The trend of consuming food high in calories, fat, and sugar with little nutritional value and reduced physical exercise has resulted in an alarming ratio of overweight and obese subjects worldwide. ...Low-grade chronic inflammation is the key feature of obesity that causes an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines and decrease in anti-inflammatory cytokines in circulation. The current study was aimed to investigate the effect of high-fat diet on the architecture of spleen, liver, and skeletal muscle and changes in the expression of hepatic cytokines. Two groups of experimental rats were established, against control that were given different percentage of fats in their diet. After a period of sixteen weeks, rats were dissected and their organs were excised out and processed accordingly. Spleen sections of experimental groups, revealed increased recruitment of lymphocytes, sinusoidal dilatations, necrotic lymphocytes, increased ratio of white-to-red pulp, and hemosiderin and iron deposits in red pulp indicating immune system activation. Hepatic sections showed enlarged sinusoidal spaces, disruptive hepatocytes, necrosis and dilation of portal veins. Sections of skeletal muscle showed degenerating fibers, increased fat accumulation, and recruitment of macrophages. Elevated expression of IFN-γ and decreased expression of IFN-α and IFN-β cytokines verified the adverse effect of high-fat diet on immune system as well. Fats tend to accumulate in organs due to increased intake of fat-rich diet disturbing their normal function and histology. In addition, gene expression analysis of cytokines confirmed the effect of high-fat diet as an inflammatory agent.
Avian influenza (AI) virus (AIV) subtype H9N2 continues to cause significant outbreaks among commercial and backyard poultry in Pakistan. Despite this, the characterization of H9N2 viruses in avian ...hosts other than chickens in Pakistan has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, 12 low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses subtype H9N2 were isolated from peacocks (n = 4), ducks (n = 4), pheasants (n = 2), geese (n = 1), and black swans (n = 1) in Pakistan during 2016 and were characterized on the basis of the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase genes. All of the viruses possessed an amino acid substitution Q226L in the receptor-binding site of the HA protein, which is known to contribute to increased viral replication and virulence in mammals. In addition, phylogenetic studies showed that these H9N2 AIVs belonged to the Middle East B genetic group of sublineage G1 and were very similar to viruses isolated from an outbreak in chickens in Pakistan in 2017. This demonstrates an epidemiologic link between poultry and other avian species, which is a fact to consider in future H9N2 disease management programs.
Background
Rates of depression among Pakistani mothers are high, leading to poor developmental outcomes in their children. This study tested the effectiveness of a manualized integrated parenting ...program; Learning through Play Plus (LTP+) for maternal depression in Karachi, Pakistan.
Methods
A cluster randomized control trial conducted from January 2014 to December 2015 across 120 villages in Karachi. A total of 774 depressed mothers aged 18–44 years with children aged 0–30 months old, were included. Villages were randomized to receive LTP+ added to treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU alone. Primary outcomes were severity of maternal depression at 3 and 6 months measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and child socio‐emotional development at 6 months measured by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). Secondary outcomes included maternal anxiety, quality of life, social support, parenting competence, and knowledge about child development.
Results
Mothers in the LTP+ group reported significantly lower depression scores compared to those in the TAU group (6.6 vs. 13.8, effect size ES: −7.2; 95% confidence interval CI: −8.2, −6.1) at 3 and 6 months (7.2 vs. 12.00; ES: −4.6; 95% CI: −5.9, −3.4). Child socio‐emotional development at 6 months was significantly better in the LTP+ group on all domains of the ASQ. There were also statistically significant improvements on all secondary outcomes at 3‐ and 6‐month follow‐up.
Conclusion
In low‐resource settings like Pakistan, low‐cost integrated parenting interventions delivered by lay health workers can provide effective treatment for depressed mothers, leading to improvements in child development.
Highlights • This randomized trial from two deprived urban slums in a low-income country shows that an integrated intervention combining cognitive behavioral techniques with parent-mediated, ...structured child play and interaction had a positive impact on maternal mood and led to a reduction in maternal depression. • There was also a significant improvement in maternal knowledge about child development at 6 months. • The intervention reduced maternal disability and parenting stress markedly, and led to improved maternal self-esteem. • The study was successfully delivered in group settings in a routine primary care environment, demonstrating the potential for scaling up the programme and integrating it with maternal and child health programmes.
To understand the experience of maternal depression, the factors implicated in accessing health, and the acceptability of the psychosocial intervention.
The participants were recruited from the ...paediatrics outpatient department of Civil Hospital Karachi, Pakistan. The study started in December 2009 and completed in December 2010. Women with maternal depression, aged 18-44 years with children aged 0-30 mo who had received nutritional supplements, and participated in the intervention programme called Learning through Play (LTP) plus were included in the study. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 8 participants before the intervention and 7 participants after the intervention. A semi structured topic guide was used to conduct the interviews.
Framework analysis procedures were used to analyse the qualitative data. Four themes emerged: (1) the women's contextual environment: Interpersonal conflicts, lack of social support and financial issues being the major barriers in assessing healthcare; (2) women's isolation and powerlessness within the environment: Sense of loneliness was identified as a restricting factor to access healthcare; (3) the impact of the intervention (LTP-Plus): Women felt "listened to" and seemed empowered; and (4) empowered transformed women within the same contextual environment: The facilitator provided a "gardening role" in nurturing the women resulting in a positive transformation within the same environment. The women's homes seemed to be more happy homes and there was a positive change in their behaviour towards their children.
Findings informed the further development and testing of culturally-appropriate psychosocial intervention (LTP
) for addressing maternal depression.
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