Determinants of anxiety and depression among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients: A hospital-based study in Bangladesh amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anxiety and depression are common psychological disorders in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which was upsurging worldwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to explore factors associated with anxiety and depression among T2DM patients in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted among T2DM patients using face-to-face interviews. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were measured using the CAS and PHQ-9 scales. Outcomes were assessed including sociodemographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, and challenges of getting routine medical and healthcare access-related questions. The prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms were 29.8% and 22.7%, respectively. Regression analysis reported that males older than 50 years, illiterate, unemployed or retired, urban residents, below the recommended level of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), low dietary diversity score (DDS) and obese respondents were associated with higher odds of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Moreover, respondents with transport difficulties, unaffordable medicine, medicine shortages, close friends or family members diagnosed with COVID-19 and financial problems during COVID-19 had higher odds of anxiety and depressive symptoms than their counterparts, respectively. Our study suggests providing psychological support, such as home-based psychological interventions, and highlighting policy implications to ensure the well-being of T2DM patients in Bangladesh during the pandemic.

Identification and antibiotic pattern analysis of bacillary dysentery causing bacteria isolated from stool samples of infected patients.

Bacillary dysentery is a type of dysentery and a severe form of shigellosis. This dysentery is usually restricted to Shigella infection, but Salmonella enterica and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli strains are also known as this infection's causative agents. The emergence of drug-resistant, bacillary dysentery-causing pathogens is a global burden, especially for developing countries with poor hygienic environments. This study aimed to isolate, identify, and determine the drug-resistant pattern of bacillary dysentery-causing pathogens from the stool samples of the Kushtia region in Bangladesh. Hence, biochemical tests, serotyping, molecular identification, and antibiotic profiling were performed to characterize the pathogens. Among one hundred fifty (150) stool samples, 18 enteric bacterial pathogens were isolated and identified, where 12 were Shigella strains, 5 were S. enterica sub spp. enterica strains and one was the E.coli strain. Among 12 Shigella isolates, 8 were Shigella flexneri 2a serotypes, and 4 were Shigella sonnei Phage-II serotypes. Except for three Salmonella strains, all isolated strains were drug-resistant (83%), whereas 50% were multidrug-resistant (MDR), an alarming issue for public health. In antibiotic-wise analysis, the isolated pathogens showed the highest resistance against nalidixic acid (77.78%), followed by tetracycline (38.89%), kanamycin (38.89%), amoxicillin (27.78%), streptomycin (27.78%), cefepime (22.22%), ceftriaxone (22.22%), ampicillin (16.67%), ciprofloxacin (16.67%), and chloramphenicol (16.67%). The existence of MDR organisms that cause bacillary dysentery in the Kushtia area would warn the public to be more health conscious, and physicians would administer medications cautiously. The gradual growth of MDR pathogenic microorganisms needs immediate attention, and the discovery of effective medications must take precedence. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11756-022-01299-x.

Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome and its associated risk factors among university students of Bangladesh.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a very common gastrointestinal disorder worldwide, but research regarding this disease is rare in Bangladesh. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of IBS and its associated risk factors among university students in Bangladesh. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. A total of 300 randomly selected participants were included in this study. By using a structured questionnaire and anthropometric methods, we collected all the required data for our study. The diagnosis of IBS was based on Rome III criteria. Results: The overall prevalence of IBS was 39.3%, but the majority (77.3%) had no basic awareness of IBS. In our study, anxiety and depression (χ 2 = 6.817; odds ratio [OR] = 1.910; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.172, 3.113; P = 0.011) had a significant relationship with IBS and IBS had a significant (P < 0.001) relationship with food intolerance (χ 2 = 8.737; OR = 2.130; 95% CI = 1.284, 3.531), chest pain (χ 2 = 7.482; OR = 2.035; 95% CI = 1.218, 3.401), and insomnia (χ 2 = 19.320; OR = 2.907; 95% CI = 1.794, 4.709). In our dietary data, the intake patterns of vegetables (P = 0.000), fast food (P = 0.000), and tea-coffee (P = 0.003) showed a strong significant association with IBS. On the other hand, monthly household income (P = 0.154) and body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.138) showed no significant association with IBS. Among our study subjects, IBS-constipation (54.2%) was more common than IBS-diarrhea (27.1%) and IBS-mixed (18.6%). Moreover, among the 118 IBS respondents, 67.8% had a headache with increased flatulence (95.8%) as the most common IBS-related complication. Conclusion: IBS is common in university students of Bangladesh and is associated with anxiety, depression, and particular dietary patterns.

The anthropometric assessment of body composition and nutritional status in children aged 2-15 years: A cross-sectional study from three districts in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Early life nutrition plays a critical role in the development of better health and nutrition in adulthood. However, assessing the nutritional status of Bangladeshi children and adolescents through measurement of body composition using skinfold thickness is barely studied. The current study aims to determine children's body composition and nutritional status, and contributing factors among children aged 2 to 15 years in the northern part of Bangladesh. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study done in Bangladesh. Anthropometric methods, including multiple skinfold thickness and basic anthropometric and socio-demographic characteristics, were used. Body composition was calculated from multiple skinfold thicknesses using the standard regression equation. Nutritional status was measured using Z score according to WHO 2007 reference standard. A total of 330 children from Naogaon, Bogra and Kurigram districts in Bangladesh were examined from April 2019 to September 2019. RESULTS: The Nutritional status of 2-15 years old child is exceedingly poor in the northern part of Bangladesh. Fat mass and fat-free mass were higher among children from Kurigram district than from Bogra and Naogaon district. Body fat percentages and arm fat area were greater among female children than males. The overall prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting was around 25%, 32% and 29%, respectively, and the rate was higher among girls and children aged 2-5 years. The average SD score for weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age was -1.295, -0.937 and -1.009. The median weight-for-age and height-for-age Z scores of boys and girls were below the WHO reference percentile rank. Girls were twice (OR:1.951, CI:1.150-3.331) as likely to suffer from being underweight than boys. Children who don't practice handwashing are three times (OR:3.531, CI:1.657-7.525) more likely to be underweight. Children become underweight and stunted when their family income is not sufficient to maintain their nutritional requirements. CONCLUSIONS: The children of the three northern districts had a poor nutritional status, and family income was the potential contributing factor. Therefore, interventions like the promotion of income-generating activities and integrated approaches to ensuring food diversification could be an option to address the nutritional problem of children of the three northern districts of Bangladesh.

Prevalence of dyslipidemia and associated risk factors among newly diagnosed Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients in Kushtia, Bangladesh.

Dyslipidemia is considered a significant modifiable risk factor for type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and has become one of the emerging health problems throughout the world. In Bangladesh, data on dyslipidemia among newly diagnosed T2DM patients are comparatively inadequate. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of dyslipidemia and its associated risk factors in newly diagnosed T2DM patients. This cross-sectional study was conducted by a well-structured questionnaire from 132 newly diagnosed type-2 diabetic patients attending the Mujibur Rahman Memorial Diabetic Hospital in Kushtia, Bangladesh. Data regarding socio-demographic, anthropometric, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were collected from all the respondents. The association between dyslipidemia and its associated factors was analyzed using the multivariate logit regression model. The findings suggest that the prevalence rate of dyslipidemia was 75.7% in female and 72.6% in male T2DM patients. The odds of having dyslipidemia were 1.74 (95% Cl: 1.58-1.87) times significantly higher in female (p<0.001). The other factors associated with dyslipidemia encompassed age between 30-39 years (OR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.97-2.69), obesity (OR: 2.63, 95% CI: 2.27-2.90), waist circumferences of male ≥90 and female ≥80 (OR: 1.65, 95% CI: 1.59-1.89), hypertensive patients (OR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.45-1.74), physically inactive (OR: 3.25, 95% CI: 1.84-4.68), and current smoker or tobacco user (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.85-2.13). This study concluded that the high prevalence of dyslipidemia was found among newly diagnosed type-2 diabetes patients and associated with gender, age, BMI, waist circumference, poor physical activity, and smoking, or tobacco use. This result will support increase awareness of dyslipidemia and its associated risk factors among type-2 diabetes patients.

Nature's therapy for COVID-19: Targeting the vital non-structural proteins (NSP) from SARS-CoV-2 with phytochemicals from Indian medicinal plants.

Background: Containing COVID-19 is still a global challenge. It has affected the "normal" world by targeting its economy and health sector. The effect is shifting of focus of research from life threatening diseases like cancer. Thus, we need to develop a medical solution at the earliest. The purpose of this present work was to understand the efficacy of 22 rationally screened phytochemicals from Indian medicinal plants obtained from our previous work, following drug-likeness properties, against 6 non-structural-proteins (NSP) from SARS-CoV-2. Methods: 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations were performed, and relative binding free energies were computed by MM/PBSA. Further, principal component analysis, dynamic cross correlation and hydrogen bond occupancy were analyzed to characterize protein-ligand interactions. Biological pathway enrichment analysis was also carried out to elucidate the therapeutic targets of the phytochemicals in comparison to SARS-CoV-2. Results: The potential binding modes and favourable molecular interaction profile of 9 phytochemicals, majorly from Withania somnifera with lowest free binding energies, against the SARS-CoV-2 NSP targets were identified. It was understood that phytochemicals and 2 repurposed drugs with steroidal moieties in their chemical structures formed stable interactions with the NSPs. Additionally, human target pathway analysis for SARS-CoV-2 and phytochemicals showed that cytokine mediated pathway and phosphorylation pathways were with the most significant p-value. Conclusions: To summarize this work, we suggest a global approach of targeting multiple proteins of SARS-CoV-2 with phytochemicals as a natural alternative therapy for COVID-19. We also suggest that these phytochemicals need to be tested experimentally to confirm their efficacy.

The natural way forward: Molecular dynamics simulation analysis of phytochemicals from Indian medicinal plants as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 targets.

The pandemic COVID-19 has become a global panic-forcing life towards a compromised "new normal." Antiviral therapy against SARS-CoV-2 is still lacking. Thus, development of natural inhibitors as a prophylactic measure is an attractive strategy. In this context, this work explored phytochemicals as potential inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 by performing all atom molecular dynamics simulations using high performance computing for 8 rationally screened phytochemicals from Withania somnifera and Azadirachta indica and two repurposed drugs docked with the spike glycoprotein and the main protease of SARS-CoV-2. These phytochemicals were rationally screened from 55 Indian medicinal plants in our previous work. MM/PBSA, principal component analysis (PCA), dynamic cross correlation matrix (DCCM) plots and biological pathway enrichment analysis were performed to reveal the therapeutic efficacy of these phytochemicals. The results revealed that Withanolide R (-141.96 KJ/mol) and 2,3-Dihydrowithaferin A (-87.60 KJ/mol) were with the lowest relative free energy of binding for main protease and the spike proteins respectively. It was also observed that the phytochemicals exhibit a remarkable multipotency with the ability to modulate various human biological pathways especially pathways in cancer. Conclusively we suggest that these compounds need further detailed in vivo experimental evaluation and clinical validation to implement them as potent therapeutic agents for combating SARS-CoV-2.

Community-acquired pneumonia: aetiology, antibiotic resistance and prospects of phage therapy.

Bacteria are the most common aetiological agents of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and use a variety of mechanisms to evade the host immune system. With the emerging antibiotic resistance, CAP-causing bacteria have now become resistant to most antibiotics. Consequently, significant morbimortality is attributed to CAP despite their varying rates depending on the clinical setting in which the patients being treated. Therefore, there is a pressing need for a safe and effective alternative or supplement to conventional antibiotics. Bacteriophages could be a ray of hope as they are specific in killing their host bacteria. Several bacteriophages had been identified that can efficiently parasitize bacteria related to CAP infection and have shown a promising protective effect. Thus, bacteriophages have shown immense possibilities against CAP inflicted by multidrug-resistant bacteria. This review provides an overview of common antibiotic-resistant CAP bacteria with a comprehensive summarization of the promising bacteriophage candidates for prospective phage therapy.

Storage induced changes in coliform, heterotrophic groups of bacteria and nutrient levels of human urine for its safe use in biological production.

Human urine is a potential source of various nutrients, minerals and trace elements. Its use as a fertilizer is growing popular among farmers. Here, we examined the pattern of changes in the counts of coliform, heterotrophic bacteria as well as physico-chemical characteristics of human urine during different days of storage under closed conditions at ambient temperature. We observed that after 253 days of storage under closed condition, the coliform counts were reduced significantly and remained within the safe limit to be used as fertilizer. With increase in storage period, the concentration of phosphate showed decline coupled with rise in pH, alkalinity and electrical conductance. Our study revealed that human urine can be used as safe fertilizer after 8 months of storage under closed conditions at ambient temperature ranging 25-35ºC.

Review of remediation techniques for arsenic (As) contamination: a novel approach utilizing bio-organisms.

Arsenic (As) contamination has recently become a worldwide problem, as it is found to be widespread not only in drinking water but also in various foodstuffs. Because of the high toxicity, As contamination poses a serious risk to human health and ecological system. To cope with this problem, a great deal of effort have been made to account for the mechanisms of As mineral formation and accumulation by some plants and aquatic organisms exposed to the high level of As. Hence, bio-remediation is now considered an effective and potent approach to breakdown As contamination. In this review, we provide up-to-date knowledge on how biological tools (such as plants for phytoremediation and to some extent microorganisms) can be used to help resolve the effects of As problems on the Earth's environment.