Oral health behind the bars: oral health seeking behavior among jail prisoners at central jail of Peshawar, Pakistan: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The oral health care-seeking behavior among prison inmates is an overlooked area, often leading to deteriorating general health due to the prisoners' limited awareness of oral hygiene practices. It is crucial to address this issue and understand the factors associated with oral healthcare-seeking behavior in prisons. OBJECTIVE: To assess the oral healthcare-seeking behavior of prison inmates at Central Prisoner Jail, Peshawar Pakistan and to look the factors associated with their dental care utilization. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Central Prisoner Jail, Peshawar Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan from November 2021 to April 2022. A consecutive sampling technique was used to collect data from both convicted and under-trial prisoners by using a pre-tested WHO Basic Oral Health Survey 2013 tool. Our outcome variable was "Visit to a dentist in the last 12 months (Never/Once or more than one visit). Chi-square test was used to determine univariate association with other explanatory variables while multivariable logistic regression was performed to adjust for potential confounders. RESULT: A total of 225 participants were recruited to the study with a mean (SD) age of 32.9(11.4). More than two-thirds of 200(88.9%) of the participants were males. One-third of the sample never visited the dentist75(33.3). Participants who completed college/university education and never visited the dentist in the last 12 months constituted a smaller proportion (17.6%) compared to those who visited the dentist once or more than once n = 28(82.4%, p-value = 0.003). Individuals who were using toothbrushes were most frequently visiting the dentist n = 130(72.6%=p value = 0.001) as compared to never visitors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that Participants who experienced teeth pain or discomfort had 0.42 times lower odds of visiting the dentist compared to those who did not experience any pain or discomfort [AOR 0.42 (95% CI 0.17-0.80), p = 0.04]. Similarly, Participants who do not use any denture have 4.06 times higher odds[AOR 4.06(95% CI 1.76-9.36), p = 0.001] of visiting the dentist compared to those who use a denture. CONCLUSION: Our result demonstrates that those prisoners who were experiencing tooth pain or discomfort and not using dentures were the strong predictors with lower dental visit frequency to seek oral health care.

Rosuvastatin, Perindopril and Ezetimibe loaded instant release buccal films: Development and in vitro characterization.

BACKGROUND: Rosuvastatin Calcium and Ezetimibe are used to control cholesterol level while Perindopril Erbumine is used to treat hypertension. Hepatic metabolism reduces the therapeutic effect of these drugs. OBJECTIVE: Instant release buccal films (IRBFs) could possibly be a solution to this issue. The objective of the study was to formulate IRBFs of Rosuvastatin Calcium, Perindopril Erbumine and Ezetimibe using solvent casting technique. METHODS: Polymers used to prepare IRBFs included hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC E5), PEG 400 (as plasticizer) and Tween 80 (as surfactant). Solvent casting technique was used to fabricate the films, followed by their in-vitro analysis including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared evaluation (FTIR), In-vitro dissolution, In-vitro disintegration, stability tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), folding fortitude, thickness evaluation, surface pH, tensile strength, weight variation and percentage moisture content. RESULTS: Optical microscopy as well as SEM analysis displayed that the surfaces of IRBFs were smooth with uniform mixing of ingredients. IRBFs disintegrated within 15 seconds while on dissolution they exhibited instant drug release i.e. 100% release in 2 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: The results show promising potential of IRBFs in drug delivery.

Biochemical analysis, photosynthetic gene (psbA) down-regulation, and in silico receptor prediction in weeds in response to exogenous application of phenolic acids and their analogs.

Chemical herbicides are the primary weed management tool, although several incidences of herbicide resistance have emerged, causing serious threat to agricultural sustainability. Plant derived phenolic acids with herbicidal potential provide organic and eco-friendly substitute to such harmful chemicals. In present study, phytotoxicity of two phenolic compounds, ferulic acid (FA) and gallic acid (GA), was evaluated in vitro and in vivo against three prevalent herbicide-resistant weed species (Sinapis arvensis, Lolium multiflorum and Parthenium hysterophorus). FA and GA not only suppressed the weed germination (80 to 60% respectively), but also negatively affected biochemical and photosynthetic pathway of weeds. In addition to significantly lowering the total protein and chlorophyll contents of the targeted weed species, the application of FA and GA treatments increased levels of antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation. Photosynthetic gene (psbA) expression was downregulated (10 to 30 folds) post 48 h of phenolic application. In silico analysis for receptor identification of FA and GA in psbA protein (D1) showed histidine (his-198) and threonine (thr-286) as novel receptors of FA and GA. These two receptors differ from the D1 amino acid receptors which have previously been identified (serine-264 and histidine-215) in response to PSII inhibitor herbicides. Based on its toxicity responses, structural analogs of FA were also designed. Four out of twelve analogs (0.25 mM) significantly inhibited weed germination (30 to 40%) while enhancing their oxidative stress. These results are unique which provide fundamental evidence of phytotoxicity of FA and GA and their analogs to develop cutting-edge plant based bio-herbicides formulation in future.

Bioherbicidal Activity and Metabolic Profiling of Potent Allelopathic Plant Fractions Against Major Weeds of Wheat-Way Forward to Lower the Risk of Synthetic Herbicides.

The productivity of major field crops is highly compromised due to weed infestation. Inefficient weed management practices and undue and excessive use of chemical herbicides have drastically contaminated the environment and human health, in addition to resistance development in weed species. Therefore, utilization of allelopathic plants to explore phytochemicals as potent organic alternatives to such chemical herbicides has become indispensable. The current study evaluates the comparative bio-herbicidal potential of methanolic extracts of castor (Ricinus communis), artemisia (Artemisia santolinifolia), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) to suppress growth of major weeds, i.e., wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis), Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), and carrot grass (Parthenium hysterophorus). The results demonstrated a concentration-dependent effect on weeds' growth. Overall, in vitro seed germination was reduced from 60 to 100% in response to 5% (w/v) extract concentration. Significant reduction in radicle length, hypocotyl length, and fresh biomass of the weeds was also observed. A strong inhibitory effect was seen in in vivo pot experiments, revealing that application of 10-20% methanolic extracts induced permanent wilting and substantial reduction in the chlorophyll content of weeds along with 20-80% increase in oxidative stress. Artemisia showed the most significant allelopathic effect, on account of highest phenolic and flavonoid contents, followed by castor, wheat, and sorghum, against S. arvensis, L. multiflorum, and P. hysterophorus, respectively. Phytochemical analysis, through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), also exhibited a correlation between extract's phytotoxicity and their antioxidant potential due to their major constituents (rutin, quercetin, catechin, gallic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid, ferulic acid, p-hydroxy benzoic acid, p-coumaric acid, and sinapic acid), among the total of 13 identified in methanolic fractions. Comprehensive profiling of allelochemicals with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) determined 120, 113, 90, and 50 derivates of phenolic acids, flavonoids, and alkaloids, reported for the first time through this study, demonstrating significant allelopathic potential of the targeted plant fractions, which can be explored further to develop a sustainable bio-herbicidal formulation.

Detection of human papillomavirus-16 DNA in archived clinical samples of breast and lung cancer patients from North Pakistan.

PURPOSE: Over the past few decades, human papillomavirus (HPV) has been recorded as a key player in the development of various genital cancers, most notably cervical cancer. It has also been associated with some non-genital cancers. A subset of oropharyngeal cancers are known to be caused by HPV. Its aetiological involvement has been suggested for breast and lung cancer as well. However, reports regarding the HPV DNA detection vary widely from different parts of the world. Due to scarcity of local data in this regard, the current study aimed at retrospective detection of HPV presence in the archival samples of breast and lung cancer patients from north part of the country. METHODS: A total of 55 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections of invasive ductal carcinoma of breast (n = 46) and lung (n = 9) were collected for this study. Genotyping for HPV16 and 18 was carried out through PCR. RESULTS: HPV16 DNA was found in both breast and lung carcinoma samples with the prevalence rate of 17 and 11 %, respectively. An interesting association was found between ER/PR (Oestrogen/Progesterone receptor) and HER2/Neu (Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2) positivity with HPV occurrence in breast tumours. CONCLUSION: Current study shows the presence of HPV16 DNA in archived clinical biopsy sections from breast and lung cancers (17, 11 %), respectively. A positive correlation of HPV16 presence was found with ER/PR and HER2-positive breast cancers. These initial findings warrant further investigation in order to determine HPV prevalence and aetiological role in local cancers, especially in ER/PR/HER2-positive breast cancers on a larger scale.

Retrospective analysis of HPV 16/18-related disease burden using archival clinical samples.

PURPOSE: Estimation of HPV-related disease burden lies at the core of effective disease management. HPV testing is heavily reliant on its retrospective detection in archival clinical cancer samples, especially in parts of the world where HPV screening is not routinely practiced. During the last decade, valuable insights were gained through regional reports based on occasional screening of cervical smears or biopsy sections for the presence of high-risk HPV. HPV 16 and 18 were found to be predominant high-risk HPV subtypes with some regional differences and incidences of co-infections, detected mostly through PCR-based methods. In cases of multiple infections, the presence of viral DNA may not signify its etiologic involvement. The current study, therefore, combines PCR-based detection method with the immunohistochemical (IHC) detection of early viral protein E6 expression, in order to obtain a reliable read out for the disease causing viral subtype, especially in cases of co-infections with oncogenic subtypes other than HPV 16 and 18. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and PCR-based methods are routinely used laboratory techniques in local hospitals. The concordance between IHC and PCR-based analyses may be useful for determining effective method for the retrospective testing of HPV 16 and 18 disease-related burden. METHODS: A total of 49 paraffin-embedded cervical cancer biopsy sections representing patients from the northwest region of the country were collected from the tertiary care hospital for this study. Genotyping for HPV 16 and 18 was carried out through PCR. The HPV 16/18 E6 protein expression was evaluated by IHC and was compared with the clinicopathological features of cervical cancer. RESULTS: Molecular analysis of 33 (67 %), E6-expressing paraffin-embedded cervical cancer biopsy sections revealed the presence of HPV 16 (n = 23; 47 %), HPV 18 (n = 6; 12 %) and co-infection (n = 4; 8 %) in 49 tumors through PCR. Despite the PCR-based detection of viral DNA in 37 cervical cancer samples, IHC analysis of E6 expression revealed the etiological involvement of HPV 16/18 in 33 out of 37 cervical cancer samples. Overall, there was 85 % concordance in the results of the two techniques. CONCLUSION: IHC analysis provides more conclusive evidence regarding the etiological involvement of the viral subtypes, especially in the presence of multiple infections. About two-thirds (67 %) of cervical cancer samples were found to be caused due to HPV 16/18. Latent occurrence of HPV 16 and 18 is suggested in less than 10 % cervical cancer samples which were found to harbor viral DNA without E6 expression. Furthermore, E6 expression was found to be significantly correlated with the tumor grade.