Vitamin D Deficiency in HCV Antiviral Treatment Responders versus Non-Responders

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease (CLD). Pakistan has a high burden of infectious diseases, including HCV. Its prevalence varies according to geographic regions in the country from about 2·4% to 6·5%. The objective of the study was to compare the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in responders and non-responders of antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C.Material and Methods: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Hepatitis Clinic, Jinnah hospital, Lahore from 20th May to 20th November 2013. After ethical approval, participants were selected by using purposive non-probability sampling, 52 responder patients i.e. who were labeled negative for HCV RNA by PCR after 12 weeks of antiviral treatment and 52 non-responder patients were included in this study. Data was collected by using pretested structured questionnaire. Vitamin D3 levels were measured by ELISA and a cut-off value of below 30ng/ml was labeled as Vitamin D deficiency. SPSS version 21 was used to analyze data with p value less than 0.05 taken as statistically significant.Results: Out of 104 patients (mean age 35±8.1 years), 61.5% were males and 38.5 % were females. There was a significant difference in frequency of vitamin D deficiency in treatment responder group when compared to non-responders (p = 0.016). Mean level of vitamin D was 21.8±10.8ng/ml in responders whereas it was 15.6±7.5 in non-responders with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.001).Conclusion: This study concludes that there is a significant vitamin D deficiency among treatment non-responders as compared to treatment responders in patients with chronic hepatitis C

Comparing the Effects of Choline with Clozapine and Fluoxetine for Improving Cognitive Behavior in Rats

Background: Cognitive behavior therapy is an important treatment for various psychiatric and psychological problems. Different psychotherapeutic treatments are used for improvement in patients. The study aimed to compare Clozapine and Fluoxetine with Choline on the progress of cognition and cognitive behavior in rats. Methods: This experimental study was conducted in the pharmacology department of Karachi University on locally bred male albino rats (n=24). These were divided into four treatment groups (Saline, Fluoxetine, Clozapine, and Choline) and measured the output at the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th weeks. Familiar and Novel object recognition test and Passive avoidance test was used to observe learning and memory as well as the mechanism of cognition. One way-ANOVA and post-hoc analysis was done between groups. The p-value <0.05 and < 0.001 were considered statistically significant and highly significant respectively. Results: The comparative mean preference index percentage between saline, choline, clozapine, and fluoxetine at week one was non–significant (p>0.05) in the Novel and Familiar Object Recognition test. However, at week three it was highest for Fluoxetine (58.15±3.35) compared to Choline, Clozapine and Saline for the novel object. However, in Familiar objects, it was found highest for Clozapine (58.88±3.05) (p <0.05). Furthermore, the mean step-through latency time of the Passive Avoidance test was significant (p<0.05) at weeks three, five and seven. It was highest for choline (92.5±1.36) than fluoxetine and clozapine. Conclusion: Fluoxetine has a significant effect (p<0.001) on memory and learning compared to Clozapine. Clozapine and choline showed statistically same results on cognitive behavior.  Keywords: Cognitive Behavior; Choline; Clozapine; Fluoxetine; Effect; Compare.

A simple enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for sex hormone-binding globulin

A simple enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) has been developed. Polyclonal antibody raised to SHBG purified to homogeneity was employed. The ELISA, which may be performed in under 4 h, shows no cross-reactivity with other serum proteins, has a sensitivity of less than 1.2 fmol per sample, demonstrates excellent correlation with ligand-binding techniques (r = 0.996; p less than 0.0001), and has intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation of between 5-9% and 7-11% respectively

Foetal steroid binding protein in British and Japanese women

In order to examine the newly-discovered sex-steroid binding protein, foetal steroid binding protein (FSBP) in different populations, its binding characteristics and its level were studied by two-tier column ligand binding assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) respectively. In 10 Japanese premenopausal women, analysis of 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) binding in the Cibacron Blue 3GA-Sepharose 6B portion of the column showed a rising plateau pattern with a mean maximum binding of 31.1 +/- 7.41%, whereas of 9 similar British women, 8 displayed unsaturable, non-cooperative binding of 11.6 +/- 8.22% (P less than 0.01). After partial purification of FSBP in these samples, the protein exhibited saturable binding kinetics, median binding 25 (interquartiles 23-34) and 19 (13-25) nmol DHT/l in Japanese and British women, respectively (P less than 0.05). By analyzing FSBP by ELISA in 56 Japanese (45 premenopausal) and 59 British (25 premenopausal) women, higher levels were obtained in the whole Japanese group (P = 0.0016) and in the premenopausal Japanese women (P = 0.018) than in their British counterparts. In both nationalities, FSBP levels were higher in premenopausal women, and there was a significant negative correlation of FSBP with age in both populations, particularly in postmenopausal women. FSBP levels did not correlate with weight, parity, sex hormone binding globulin or albumin levels. The influence of FSBP on free steroid levels remains unclear, but some relationship with ovarian function seems a possibility