Nature and extent of perceived stigma among epileptics in Pakistan

Background: Epilepsy is one of the oldest disorders known to mankind. Often the social stigma (whether a “felt” stigma or an “enacted” stigma) attached to epilepsy is a greater handicap to the person with epilepsy compared to the disability associated with seizures or the side-effects from medications. The aim of this study was to explore the perceived sigma and discrimination among epileptics of Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in Karachi, Pakistan in the year 2016. A standardized pretested semi-structured questionnaire was completed by 120 epilepsy patients selected through purposive sampling from Department of Neurology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Informed verbal consent was obtained prior to the interview. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22 and Microsoft excel.Results: The average age of the sample participants was 18-50 years. Almost two third (68%) of the respondents were male. More than half (55%) of the sample was educated up to matriculation. Among them 28.5% were married. Three fifth (60%) of participants were unemployed.  More than half (60%) of the respondents reported discrimination in educational opportunities and three fourth (78.5%) in job opportunities. Results indicated that (75%) participants encountered social problem like being discriminated (30%), or segregated (11%) in performance of daily tasks and were avoided (58.8%) to get marry more often with the belief that people with epilepsy are infectious.Conclusions: The study concludes that there is significant perceived stigma among epileptics living in a big metropolitan city of a developing country. The nature of stigma includes discrimination in education, marriage and job opportunities. There is a need for public awareness programmes to address this ignored facet of epilepsy, since it has both medical as well as social implications

Personality factors and burnout among medical students and house officers

Objective: To determine the personality factors relevance with the burn out among health professionals.Methodology: The cross-sectional study was conducted government medical colleges and hospitals of Lahore, from Feb 2017 to Nov 2017.  Participants were selected through purposive sampling assessment of burnout. The abbreviated nine items inventory “abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory (aMBI) was used and the short form of “Zukerman Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire” (ZKPQ) was used to assess the personality characteristics of participants. “Regression Analysis” was used for assessment of predictive relationship between personality and burnout.Results: A total of 240 participants were included. Two personality factors Neuroticism-anxiety (N-anx) and Activity (Act) appeared as significant predictor of “Emotional Exhaustion” among house officers and final year medical students (p<.001) and other personality factors of Impulsive sensation seeking (ImpSS), Aggression-hostility (Agg-host), and Sociability (Sy) showed non-significant relationship with “Emotional Exhaustion”. Neuroticism-anxiety (N-Anx) appears as significant predictor of “Depersonalization” among house officers and final year medical students (p<.00)1, Activity (Act) appears as significant predictor of “Personal Accomplishment” among house officers and final year medical students (p <.003).Conclusion: Combination of high neuroticism-anxiety and high activity are the predicting personality factors for burnout

Isolation and identification of flavonoids from anticancer and neuroprotective extracts of Trigonella foenum graecum

Purpose: To evaluate the protective effects of Trigonella foenum graecum methanol and ethyl acetate extracts, against cancer cell lines and NaNO2-induced neurodegeneration in mice brain.Methods: Adult male albino mice (n = 20) were administered NaNO2 orally at a dose of 300 mg/kg for 15 days. The control group received distilled water and normal mice feed. Experimental groups were given T. foenum graecum methanol and ethyl acetate extracts in two different doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg orally for 15 days. Histopathological examination of the brain was carried out with the aid of cresyl violet and H&E staining. In addition, the cytotoxicity of the extracts was evaluated by 3-(4,5- dimethylthiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay against HCEC, MCF-7 and Hep2 cell lines. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) were used to determine the structures of the bioactive compounds.Results: Methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of T. foenum graecum seeds inhibited neurodegeneration in the hippocampus and cortex regions of the brain when compared to control group. Moreover, the extracts exhibited anticancer activity against Hep2 and MCF-7cells and low cytotoxicity against HCEC, sparing healthy cells in-vitro. In addition, two flavonoids amurensin and cosmosiin were isolated from T. foenum graecum extracts.Conclusion: Amurensin and cosmosiin from T. foenum extracts are reported here for the first time agents that possess significant anticancer and neuroprotective properties.Keywords: Trigonella foenum-graecum, Anticancer, Neurodegeneration, Flavonoids, Amurensin, Cosmosii

Last Decade of Dengue – and the Next One

AbstractBackground: Before 1970, only 9 countries had dengue. Until 1998, there were 1.2 billion dengue infected cases in 56 different countries around the globe. To date it is prevalent in all of 6 WHO regions. Mortality rate is thought to be 2.5% as it varies from country to country. These figures are not surely depicting exact situation as many cases from most parts of the underdeveloped and developing countries go unreported due to number of reasons but one thing is sure that it is on accelerating note.Methodology: In this study, total number of dengue victims around the globe from year 2000-2009 was estimated. Data were collected from World Health Organization (WHO), different health and country specific emergency dealing agenciesand hospitals. We have shown dengue statistics in annotated maps of international regions where dengue has affected in certain.  In a country specific (Pakistan) study we have determined most vulnerable population group among society, their age, gender and immunological profile against dengue virus. Moreover, most prevalent serotype of dengue virus is determined by surveying the current data.Results: It is estimated that there were 24,956 lives lost world wide during 2000-2009 as a consequence of dengue infection (DF/DHF/DSS) with an average CFR of 0.24%. These figures are approximate as we have not included the unauthentic source figures from non-reporting (to WHO) countries or not having an official database. A total of 10,178,624 clinical cases had been reported during that period with highest share of Americas of 6,586,785 cases.Conclusion: Our estimate suggests that number of dengue cases got elevated in first decade of 21st century but death rate is not that higher as 2-2.5% which is estimated. Dengue is spreading and finding novel places as temperature and travelling is getting increased

Genetic variability and evolutionary dynamics of atypical Papaya ringspot virus infecting Papaya

Papaya ringspot virus biotype-P is a detrimental pathogen of economically important papaya and cucurbits worldwide. The mutation prone feature of this virus perhaps accounts for its geographical dissemination. In this study, investigations of the atypical PRSV-P strain was conducted based on phylogenetic, recombination and genetic differentiation analyses considering of it’s likely spread across India and Bangladesh. Full length genomic sequences of 38 PRSV isolates and 35 CP gene sequences were subjected to recombination analysis. A total of 61 recombination events were detected in aligned complete PRSV genome sequences. 3 events were detected in complete genome of PRSV strain PK whereas one was in its CP gene sequence. The PRSV-PK appeared to be recombinant of a major parent from Bangladesh. However, the genetic differentiation based on full length genomic sequences revealed less frequent gene flow between virus PRSV-PK and the population from America, India, Colombia, other Asian Countries and Australia. Whereas, frequent gene flow exists between Pakistan and Bangladesh virus populations. These results provided evidence correlating geographical position and genetic distances. We speculate that the genetic variations and evolutionary dynamics of this virus may challenge the resistance developed in papaya against PRSV and give rise to virus lineage because of its atypical emergence where geographic spread is already occurring

Alterations in adult hippocampal neurogenesis, aberrant protein s-nitrosylation, and associated spatial memory loss in streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus type 2 mice

Objective(s): Epidemiological and biochemical studies conducted over the past two decades have established a strong link between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the exact mechanisms through which aberrations in insulin signaling associated with T2DM contribute to cognitive decline are not yet known. Materials and Methods: In an effort to explore possible molecular links between T2DM and AD, the present study investigated the status of neurodegeneration, adult hippocampal neurogenesis, and nitrosative stress induced protein S-nitrosylation in streptozotocin (STZ) induced mice models of T2DM. Morris water maze task and subsequent histological and immunohistochemical assessment were conducted. Expression of neurogenesis markers (Ki67, DCX, and NeuN) and APP 770 was determined by qRT-PCR. Results: A significant decline in spatial learning and reference memory was observed with consequent neurodegeneration in brain cortex and hippocampus in the diabetic group as compared to the control group. A subsequent increase in expression of APP 770 was also observed in T2DM brain regions. Moreover, a significant decrease in transcriptional expression of Ki67, DCX, and NeuN was also evident in T2DM brain regions, which indicated possible aberrations in adult hippocampal neurogenesis in T2DM. Furthermore, an increased immunohistochemical signal for S-nitrosylation was also observed in T2DM, which also suggested its potential contribution in T2DM associated neuronal deterioration. Conclusion: It is suggested that these identified aberrations in the diabetic brain may communally increase the susceptibility of developing AD in patients with T2DM. Further studies of the underlying molecular mechanisms may help to strategize a combination therapy for these debilitating disorders

Strigolactones Biosynthesis and Their Role in Abiotic Stress Resilience in Plants: A Critical Review

Strigolactones (SLs), being a new class of plant hormones, play regulatory roles against abiotic stresses in plants. There are multiple hormonal response pathways, which are adapted by the plants to overcome these stressful environmental constraints to reduce the negative impact on overall crop plant productivity. Genetic modulation of the SLs could also be applied as a potential approach in this regard. However, endogenous plant hormones play central roles in adaptation to changing environmental conditions, by mediating growth, development, nutrient allocation, and source/sink transitions. In addition, the hormonal interactions can fine-tune the plant response and determine plant architecture in response to environmental stimuli such as nutrient deprivation and canopy shade. Considerable advancements and new insights into SLs biosynthesis, signaling and transport has been unleashed since the initial discovery. In this review we present basic overview of SL biosynthesis and perception with a detailed discussion on our present understanding of SLs and their critical role to tolerate environmental constraints. The SLs and abscisic acid interplay during the abiotic stresses is particularly highlighted.Main Conclusion: More than shoot branching Strigolactones have uttermost capacity to harmonize stress resilience

Biochemical analysis, photosynthetic gene (psbA) down–regulation, and in silico receptor prediction in weeds in response to exogenous application of phenolic acids and their analogs

Chemical herbicides are the primary weed management tool, although several incidences of herbicide resistance have emerged, causing serious threat to agricultural sustainability. Plant derived phenolic acids with herbicidal potential provide organic and eco-friendly substitute to such harmful chemicals. In present study, phytotoxicity of two phenolic compounds, ferulic acid (FA) and gallic acid (GA), was evaluated in vitro and in vivo against three prevalent herbicide-resistant weed species (Sinapis arvensis, Lolium multiflorum and Parthenium hysterophorus). FA and GA not only suppressed the weed germination (80 to 60% respectively), but also negatively affected biochemical and photosynthetic pathway of weeds. In addition to significantly lowering the total protein and chlorophyll contents of the targeted weed species, the application of FA and GA treatments increased levels of antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation. Photosynthetic gene (psbA) expression was downregulated (10 to 30 folds) post 48 h of phenolic application. In silico analysis for receptor identification of FA and GA in psbA protein (D1) showed histidine (his-198) and threonine (thr-286) as novel receptors of FA and GA. These two receptors differ from the D1 amino acid receptors which have previously been identified (serine-264 and histidine-215) in response to PSII inhibitor herbicides. Based on its toxicity responses, structural analogs of FA were also designed. Four out of twelve analogs (0.25 mM) significantly inhibited weed germination (30 to 40%) while enhancing their oxidative stress. These results are unique which provide fundamental evidence of phytotoxicity of FA and GA and their analogs to develop cutting-edge plant based bio-herbicides formulation in future

Nature and extent of perceived stigma among epileptics in Pakistan

Background: Epilepsy is one of the oldest disorders known to mankind. Often the social stigma (whether a “felt” stigma or an “enacted” stigma) attached to epilepsy is a greater handicap to the person with epilepsy compared to the disability associated with seizures or the side-effects from medications. The aim of this study was to explore the perceived sigma and discrimination among epileptics of Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in Karachi, Pakistan in the year 2016. A standardized pretested semi-structured questionnaire was completed by 120 epilepsy patients selected through purposive sampling from Department of Neurology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Informed verbal consent was obtained prior to the interview. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22 and Microsoft excel.Results: The average age of the sample participants was 18-50 years. Almost two third (68%) of the respondents were male. More than half (55%) of the sample was educated up to matriculation. Among them 28.5% were married. Three fifth (60%) of participants were unemployed.  More than half (60%) of the respondents reported discrimination in educational opportunities and three fourth (78.5%) in job opportunities. Results indicated that (75%) participants encountered social problem like being discriminated (30%), or segregated (11%) in performance of daily tasks and were avoided (58.8%) to get marry more often with the belief that people with epilepsy are infectious.Conclusions: The study concludes that there is significant perceived stigma among epileptics living in a big metropolitan city of a developing country. The nature of stigma includes discrimination in education, marriage and job opportunities. There is a need for public awareness programmes to address this ignored facet of epilepsy, since it has both medical as well as social implications