Comparison of the performance of Tubex® TF, widal immunodiagnostic assay and blood culture in diagnosis of enteric fever in a private tertiary care hospital Peshawar, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare the performance of TUBEX®TF, Widal test and blood culture in the diagnosis of enteric fever. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted at the Northwest General Hospital and Research Centre, Hayatabad, Peshawar, Pakistan, and comprised medical record from January to December 2018 related to patients who presented with fever. Typhidot, Widal test and blood culture had been performed as part of evaluation. Data was analysed using SPSS 16. RESULTS: Of the 241 patients, 68(28.21%) tested positive for salmonella in blood culture. Among them, TUBEX®TF was positive in 29(42.64%) and Widal was positive in 25(36.76%). TUBEX®TF had positive predictive value 33.33%, negative predictive value 71.77%, sensitivity 42.65% and specificity 62.34%. The corresponding values for Widal were 24.51%, 69.06%, 36.76% and 55.49%. CONCLUSIONS: Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of TUBEX®TF and Widal test were very low compared to blood culture.

Association of XPD Lys751Gln gene polymorphism with susceptibility and clinical outcome of colorectal cancer in Pakistani population: a case-control pharmacogenetic study.

BACKGROUND: XPD Lys751Gln polymorphism may modulate inter-individual variation in repair capacity of DNA, which may enhance a person's susceptibility to develop colorectal cancer (CRC). The analysis of XPD Lys751Gln polymorphism may provide important information for identifying high-risk individuals and for selecting the most appropriate treatment for poor prognostic CRC patients. OBJECTIVE: The overall objective was to find out the association of XPD Lys751Gln gene polymorphism with the risk of having a colorectal cancer and the ultimate clinical outcomes. In this study a total of 300 subjects (CRC and Controls), were genotyped for XPD Lys751Gln. METHODS: Using PCR-RFLP methods, the association of XPD Lys751Gln gene polymorphism with the risk of having a colorectal cancer was studied. In addition to overall risk assessment, genotyping results were also investigated with respect to the lifestyle risk factors, patients treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy and clinicopathological characteristics. RESULTS: The overall correlation between the XPD Lys751Gln genetic variation and the CRC risk was observed to be significant with both the homozygous variant genotype Gln/Gln as well as heterozygous genotype Lys/Gln being associated with the increased risk of CRC. Additional stratified analyses revealed that XPD Lys751Gln variants remarkably increased risk of CRC in males and younger individuals (≤ 50 years), Naswar users (8.09-fold) and high intake of red meat. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the relationship between the XPD Lys751Gln variants and lifestyle factors modulates the risk for CRC in Pakistani population.