Antibiotic susceptibility and drug prescription pattern in uropathogenic Escherichia coli in district Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan.

The present research study was done to determine the correlation between antibiotic susceptibility and drug prescription patterns in empirical treatment of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) in two hospitals of district Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. One hundred uropathogenic E. coli clinical isolates were collected from UTI patients who attended the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), district Muzaffarabad, AJK. All isolates were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility against seven commonly prescribed antibiotics by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. However, all the E. coli isolates were susceptible to Imipenem. Eight percent and 10% of isolates from CMH and AIMS were found to be resistant against Nitrofurantoin drug respectively. Similarly, 94% and 74% isolates from CMH and 60% and 64% isolates from AIMS were found to be resistant against Co-trimoxazole and Coamoxiclave, respectively. Pipemedic acid resistance was also detected in 76% and 60% isolates from AIMS and CMH, respectively. Ciprofloxacin resistance was also observed in 54% and 36% isolates from AIMS and CMH, respectively. The finding of the study revealed that both hospitals have different drug susceptibility pattern against uropathogenic E. coli, which may be associated with patterns of drug prescription in empirical treatment of urinary tract infections. There is a vital need for appropriate development of hospital-specific antibiograms to determine appropriate empiric therapy of urinary tract infections.

Effectiveness of clobazam on perception, creativity, intelligence, selective and visual memory.

Clobazam belongs to benzodiazepine class and is preferably used against anti-epileptic disorders. However, when used in reduced doses, its ability for improving cognitive functions becomes explicitly evident. This study objectively undertook the task of using the reduced doses of clobazam for proving potentials effects on cognitive functions. The drug, clobazam was administered in "active group" which contained 15 young healthy volunteers. The "placebo group" also entailed 15 subjects and each was administered with placebo drug. The controlled group? also included 15 subjects. All these 45 young healthy subjects were subjected to tests for perceptual learning, creativity, selective memory, visual memory and intelligence. Results clearly demonstrated significant impact of clobazam at the dose of 5mg/day on perceptual learning (P=0.0380), creativity (P=0.0787), memory function (P=0.4920), visual memory (P=0.4816) and intelligence of the subject (P=0.4920). The outcomes highlighted in the studies reviled the positive effects of clobazam when used at reduced doses.

Exploratory study using proton induced X-ray emission analysis and histopathological techniques to determine the toxic burden of environmental pollutants.

The aim of this novel research was to determine the toxic burden of increased elements in water resources on the inhabitant wild animals (squirrels, turtles, bats), using particle induced x-ray emission (PIXE) and histopathological approaches. PIXE analysis of skin, muscle, lung, liver and kidney revealed significant increase in Al, Cl, Fe, Mg, Mn, Si and V. Moreover, data clearly reflect a significant (P < 0.001) deposition of toxic elements (Al, Cl, Fe and K) in the lung producing interstitial/proliferative pneumonitis, intra-alveolar hemorrhages, and thickening of alveolar capillary walls. The results obtained from the liver samples emphasized that majority of the animals were intoxicated with Cl, Mg, S, Si and V, which have produced profound deterioration and swelling of the hepatocytes. Likewise, histopathology of the kidney sections spotlighted severe nephritis and degenerative changes, which could be associated with the elevated amount of Al, Cl and Mg. This data undoubtedly provide relevant information on the heavy burden of toxic elements and their pathological outcomes in wild animals and highlight their potential risks for human exposure. Thus, the information provided is critical for developing effective strategies in dealing with health hazards associated with elemental exposures.

Ecotoxicological risks associated with tannery effluent wastewater.

The problem of water pollution acquires greater relevance in the context of a developing agrarian economy like Pakistan. Even though, the leather industry is a leading economic sector in Pakistan, there is an increasing environmental concern regarding tanneries because they produce large amounts of potentially toxic wastewater containing both trivalent and hexavalent chromium, which are equally hazardous for human population, aquaculture and agricultural activities in the area. Therefore, we defined the scope of the present study as to employ different bioassays to determine the eco-toxic potential of tannery effluent wastewater (TW) and its chromium based components, i.e., potassium dichromate (K(2)Cr(2)O(7)) and chromium sulfate Cr(2)(SO(4))(3). Particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis of TW was carried out to determine the concentration of chromium in TW and then equal concentrations of hexavalent (K(2)Cr(2)O(7)) and trivalent chromium Cr(2)(SO(4))(3) were obtained for this study. Cytotoxicity assay, artemia bioassay and phytotoxicity assay was utilized to investigate the eco-toxicological potential of different concentrations of TW, K(2)Cr(2)O(7) and Cr(2)(SO(4))(3). All the dilutions of TW, K(2)Cr(2)O(7) and Cr(2)(SO(4))(3) presented concentration dependent cytotoxic effects in these assays. The data clearly represents that among all three tested materials, different dilutions of K(2)Cr(2)O(7) caused significantly more damage (P<0.001) to vero cell, brine shrimp and germination of maize seeds. Interestingly, the overall toxicity effects of TW treated groups were subsequent to K(2)Cr(2)O(7) treated group. Based on biological evidences presented in this article, it is concluded that hexavalent chromium (K(2)Cr(2)O(7)) and TW has got significant eco-damaging potential clearly elaborating that environmental burden in district Kasur is numerous and high levels of chromium is posing a considerable risk to the human population, aquaculture and agricultural industry that can obliterate ecosystem surrounding the tanneries.

Characterization of tannery effluent wastewater by proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis to investigate their role in water pollution.

INTRODUCTION: Over the last few decades, the chromium-based tanning industry has shown rapid growth in Pakistan. However, the rules and regulations promulgated by the government are not strictly followed for processing the effluent discharge from the tanneries. Consequently, tannery effluents have become a great source of water pollution in surrounding areas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case study, characterization of tannery effluent wastewater (TW), shallow groundwater (SW), and deep groundwater (DW) samples was carried out to determine the source of water pollution in the district of Kasur, Pakistan. RESULTS: The concentrations of calcium (Ca), chlorine (Cl), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), potassium (K), Mg, sulfur (S), silicon (Si), and Sr in TW were significantly higher than SW and DW, which also exceeded the international limits. In addition, increased concentrations of major toxic elements (Cl, Cr, Fe, K, Ni, and Si) were also observed in SW, which were higher in comparison to DW. Strikingly, the concentrations of Cr and Si in various DW samples were also beyond World Health Organization (WHO) safe limit, which reinforced the trend that water pollution in the area is directly linked to the distance from the source (TW). The particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) indices also suggested that TW is a main contributory source of water-based pollution in the area, which is imposing great threat to local inhabitants due to known hazardous and carcinogenic potential of these elements. CONCLUSION: Protecting the water resources will be a formidable challenge in the study area, which requires modernization of tannery industry, thereby improving the recovery and recycling of TW. Moreover, PIXE analysis presented here as a successful tool, could serve as landmark for the contemporary research in environmental toxicology.

Artemisinins and immune system.

Artemisinins in combination with other antimalarial drugs remain the mainstay of current antimalarial armamentarium. It is interesting to note that many traditional drugs with antiprotozoal background can wield immunomodulation on the recipient's immune system in a positive or negative direction. Artemisinins also attribute immunomodulatory distensions. For instance, they demonstrate predominant immunosuppressive traits toward different immune components by particularly regulating the cellular proliferation and cytokine release, which indicates that they possess some additional mechanisms and features demanding deliberate attentions. This article reviews the data-based immunomodulatory effects of artemisinins on different immune cells including neutrophils, macrophages, splenocytes, T and B cells in conjunction with their therapeutic prospective with regard to inflammation, autoimmunity and delayed-type hypersensitivity.

Transient upregulation of GRP and its receptor critically regulate colon cancer cell motility during remodeling.

Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) is typically viewed as a growth factor in cancer. However, we have suggested that in colon cancer, GRP acts primarily as a morphogen when it and its receptor (GRP-R) are aberrantly upregulated. As such, GRP/GRP-R act(s) primarily to modulate processes contributing to the assumption or maintenance of tumor differentiation. One of the most important such processes is the ability of tumor cells to achieve directed motility in the context of tissue remodeling. Yet the cellular conditions affecting GRP/GRP-R expression, and the biochemical pathways involved in mediating its morphogenic properties, remain to be established. To study this, we evaluated the human colon cancer cell lines Caco-2 and HT-29 cells. We found that confluent cells do not express GRP/GRP-R. In contrast, disaggreation and plating at subconfluent densities results in rapid GRP/GRP-R upregulation followed by their progressive decrease as confluence is achieved. GRP/GRP-R coexpression correlated with that of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) phosphorylation of Tyr(397), Tyr(407), Tyr(861), and Tyr(925) but not Tyr(576) or Tyr(577). To more specifically evaluate the kinetics of GRP/GRP-R upregulation, we wounded confluent cell monolayers. At t = 0 h GRP/GRP-R were not expressed, yet cells immediately began migrating into the gap created by the wound. GRP/GRP-R were first detected at approximately 2 h, and maximal levels were observed at approximately 6 h postwounding. The GRP-specific antagonist [d-Phe(6)]-labeled bombesin methyl ester had no effect on cell motility before GRP-R expression. In contrast, this agent increasingly attenuated cell motility with increasing GRP-R expression such that from t = 6 h onward no further cell migration into the gap was observed. Overall, these findings indicate the existence of GRP-independent and -dependent phases of tumor cell remodeling with the latter mediating colon cancer cell motility during remodeling via FAK.