Exploring the neurotoxic effects of microbial metabolites: A potential link between p-Cresol and autism spectrum disorders?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a complex etiology, including genetic and environmental factors. A growing body of evidence (preclinical and clinical studies) implicates a potential role of gut microbiome dysregulation in ASD pathophysiology. This review focuses on the microbial metabolite p-Cresol, produced by certain gut bacteria such as Clostridium, and its potential role in ASD.

Genome-Wide Mapping of Consanguineous Families Confirms Previously Implicated Gene Loci and Suggests New Loci in Specific Language Impairment (SLI).

Specific language impairment (SLI) is a developmental disorder with substantial genetic contributions. A genome-wide linkage analysis and homozygosity mapping were performed in five consanguineous families from Pakistan. The highest LOD scores of 2.

Whole Genome Analysis in Consanguineous Families Reveals New Loci for Speech Sound Disorder (SSD).

Speech is the most common means of communication in humans. Any defect in accurate speech production ability results in the development of speech sound disorder (SSD), a condition that can significantly impair an individual's academic performance, social interactions, and relationships with peers and adults. This study investigated the genetic basis of SSD in three Pakistani families.

Iatrogenic Massive Coronary Artery Dissection During Cardiac Catheterization: A Case Report.

Cardiac catheterization is an invasive procedure done for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes to assess coronary artery disease (CAD) and valvular diseases. Although complications rarely occur, they are possible. Of those complications, iatrogenic coronary artery dissection during a coronary catheterization is infrequent and can be severe.

Intra-arterial Chemotherapy in Patients With Metastatic or Locally Aggressive Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: A Scoping Review.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma refers to cancer of the pancreatic duct cells. It is normally diagnosed when it is at an advanced stage, making the prognosis poor. Systemic chemotherapy is the primary treatment approach for locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer and has been shown to improve survival by eight to 16 weeks.

Intra-arterial Chemotherapy in Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Scoping Review.

Breast cancer is a common malignancy in women, and the survival rate for this cancer is low once it metastasized. Currently, chemotherapy is the first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer (MBC). However, when liver metastases (LM) are present, the response to chemotherapy is poor.

Fat Stranding Associated With High-Grade Colon Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report.

Abdominal pain is a common complaint among patients who present to the emergency department. In this setting, a CT scan of the abdomen is frequently used for diagnostic purposes. Fat stranding is an important and relevant CT finding.

Exploring the Relationship of SARS-CoV-2 and Uric Acid Levels With a Focus on Gout Patients: A Scoping Review.

Rheumatic diseases are a group of conditions including arthritis and various other conditions that can lead to chronic inflammation within the musculoskeletal system, which can have negative effects on soft tissues, bones, muscles, joints, and connective tissue. One form of arthritis is gout, which is an inflammatory condition in which urate acid crystals build up in joints. Gout is associated with joint swelling, pain, redness, and joint mobility issues.

Use of Multimodality Imaging in the Evaluation of Patients With Spondyloarthropathies and Sacroiliitis.

Spondyloarthropathy (SpA) is one of the most common causes of low back pain. It is caused by inflammatory arthritis in the spine, manifesting in various forms such as psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and sacroiliitis. A comprehensive systematic literature search was done to evaluate and compare MRI, CT, single-photon emission CT, PET, ultrasound (US) imaging, low-dose CT, and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) techniques in assessing SpAs.

Exploring the Utilization of Imaging Modalities in the Diagnosis of Basal Cell Carcinoma: A Scoping Review.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a common skin cancer that occurs due to various genetic and environmental factors. Diagnosis is made by a combination of clinical appearance, biopsy, imaging, and histopathological analysis. This review describes the current array of imaging modalities available to physicians to aid in the diagnosis of BCC.

A Narrative Review on the Viability of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine in Treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome With Constipation (IBS-C).

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by chronic abdominal pain and alterations in bowel habits, with global prevalence. The etiology of the disease is likely multifactorial; however, autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction and immune-mediated inflammation may contribute the most to the hallmark symptoms of abdominal pain and altered motility of the gut. Current pharmacological therapies operate to modulate intestinal transit, alter the composition of the gut flora and control pain.

Utilization of Imaging Modalities in the Diagnosis of Melanoma: A Scoping Review.

Melanomas arise de novo or in the context of a precursor lesion. Lesions typically grow radially and then undergo a vertical growth phase proceeding to local invasion and metastasis. This review describes the utility of different imaging modalities in diagnosis and melanocytic lesion monitoring.

Infant Mortality Screening and Prevention Initiatives in Nepal.

Infant mortality is one of the leading public health crises in Nepal. While Nepal has made significant advances in mitigating under-five mortality, much work is still needed to be done regarding the healthcare of infants. The Nepalese government has identified this as a problem and has introduced a series of interventions to improve the health outcomes of infants.

Computational investigation of pyrazinamide drugs and its transition metal complexes using a DFT approach.

Pyrazinamide, an antituberculosis but documented toxic drug, is subjected to computational investigation along with the metal complexes via a DFT approach to predict the structure-activity and structure-toxicity relationship. 6-31G(d,p) basis set was used for Zn, Ni, Mn, Fe, and Co, while the SDD basis set was applied to Cu, Cr, Cd, and Hg. Several reactivity parameters and charge distribution were calculated and the reactivity profile was estimated.

Factors Related to Limb Occlusion After Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair (EVAR).

Background: Limb occlusion is a potentially serious consequence of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm (EVAR). This case-control study identifies factors that predispose to limb occlusion.

Methods: A consecutive series of patients from 2 centers undergoing EVAR over an 11-year period 2007-2017 were identified retrospectively.

Genome-wide analysis of runs of homozygosity in Pakistani controls with no history of speech or language-related developmental phenotypes.

Background: Runs of homozygosity (ROHs) analysis of controls provide a convenient resource to minimize the association of false positive results of disease-associated ROHs and genetic variants for simple and complex disorders in individuals from the same population. Evidence for the value of ROHs to speech or language-related traits is restricted due to the absence of population-matched behaviourally defined controls and limited family-based studies.

Aim: This study aims to identify common ROHs in the Pakistani population, focussing on the total length and frequency of ROHs of variable sizes, shared ROHs, and their genomic distribution.

Elevated 18:0 lysophosphatidylcholine contributes to the development of pain in tissue injury.

Tissue injuries, including burns, are major causes of death and morbidity worldwide. These injuries result in the release of intracellular molecules and subsequent inflammatory reactions, changing the tissues' chemical milieu and leading to the development of persistent pain through activating pain-sensing primary sensory neurons. However, the majority of pain-inducing agents in injured tissues are unknown.

Working memory span and receptive vocabulary assessment in Urdu speaking children with speech sound disorder.

Emerging evidence suggests that impaired speech may be related to reduced working memory (WM). The current study aimed to validate and compare the influence of articulation, short-term memory (STM), WM, and receptive vocabulary abilities of Pakistani children with speech sound disorder (SSD; N = 50) versus typically developing (TD; N = 30) children aged 7-13 years. Assessments included the Test for Assessment of Articulation and Phonology in Urdu (TAAPU), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4, translated to Urdu (U-PPVT-4), and Digit Memory Test (DMT) used to determine speech articulation, receptive vocabulary, and memory abilities respectively.

Comparing the Benefit of Duplex Ultrasound Surveillance Following Both Infrainguinal Bypass Surgery and Stenting for Femoro-Popliteal Disease.

Objective: Duplex ultrasound surveillance (DUS) is commonly used following infrainguinal vein bypass. The role of DUS following endovascular revascularisation is as yet unclear. This study focuses on the role of DUS in a contemporary group of patients undergoing infrainguinal bypass or stent insertion.

In ovo exposure to cadmium causes right ventricle hyperplasia due to cell proliferation of cardiomyocytes.

Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental and occupational pollutant inhaled through smoking or ingested through contaminated food. Yet, little is known about its teratogenicity. In this study, the effects of Cd on embryonic heart development were investigated by exposing Cd to chicken embryos in ovo.

Receptive vocabulary, memory span, and speech articulation in Pakistani children with developmental language disorders.

This study aimed to find the association of receptive vocabulary in the development of speech and language among school-going children (4-13 years) with language disorders. On the basis of non-verbal receptive vocabulary and percentage correct consonants (PCC) scores, children from public schools in Punjab, Pakistan with speech and language issues were separated into three groups; Speech sound disordered (SSD, N = 15), Language Impaired (LI) comorbid with SSD (N = 42) and typically developed (TD, N = 15). Urdu version of Peabody picture vocabulary test, fourth edition (U-PPVT-4), Digit memory test (DMT), and Test for assessment of articulation and phonology in Urdu (TAAPU) were used to assess non-verbal receptive vocabulary, Short-term memory (STM), Working memory (WM), and SSD.

COVID-19 and the Sikh Community in the UK: A Qualitative Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and continues to have, a significant effect on individuals worldwide, and it is clear that minority communities including the Sikh community have been particularly affected by the virus. The current study assessed the impact of the pandemic in a sample of 44 British Sikhs across 11 virtual focus groups. Three main themes emerged including making meaningful connections, struggling to adjust and the organisation of gurdware (Sikh places of worship) in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Synthesis, Spectroscopic and Biological Investigation of a New Ca(II) Complex of Meloxicam as Potential COX-2 Inhibitor.

Drug development on basis of coordination compounds provides versatile structural and functional properties as compared to other organic compounds. In the present study, a new Ca(II) complex of meloxicam was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, UV-Vis, C NMR, SEM-EDX, powder XRD and thermal analysis (TGA). The Ca(II) complex was investigated for its in vitro, in vivo biological activities and in silico docking analysis against COX-1 and COX-2.

Study of rare genetic variants in and in Pakistani probands and families with language impairment.

Language impairment (LI) is highly heritable and aggregates in families. Genetic investigation of LI has revealed many chromosomal regions and genes of interest, though very few studies have focused on rare variant analysis in non-English speaking or non-European samples. We selected four candidate genes ( and ) strongly suggested for specific language impairment (SLI), a subtype of LI, and investigated rare protein coding variants through Sanger sequencing of probands with LI ascertained from Pakistan.