Assessment Of Cardiorespiratory Fitness By The Ruffier Dickson Test And Its Correlation With Lifestyle Related Factors: A Cross Sectional Study Among Pakistani Youth.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation of physical activity, screen time and anthropometric parameters with cardiorespiratory fitness using the Ruffier Dickson test. METHODS: The cross-sectionalstudywas conductedatthe RiphahInternationalUniversity, Islamabad, Pakistan,fromOctober 2021 to May 2022, and comprised healthy undergraduate medical students of either gender aged 18-23 years. Anthropometric parameters were measured and standardised assessment tools were used to assess screen time and physical activity. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed using Ruffier Dickson test. Data was analysed using SPSS 26. RESULTS: Of the 300 subjects, 186(62%) were females and 114(38%) were males. Body mass index, body weight, resting heart rate, height and the level of physical activity were significantly associated with cardiorespiratory fitness(p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity, body weight and body massindex could independently predict cardiorespiratory fitness.

Investigating the therapeutic potential of aqueous extraction of curry plant (Murraya koenigi) leaves supplementation for the regulation of blood glucose level in type 2 diabetes mellitus in female human subjects.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is characterized by hyperglycemia and insulin resistance. It is spreading around the globe like a pandemic. Major factors behind the development of diabetes can be genetics, environmental factors, dietary choices and obesity. Many medicinal plants have anti-diabetic potential. This study has investigated the anti-diabetic effect of curry leaves extract. This study also investigated the chemical characterization of curry leaves. Phytochemicals including saponins, tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols and glycosides were also investigated. Encapsulated 5mg per kg of the body weight and 10mg per kg of the body weight were given to treatment groups I and II. Random blood sugar, fasting blood sugar and HbA1c of 45 diabetic female adults were measured on the 0-day and 45th days. All results were analyzed using the two-sample t-test in IBM SPSS Statistics 20. Curry leaves contained moisture (24.1±1.78)%, ash (17.82±2.13)%, nitrogen free extract (36.12±3.52)%, crude protein (8.32±0.83)%, crude fiber (6.98±2.31)% and crude fat (6.87±0.21)%. Mineral analysis showed that magnesium and calcium were major minerals present in curry leaves. Curry leaves extract contained saponins 2.71±0.23, flavonoids 7.84±0.42, tannins 0.91±0.09, glycosides 0.17±0.01, phenols 3.89±0.12, alkaloids 2.01±0.87. These phytochemicals were expressed in mg/100 g of the sample. Curry leaf extract showed a significant (p<0.05) reduction in fasting blood sugar, random blood sugar and glycated hemoglobin in both treatment groups.

Interferon alpha receptors and STAT1 as therapy predictors of a sustained virological response in hepatitis C/B co-infection.

OBJECTIVE: : To determine the expression of interferon alpha receptors 1 and 2 along with signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of both hepatitis C mono-infected and hepatitis C and B co-infected patients, and to assess whether these targeted genes predict sustained virological response to interferon therapy. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out at the Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from January 2012 to December 2015, and comprised hepatitis C mono-infected and hepatitis C and B co-infected patients. The patients were divided into groups 1 and 2. Group-1a and group-2a consisted of mono-infected and co-infected sustained responders, while group-1b and group-2b had mono-infected and co-infected non sustained responders. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy controls were also quantified for these subunits. Target gene expressions were studied by retro-transcription of respective messenger ribonuclieic acid extracted from the cells followed by polymerase chain reaction amplification. RESULTS: Of the 191 subjects, there were 20(10.5%) in group-1a, 35(18.3%) in group-2a, 65(34%) in group-1b and 51(26.7%) in group-2b. The remaining 20(10.5%) were controls. Overall, 106 (55.5%) were males and 85 (44.5%) were females. Interferon alpha receptor 1 expression in groups 1a and 2a was significantly higher compared to groups 1b (p=0.018) and 2b (p 0.031). Signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 protein expression showed no significant difference (p=0.062 and p=0.519). No difference in expression was measured between the two sets of groups with regard to interferon alpha receptor 2 expression (p=0.278 and p=0.590). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that levels of IFNAR-1 mRNA expression may be a good predictor for IFN-related anti-viral activity in both HCV mono infected and HCV/HBV co-infected patients.

Association of Interferon Alpha Receptor 1 with sustained virological response in hepatitis C and B co-infected patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of interferon alpha receptor-1 with success rate of interferon therapy in patients co-infected with hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus. METHODS: The study was conducted at the Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from December 2013 to November 2014, and comprised patients with hepatitis C and hepatitis B co-infection. The patients were treated with pegylated-interferon-2b plus ribavirin therapy for six months. With respect to interferon therapy, patients with undetectable hepatitis C virus-ribonucleic acid along with normal alanine aminotransferase were considered responders and patients with detectable hepatitis C virus-ribonucleic acid at week 48 were considered as non-responders. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 86 patients, there were 50(58%) males and 36(42%) females. The presence of high pre-treatment interferon alpha receptors 1-messenger ribonucleic acid in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was significantly associated with sustained virological response (85.7% vs. 64.7%, P = 0.031). Multiple regression analysis showed that females (p < 0.001), lower hepatitis C virus-ribonucleic acid levels (p < 0.001) and lower hepatitis B virus-deoxyribonucleic acid levels (p < 0.001) were associated with expression level of interferon alpha receptors 1 in the co-infected patients. CONCLUSIONS: Interferon alpha receptors 1-messenger ribonucleic acid may be useful for predicting response to interferon plus ribavirin therapy in hepatitis C virus/ hepatitis B virus co-infected patients who were females with lower hepatitis C virus-ribonucleic acid and hepatitis B virus-deoxyribonucleic acid levels.