Adriana Isabel Márquez, Eduardo Mora, Andrés Felipe Bernal, Andrés Felipe Salazar, Diana Patricia Mora, Ledmar Jovanny Vargas
Nocardiosis is a disease with worldwide distribution. It is usually found in tropical areas and mainly affects immunocompromised patients, however, there are also cases where its infection has been reported in immunocompetent patients. This pathology is caused by bacteria known as Nocardia spp., which are gram-positive microorganisms and environmental saprophytes, and although exposure to Nocardia spp. is almost universal, only a small fraction of exposed people develops the disease. We present the case of a 47-year-old man, with no evidence of immunosuppression, from a rural area of Boyacá, who was admitted due to intense and intermittent headache accompanied by paresthesia and, finally, a decrease in consciousness. A brain magnetic resonance was performed and evidenced a fronto-temporo- occipital space-occupying lesion in the cortico-subcortical region with a compressive effect and displacement of the ventricular system cavities. It was suspected at first a neoplastic lesion or a brain abscess. The lesion was surgically resected, and its culture showed Nocardia africana/nova. In later studies a possible primary pulmonary focus was evidenced. Alcoholism was the only risk factor documented. The patient completed 6 weeks of hospital antibiotic treatment with favorable clinical and radiological evolution and was discharged with a 1-year plan of outpatient antibiotic therapy. Although Nocardia spp. mainly affects immunocompromised patients, evidence shows that this microorganism can also be a threat to individuals without traditional immunosuppression risk factors.
{"title":"Pulmonary and central nervous system nocardiosis: Alcoholism as an immunocompromising factor","authors":"Adriana Isabel Márquez, Eduardo Mora, Andrés Felipe Bernal, Andrés Felipe Salazar, Diana Patricia Mora, Ledmar Jovanny Vargas","doi":"10.7705/biomedica.6606","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7705/biomedica.6606","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nocardiosis is a disease with worldwide distribution. It is usually found in tropical areas and mainly affects immunocompromised patients, however, there are also cases where its infection has been reported in immunocompetent patients. This pathology is caused by bacteria known as Nocardia spp., which are gram-positive microorganisms and environmental saprophytes, and although exposure to Nocardia spp. is almost universal, only a small fraction of exposed people develops the disease.\u0000We present the case of a 47-year-old man, with no evidence of immunosuppression, from a rural area of Boyacá, who was admitted due to intense and intermittent headache accompanied by paresthesia and, finally, a decrease in consciousness. A brain magnetic resonance was performed and evidenced a fronto-temporo- occipital space-occupying lesion in the cortico-subcortical region with a compressive effect and displacement of the ventricular system cavities. It was suspected at first a neoplastic lesion or a brain abscess.\u0000The lesion was surgically resected, and its culture showed Nocardia africana/nova. In later studies a possible primary pulmonary focus was evidenced. Alcoholism was the only risk factor documented. The patient completed 6 weeks of hospital antibiotic treatment with favorable clinical and radiological evolution and was discharged with a 1-year plan of outpatient antibiotic therapy. Although Nocardia spp. mainly affects immunocompromised patients, evidence shows that this microorganism can also be a threat to individuals without traditional immunosuppression risk factors.</p>","PeriodicalId":9186,"journal":{"name":"Biomedica","volume":"43 1","pages":"37-43"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10476646/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10157060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-26DOI: 10.24911/biomedica/5-869
Rajabzadeh Asghar, J. Saleem, Muhammad Ishaq
Recruitment of adequate number of healthy volunteers is vital for success of clinical trials but there is limited research on factors motivating the healthy volunteers to participate in clinical trials especially in developing countries. Pakistani researchers also faced the problems in enrollment of enough healthy volunteers during COVID-19 pandemic when a number of clinical trials began in Pakistan. Around 117 research proposals were processed by the National Bioethics Committee (NBC) of Pakistan in last two years. A major proportion of these clinical research studies target healthy populations as primary research subjects or as controls. Numerous studies have investigated factors such as motives, barriers, risks. benefits and ethical values affecting recruitment and participation of healthy volunteers in clinical trials. We have reviewed the literature to learn about factors that motivate or prevent the healthy persons to volunteer along with the pertaining ethical issues. Financial incentive is the principal motive for healthy volunteers to participate in clinical trials along with altruism, contribution to sciences, research and other people’s health, desire to take part in something important, learning more about science and medicine, access to healthcare & free medical checkup and prospects of one’s social network expansion whereas time inconvenience, confidentiality, possible side effects & route of administration of drug and fear of contacting the disease were identified as important barriers. Application of knowledge of these motives and barriers will help Pakistani researchers to enroll adequate number of healthy volunteer for their clinical trials.
{"title":"Participation of Healthy Volunteers in Clinical Trials – Motives, Barriers and Ethical Issues","authors":"Rajabzadeh Asghar, J. Saleem, Muhammad Ishaq","doi":"10.24911/biomedica/5-869","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24911/biomedica/5-869","url":null,"abstract":"Recruitment of adequate number of healthy volunteers is vital for success of clinical trials but there is limited research on factors motivating the healthy volunteers to participate in clinical trials especially in developing countries. Pakistani researchers also faced the problems in enrollment of enough healthy volunteers during COVID-19 pandemic when a number of clinical trials began in Pakistan. Around 117 research proposals were processed by the National Bioethics Committee (NBC) of Pakistan in last two years. A major proportion of these clinical research studies target healthy populations as primary research subjects or as controls. \u0000Numerous studies have investigated factors such as motives, barriers, risks. benefits and ethical values affecting recruitment and participation of healthy volunteers in clinical trials. We have reviewed the literature to learn about factors that motivate or prevent the healthy persons to volunteer along with the pertaining ethical issues. \u0000Financial incentive is the principal motive for healthy volunteers to participate in clinical trials along with altruism, contribution to sciences, research and other people’s health, desire to take part in something important, learning more about science and medicine, access to healthcare & free medical checkup and prospects of one’s social network expansion whereas time inconvenience, confidentiality, possible side effects & route of administration of drug and fear of contacting the disease were identified as important barriers. \u0000Application of knowledge of these motives and barriers will help Pakistani researchers to enroll adequate number of healthy volunteer for their clinical trials.","PeriodicalId":9186,"journal":{"name":"Biomedica","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79931927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-26DOI: 10.24911/biomedica/5-846
T. Mazhar, Saba Riaz, Sumbal Riaz, A. Batool, Awishbah Khan, Sadia Khan
Background and Objective: Manual therapy is a treatment approach by physical therapists where different techniques are applied to patients with hands for rehabilitation purposes. The objective of the study was to find the frequency of De’Quervain tenosynovitis and thumb and wrist pain in physical therapists working in different rehabilitation centers in relation to age, body mass index (BMI), and working hours. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 135 physical therapists working in different settings in Lahore, Pakistan. Physiotherapists were enrolled by convenience sampling. Data were recorded on a questionnaire form. Finkelstein test was performed to check De Quervain’s tenosynovitis. A numeric pain rating scale was sued to measure pain. The data were tested for significance using statistical tests. Results: On the dominant hand, 99 (73.3%) physical therapists had no wrist pain, 104 (77%) had no thumb pain, 28 (20.7%) had mild wrist pain and 20 (14.8%) had mild thumb pain. Only 21 (15.6%) physiotherapists were tested positive for Finkelstein (De Quervain’s tenosynovitis). Finkelstein test reported 100% negative result on the non-dominant side. There is a negative correlation between thumb pain with the age (r = -0.005), BMI (r = -0.110) and working hours (r = -0.033) of the physical therapists. Conclusion: The study concluded that the prevalence of De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, thumb, and wrist pain was more on the dominant hand than on the non-dominant side. The majority of the physical therapists reported mild to no pain in the wrist and thumb. There is a negative correlation of thumb pain with age, BMI and working hours.
{"title":"De Quervain’s tenosynovitis and thumb pain in physiotherapists practicing manual therapy: prevalence and associated factors","authors":"T. Mazhar, Saba Riaz, Sumbal Riaz, A. Batool, Awishbah Khan, Sadia Khan","doi":"10.24911/biomedica/5-846","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24911/biomedica/5-846","url":null,"abstract":"Background and Objective: Manual therapy is a treatment approach by physical therapists where different techniques are applied to patients with hands for rehabilitation purposes. The objective of the study was to find the frequency of De’Quervain tenosynovitis and thumb and wrist pain in physical therapists working in different rehabilitation centers in relation to age, body mass index (BMI), and working hours. \u0000Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 135 physical therapists working in different settings in Lahore, Pakistan. Physiotherapists were enrolled by convenience sampling. Data were recorded on a questionnaire form. Finkelstein test was performed to check De Quervain’s tenosynovitis. A numeric pain rating scale was sued to measure pain. The data were tested for significance using statistical tests. \u0000Results: On the dominant hand, 99 (73.3%) physical therapists had no wrist pain, 104 (77%) had no thumb pain, 28 (20.7%) had mild wrist pain and 20 (14.8%) had mild thumb pain. Only 21 (15.6%) physiotherapists were tested positive for Finkelstein (De Quervain’s tenosynovitis). Finkelstein test reported 100% negative result on the non-dominant side. There is a negative correlation between thumb pain with the age (r = -0.005), BMI (r = -0.110) and working hours (r = -0.033) of the physical therapists. \u0000Conclusion: The study concluded that the prevalence of De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, thumb, and wrist pain was more on the dominant hand than on the non-dominant side. The majority of the physical therapists reported mild to no pain in the wrist and thumb. There is a negative correlation of thumb pain with age, BMI and working hours. \u0000 ","PeriodicalId":9186,"journal":{"name":"Biomedica","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79778274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-26DOI: 10.24911/biomedica/5-880
Margaret Hassan, Iffat Batool, Hasan Mujtaba, M. Javaid, Uzma Abid
Background and Objective: The contagious and invasive nature has made coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) a critical health issue for the community. The lower respiratory tract is the major site of inflammation seen in COVID-19-positive individuals. Vitamin D (Vit D) has been proposed to have a positive role in immunomodulation, hence, this study aimed to determine the association between Vit D levels and the severity of COVID-19 in infected pediatric patients presenting at a secondary healthcare hospital in Pakistan. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 100 pediatric patients of the age range 1-18 years from March to December 2021. These patients were hospitalized and diagnosed with coronavirus disease with confirmed results on a real‐time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Blood samples of the patients were taken to monitor the baseline levels of markers of acute infection and Vit D levels. Patients with serum Vit D levels ≤ 20ng/ml were labeled with deficiency, those with levels 21-29ng/ml were presumed to have Vit D insufficiency whereas levels ≥30 ng/ml were considered normal. Results: There were 57 (57%) males and 43 (43%) female pediatric patients. The mean age of the patients was 10.46 ± 4.25 years (1-18 years). The deficient Vit D level group had a greater frequency of pyrexia, weakness, cough, anosmia, headache, myalgia, and diarrhea. The levels of Vit D and severity of the disease were significantly associated (p-value = 0.027). Conclusion: Pediatric patients with COVID-19 having optimum levels of Vit D were less likely to develop complications associated with the severity of the disease.
{"title":"Vitamin D levels have a potential role in predicting the disease severity in COVID-19 positive pediatric patients","authors":"Margaret Hassan, Iffat Batool, Hasan Mujtaba, M. Javaid, Uzma Abid","doi":"10.24911/biomedica/5-880","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24911/biomedica/5-880","url":null,"abstract":"Background and Objective: The contagious and invasive nature has made coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) a critical health issue for the community. The lower respiratory tract is the major site of inflammation seen in COVID-19-positive individuals. Vitamin D (Vit D) has been proposed to have a positive role in immunomodulation, hence, this study aimed to determine the association between Vit D levels and the severity of COVID-19 in infected pediatric patients presenting at a secondary healthcare hospital in Pakistan. \u0000Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 100 pediatric patients of the age range 1-18 years from March to December 2021. These patients were hospitalized and diagnosed with coronavirus disease with confirmed results on a real‐time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Blood samples of the patients were taken to monitor the baseline levels of markers of acute infection and Vit D levels. Patients with serum Vit D levels ≤ 20ng/ml were labeled with deficiency, those with levels 21-29ng/ml were presumed to have Vit D insufficiency whereas levels ≥30 ng/ml were considered normal. \u0000Results: There were 57 (57%) males and 43 (43%) female pediatric patients. The mean age of the patients was 10.46 ± 4.25 years (1-18 years). The deficient Vit D level group had a greater frequency of pyrexia, weakness, cough, anosmia, headache, myalgia, and diarrhea. The levels of Vit D and severity of the disease were significantly associated (p-value = 0.027). \u0000Conclusion: Pediatric patients with COVID-19 having optimum levels of Vit D were less likely to develop complications associated with the severity of the disease.","PeriodicalId":9186,"journal":{"name":"Biomedica","volume":"60 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73343000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-26DOI: 10.24911/biomedica/5-841
A. H. Siddiqui, S. Chiragh, M. Malik
ABSTRACT Background and Objective: A global increase in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Oxidative stress is a fundamental component in the pathogenesis of DM Ajwa dates are known to have a high antioxidant content, especially in their seeds. Hence this study was designed to determine the preventive effects of Ajwa date fruit on alloxan-induced diabetes in an experimental rat model. Methods: This experimental study was conducted at the Post Graduate Medical Institute, Lahore, Pakistan. A total of forty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups with eight animals in each. Rats in group A were normal control, whereas rats in group B were induced with intraperitoneal alloxan (160 mg/kg body weight) to develop diabetes. Groups C, D, and E rats were fed on a diet supplemented with Ajwa flesh, seed, and whole Ajwa respectively for 1 week. Blood and urine glucose levels were measured on days 0, 7 (pre-alloxan) and 11, 14, 19 (post-alloxan). Serum insulin, homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) for β-cell function (HOMA-β), and insulin resistance (HOMA[1]IR) were estimated terminally. Results: Diabetes was induced successfully in animals of all experimental groups except the normal control group. Rats of the Ajwa-seed group (D) showed relative resistance to diabetes induction with three non-diabetic rats on day 19. In group E, rats had lower blood sugar levels than rats in group C (p = 0.010). Serum insulin, HOMA-β and HOMA-IR, revealed partial beta cells restoration in the experimental animals of groups D and C. Insulin resistance was significantly higher, despite the highest insulin level (3.77 µIU/ml; p value <0.001) in group C. Conclusion: Ajwa date seed powder appears to provide relative protection against the development of diabetes in rats induced by alloxan.
{"title":"Pretreatment with Ajwa dates (Phoenix dactylifera Linn) prevents development of alloxan-induced diabetes in rats","authors":"A. H. Siddiqui, S. Chiragh, M. Malik","doi":"10.24911/biomedica/5-841","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24911/biomedica/5-841","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT \u0000Background and Objective: A global increase in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Oxidative stress is a fundamental component in the pathogenesis of DM Ajwa dates are known to have a high antioxidant content, especially in their seeds. Hence this study was designed to determine the preventive effects of Ajwa date fruit on alloxan-induced diabetes in an experimental rat model. \u0000Methods: This experimental study was conducted at the Post Graduate Medical Institute, Lahore, Pakistan. A total of forty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups with eight animals in each. Rats in group A were normal control, whereas rats in group B were induced with intraperitoneal alloxan (160 mg/kg body weight) to develop diabetes. Groups C, D, and E rats were fed on a diet supplemented with Ajwa flesh, seed, and whole Ajwa respectively for 1 week. Blood and urine glucose levels were measured on days 0, 7 (pre-alloxan) and 11, 14, 19 (post-alloxan). Serum insulin, homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) for β-cell function (HOMA-β), and insulin resistance (HOMA[1]IR) were estimated terminally. \u0000Results: Diabetes was induced successfully in animals of all experimental groups except the normal control group. Rats of the Ajwa-seed group (D) showed relative resistance to diabetes induction with three non-diabetic rats on day 19. In group E, rats had lower blood sugar levels than rats in group C (p = 0.010). Serum insulin, HOMA-β and HOMA-IR, revealed partial beta cells restoration in the experimental animals of groups D and C. Insulin resistance was significantly higher, despite the highest insulin level (3.77 µIU/ml; p value <0.001) in group C. \u0000Conclusion: Ajwa date seed powder appears to provide relative protection against the development of diabetes in rats induced by alloxan.","PeriodicalId":9186,"journal":{"name":"Biomedica","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87023161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-26DOI: 10.24911/biomedica/5-802
Tauqeer Nazim, Sarfraz Ahmad, K. Hamid, Z. Bhatti, Muhammad Maaz Arif, S. Khalid, D. Mohsin
Background and Objective: Plastic surgeons face challenging conditions when dealing with soft tissue injuries or defects involving the lower part of the leg and the proximal part of the foot. The objective of the current study is to compare single-staged reverse sural artery flaps with two-staged interpolated flaps in distal lower limb injuries. Methods: It was a prospective study carried out at the Department of Plastic Surgery, Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital, Sialkot, Pakistan, over 5 years from 2015 to 2020. Sixty-eight (n = 68) patients with distal lower limb soft-tissue defects were enrolled and randomly allotted a two-stage interpolated flap design (group A) or single-stage reverse sural artery flap design (group B). The measured outcomes included the frequency of flap-tip necrosis, epidermolysis, partial or total flap loss, and additional procedures needed for managing these complications. Results: Out of all the patients, 72% were of male gender and 28% were females with a mean age of 38.38 ± 10.76 years. In group A, there were 6% of the cases where tip necrosis was the only impediment as compared to 17% in group B. In patients of group A, epidermolysis was seen in 12% as compared to 35% in group B whereas only 6% of patients in group A required secondary procedures for flap tip necrosis as compared to group B (47%). Paired t-test was used to calculate the statistical significance of the outcome between the two groups (p-value of 0.0491). Conclusion: The two-staged interpolated flap procedure results in fewer complications as compared to a single-staged reverse sural artery flap procedure. However, the shorter hospital stay in single-staged flap design is satisfying for the patients who did not report any complications with this procedure.
{"title":"Comparison of single-stage reverse sural artery flap versus two-staged interpolated flap in distal lower limb injuries","authors":"Tauqeer Nazim, Sarfraz Ahmad, K. Hamid, Z. Bhatti, Muhammad Maaz Arif, S. Khalid, D. Mohsin","doi":"10.24911/biomedica/5-802","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24911/biomedica/5-802","url":null,"abstract":"Background and Objective: Plastic surgeons face challenging conditions when dealing with soft tissue injuries or defects involving the lower part of the leg and the proximal part of the foot. The objective of the current study is to compare single-staged reverse sural artery flaps with two-staged interpolated flaps in distal lower limb injuries. \u0000Methods: It was a prospective study carried out at the Department of Plastic Surgery, Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital, Sialkot, Pakistan, over 5 years from 2015 to 2020. Sixty-eight (n = 68) patients with distal lower limb soft-tissue defects were enrolled and randomly allotted a two-stage interpolated flap design (group A) or single-stage reverse sural artery flap design (group B). The measured outcomes included the frequency of flap-tip necrosis, epidermolysis, partial or total flap loss, and additional procedures needed for managing these complications. \u0000Results: Out of all the patients, 72% were of male gender and 28% were females with a mean age of 38.38 ± 10.76 years. In group A, there were 6% of the cases where tip necrosis was the only impediment as compared to 17% in group B. In patients of group A, epidermolysis was seen in 12% as compared to 35% in group B whereas only 6% of patients in group A required secondary procedures for flap tip necrosis as compared to group B (47%). Paired t-test was used to calculate the statistical significance of the outcome between the two groups (p-value of 0.0491). \u0000Conclusion: The two-staged interpolated flap procedure results in fewer complications as compared to a single-staged reverse sural artery flap procedure. However, the shorter hospital stay in single-staged flap design is satisfying for the patients who did not report any complications with this procedure.","PeriodicalId":9186,"journal":{"name":"Biomedica","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82167077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-26DOI: 10.24911/biomedica/5-835
Syed Rizvan Ali, Sumra Batool, S. Khaliq
Background and Objective: Dengue fever (DF) has been a major health concern globally. Pakistan is also combating this infection for the last decade. Cytokine genes play an important role in DF pathogenesis. This study aimed to analyze dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) genes promoter polymorphisms in DF patients. Methods: A total of 140 (n = 140) dDF patients were recruited for study at the Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology of University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan over a period of 3 years. Simple DF was noted in 105 patients (75%) while 35 (25%) showed bleeding complications. All patients were found positive for dengue non-structural protein or dengue IgM. All patients were tested for two polymorphisms in TNF-α (-238G/A, and -308G/A) and one polymorphism in DC-SIGN (-336G/A) using restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. A single nucleotide polymorphism stats program was used for statistical analysis. Results: Susceptibility to develop dengue infection in the presence of -336G allele odds ratio (OR = 27.95, p = <0.0001) and GG genotype (OR = 183.77, p = <0.0001) was found to be significantly associated in this study. Presence of a combination of alleles -336G/-238A/-308A was noted in 59.4% of DF cases and 7.6% healthy controls, a difference with statistical significance (OR = 31.46, p = <0.0001). Moreover, prevalence of DF symptoms showed a trend higher in G-carriers versus non-G-carriers of DC-SIGN -336 polymorphism. Conclusion: This work suggests a potential association of DC-SIGN -336 polymorphism with susceptibility to develop symptomatic dengue illness. However, no potential association was found between TNF-α promoter polymorphisms and dengue infection in this study.
背景和目的:登革热(DF)一直是全球主要的健康问题。巴基斯坦在过去十年中也在与这种感染作斗争。细胞因子基因在DF发病中起重要作用。本研究旨在分析DF患者树突状细胞特异性细胞间粘附分子-3捕获非整合素(DC-SIGN)和肿瘤坏死因子α (TNF-α)基因启动子多态性。方法:在巴基斯坦拉合尔健康科学大学人类遗传学和分子生物学学系招募了140例(n = 140) dDF患者,为期3年。单纯DF 105例(75%),出血并发症35例(25%)。所有患者均呈登革热非结构蛋白或登革热IgM阳性。使用限制性片段长度多态性技术检测所有患者TNF-α (-238G/A和-308G/A)的两个多态性和DC-SIGN (-336G/A)的一个多态性。采用单核苷酸多态性统计程序进行统计分析。结果:本研究发现-336G等位基因优势比(OR = 27.95, p = <0.0001)和GG基因型(OR = 183.77, p = <0.0001)与登革热感染易感性显著相关。DF病例中-336G/-238A/-308A等位基因组合的存在率为59.4%,健康对照为7.6%,差异有统计学意义(OR = 31.46, p = <0.0001)。此外,DC-SIGN -336多态性的g -携带者与非g -携带者相比,DF症状的患病率有更高的趋势。结论:本研究提示DC-SIGN -336多态性与出现症状性登革热疾病的易感性可能存在关联。然而,在本研究中没有发现TNF-α启动子多态性与登革热感染之间的潜在关联。
{"title":"Investigation of TNF-α and DC-SIGN promoter polymorphisms in patients with dengue fever in Lahore city of Pakistan","authors":"Syed Rizvan Ali, Sumra Batool, S. Khaliq","doi":"10.24911/biomedica/5-835","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24911/biomedica/5-835","url":null,"abstract":"Background and Objective: Dengue fever (DF) has been a major health concern globally. Pakistan is also combating this infection for the last decade. Cytokine genes play an important role in DF pathogenesis. This study aimed to analyze dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) genes promoter polymorphisms in DF patients. \u0000Methods: A total of 140 (n = 140) dDF patients were recruited for study at the Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology of University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan over a period of 3 years. Simple DF was noted in 105 patients (75%) while 35 (25%) showed bleeding complications. All patients were found positive for dengue non-structural protein or dengue IgM. All patients were tested for two polymorphisms in TNF-α (-238G/A, and -308G/A) and one polymorphism in DC-SIGN (-336G/A) using restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. A single nucleotide polymorphism stats program was used for statistical analysis. \u0000Results: Susceptibility to develop dengue infection in the presence of -336G allele odds ratio (OR = 27.95, p = <0.0001) and GG genotype (OR = 183.77, p = <0.0001) was found to be significantly associated in this study. Presence of a combination of alleles -336G/-238A/-308A was noted in 59.4% of DF cases and 7.6% healthy controls, a difference with statistical significance (OR = 31.46, p = <0.0001). Moreover, prevalence of DF symptoms showed a trend higher in G-carriers versus non-G-carriers of DC-SIGN -336 polymorphism. \u0000Conclusion: This work suggests a potential association of DC-SIGN -336 polymorphism with susceptibility to develop symptomatic dengue illness. However, no potential association was found between TNF-α promoter polymorphisms and dengue infection in this study.","PeriodicalId":9186,"journal":{"name":"Biomedica","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88180115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-26DOI: 10.24911/biomedica/5-683
Taskeen Zahra, Ayesha Parvez, Hamzah Ahmad, Hassiba Ifftikhar, F. Mushtaq, S. Ayub
Background and Objectives: Poliomyelitis still remains a significant public health concern in developing countries though it has been eradicated from most of the world. Illiteracy, cultural constraints, and skepticism of the general public regarding vaccination are considered major impediments to its successful eradication from developing countries. In this study, the authors aimed to evaluate parental knowledge and attitudes about poliomyelitis and its immunization in a local population as well as to elucidate the determinants and barriers relating to the immunization process. Methods: This mixed-method study was conducted on 350 consenting parents who accompanied their children under 5 years of age at the pediatric outdoors of a tertiary care hospital in Sialkot, Pakistan. Parents of only those children were included for the study who had failed to receive a polio dose during the last two supplementary immunization activities The parents were interviewed on a pre-tested, semi structured questionnaire. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used for statistical analysis considering p-value <0.05 as significant. Results: Among 350 parents, 91.7% lacked knowledge about polio vaccination and 82% reported a negative attitude towards the disease and its immunization. A total of 11.4% of subjects completely refused to get their child vaccinated. The socioeconomic status, religious myths, level of literacy, and occupation of the parents significantly influenced their level of knowledge and attitude toward the disease and its vaccination (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Poor knowledge and negative attitudes of parents towards poliomyelitis vaccination were observed. Fear of side effects and religious beliefs were identified as the most common barriers to immunization toward achieving polio eradication.
背景和目标:尽管脊髓灰质炎已在世界大部分地区根除,但它仍然是发展中国家一个重大的公共卫生问题。文盲、文化限制和公众对疫苗接种的怀疑被认为是在发展中国家成功根除该病的主要障碍。在这项研究中,作者旨在评估当地人群中父母对脊髓灰质炎及其免疫的知识和态度,并阐明与免疫过程有关的决定因素和障碍。方法:这项混合方法研究对350名父母进行了研究,这些父母陪同他们的5岁以下的孩子在巴基斯坦锡亚尔科特的一家三级护理医院的儿科户外进行。只有那些在最近两次补充免疫活动中未能接种脊髓灰质炎疫苗的儿童的父母才被纳入研究。父母们接受了一份预先测试的半结构化问卷调查。采用Statistical Package for the Social Sciences进行统计分析,p值<0.05为显著性。结果:在350名家长中,91.7%的家长对脊髓灰质炎疫苗接种缺乏了解,82%的家长对脊髓灰质炎及其免疫接种持否定态度。总共有11.4%的受试者完全拒绝让他们的孩子接种疫苗。父母的社会经济地位、宗教神话、文化水平和职业显著影响其对该病及其疫苗接种的知识水平和态度(p < 0.05)。结论:儿童家长对小儿麻痹症疫苗接种知识贫乏,态度消极。对副作用的恐惧和宗教信仰被确定为实现根除脊髓灰质炎的免疫接种的最常见障碍。
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Pub Date : 2023-01-30DOI: 10.5377/alerta.v6i1.15610
Luis Arévalo Gutiérrez
La ecografía es una herramienta segura, portátil, económica y de fácil acceso. Los médicos anestesiólogos pueden beneficiarse con esta herramienta diagnóstica rápida y precisa en su práctica habitual. Existen múltiples áreas potenciales donde la ecografía desempeña un papel importante, para la orientación de intervenciones a ciegas e invasivas, el diagnóstico de condiciones críticas y la evaluación de posibles variaciones anatómicas que pueden conducir a la modificación del plan anestésico. Esta revisión narrativa describe las principales aplicaciones de la ecografía en anestesia, las técnicas ecoguiadas y las tendencias actuales del manejo anestésico perioperatorio del paciente quirúrgico. Se realizó una búsqueda en las bases de datos PubMed y Cochrane, se incluyeron artículos originales, estudios aleatorizados y de revisión, en español y en inglés, publicados entre 2017-2021. El uso de ecografía ha entrado en el campo de la medicina del dolor, anestesia regional y del intervencionismo analgésico durante la última década, e incluso es el estándar de la práctica, por tanto, la capacitación y un adecuado aprendizaje en la ecografía deben ser parte del plan de estudios de cualquier programa de anestesiología.
{"title":"Aplicaciones actuales de la ultrasonografía en anestesia","authors":"Luis Arévalo Gutiérrez","doi":"10.5377/alerta.v6i1.15610","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5377/alerta.v6i1.15610","url":null,"abstract":"La ecografía es una herramienta segura, portátil, económica y de fácil acceso. Los médicos anestesiólogos pueden beneficiarse con esta herramienta diagnóstica rápida y precisa en su práctica habitual. Existen múltiples áreas potenciales donde la ecografía desempeña un papel importante, para la orientación de intervenciones a ciegas e invasivas, el diagnóstico de condiciones críticas y la evaluación de posibles variaciones anatómicas que pueden conducir a la modificación del plan anestésico. Esta revisión narrativa describe las principales aplicaciones de la ecografía en anestesia, las técnicas ecoguiadas y las tendencias actuales del manejo anestésico perioperatorio del paciente quirúrgico. Se realizó una búsqueda en las bases de datos PubMed y Cochrane, se incluyeron artículos originales, estudios aleatorizados y de revisión, en español y en inglés, publicados entre 2017-2021. El uso de ecografía ha entrado en el campo de la medicina del dolor, anestesia regional y del intervencionismo analgésico durante la última década, e incluso es el estándar de la práctica, por tanto, la capacitación y un adecuado aprendizaje en la ecografía deben ser parte del plan de estudios de cualquier programa de anestesiología.","PeriodicalId":9186,"journal":{"name":"Biomedica","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81016196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-30DOI: 10.5377/alerta.v6i1.15468
Xochitl Sandoval López
La revista Alerta del Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS) de la República de El Salvador, es más que en un medio digital para la divulgación del conocimiento científico en salud, en la actualidad es un proyecto de país, que promueve la investigación y la cultura de publicación. Con esta decimosegunda edición, que corresponde al volumen seis, número uno del 2023, inicia su sexto año de vida.Desde el año 2018, la revista dio sus primeros pasos y se prepararon condiciones para cumplir con las normas internacionales y buenas prácticas de publicación, mediante la elaboración de la norma técnica, el manual de procedimientos y el manual de estilo, documentos fundamentales para su publicación, que a la fecha se han actualizado varias veces, producto de su evolución y desarrollo.No menos importante es el interés y la colaboración de reconocidos investigadores nacionales e internacionales que fueron o siguen siendo parte del comité científico y comité editorial, que poco a poco se ha ido internacionalizando, en busca de ampliar su visión e impacto.
{"title":"Seis años de allanar brechas para la indexación","authors":"Xochitl Sandoval López","doi":"10.5377/alerta.v6i1.15468","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5377/alerta.v6i1.15468","url":null,"abstract":"La revista Alerta del Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS) de la República de El Salvador, es más que en un medio digital para la divulgación del conocimiento científico en salud, en la actualidad es un proyecto de país, que promueve la investigación y la cultura de publicación. Con esta decimosegunda edición, que corresponde al volumen seis, número uno del 2023, inicia su sexto año de vida.Desde el año 2018, la revista dio sus primeros pasos y se prepararon condiciones para cumplir con las normas internacionales y buenas prácticas de publicación, mediante la elaboración de la norma técnica, el manual de procedimientos y el manual de estilo, documentos fundamentales para su publicación, que a la fecha se han actualizado varias veces, producto de su evolución y desarrollo.No menos importante es el interés y la colaboración de reconocidos investigadores nacionales e internacionales que fueron o siguen siendo parte del comité científico y comité editorial, que poco a poco se ha ido internacionalizando, en busca de ampliar su visión e impacto.","PeriodicalId":9186,"journal":{"name":"Biomedica","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81192233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}