Beard Reconstruction.

INTRODUCTION: Loss of beard can occur due to many reasons. As beard has huge cosmetic importance, loss of beard can be psychologically traumatic. Beard can be absent from puberty, called as congenital absence of beard. Beard loss can be secondary to dermatological conditions such as nodulocystic acne. In our setting, the most common cause of loss of beard is burn injury. There are many treatment options such as surgical excision of scar, flaps Z/W plasty, and hair transplantation to reconstruct the beard. We present the follicular unit extraction (FUE) method of beard reconstruction. AIM: The aim of our study was to describe the evaluation of the results using FUE method for beard reconstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We did a study in twenty male patients. Any patient having alopecia areata were ruled out of the study. Fifteen patients had postburn loss, three had postacne scarring, and two patients had congenital absence of beard. We evaluated all patients thoroughly by calculating the density of beard over the normal areas of beard, evaluating the elasticity of skin, preoperative photography, and doing dermatoscopy. Areas were marked. FUE was used for harvesting the grafts as a limited number of grafts were needed to complete the surgery. In the recipient area, adrenaline was avoided in patients of scarring alopecia. In cases of congenital absence of hair, 1:200,000 adrenaline was used to minimize bleeding. Grafts were placed. Results were noted after 1 year. RESULTS: All patients followed up properly for 1 year. Growth started 3 months postoperatively and continued till 1 year postoperatively. Density was good in cases with congenital absence of hair. In cases of scarring alopecia, multiple sessions were needed to provide adequate density. Results were graded as "very good," "good," and "poor." Eleven patients had "very good" result, eight had "good," and one had "poor" result. Nineteen patients were satisfied with the final result, and one patient was dissatisfied with the result. CONCLUSION: FUE is the ideal method of reconstructing beard loss. Proper preoperative evaluation, preparation, planning, and proper surgical technique produce the best possible result.

Prevalence of extensive drug resistance in bacterial isolates harboring blaNDM-1 in Quetta Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: Extensive drug resistant Gram-negative bacilli, harboring New Delhi metallo-ß-lactamase-1 (bla NDM-1) having the ability to hydrolyze ß-lactams, have become a vital global clinical threat. The present study was, therefore, designed to investigate the prevalence and epidemiology of NDM-1 producers in Quetta, Pakistan. METHODS: This study was carried out in Microbiology Laboratory, Bolan Medical Complex Hospital Quetta, Biotechnology laboratory, BUITEMS Quetta and Hi-tech laboratory, CASVAB, University of Balochistan, Quetta, from March to June 2018, during the hot season. Biochemical and molecular approaches were applied for the identification of bacterial isolates. Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) were determined using E-test method. Carbapenemase activity was ascertained by Modified Hodge Test (MHT) and the presence of blaNDM-1 gene was recognized by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). RESULTS: We isolated five bla NDM-1 harboring isolates of three different species namely Morganella morganii (n=2) Enterobacter cloacae (n=2) and Citrobacter freundii (n=1), from 300 pus samples. These isolates were found extensive drug resistant (XDR). Strikingly, two isolates of M. morganii were displaying resistance against 23 antibiotics of sulphonamides, aminoglycosides, polypeptide, monobactams, tetracyclines, quinolones, macrolides, cephalosporins, phosphonic acid and ß-lactams groups, suggesting Pan Drug Resistance (PDR). CONCLUSION: This is the first report on emergence of PDR strain of M. morganii producing NDM-1 in the province of Balochistan, Pakistan. The presence of bla NDM-1 in different bacterial species and their extensive rather pan drug resistance pattern poses a momentous clinical threat.

Bioactive phenolics from Seriphidium stenocephalum.

Chromatographic separation of the ethyl acetate soluble part of the methanolic extract from Seriphidium stenocephalum yielded three new compounds: stenocepflavone (1), stenocepflavan (2), and stenocephol (3), together with cirsimaritin (4), 5,7,5'-trihydroxy-3',4',6-trimethoxyflavone (5), 5,6,7,5'-tetrahydroxy-4'-methoxyflavone (6), and axillaroside (7). All isolates were characterized with the help of spectroscopic data including 1D, 2D NMR, and high resolution mass spectrometry and/or in comparison with the related compounds in literature. All compounds were tested for in vitro enzyme inhibitory activities against acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and lipoxygenase. Compounds 1 and 4-7 exhibited significant activity against all the tested enzymes, whereas compounds 2 and 3 were found inactive.