocomposite (MNC) fertilizers as an alternative to commercial fertilizers (CFs) on endophytic symbiosis and nutritional properties of rice grains. We synthesized MNC fertilizers with different concentrations and characterized them by using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The CF was applied as per the method followed by local farmers; however, for MNC fertilizers both foliar and soil applications were done. Comparative analysis of growth and development, rice-endophyte symbiosis, and nutritional properties of rice grains was conducted. The panicles per hill, length of panicles, grain per panicles, 1000-grain weight, and dry matter of rice plants treated with MNC fertilizers were found to be not statistically (p > 0.05) different compared to those of CF. However, growth parameters were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in MNC fertilizer-treated crops than in CF-treated crops. Several predominant endophytes such as Penicillium spp., Aspergillus fumigatus, Rhizopus spp., and Fusarium spp. that could have significant effects on the enhancement of growth and nutritional properties of rice grains were identified in rice plants treated with MNC fertilizers at different concentrations. Contrarily, stem-associated Cercospora spp. was found in the CF-treated field and fission yeast was observed in the blank-treated field. In addition, the contents of proteins, fibers, carbohydrates, energy-yielding components, vitamin A, and minerals were significantly increased in rice plants treated with MNC fertilizers. Thus, we would like to conclude that MNC fertilizers could be one of the most potential alternatives to CFs for achieving better rice-endophyte symbiosis as well as nutritional improvements in rice grains for sustainable production.

Reactions to the media coverage during the first wave of COVID-19 in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: The news media play a critical role in disseminating accurate and reliable information during an outbreak like COVID-19, especially in LMICs. Studying how people react and reflect on the information provided and how it affects their trust in health systems is essential for effective risk communication. This study was undertaken to explore and analyse newspaper readers' reactions to the unfolding news of the COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh and how this affected and shaped their compliance with the mitigation measures advised by the Government. METHODS: We collected readers' comments on relevant news and features on the COVID-19 outbreak (n = 1,055) which were posted in the online versions of the four top circulating Bangla newspapers and one online news portal published during Jan.-Apr. 2020. A search protocol was developed and a team of three researchers searched and extracted data for content analysis according to some pre-determined study themes. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed several characteristics with implications for risk-communication: a faith-based and fatalistic attitude to the unfolding pandemic, a "denial" syndrome in the initial stage, a returning expatriate-bashing for specific countries, and a concern about the safety of the frontline health workers. The readers were resentful of the all-pervasive corruption in the health sector even in times of a pandemic and the Government's poorly coordinated, fragmented, and delayed COVID-19 response. The pandemic severely shook their trust in the already weak health system and perceived it to be incompetent, corrupt, and non-responsive. They had deplorable personal and family experiences while seeking treatment for COVID-19 patients. Expert committees were formed to advise the Government, but few recommendations were implemented on the ground. This helpless scenario made people sharply critical of the political leadership, especially for the failure of providing stewardship at the moment of crisis. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 related information reaching the people, including misinformation, disinformation, and rumours was equivocal in the early months of the pandemic and failed to build the trust and transparency that is necessary for an inclusive response across constituencies. The Government should pay attention and weightage to people's perceptions about its COVID-19 response and take appropriate measures to re-build trust for implementing pandemic control measures.

CovidEnvelope: A Fast Automated Approach to Diagnose COVID-19 from Cough Signals

The COVID-19 pandemic has a devastating impact on the health and well-being of global population. Cough audio signals classification showed potential as a screening approach for diagnosing people, infected with COVID-19. Recent approaches need costly deep learning algorithms or sophisticated methods to extract informative features from cough audio signals. In this paper, we propose a low-cost envelope approach, called CovidEnvelope, which can classify COVID-19 positive and negative cases from raw data by avoiding above disadvantages. This automated approach can pre-process cough audio signals by filter-out back-ground noises, generate an envelope around the audio signal, and finally provide outcomes by computing area enclosed by the envelope. It has been seen that reliable datasets are also important for achieving high performance. Our approach proves that human verbal confirmation is not a reliable source of information. Finally, the approach reaches highest sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and AUC of 0.92, 0.87, 0.89, and 0.89 respectively. The automatic approach only takes 1.8 to 3.9 minutes to compute these performances. Overall, this approach is fast and sensitive to diagnose the people living with COVID-19, regardless of having COVID-19 related symptoms or not, and thus have vast applicability in human well-being by designing HCI devices incorporating this approach.

Association of matrix metalloproteinase-9 polymorphism with severity of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an immune-mediated neurological disorder with a multifaceted nature. Infectious agents and immune-response genetic host factors may contribute to the development of GBS. The matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), an enzyme is upregulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines and might play an important role in the pathogenesis of GBS. This study investigated the association of a single nucleotide polymorphism (-1562C/T, rs3918242) in the MMP9 gene with the susceptibility and severity of GBS in Bangladesh. The allele and genotype distributions of the MMP9 polymorphism were not significantly different between 303 patients with GBS and 303 healthy controls. Serum concentrations of MMP-9 were significantly elevated in patients with GBS compared to healthy controls (P ≤.0001). No significant association of MMP-9 (-1562C/T) polymorphism was observed with disease prognosis. The frequencies of the MMP9-1562 CT genotype and T allele (P = .01, OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.22-4.22; Pc = 0.03 and P = .012, OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.14-3.38; Pc = 0.024, respectively) were significantly increased in patients with severe form of GBS, indicates the MMP9 polymorphism plays a role in the disease severity of GBS.

Detection of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria in untreated waste water disposals of hospitals in Dhaka City, Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Emergence of MDR bacteria is a global problem and a major burden for treatment of various infectious diseases. This study was performed to detect antibiotic resistant bacteria in untreated hospital waste. METHOD: Waste water samples were collected from sewerage disposal points of two renowned hospital of Dhaka city and a total of 59 Escherichia coli and 29 Klebsiella pneumonia isolates were isolated. Antibiotic susceptibility were measured by disc diffusion method. RESULTS: Resistance among E. coli and K. pneumoniae to 10 frequently used antibiotic tested were respectively as follows: cefotaxime (CTX) 48 and 45%; ceftazidime (CAZ) 40 and 38%; ampicillin (AMP) 71 and 100%; streptomycin (S) 50 and 34%; sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SXT) 58 and 28%; ciprofloxacin (CIP) 71 and 48%; kanamycin (K) 38 and 10%; chloramphenicol (C) 28 and 10%; gentamycin (CN) 19 and 16% and imipenem (IPM) 12 and 7%. Results also demonstrate that the sites that were at the disposal point of hospital waste have higher degree of resistance. High degree of resistance was observed when 23 high-resistant E. coli isolates were further tested with 15 additional antibiotics. CONCLUSION: This study revealed a significant rise of MDR bacteria in the hospital waste and underscore necessity of hospital waste treatment.