Abortifacient effect of Prangos ferulacia on pregnant rats.

Purpose: Prangos ferulacea grows in southern Iran and used in Iranian herbal medicine for gastrointestinal disorders, but it seems it has an abortifacient effect on pregnant women. To verify its potential as an abortifacient agent, we administered the leaves of this plant to pregnant rats.

Material And Methods: Hydroalcoholic and aqueous extract of the leaves was administered orally at different doses to 60 rats on the first 18 days of pregnancy.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy as an imaging tool for cancer: a review of the literature.

Objectives: To review the use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) as a clinical tool in the identification of cerebral neoplasia type and grade, as well as neoplasia in the prostate, colon, breast, cervix, pancreas, and esophagus. Also, to review how clinicians are using MRS for surgical planning and longitudinal evaluation of tumors after treatment.

Data Sources: Studies and clinical case reports published within the previous 10 years, targeting publications in radiology and oncology journals within the previous 3 years.

Genetic studies on collar rot resistance in opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.).

The collar rot disease has been reported recently and occurs at the 10-12-leaf stage of plants of opium poppy. Infected plants topple down and dry prematurely due to fast rotting at the collar region. The inoculum for this study was multiplied on the cornmeal-sand culture.

Frequency of growth hormone deficiency in short statured children.

Objective: To determine the frequency of growth hormone deficiency among short stature children referred for growth hormone evaluation.

Design: A cross-sectional survey.

Place And Duration Of Study: The study was conducted in the Department of Chemical Pathology and Endocrinology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, from June 1999 to July 2000.

GIS-based prediction of malaria risk in Egypt.

Environmental variables in a malaria geographic information system (GIS) database were analysed to discriminate between governorates at high and low risk of malaria. Only Fayoum governorate was categorized as a high risk area for malaria during the last 2 decades. Discriminant models correctly classified 96.

Regulation of the cell-specific calcitonin/calcitonin gene-related peptide enhancer by USF and the Foxa2 forkhead protein.

An 18-bp enhancer controls cell-specific expression of the calcitonin/calcitonin gene-related peptide gene. The enhancer is bound by a heterodimer of the bHLH-Zip protein USF-1 and -2 and a cell-specific factor from thyroid C cell lines. In this report we have identified the cell-specific factor as the forkhead protein Foxa2 (previously HNF-3beta).

Hyperhomocysteinemia as a risk factor for ischemic heart disease.

Objective: To determine association of hyperhomocysteinemia with myocardial infarction and conventional risk factors for ischemic heart disease.

Design: A non-interventional comparative case control study.

Place And Duration Of Study: The study was conducted at the department of Chemical Pathology and Endocrinology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi and Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology / National Institute of Heart Diseases, Rawalpindi from January 2001 to June 2001.

Pre-operative evaluation of ovarian mass: risk of malignancy index.

Objective: To evaluate the risk of malignancy index (RMI) for pre-operative diagnosis of ovarian mass.

Design: Observational study.

Place And Duration Of Study: Department of Chemical Pathology and Endocrinology at Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi from January 2001 to January 2002.

An alarming rate of drug-resistant tuberculosis at Ngwelezane Hospital in northern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

Objective: To obtain a profile of tuberculosis (TB) cases caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in northern KwaZulu Natal (KZN) for 2001.

Method: The demographic and drug resistance characteristics were determined. A total of 251 smear and culture confirmed cases was obtained and the resistance of three major anti-tuberculosis drugs was tested using the proportion method.

Core excision of the foramen cecum for recurrent thyroglossal duct cyst after Sistrunk operation.

The recurrence rate for thyroglossal duct cysts after a Sistrunk operation is 5% compared with 20% if the hyoid cartilage is not removed. However, few guidelines exist when a lesion recurs after an adequate Sistrunk operation. A 2-year-old boy was referred for recurrent thyroglossal duct cyst after complete and adequate resection.

Anaemia and vitamin A deficiency in poor urban pregnant women of Bangladesh.

This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of anaemia and vitamin A deficiency (VAD) among pregnant women in a poor urban population of Bangladesh. It also examined the association of various socio-economic and dietary factors with anaemia and vitamin A status. A maternal and child health clinic in Dhaka city, Bangladesh was used to obtain the sample.

Lipoprotein (a) and glycaemic control in Pakistani subjects with diabetes mellitus.

Aims: To measure lipoprotein (Lp)(a) levels in people with diabetes mellitus (DM) and to see if there is any difference in Lp(a) levels between diabetics with good glycaemic control and those with poor glycaemic control.

Methods: Sixty subjects with DM and thirty healthy individuals were studied. Fasting blood samples were analyzed for glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, Serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoproteins, high density lipoproteins and Lp(a).

G(alpha)(i3) in pancreatic zymogen granules participates in vesicular fusion.

Earlier studies indicated that a G(i)-like protein localized in pancreatic zymogen granule (ZG) membrane mediates vesicle swelling, and is a potentially important prerequisite for vesicle fusion at the cell plasma membrane (PM) [Jena et al. (1997) Proc. Natl.

Aquaporin 1 regulates GTP-induced rapid gating of water in secretory vesicles.

The swelling of secretory vesicles has been implicated in exocytosis, but the underlying mechanism of vesicle swelling remains largely unknown. Zymogen granules (ZGs), the membrane-bound secretory vesicles in exocrine pancreas, swell in response to GTP mediated by a G(alpha)i3 protein. Evidence is presented here that the water channel aquaporin-1 (AQP1) is present in the ZG membrane and participates in rapid GTP-induced vesicular water gating and swelling.

FBG and TC/HDL ratios in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Presence of dyslipidemia, i.e. raised Total Cholesterol (TC) and decreased High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) is an established phenomenon in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Phenolics and physico-chemical characteristics of persimmon during post-harvest storage.

Garden picked mature but unripe fresh persimmon fruits were unipackaged in different thicknesses of polyethylene (PE) and stored at room (18.5-30 degrees C) and refrigerated temperature (6 +/- 1 degrees C). Maximum mean methanol extractable sinapine (0.

Does prostaglandin E1 therapy modify the intracavernous musculature?

Purpose: Intracavernous injection of prostaglandin E1 in patients with erectile dysfunction has become widespread. However, to our knowledge long-term side effects on the penile smooth muscles in man have not been documented. We evaluated the histological changes of intracavernous smooth muscle after long-term treatment with prostaglandin E1.

Expression of growth regulatory genes in a SCID mouse-human model of intestinal epithelial regeneration.

Analysis of human intestinal epithelial regeneration has been limited. This study has used a novel SCID mouse-human model to test the hypothesis that distinct stages of human intestinal epithelial regeneration are accompanied by differential expression of growth regulatory genes. Disaggregated epithelium, which included crypt cell aggregates, was isolated from human fetal small intestine and transplanted subcutaneously in SCID mice.

Metabolic proficiency and benzo[a]pyrene DNA adduct formation in APCMin mouse adenomas and uninvolved mucosa.

Tumour formation may involve interactions between genetic factors and environmental carcinogens. Adenoma formation in APCMin/+ mice is associated homozygous adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene mutation, but the effects on carcinogen susceptibility are unknown. This study tests the hypothesis that APCMin/+ adenoma formation is accompanied by changes in metabolic proficiency and carcinogen susceptibility.

Concurrent treatment of patients with depression in the community: provider practices, attitudes, and barriers to collaboration.

Background: In randomized controlled trials, patients with major depression who receive broad-based collaborative treatment by both primary care physicians (PCPs) and mental health providers (MHPs) have better outcomes than patients who receive usual care. However, little is known about the concurrent treatment of patients with depression in the community. This study describes the perceptions of PCPs of the frequency of concurrent treatment in community settings, the degree of collaboration between co-treating providers, and factors associated with greater interaction and collaboration.

Molecular analysis of the cystic fibrosis gene reveals a high frequency of the intron 8 splice variant 5T in Egyptian males with congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens.

It has previously been shown that defects in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene are largely responsible for the condition of congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD), without associated renal abnormalities, in Caucasian populations. To assess the involvement of the CFTR in CBAVD in a population with presumed low cystic fibrosis (CF) frequency, we have analysed 20 CBAVD males from Egypt for the presence of 12 common Caucasian CFTR mutations and the intron 8 5T splice variant, IVS-5T, known to be a major cause of CBAVD in Caucasian patients. In 16 of the males without associated renal abnormalities only one deltaF508 carrier was identified, but an exceptionally high frequency of the IVS-5T variant was found (14 of 32 alleles or 43.

An apparent effect of immunopotentiation during late gestation on the postpartum reproductive performance of Nili-Ravi buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis).

Thirty-two Nili-Ravi buffaloes were used to determine the effect of prepartum immunopotentiation in late gestation with levamisole hydrochloride (0.5 mg/kg), vitamin E+selenium (vitE-Se) (Etosol-SE, 10 ml intramuscularly) or Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) (0.5 ml/animal, subcutaneously) on postpartum reproductive performance.