This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of vinegar-soaked Ficus carica fruits (VSFCF) for managing cholelithiasis in adults. A parallel-group, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial at Noreen Nishat Welfare Hospital, Khanewal, Pakistan, was conducted from December 2023 to February 2024. Fifty adults with ultrasound-confirmed cholelithiasis were randomly assigned to receive either VSFCF (1 g/kg/day) or ursodiol (600 mg/day).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study investigated the wound healing efficacy of Jacobaea maritima leaf extract in rabbits through various wound models. A methanol-based extract was prepared from air-dried J. maritima leaves and used to formulate ointments at concentrations of 5%, 10% and 20%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The objective of this study was to investigate myocardial deformation of left (LV) and right ventricle (RV) using 2-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) in fetuses with and without congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection.
Methods: This was a prospective single-center study. Vertical transmission was defined by a positive CMV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on the amniotic fluid or on the neonate's urine.
Virus-mediated transient gene overexpression and gene expression silencing can be used to screen gene functions in plants. Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) is a positive strand RNA virus in the Potyviridae family that has been modified to be used as vector to infect monocots, including maize (), for transient gene overexpression and gene expression silencing. Relative to stable transformation, SCMV-mediated transient expression in maize has the advantages of being faster and less expensive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWell implemented, universal parental support is often effective in families with younger children, but research on their effects on families with adolescent children is scarce. In this study, a trial of the universal parent training intervention "Parent Web" in early adolescence is added to the social emotional learning intervention Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS®), completed in early childhood. The Parent Web is a universal online parenting intervention based on social learning theory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe preschool edition of Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS) is a school-based, teacher implemented universal intervention developed in the United States designed to promote social emotional competence (SEC) in children as a foundation for improved mental health. PATHS is delivered as a curriculum and it is based on theories and research regarding SEC, brain development, and optimal school environments. A majority of children in Sweden attend preschool, which is government-subsidized and follows a national curriculum focusing on both academic and social emotional learning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman interferon α2 (IFNα2) and thymosin α1 (Tα1) are therapeutic proteins used for the treatment of viral infections and different types of cancer. Both IFNα2 and Tα1 show a synergic effect in their activities when used in combination. Furthermore, the therapeutic fusion proteins produced through the genetic fusion of two genes can exhibit several therapeutic functions in one molecule.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of interferon α-2 in combination with thymosin α-1 shows higher anti-cancer effect in comparison when both are used individually because of their synergistic effects. In this study we produced an important human interferon α-2-thymosin α-1 (IFNα2-Tα1) fusion protein with probable pharmaceutical properties coupled to its high-level expression, characterization, and study of its biological activity. The IFNα2-Tα1 fusion gene was constructed by over-lap extension PCR and expressed in expression system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInterferon therapy for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection has very limited clinical application due to short serum half-life and side effects of therapy in systemic route of administration. In the present study, we have focused to improve the interferon therapy by overcoming the limitation of side effects. We hypothesized that latent interferon alpha 2b (IFNα2b) produced by fusion of Latency associated protein (LAP) domain of TGFβ and IFNα2b having HCV NS3 protease cleavage site as linker that will be activated only at target site (liver) by viral protease (HCV NS3 protease) present on the surface of infected cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Fetal growth restriction (FGR) affects 5%-10% of all pregnancies, contributing to 30%-50% of stillbirths. Unfortunately, growth restriction often is not detected antenatally. The last weeks of pregnancy are critical for preventing stillbirth among babies with FGR because there is a pronounced increase in stillbirths among growth-restricted fetuses after 37 weeks of pregnancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of Moringa oleifera as natural food preservative has been evaluated in the present study. In addition, for quality assurance, the study has also been focused on the shelf life of product to authenticate the identification of plant by development of DNA based marker. Among the different extracts prepared from flower pods of Moringa oleifera, methanol and aqueous extract exhibited high antibacterial and antioxidant activity, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The emerging resistance of pathogen against the currently available antimicrobial agents demands the search of new antimicrobial agents. The use of medicinal plants as natural substitute is the paramount area of research to overwhelm the drug resistance of infectious agents. Scientists have not made enough effort on the evaluation of safety of medicinal plant yet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe uptake of iron is increased by cancer cells. Iron magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) can be used as a nanovehicle for immobilization of anticancer medicines and to integrate them at a target site. The anticancer medicines doxorubicin (DOX) and methotrexate (MTX) were immobilized separately and in combination onto MNP by a glutaraldehyde activation method and confirmed by magnetic nanoparticles linked immunosorbent assay (MagLISA) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInterferon alpha 2b (IFNα-2b) is an important cytokine and used for antiviral and anticancer treatment. The low cost production of IFNα-2b with high biological activity is necessary to provide the interferon therapy to the hepatitis patients in Pakistan. In the present study, human interferon alpha 2b (hIFNα-2b) gene from a healthy person was cloned and overexpressed in E.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Salmonella Typhi is a pathogenic bacterium that causes a number of infectious diseases such as gastroenteritis and typhoid fever. In this study, an antigenic (34 kDa) protein was identified, purified, and characterized from outer membrane of Salmonella typhi.
Methods: Immunoblot analysis was used to screen antigenic proteins from outer membrane of Salmonella Typhi.
Background: Herbs and spices are very important and useful as therapeutic agent against many pathological infections. Increasing multidrug resistance of pathogens forces to find alternative compounds for treatment of infectious diseases.
Methods: In the present study the antimicrobial potency of garlic and ginger has been investigated against eight local clinical bacterial isolates.
Retained products of conception (RPOC) present a major clinical challenge. We assessed the accuracy of an evaluation protocol based on clinical management and transvaginal ultrasonographic evaluation for the detection of retained products of conception. This combined clinical and sonographic evaluation protocol offers a high sensitivity for the accurate diagnosis of RPOC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWomen who have retained products of conception are usually referred for curettage or hysteroscopy, both performed in most cases under general anesthesia in an operating theater and sometimes requiring hospitalization. We propose that for most of these patients the procedure can be just as safely and effectively carried out in an obstetric ultrasound unit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt is widely accepted that the functional and morphological differentiation of cells is initiated and determined by the interaction of molecules of the extracellular matrix and adhesion molecules of the cell membrane. To assess the influence of the underlying matrix on the characteristics of cells, enterocyte-like Caco-2 cells were cultivated on substrates commonly used for cell culture as well as on glass coated with hydrophobic layers. Providing the same starting conditions for growth, the parameters investigated on preconfluent Caco-2 cells were the number of adhering cells, the proliferative activity and the degree of differentiation indicated by the expression of three brush border enzymes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Immunol Methods
January 2007
Among others, lectin-mediated drug delivery is currently discussed as a promising strategy towards improved bioavailability of biotech drugs. For quantitative determination of the lectin from wheat germ (WGA), a sandwich ELISA relying on capture of the lectin by pig gastric mucin coated wells and detection of bound WGA by a lectin specific first antibody followed by peroxidase-labelled second antibody was elaborated. The stepwise optimised protocol allows quantification over the range from 10 to 1000 ng/ml WGA with a coefficient of determination of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Ultrasound
September 2005
Purpose: To evaluate the application of transvaginal sonography assessment of cervical length before fetal reduction for predicting spontaneous preterm birth in triplet gestations reduced to twins.
Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the ultrasound unit of a university-affiliated municipal hospital. The study cohort consisted of 25 women with triplet gestations following ovulation induction or assisted-reproduction techniques who underwent fetal reduction to twins.
A unique cast model of the placenta in a rare case of feto-feto-fetal triplet transfusion syndrome (FFFTTS) allowed the demonstration of why the transfusion syndrome developed in one fetus and not in the other two in that single placenta. The vasculature anatomy of a monochorionic triamniotic triplet placenta with FFFTTS of three healthy infants (one donor, two recipients) born in the 35th week of gestation was cast by means of dental casting materials. After the cast hardened, the tissue was corroded, revealing the cast blood vessels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To generate nomograms for the sonographic measurement of the fetal philtrum and chin during pregnancy.
Design: A prospective, cross-sectional study in normal singleton pregnancies.
Subjects: One hundred and fifty-three fetuses between 13 and 42 weeks of gestation were studied.