Antibiotic resistance pattern and molecular detection of ESBL-associated genes in E. coli from surface and wastewater of Islamabad capital territory, Pakistan.

The goal of this study was to determine how surface and wastewater contribute to the contamination of the environment with an extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL E. coli). Water samples (n = 32) were collected from eight different locations of Islamabad and processed for microbiological and molecular analyses of E.

Pakistani medical students' specialty preference and the influencing factors.

Objective: To elucidate the specialty preferences of Pakistani medical students and the factors which influence medical students to make the decision regarding which specialty to pursue.

Methods: Both basic sciences and clinical students from four medical colleges of Pakistan, i.e.

Awareness of hypertension among the medical students and junior doctors--a multicenter study from Pakistan.

Objectives: To evaluate the awareness of hypertension among medical students and junior doctors in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire consisting of eleven multiple choice questions, encompassing major aspects of hypertension such as the definition, diagnosis, treatment, complications and risk factors. This survey was conducted from June to August 2010 on final year medical students of Dow University of Health Sciences and interns and residents working at four tertiary care hospitals.

National primary care guidelines for England: impact on chronic kidney disease prevention in South Asian populations.

Introduction: This study evaluated the impact of national policy for kidney disease in primary care comparing South Asian (SA) and white European (WE) population groups.

Methods: Retrospective audits of primary care records of SA and WE adults diagnosed with diabetes in 2004 and 2007 were carried out in a total sample of 707 patients across 18 general practices within Luton, Leicester and West London.

Results: Four hundred patients (SA: n=241, and WE: n=159) were diagnosed as diabetic in 2004, and 307 (SA: n=178, and WE: n=129) in 2007.

N-acetylcysteine effect on serum creatinine and cystatin C levels in CKD patients.

Background And Objectives: N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been widely used as a prophylactic therapy for contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN). Its efficacy is controversial because of heterogeneity in study results and because of evidence that NAC can alter serum creatinine levels without affecting glomerular filtration rate. This confounding effect of N-acetylcysteine on serum creatinine has not been rigorously tested, however, in a population at risk for CIN and following doses of NAC currently recommended for prophylaxis of CIN.