Sturge Weber Syndrome (SWS): A case report in an infant

Introduction: Sturge Weber Syndrome (SWS), known as encephalotrigeminal angiomatosis, is a rare neurocutaneous disorder and is having a prevalence of 1/20-50,000, live births. The syndrome consists of leptomeningeal angiomas and the angiomas of the face, characteristically in the ophthalmic and maxillary divisions of the trigeminal nerve. The neurological presentations include fits, deficits in cognition, glaucoma, and visual field abnormalities. The overgrowth of the soft tissues and extracranial angiomas can also occur in SWS. Case presentation: We are presenting a rare case of Sturge Weber Syndrome in an infant who presented at an early stage of this disorder. The index case presented to us with a large port-wine stain and right-sided focal fits. The CT scan brain showed subtle gyriform tram-track calcification of the left cerebral cortex and the left-sided cerebral atrophy. Ophthalmological examination showed glaucoma of the left eye. The clinical and radiological criteria were used to make the final diagnosis of SWS. Conclusion: The case is being reported in order to increase awareness among medical professionals

Administration of 5-HT-1B agonist ameliorates pseudodementia induced by depression in rats

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the leading cause of memory impairment in general population. The serotonin hypothesis provides a target model for the treatment of depression and depression-associated memory loss. 5-HT-1B receptor is suggested as a potential candidate in the pathophysiology of depressive illness. Dysfunction of 5-HT-1B receptors has been observed previously in depressive patients. Zolmitriptan, 5-HT-1B agonist is clinically recommended for the treatment of migraine. However, in present study this drug was tested as a potential treatment for depression and associated memory loss by altering the serotonergic function at receptor level. Rats (n=24) were equally divided into unstressed and stressed groups. Depression was induced by 19 days of restraint stress for 4 h which was followed by forced swim test and pattern separation test to assess depressive symptoms and memory impairment, respectively. The initial sign of depression-associated memory loss involves impaired pattern separation which is regarded as pseudodementia. In this study stressed ratsshowed depression- and pseudodementia-like symptoms. After the induction of depression, rats were treated with zolmitriptan at a dose of 0.3 mg/kg which resulted in a significant attenuation of depression and depression-associated memory impairment. Results are discussed with reference to the modulation of function of 5-HT-1B receptor following the administration of exogenous agonist

Effects of Low Molecular Weight and Unfractionated Heparin on Lipoprotein Lipase and Lipid Profile in haemodialysis patients

Introduction: In haemodialysis patients, mortality from cardiovascular disease is much greater than in the general population. The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of two different types of heparin, low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) and high molecular weight heparin (HMWH), on lipid profile in patients undergoing haemodialysis. Material & Methods: A total of 60 patients on haemodialysis were selected from two main hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan and were divided into two major groups based on the type of heparin used. A 5 ml blood sample was taken from the dialysis machine to get the serum and was kept frozen at -20ºC for analysis of total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein. Comparison of lipoprotein lipase activity between groups were evaluated by using the student t-test. A P-value of ? 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Gender wise distribution of study population (n=60) was 67% (n=40) males and 33% (n=20) females. The age distribution of individuals varied from 39-43 years. Moreover, use of HMWH was high in males (73%) as compared to female (27%) with an average age of 39 ± 12 years where duration of haemodialysis was 4.44 ± 2.83. A significant difference in LPL activity related to different times in all patients was observed. A clearer difference observed in case of LDL where LPL activity was markedly different in both groups. Our data showed that individuals using LMWH had less chances of dyslipidaemia as compared to those using HMWH. Conclusion: LMWH is a useful and safe anticoagulant during haemodialysis as compared to HMWH

Assessment of Human Papilloma Virus infection in cervical epithelium of Kashmiri women

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection is estimated to be the most common sexually transmitted infection. Because Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is one of the causal factors in cervical cancer, understanding the epidemiology of this infection is an important step towards developing strategies for prevention. The aim of the present study was to examine the HPV prevalence and distribution of high risk HPV 16 and HPV 18 in cervical smears in a sample of Kashmiri women attending a gynecological outpatient department at Lal Ded Hospital Srinagar and also to explore the determinants of the infection. A total of 210 women visiting the gynecology outpatient department with varied complaints were studied with mean age 37.7yrs. Most of the participating women had low level of education with 40.95% of women having ≤6 years of education, 37.6% of women having 6-12yrs of education and 21.42% of women having ≥12yrs of education. All the women were married. Around 62.85% were 18-25yrs of age at the time of marriage. Of the married women most (50.4%) had ≥4 number of full term pregnancies. About 48.09% of women had low monthly income. Oral contraceptive was the most common method of contraception (26.66%). It is noteworthy that almost half of the study participants did not use any contraceptive method (53.33%). DNA was extracted from all the samples and subjected to polymerase chain reaction, using consensus primers for HPV. The samples that were positive for HPV DNA were subsequently assessed for high-risk consensus primers, types 16 and 18. The overall HPV prevalence as observed in our study was 13.8% among our sample of Kashmiri females aged 19 to 57 years (n=210). HPV prevalence was 33.3% among females aged 19 to 27 years, 11.3% among women aged 28 to 37 years, 7.9% among women aged 39 to 47 years and 13.5% among women aged 48 to 57 years. The prevalence of HPV infection in Kashmiri women is similar as observed in other states of India. The age pattern of HPV prevalence of the study group showed a general decrease, there was statistically significant (P=0.038) differences in the age-specific rates of HPV DNA detection in the study women aged 18-57. A statistically higher prevalence of high-risk HPV was observed in low economic status (P=0.017) and rural groups (P=0.016). Statistically significant association was found between HPV prevalence with age (P=0.038), parity (P=0.037) and age at marriage (P=0.025). This preliminary study could become a useful data for laying guidelines for mass screening of HPV, treatment and prophylaxis in the local population

Synthesis of some new 5-substituted-2-((6-chloro-3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)methylthio)-1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives as suitable antibacterial inhibitors

Heterocyclic molecules belong to the most attractive group owing to their broad spectrum of antimicrobial activities. In the undertaken research, a number of new 5-substituted-2-((6-chloro-3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)methylthio)-1,3,4-Oxadiazole derivatives (6a–l) were synthesized by converting various aryl/aralkyl carboxylic acids (1a–l) into corresponding esters (2a–l), carbohydrazides (3a–l) and 5-substituted-1,3,4-Oxadiazol-2-thiols (4a–l). The last step included the synthesis of target molecules, 6a–l, by stirring 4a–l and 6-chloro-3,4-methylenedioxybenzyl chloride (5) in a polar aprotic solvent. The structures of all the synthesized molecules were corroborated through spectral analysis. The screening of these molecules against antibacterial activity rendered them moderate inhibitors and most likely against Escherichia coli, relative to the reference standard, ciprofloxacin

Anticancer, antithrombotic, antityrosinase, and anti‐α‐glucosidase activities of selected wild and commercial mushrooms from Pakistan

Mushrooms have been accepted as nutraceutical foods because of their high nutritional and functional values. They have also gained interest due to their medicinal properties, economic importance, and organoleptic merit. In this study, wild Ganoderma lucidum and four commercial mushrooms, that is, Pleurotus ostreatus, Volvariella volvacea, Hericium erinaceus, and Lentinus edodes from Pakistan were screened for their biological activities such as anticancer, antityrosinase, anti‐α‐glucosidase, and antithrombotic activities from their methanol, ethanol, and water extracts. Enzyme inhibition assay showed that selected mushrooms are potent inhibitors with %age inhibition ranging from 19.00% to 80.91%, and 32.85% to 83.38% for tyrosinase and α‐glucosidase, respectively. The best tyrosinase inhibition was shown by P. ostreatus whereas L. edodes was found best as α‐glucosidase inhibitor. These mushrooms were tested against cancer cell lines including HT ‐29 colon and H‐1299 lungs carcinoma cell lines. G. lucidum showed 29% and 24% viability of cells against HT ‐29 and H‐1299 cell lines, respectively. This antiproliferative effect was in dose‐dependent manner, and the maximum inhibition was observed at 200 μg/ml . Mushrooms extracts were also found effective against clot lysis. The percentage of clot lysis was in the range of 27%–29%. The research would provide knowledge to the people of Pakistan about the importance of locally available commercial mushrooms and wild mushrooms for health improvement and prevention against different kinds of diseases

Therapeutic potential of curcumin in reversing the depression and associated pseudodementia via modulating stress hormone, hippocampal neurotransmitters, and BDNF levels in Rats

Depressive state adversely affects the memory functions, especially in the geriatric population. The initial stage of memory deficits associated with depression is particularly called as pseudodementia. It is the starting point of memory disturbance before dementia. The purpose of this research was to study depression and its consequent pseudodementia. For this purpose 24 male albino Wistar rats were divided into four groups. Depression was induced by 14 days of chronic restraint stress (CRS) daily for 4 h. After developing a depression model, pattern separation test was conducted to monitor pseudodementia in rats. Morris water maze test (MWM) was also performed to observe spatial memory. It was observed that model animals displayed impaired pattern separation and spatial memory. Treatment was started after the development of pseudodementia in rats. Curcumin at a dose of 200 mg/kg was given to model rats for one week along with the stress procedure. Following the treatment with curcumin, rats were again subjected to the aforementioned behavioral tests before decapitation. Corticosterone levels, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurochemical analysis were conducted. Model rats showed depressogenic behavior and impaired memory performance. In addition to this, high corticosterone levels and decreased hippocampal BDNF, 5-HT, dopamine (DA), and acetylcholine (ACh) levels were also observed in depressed animals. These behavioral biochemical and neurochemical changes were effectively restored following treatment with curcumin. Hence, it is suggested from this study that pseudodementia can be reversed unlike true dementia by controlling the factors such as depression which induce memory impairment

Pharmacological evaluation and phytochemical profiling of butanol extract of L. edodes with in- silico virtual screening

Abstract L. edodes (L. edodes) is the most consumed mushroom in the world and has been well known for its therapeutic potential as an edible and medicinal candidate, it contains dietary fibers, vitamins, proteins, minerals, and carbohydrates. In the current study butanolic extract of mushroom was used to form semisolid butanol extract. The current study aimed to explore biometabolites that might have biological activities in n-butanol extract of L. edodes using FT-IR and GC–MS and LC–MS. The synergistic properties of bioactive compounds were futher assessed by performing different biological assays such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic. FTIR spectra showed different functional groups including amide N–H group, Alkane (C-H stretching), and (C = C stretching) groups at different spectrum peaks in the range of 500 cm−1 to 5000 cm−1 respectively. GC–MS profiling of n-butanol extract depicted 34 potent biomolecules among those dimethyl; Morphine, 2TMS derivative; Benzoic acid, methyl ester 1-(2-methoxy-1-methylethoxy)-2-propanol were spotted at highest range. Results indicate that L. edodes n-butanol extract showed a maximum anti-inflammatory potential 91.4% at 300 mg/mL. Antioxidant activity was observed by measuring free radical scavenging activity which is 64.6% at optimized concentration along with good antidiabetic activity. In-silico study executed the biopotential of active ingredient morphine which proved the best docking score (− 7.0 kJ/mol) against aldose reductase. The in-silico drug design analysis was performed on biometabolites detected through GC–MS that might be a potential target for sulfatase-2 to treat ruminated arthritis. Morphine binds more strongly (− 7.9 kJ/mol) than other bioactive constituents indicated. QSAR and ADMET analysis shown that morphine is a good candidates against ruminated arthritis. The current study showed that L. edodes might be used as potent drug molecules to cure multiple ailments. As mushrooms have high bioactivity, they can be used against different diseases and to develop antibacterial drugs based on the current situation in the world in which drug resistance is going to increase due to misuse of antibiotics so new and noval biological active compounds are needed to overcome the situation