Physiological insights into sulfate and selenium interaction to improve drought tolerance in mung bean.

The present study involved two pot experiments to investigate the response of mung bean to the individual or combined SO4 2- and selenate application under drought stress. A marked increment in biomass and NPK accumulation was recorded in mung bean seedlings fertilized with various SO4 2- sources, except for CuSO4. Compared to other SO4 2- fertilizers, ZnSO4 application resulted in the highest increase in growth attributes and shoot nutrient content. Further, the combined S and Se application (S + Se) significantly enhanced relative water content (16%), SPAD value (72%), photosynthetic rate (80%) and activities of catalase (79%), guaiacol peroxidase (53%) and superoxide dismutase (58%) in the leaves of water-stressed mung bean plants. Consequently, the grain yield of mung bean was markedly increased by 105% under water stress conditions. Furthermore, S + Se application considerably increased the concentrations of P (47%), K (75%), S (80%), Zn (160%), and Fe (15%) in mung bean seeds under drought stress conditions. These findings indicate that S + Se application potentially increases the nutritional quality of grain legumes by stimulating photosynthetic apparatus and antioxidative machinery under water deficit conditions. Our results could provide the basis for further experiments on cross-talk between S and Se regulatory pathways to improve the nutritional quality of food crops. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-021-00992-6.

Biopsy-proven Renal Pathologies: Experience from Multan Institute of Kidney Diseases.

In this part of world, nephrology data lack as there is no renal registry, and nephrology is still in its primitive stage. Multan Institute of kidney diseases started tertiary care renal services. We carried out an analysis of our renal biopsies performed here from August 2017 to May 2019. This was carried out to see the spectrum of renal diseases in this area. This is a retrospective analysis of renal biopsies performed at the Multan Institute of Kidney Diseases from August 2017 to May 2019. Renal biopsy was performed using real-time ultrasound. One hundred and seventy-five native renal biopsies were performed during this study period. One hundred and three male (59%) and 72 female (41%) patients underwent renal biopsy. The average age was 36 years, with a range of 16-70 years. Results from our study showed membranous glomerulo- nephritis (36%) as a leading cause of primary glomerular disease in this region. Lupus nephritis (30.3%) was a leading cause in secondary glomerular disease. Reviewing our study and published literature it's pellucid that lupus nephritis is a leading cause of secondary glomerulonephritis worldwide. In terms of primary glomerular disease, spectrum is different globally. This study sets alight to explore membranous nephropathy, which is the leading primary glomerular disease in our studied population.

Nitric oxide regulates water status and associated enzymatic pathways to inhibit nutrients imbalance in maize (Zea mays L.) under drought stress.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a key signaling molecule that instigates significant changes in plant metabolic processes and promotes tolerance against various environmental stresses including drought. In this study, we focused on NO-mediated physiological mechanisms and enzymatic activities that influence the nutrient concentrations and yield in maize under drought stress. The drought-tolerant (NK-8711) and sensitive (P-1574) maize hybrids were sown in lysimeter tanks and two levels of water stress (well-watered at100% field capacity and drought stress at 60% field capacity) were applied at three-leaves stage of maize. Foliar treatment of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), the donor of NO was applied at the cob development stage. The results showed that the foliar spray of NO regulated water relations by increasing proline content and improved drought tolerance in water stressed maize plants. In addition, it stimulated the activity of antioxidative enzymes which reduced the production of free radicals and lipid peroxidation. The activities of nitrate assimilation enzymes were considerably increased by NO spray which, in turn, increased nutrient accumulation and yield in maize under water deficit conditions. These results acknowledge the importance of NO as a stress-signaling molecule that positively regulates defense mechanisms in maize to withstand water-limited conditions.

Sulfate-mediated Drought Tolerance in Maize Involves Regulation at Physiological and Biochemical Levels.

Restriction in nutrient acquisition is one of the primary causes for reduced growth and yield in water deficient soils. Sulfur (S) is an important secondary macronutrient that interacts with several stress metabolites to improve performance of food crops under various environmental stresses including drought. Increased S supply influences uptake and distribution of essential nutrients to confer nutritional homeostasis in plants exposed to limited water conditions. The regulation of S metabolism in plants, resulting in synthesis of numerous S-containing compounds, is crucial to the acclimation response to drought stress. Two different experiments were laid out in semi-controlled conditions to investigate the effects of different S sources on physiological and biochemical mechanisms of maize (Zea mays L. cv. P1574). Initially, the rate of S application in maize was optimized in terms of improved biomass and nutrient uptake. The maize seedlings were grown in sandy loam soil fertigated with various doses (0, 15, 30 and 45 kg ha-1) of different S fertilizers viz. K2SO4, FeSO4, CuSO4 and Na2SO4. The optimized S dose of each fertilizer was later tested in second experiment to determine its role in improving drought tolerance of maize plants. A marked effect of S fertilization was observed on biomass accumulation and nutrients uptake in maize. In addition, the optimized doses significantly increased the gas exchange characteristics and activity of antioxidant enzymes to improve yield of maize. Among various S sources, application of K2SO4 resulted in maximum photosynthetic rate (43%), stomatal conductance (98%), transpiration rate (61%) and sub-stomatal conductance (127%) compared to no S supply. Moreover, it also increased catalase, guaiacol peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities by 55, 87 and 65%, respectively that ultimately improved maize yield by 33% with respect to control under water deficit conditions. These results highlight the importance of S fertilizers that would likely be helpful for farmers to get better yield in water deficient soils.

Diagnostic accuracy of glypican-3 in differentiating hepatocellular carcinoma from metastatic liver tumours.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of Glypican-3 in differentiating hepatocellular carcinoma from metastatic liver tumours while taking histopathology as the gold standard.. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, from January 1 to June 30, 2016, and comprised cases of malignant liver tumours. Samples were collected from the pathology department. Glypican-3was applied on them. Tumours were classified as positive when they showed >5% positivity and negative when showing <5% positivity. Frequencies and percentages of cases showing GPC3 positivity and negativity along with frequency and percentages of hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic tumours were calculated. RESULTS: Of the 240 patients, 143(59.58%) were males and 97 (40.42%) were females. Overall mean age was 54.65 ± 13.46 years. On histopathology, 134 cases were hepatocellular carcinoma (55.83%) and 106 (44. 17%) cases turned out to be metastatic carcinoma. Glypican-3staining was positive in 116 (48.33%) cases and negative in 124(51.67%). Sensitivity was 82%, Specificity 94.33%, positive predictive value 94.82% and negative predictive value 80.64%. Diagnostic accuracy was 87.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Glypican-3 was found to be a highly sensitive and specific Immunohistochemistry stain distinguishing hepatocellular carcinoma from the clear majority of metastatic carcinomas of the liver.

Vitamin D supplementation improves FEV1 in patients of Bronchial Asthma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Vitamin D deficiency has strong association with various respiratory disorders in which bronchial asthma is one of them. The objective was to determine the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation in cases with bronchial asthma. METHODS: This case control study was conducted at private clinical set up of district, Rahim Yar Khan from August to October 2016 in which 100 cases of bronchial asthma were randomly divided into Group-A and Group-B each contained 50 patients. Group-A was given placebo and Group-B with vitamin D in a dose of 50,000 units per day orally. Both the groups were followed in terms of improvement in FEV1 at 1, 2 and 3 months. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in both groups in terms of BMI and duration of asthma at start of study. The mean pre treatment vitamin D level of Group-A was 14.23±1.66 and of Group-B, 15.30±2.05 ng/dl (p= 0.23). FEV1 in pre treatment Group-A was 64.35±3.16 and of Group-B was 62.35±2.16 with p= 0.95. There was no significant difference in terms of FEV1 in both the groups at one month (p= 0.32). While at two months it was significantly higher in Group-B with p= 0.04. At 3 months the final outcome was seen where the post treatment FEV1 in Group-A was 66.13±2.75 and in Group-B, 75.15±2.04 with p value of 0.001. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D supplementation improves FEV1 significantly at two months and these can be even highly significant if it is extended up to 3 months.

Seed priming with KNO3 mediates biochemical processes to inhibit lead toxicity in maize (Zea mays L.).

BACKGROUND: Accumulation of lead (Pb) in agricultural soils has become a major factor for reduced crop yields and poses serious threats to humans consuming agricultural products. The present study investigated the effects of KNO3 seed priming (0 and 0.5% KNO3 ) on growth of maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings exposed to Pb toxicity (0, 1300 and 2550 mg kg-1 Pb). RESULTS: Pb exposure markedly reduced the growth of maize seedlings and resulted in higher Pb accumulation in roots than shoots. Pretreatment of seeds with KNO3 significantly improved the germination percentage and increased physiological indices. A stimulating effect of KNO3 seed priming was also observed on pigments (chlorophyll a, b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid contents) of Pb-stressed plants. Low translocation of Pb from roots to shoots caused an increased accumulation of total free amino acids and higher activities of catalase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase in roots as compared to shoot, which were further enhanced by exogenous KNO3 supply to prevent Pb toxicity. CONCLUSION: Maize accumulates more Pb in roots than shoot at early growth stages. Priming of seeds with KNO3 prevents Pb toxicity, which may be exploited to improve seedling establishment in crop species grown under Pb contaminated soils. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Prevalence and drug resistance pattern of MDR TB in retreatment cases of Punjab, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and resistance pattern of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out from January 2010 to June 2014 in nine tertiary care hospitals implementing programmatic management of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Punjab, and comprised retreatment tuberculosis cases. Data was collected from the Electronic Nominal Review System. SPSS 17 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 1,250 cases, 861(69%) were of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis confirmed through drug sensitivity testing. The mean age was 32 (±13.5 SD) years. Besides, 664(53%) were males and 1,208(97%) resided in urban areas of Punjab. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis was found to be more prevalent in the most productive age group, i.e. 15-45 years, with 709(57%) cases (p<0.05), in urban areas1, 208(97%) cases (p<0.05) and in the pulmonary site 852(68%) cases (p<0.05). Overall, 391(41%) cases showed resistance to all first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs while 239(28%) showed resistance to oral first-line drugs. Besides, 526(42%) cases showed resistance to fluoroquinolones and 650(52%) to second-line drugs. Of them, 420(81%), (p<0.05) patients showed highly significant resistance to fluoroquinolones and 26(5%) to ethionamide. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to fully implement national tuberculosis guidelines with a focus on expansion and effective implementation of directly observed therapy short course in order to prevent further emergence of drug resistance.

Hepatitis-C virus infection among injecting drug users in Lahore, Pakistan: A cross sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis C virus among injecting drugs users, furthermore different genotypes of HCV infection and their effect on viral load were also found and subsequently most prevalent subtype was predicted. METHODS: All samples were processed for Anti-HCV antibody detection through ELISA by using third generation ELISA Kit. The Anti-HCV positive serum samples were stored for RT-PCR to estimate the viral load and genotypes of HCV for study. Injecting drug users selected from in and around Lahore Metropolitan from July 2012 to August 2013 was included. The data analysis was completed by using SPSS version 16. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered to be significant. RESULTS: A total of 241 Injecting drug users were enrolled and screened for Anti HCV in the study. Prevalence of HCV infection in IDUs from Lahore was found to be 36.09%. Education (p=0.000), low socioeconomic status (p=0.011), Blood transfusion (0.003), any tattoo on the body (p=0.002), use of injectable drugs with reused syringes (p=0.000) and sharing of syringes (p=0.001) in groups was significantly associated with HCV infection. Some utensils were also significantly associated with HCV status. The most common subtype of HCV genotype was 3a (n=65) followed by 2a (n=15) and 1a (n=6). CONCLUSION: The study reveals that IDUs with reused syringes status and sharing of syringes in group had more chances to get HCV infection. The viral load in IDUs infected with different subtypes of genotype was significantly associated.