Effect of Nigella Sativa on Oxidative Stress in Post-Menopausal Females

Background: The permanent cessation of menstrual periods in menopause causes a decline in estrogen levels and increased oxidative stress. Both of these factors lead to menopausal symptoms, cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis in the postmenopausal females that negatively affect the quality of their lives. Antioxidant properties of Nigella sativa are due to its natural ingredient “thymoquinone” and have been studied in various animal and human studies. This study was done to determine beneficial effect of nigella sativa. Material and Methods: Thirty postmenopausal females were recruited in the study after taking consent. Nigella sativa was administered at a dose of 1g/day for 2 months after breakfast. Blood sample was taken for pre and post treatment glutathione (GSH) estimation. The SPSS version 21 was used to analyze the data. Paired t- test was applied. P value of< 0.05 was considered significant.Results: Regarding the effect of the Nigella sativa on oxidative stress, result indicated a highly significant increase from baseline (p<0.0001) after 8 weeks’ consumption of Nigella sativa. The effect size was calculated both for biochemical parameter GSH and general parameter like weight and BMI. The result of the effect size calculation showed larger effect size for GSH levels (3.9) and moderate sized effect for weight and BMI.Conclusion: Nigella Sativa showed beneficial antioxidant effects in post-menopausal females and might be responsible for a better quality of life in these women

Influence of Socio-demographic Variables on Prevalence of Hypertension in Lahore Division, Pakistan

Hypertension is a growing public health issue at global level and it is considered as a potent factor for cardiovascular ailments. But various socio-demographic factors are root causes to provoke this physiological disorder. In current study, through cross sectional survey, performa based data of 100 persons was collected from cities Lahore division, Pakistan. The results showed that males are more suffering than females and fall in age range of 20-40yrs. Most frequently reported initial symptoms are fatigue, irregular heartbeat and difficulty in breathing. Whereas district wise comparison indicated higher prevalence level in Lahore and Kasur than Shiekhupura and Nankana Sahib.   Similarly, ANOVA results highlighted that economic status matters the most, parallel to the extent of awareness among masses, that’s why; mediocre is suffering more than upper or lower class. Thus cost effective treatments based findings should be our future goal to control this growing disease

Manual loop in laparoscopic appendectomy: A retrospective cohort study and literature review

Objectives: To determine the incidence of complications [Surgical site infection (SSI), intra-abdominal abscess (IAA), stump leak] related to stump ligation with manual loop of sliding extracorporeal suture knot in laparoscopic appendectomy. Methods: This cohort study was conducted on patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy from June 2014 to November 2020 performed by the same surgeon with almost similar technique. Stump was ligated with manual loops, applied by the surgeon or trainee or both (one by surgeon and other by trainee). SSI and IAA were classified according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria. Results: Total 120 patients were included with median (Interquartile range, IQR) age of 24 (19-35) years and male predominance i.e. 81 (67.5%). Median (IQR) for the duration of symptoms, time from presentation to surgery and duration of surgery was 2(1-4) days, 10 (4-15) hours and 60 (44-70) minutes, respectively. SSI was documented in 9(7.5%) patients, managed by wound hygiene and antibiotics. IAA was observed in one(0.8%) patient who required readmission for antibiotics and radiology guided drain placement. No stump leak was observed.Conclusions: Manual endo-loop is a safe, reliable and cost effective technique for stump ligation in LA, and can safely be incorporated into teaching of surgical trainees

Ameliorating Effect of Aqueous Ginger Extract And Exercise On Insulin Resistance in Fructose Induced Type 2 Diabetic Rats Through Upregulation of Serum Sirtuin-1

Introduction:The mounting prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in developing countries calls for an immediate need to find novel treatment strategies that not only target its underlying pathological process but are also safe and cost effective. Aims &Objectives:To determine the effect of ginger supplementation, exercise and their combination on insulin resistance (IR) and levels of serum sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) in fructose induced type 2 diabetic rat model. Material &Methods:This randomized controlled trial was conducted at animal laboratory of Postgraduate Medical Institute Lahore, Pakistan, from January 2021 to June 2021, in which thirty rats were randomly allocated to five groups with six rats in each.Rats belonging to group1 (Normal Control) were given normal rat chow diet. Diabetes was induced in groups 2, 3 and 4 by administering 25% fructose diet, following which, group 2 was reserved as diabetic/positive control (PC) and continued to receive 25 %fructose diet only. Animals of group 3 received aqueous ginger extract (GE), group 4 underwent swimming exercise (EX) and group 5 received their combination (GE+EX) for 8 weeks. Aqueous ginger extract was prepared in the Pharmacology lab at PGMI where 50 gm of fresh ginger was blended with 75ml of 0.9% NaCl and filtered thrice. The obtained filtrate was centrifuged at a speed of 2000 rpm for ten minutes. The clear supernatant fraction was made to reach 100 ml mark using NaCl resulting in a concentration of 500 mg/ml which was used for oral administration. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 26, a p-value of ?0.05 was considered significant. Results:The results of the current study showed development of T2DM with 25% fructose supplementation in PC group, resulting in significantly high level of IR along with a significant reduction in levels of serum SIRT1. Aqueousginger extract group as well as the exercise group, both individually showed a significant reduction in IR as compared to the diabetic group and this was associated with significantly increased level of serum SIRT1 (p<0.05). However, most pronounced effect was seen in the combination group having lowest level of IR associated with a statistically significant increase in SIRT1 levels (p<0.05). Conclusion: Aqueousginger extract supplementation and exercise training, alone and in combination have the potential to significantly ameliorate IR in T2DM through its positive influence on serum SIRT1.However, the combination group has the most pronounced effect reflecting a potential synergistic effect of both interventions. Ginger supplementation and exercise may be introduced as safer, cost effective and natural adjunct to anti diabetic drugs hence lowering their potentially harmful side effects

Hepatoprotective Effect of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar in Type-2 Diabetic Rat Model

Introduction: Type-2 diabetes mellitus, a major public health problem, is caused by insulin resistance. In diabetics, chronic hyperglycemia results in formation of reactive oxygen species. Oxidative stress in diabetic patients is responsible for hepatic damage because it causes activation of several pro-inflammatory mediators in liver. Hepatic complications of diabetes include fatty liver disease, necrosis, cirrhosis, carcinoma and liver failure. Aims & Objectives: To determine and compare the hepatoprotective effect of extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar in streptozotocin induced Type-2 diabetic rat model. Place and Duration of Study: This experimental study was conducted at Animal House of Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lahore, Pakistan from May 2021 to June 2021. Material & Methods: In this study, 40 male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups i.e., Group I was NC (negative control), Group II PC (positive control), Group III EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil) and Group IV (Apple cider vinegar), each group having 10 rats. Diabetes was induced in all rats except the rats of NC group at the start of the study by intraperitoneal administration of injection nicotinamide, followed by injection STZ after 15 minutes. Group III was given 1ml/100gBW/ day EVOO and Group IV was given 2ml/kgBW/day diluted ACV with distilled water in 1:5 orally for 4 weeks. Terminal sampling was performed at the end of the 4th week for estimation of liver enzymes (ALT, ALP and AST) in serum. Data were entered and analyzed in SPSS version 26. p value of ? 0.05 was considered significant. Results: On comparison with PC group, both the treatment groups showed significant decrease in serum ALT levels with p values 0.026 for EVOO and < 0.001 for ACV. Serum ALP levels were also decreased significantly in both the treated groups with p value < 0.001 for EVOO as well as for the ACV group. However, reduction in serum AST levels was nonsignificant with p values 0.082 and 0.058 in EVOO and ACV groups respectively. Conclusion: Both EVOO and ACV have hepatoprotective effect in Type-2 diabetic rats. However, ACV is more effective