Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the knowledge and attitude of pregnant women about Covid 19 vaccination.
Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between 1st May 2022 ...to 30th November 2022 at OPD of Gynecology &Obstetric, Fatima Hospital, Baqai Medical University. This survey included women age 18-40 years seeking antenatal care through OPD and all pregnant women who were coming in emergency in active labour were excluded. A Pre-validated questionnaire was used in this study. Data was entered and statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 25.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Categorical variables were described using frequencies and percentages. Cross tabulation was done by using Chi-square test to assess the association between the respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics and their willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Result: Frequency of participants response to knowledge questions’56% had history of Covid 19 infection prior to pregnancy and conception.62% were vaccinated with vaccine other than Covid vaccine.65.8% did not receive Covid vaccine and upon asking if they are willing to receive ,only 27% answered positively.
Conclusion: The study found that more than half of pregnant women were unable to receive Covid 19 vaccination more likely due to lack of awareness regarding the safety of vaccination during pregnancy.
Rheumatoid Arthritis is an inflammatory disease primarily involves the inflamed synovium, affecting about 0.5–1 % population worldwide. It is the assumption from many years that oxidative stress is ...involved in the pathophysiology of inflammatory disorders like RA and many others. The significance of micronutrients in arthritis is linked to their role as a cofactor for the activation of selenoenzymes. Dietary interventions can manage the clinical symptoms of RA like pain, swelling and tenderness of joints and their associated disability along the progression of disease. This review highlights the antioxidant potential of selenium in treatment of RA along with the scientific evidence that Se supplementation can reduce disease progression by managing its clinical symptoms.
An era of SARS‐COVID‐19 outbreak with a high contagious percentage around the globe has been the subject of multi‐agency research aimed at generating vaccines for active immunization. Scientists ...across the world are joining hands for advanced tie‐ups between medical start‐ups and pharmaceutical industries for devices and vaccines development to hinder the progress of this outbreak. Moreover, the questions that need to be answered are how to improve the effectiveness and efficacy of vaccines with reduced side effects and the required doses of vaccines for enhanced surveillance. In this review article, we have discussed the effectiveness and efficacy of different Covid‐19 vaccines.
Abstract
RA is a multifactorial autoimmune inflammatory disease characterized by synovitis, bone destruction and joint dysfunction that leads to shortening of lifespan and increased mortality rates. ...Currently available treatments of RA, by controlling various symptoms, only delay disease progression and have their own side effects. Consequently, there is the need for a novel therapeutic strategy that offers a more sustainable and biocompatible solution. Nanomedicine is a modern branch of nanobiotechnology that provides targeted therapy to inflamed rheumatic joints and thus prevents unwanted off-target side effects. This review highlights various nanotheranostic and nanotherapeutic strategies that are currently being used for the treatment of RA.
The existing treatment modalities for rheumatoid arthritis are less effective and safe, therefore it is essential to develop new treatments that particularly target the inflamed joints with decreased ...off-target side-effects. The current study proposes a nanoparticle-based therapeutic approach to target the anti-oxidant defense system of arthritic Balb/c mice.
Biogenic selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) were synthesized by using
seed extract and were evaluated for their toxicological, as well as their therapeutic potential in collagen-induced arthritic mice.
The tested doses of SeNPs had no significant toxic effects on liver, kidney, spleen, and serum biochemical parameters in comparison to healthy mice. The SeNPs treatment reduced the disease severity, as demonstrated by decreased paw edema along with reduced lymphocytic cellular infiltration in the histopathological findings. SeNPs also revealed dose-independent improvement in the redox state of inflamed synovium by significantly improving the activity of antioxidant enzymes in comparison to the arthritic controls.
It is therefore concluded that nano-selenium in combination with TAE extract showed enhanced therapeutic efficacy as compared to their individual effects.
Objective: Pregnancies are typically affected by anemia with an increased risk of adverse outcomes for both maternal and neonatal. The purpose of the present study was to determine the frequencies of ...iron deficiency anemia in pregnancies, and its maternal and perinatal outcomes. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 104 pregnant women in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fatima Hospital Baqai Medical University from January 2019 to January 2021. All pregnant women with iron deficiency anemia attending Fatima hospital at any trimester were enrolled. Patients were categorized into anemic (Hb<10 g/dL) and non-anemic (Hb> 10 g/dL) patients based on their Hb levels. Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), placental abnormalities, sepsis (infection), and preeclampsia were different maternal outcomes. Low birth weight (LBW), prematurity, stillbirth, Small for gestational age (SGA), and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) were different fetal outcomes. SPSS version 27 was used for data analysis. Results: The overall mean age was 26.76±5.9 years. The mean Hb level was 8.76± 1.2 g/dL. Of the total 104, the frequency of anemic and non-anemic pregnant women was 93.3% (n=97) and 6.7% (n=7) respectively. The mean parity of pregnant women was 5 (±3). Out of 104, the frequency of mild, moderate, and severe anemia was 52.9% (n=55), 38.4% (n=40), and 8.7% (n=9) respectively. Of the 97 anemic pregnant women, the frequency of various maternal outcomes such as postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), placental abnormalities, pre-eclampsia, and infection or sepsis was 29 (29.9%), 8 (8.2%), 58 (59.8%), and 2 (2.1%) respectively. Conclusion: Iron deficiency anemia in the third trimester of pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and neonatal
Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) have been proven to inhibit morphological maturation of oligodendrocytes as well as their myelination capabilities. Yet, it remained unclear, whether CSPGs ...and/or their respective chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan (CS‐GAG) side chains also regulate the oligodendrocyte lineage progression. Here, we initially show that CS‐GAGs detected by the monoclonal antibody 473HD are expressed by primary rat NG2‐positive oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and O4‐positive immature oligodendrocytes. CS‐GAGs become down‐regulated with ongoing oligodendrocyte differentiation. Enzymatic removal of the CS‐GAG chains by the bacterial enzyme Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) promoted spontaneous differentiation of proliferating rat OPCs toward O4‐positive immature oligodendrocytes. Upon forced differentiation, the enzymatic removal of the CS‐GAGs accelerated oligodendrocyte differentiation toward both MBP‐positive and membrane forming oligodendrocytes. These processes were attenuated on enriched CSPG fractions, mainly consisting of Phosphacan/RPTPβ/ζ and to less extent of Brevican and NG2. To qualify CS‐GAGs as universal regulators of oligodendrocyte biology, we finally tested the effect of CS‐GAG removal on OPCs from different sources such as mouse cortical oligospheres, mouse spinal cord neurospheres, and most importantly human‐induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived radial glia‐like neural precursor cells. For all culture systems used, we observed a similar inhibitory effect of CS‐GAGs on oligodendrocyte differentiation. In conclusion, this study clearly suggests an important fundamental principle for complex CS‐GAGs to regulate the oligodendrocyte lineage progression. Moreover, the use of ChABC in order to promote oligodendrocyte differentiation toward myelin gene expressing cells might be an applicable therapeutic option to enhance white matter repair. GLIA 2016;64:270–286
Main points
OPCs and immature oligodendrocytes express CS‐GAGs.
Enzymatic removal of CS‐GAGs promotes differentiation and membrane formation of primary and stem cell‐derived oligodendrocytes.
CSPGs represent universal regulators of oligodendrocyte biology.
Objective: The study aimed to compare the CS between 37 and 38 weeks gestational weeks and those performed between 39-40 weeks gestational weeks in order to determine the neonatal outcome and ...complications. Study design: comparative cross-sectional. Place and Duration of study: The study was conducted on 200 pregnant women in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baqai Medical University, Fatima Hospital, Gadap Karachi from January 2021 to December 2022. Methodology: Women with term singleton pregnancies scheduled for elective cesarean section at 37 - 38 weeks and 39-40 weeks of gestation without medical comorbidities were enrolled.. All the patients were distributed into two groups: Group-A composed of pregnant women with gestational age 37-38 weeks and Group-B pregnant women with gestational age of 39-40 weeks. Data such as maternal age, gestational age, parity, and neonatal complication neonatal weight were collected. Transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN), sepsis, NICU admission, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), and neonatal outcomes were noted. Repeat C-Section, malpresentation, Cephalopelvic Disproportionation (CPD), maternal request were different causes for elective cesarean section. Data was collected from those patients who were admitted in ward for elective cesarean section through a pre designed proforma. Data analysis was done in SPSS version 27.
Detection of metabolic signature for breast cancer (BC) has the potential to improve patient prognosis. This study identified potentially significant metabolites differentiating between breast cancer ...patients and healthy controls to help in diagnosis, grading, staging and determination of neoadjuvant status. Serum was collected from 152 pre-operative breast cancer (BC) patients and 155 healthy controls in this case-controlled study. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to obtain metabolic profiles followed by chemometric analysis with the identification of significantly differentiated metabolites including 7 for diagnosis, 18 for grading, 23 for staging, 15 for stage III subcategory and 10 for neoadjuvant status (p-value < 0.05). Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) model revealed a distinct separation between healthy controls and BC patients with a sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 100% on external validation. Models for grading, staging and neoadjuvant status were built with Decision Tree Algorithm with predictive accuracy of 71.5%, 71.3% and 79.8% respectively. Pathway analysis revealed increased glycolysis, lipogenesis, and production of volatile organic metabolites indicating the metabolic alterations in breast cancer.
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