Effective surveillance for epidemic-prone viral diseases is essential for emergency preparedness to respond to threats and occurrences of pandemics. While it is difficult and expensive to conduct health facility-based surveillance, there is a growing interest in conducting sewage-based epidemiological studies to monitor the health of the urban population because of the relative ease of sample collection and the availability of advanced molecular techniques for the detection of pathogens in the sewage. Sewage samples offer unique means to study the aggregate health of the population as opposed to the monitoring of the health of any individual by traditional methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKuwait Vision 2035 is an initiative that was launched in 2017 by His Highness the Emir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. This initiative includes the implementation of a detailed development plan aimed at transforming the state of Kuwait into a regional leader in science, technology, and innovation. Health research will arguably prove to be one of the most impactful research arenas when it comes to accomplishing the goals set forth by the Kuwait Vision 2035 Development Plan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: AmBisome therapy for VL has an excellent efficacy and safety profile and has been adopted as a first-line regimen in Bangladesh. Second-line treatment options are limited and should preferably be given in short course combinations in order to prevent the development of resistant strains. Combination regimens including AmBisome, paromomycin and miltefosine have proved to be safe and effective in the treatment of VL in India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study on the efficacy of oral analgesics reported that no single class of drug is effective in post-surgical dental pain. Pain following removal of third molar is most commonly used and widely accepted acute pain model for assessing the analgesic effect of drugs in humans. Reports demonstrated that analgesic efficacy in the human dental model is highly predictive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Vitamin D homeostasis may play a critical role in glucose metabolism. Little is known on vitamin D deficiency and its association with diabetes in countries of the Arabia Gulf where the population is experiencing a rapid increase in the incidence of diabetes.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 960 adults enrolled in the first National Nutrition Survey of the State of Kuwait (NNSSK), we examined vitamin D status in association with the prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes.
Background: This study was conducted in Bangladeshi patients in an outpatient setting to support registration of Paromomycin Intramuscular Injection (PMIM) as a low-cost treatment option in Bangladesh.
Methodology: This Phase IIIb, open-label, multi-center, single-arm trial assessed the efficacy and safety of PMIM administered at 11 mg/kg (paromomycin base) intramuscularly once daily for 21 consecutive days to children and adults with VL in a rural outpatient setting in Bangladesh. Patients ≥5 and ≤55 years were eligible if they had signs and symptoms of VL (intermittent fever, weight loss/decreased appetite, and enlarged spleen), positive rK39 test, and were living in VL-endemic areas.
Background: The potential of β-cryptoxanthin (CX)-rich foods to form vitamin A (VA) in humans in not well understood.
Objective: We measured the effects of consuming CX- and β-carotene (BC)-rich foods on plasma and breast milk VA and carotenoids in lactating women with low VA status.
Design: Participants were randomly assigned to 4 groups (n = 34, 34, 34, and 33, respectively) receiving orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSPs) (12 mg BC/d), tangerines (5.
Documentation of micronutrient intake inadequacies among developing country populations is important for planning interventions to control micronutrient deficiencies. The objective of this study was to quantify micronutrient intakes by young children and their primary female caregivers in rural Bangladesh. We measured 24-h dietary intakes on 2 nonconsecutive days in a representative sample of 480 children (ages 24-48 mo) and women in 2 subdistricts of northern Bangladesh by using 12-h weighed food records and subsequent 12-h recall in homes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe assessed the effect of daily consumption of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP), with or without added fat, on the vitamin A (VA) status of Bangladeshi women with low initial VA status. Women (n = 30/group) received one of the following for 6 d/wk over 10 wk: 1) 0 μg retinol activity equivalents (RAE)/d as boiled white-fleshed sweet potatoes (WFSP) and a corn oil capsule, 2) 600 μg RAE/d as boiled OFSP and a corn oil capsule, 3) fried OFSP and a corn oil capsule, or 4) boiled WFSP and a retinyl palmitate capsule in addition to their home diets. Plasma concentrations of retinol and β-carotene and total body VA pool size were assessed before and after the 60-d intervention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNocistatin and nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) are two neuropeptides which may have opposite effects in several biological functions but their neuro-anatomical sites of interaction are not fully clear. We investigated interaction between the effect of intracerebroventricular (i.c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn Bangladesh, serological tests have been widely used for the primary screening of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Several serologic tests are available for the diagnosis of VL. Selection of the best test is important to permit diagnostic differentiation between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients and to reduce cross-reactivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The aim of the study was to assess the adequacy of polyunsaturated fatty acid intake by rural Bangladeshi children 24 to 48 months old in relation to their breast-feeding status.
Materials And Methods: Multistage sampling was used to select a representative sample of children 24 to 48 months of age from 2 rural districts in Bangladesh (n = 479). Two nonconsecutive 24-hour periods of dietary data were collected via 12-hour daytime in-home observations and recall.
Maternal fat intake and adipose reserves are major sources of PUFA during lactation. The present study examined the cross-sectional relationship between prolonged breast-feeding and maternal BMI, assessed adequacy of fat intake among lactating and non-lactating mothers of children 24-48 months of age and determined breast-milk fatty acid composition. Multi-stage sampling was used to select a representative sample of mothers from two rural districts in Bangladesh (n 474).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe estimated average requirement (EAR) for vitamin A (VA) of adult males is based on the amount of dietary VA required to maintain adequate function and provide a modest liver VA reserve (0.07 μmol/g). In the present study, the paired-deuterated retinol dilution technique was used to estimate changes in VA pool size in Bangladeshi men from low-income, urban neighborhoods who had small initial VA pool sizes (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) by demonstration of parasites in tissue smears obtained from bone marrow, spleen or lymph nodes is risky, painful, and difficult. The rK-39 strip test is widely used for the diagnosis of VL using blood/serum samples in endemic countries. The aim of the study was to evaluate the rK-39 strip test using urine sample as a non-invasive means for the diagnosis of VL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA growing body of evidence suggests the existence of a functional interaction between gabapentin (GBP)-morphine system. However, the neuro-anatomical sites and molecular mechanism of action of gabapentin-morphine interaction to prevent and reverse morphine side effects as well as enhancement of the analgesic effect of morphine is not clear. Therefore, we examined the combined effects of GBP-morphine on acute morphine-induced c-Fos expression in rat nucleus accumbens.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRural Bangladeshi populations have a high risk of zinc deficiency due to their consumption of a predominantly rice-based diet with few animal-source foods. Breeding rice for higher zinc content would offer a sustainable approach to increase the population's zinc intakes. The objectives of the study were to quantify usual rice and zinc intakes in young children and their adult female primary caregivers and to simulate the potential impact of zinc-biofortified rice on their zinc intakes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Non-water-soluble iron compounds have been reported to be less well absorbed than ferrous sulfate in young children, and concern has been raised about their usefulness as food fortificants.
Objective: The objective was to evaluate the usefulness of ferrous fumarate and ferric pyrophosphate, compared with ferrous sulfate, in maintaining hemoglobin concentrations >105 g/L in Bangladeshi children.
Design: Two hundred thirty-five children aged 7-24 mo (hemoglobin >105 g/L) were randomly assigned in a double-blind study to receive an infant cereal fortified with ferrous fumarate, ferric pyrophosphate, or ferrous sulfate.
Children with severe acute malnutrition, defined as weight-for-height <70% of the reference median or bilateral pedal oedema or mid-arm circumference <110 mm having complications, were managed in the Nutrition Unit of the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) following the guidelines of the World Health Organization, with support from Concern Worldwide Bangladesh and ICDDR,B. In total, 171 children aged less than five years (mean +/- SD age 23.5 +/- 15.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is an important source of beta-carotene (betaC). Provitamin A bioefficacy from plant foods is influenced by dietary fat and fiber. We fed 3% OFSP powder diets with varying amounts of fat and soluble fiber to vitamin A (VA)-depleted Mongolian gerbils (n = 85) for 3 wk (8 groups, n = 10/group; control, n = 9) following a baseline kill (n = 6).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicronutrient deficiencies and anaemia remain as major health concerns for children in Bangladesh. Among the micronutrient interventions, supplementation with vitamin A to children aged less than five years has been the most successful, especially after distribution of vitamin A was combined with National Immunization Days. Although salt sold in Bangladesh is intended to contain iodine, much of the salt does not contain iodine, and iodine deficiency continues to be common.
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Summary: The rationale for growth monitoring and promotion is persuasive but even in the 1980s the appropriateness of growth monitoring programmes was being questioned. The concerns centred largely around low participation rates, poor health worker performance and inadequacies in health system infrastructure that constrained effective growth‐promoting action. More recently there has been a call for a general review of the impact of large‐scale growth monitoring and promotion programmes to determine if the investments are justified.
J Mol Neurosci
November 2007
Gabapentin (neurontin), a GABA analogue anticonvulsant has proven to be effective in anti-nociceptive activity as well as for the treatment of anxiety. Gabapentin (GBP) is well tolerated and shows very favorable side effects profile: The exact molecular mechanism of action of GBP to block postoperative pain and stress is not known. Therefore, to identify the functional neuroanatomical target sites of GBP in post-surgery as well as its effect on postsurgical process, we examined the effects of GBP on c-Fos expression in the supraspinal part of the central nervous system in rats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe neuro-anatomical sites and molecular mechanism of action of gabapentin (GBP)-morphine interaction to prevent and reverse morphine side effects as well as enhancement of the analgesic effect of morphine is not known. Therefore, we examined the combined effects of GBP-Morphine on acute morphine induced c-Fos expression in rat striatum. The combined effect of GBP-Morphine was examined by means of c-Fos immunohistochemistry.
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