High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Pakistani mothers and their newborns

Objective

To determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Pakistani parturients and their newborns and to assess the correlation between maternal and newborn serum levels of the vitamin D metabolite 25-hydroxy vitamin D3.

Methods

A prospective study of parturients presenting to the labor suite with a singleton pregnancy. Maternal and cord blood were collected for estimation of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D3.

Results

In total, 89% of the gravidae were deficient in vitamin D (serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 < 30 ng/mL). There was a positive correlation between maternal and cord blood 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 levels(r = 0.68; P < 0.001). Inverse correlations were noted between cord blood 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 and a longer duration of gestation (r = − 0.33; P = 0.003) and with the newborn's birth weight (r = − 0.23; P = 0.048). Maternal 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 levels were inversely correlated with maternal mean arterial pressure (r = 0.029; P < 0.020).

Conclusion

There was a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the Pakistani parturients and their newborns. There was a correlation between higher maternal vitamin D levels and lower blood pressure in the mothers.     

Magnesium treatment palliates noise-induced behavioral deficits by normalizing DAergic and 5-HTergic metabolism in adult male rats

Magnesium (Mg) is the fourth most abundant biological mineral essential for good health. Neuroprotective, anxiolytic and antidepressant effects of magnesium following stress and brain injuries are well established. In present study, we analyzed the protective effects of magnesium in rats exposed to sub-chronic noise stress. Magnesium Chloride (MgCl₂, 100 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally once daily for 15 days prior exposure to noise stress. Rats were exposed to noise stress for 4 h after administration of magnesium for 15 days. At the end of treatment behavioral alterations were assessed. Animals were decapitated following behavioral testing and the brains were dissected out for neurochemical estimations by HPLC-EC. Improvement in noise-induced memory deficits as assessed by novel object recognition (NOR) test and elevated plus maze (EPM) test was found in magnesium treated rats. This improvement in noise-induced behavioral deficits following treatment with magnesium may be attributed to a significant decrease (p?<?0.01) in dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) turnover as compared to control rats observed in present work. These results suggest that treatment with magnesium can attenuate the noise-induced deficits and may be used as a therapy against noise-induced neurodegeneration. Moreover an adequate amount of magnesium in daily diet may help to develop the ability to resist against or cope up with stressful conditions encountered in daily life.     

The World Health Organization STEPwise Approach to Noncommunicable Disease Risk-Factor Surveillance: Methods,Challenges, and Opportunities

Objectives. We sought to outline the framework and methods used by the World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise approach to noncommunicable disease (NCD) surveillance (STEPS), describe the development and current status, and discuss strengths, limitations, and future directions of STEPS surveillance.Methods. STEPS is a WHO-developed, standardized but flexible framework for countries to monitor the main NCD risk factors through questionnaire assessment and physical and biochemical measurements. It is coordinated by national authorities of the implementing country. The STEPS surveys are generally household-based and interviewer-administered, with scientifically selected samples of around 5000 participants.Results. To date, 122 countries across all 6 WHO regions have completed data collection for STEPS or STEPS-aligned surveys.Conclusions. STEPS data are being used to inform NCD policies and track risk-factor trends. Future priorities include strengthening these linkages from data to action on NCDs at the country level, and continuing to develop STEPS’ capacities to enable a regular and continuous cycle of risk-factor surveillance worldwide.The global burden of chronic, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)—largely heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes—is increasing rapidly and will have significant social, economic, and health consequences unless urgently addressed. In 2012, the major NCDs accounted for 63% of all deaths, representing 38 million deaths a year. Eighty percent of these deaths are already occurring in low- and middle-income countries.1 Because NCDs are largely preventable, these deaths can be significantly reduced.To address this global health problem, in 2013, the World Health Assembly—the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO)—adopted a Global Monitoring Framework for NCDs with 25 key indicators to track progress in prevention and control of NCDs. The World Health Assembly also agreed on a set of global voluntary targets linked to the Global Monitoring Framework to prevent and control NCDs by 2025, including a target to reduce premature mortality from the 4 main NCDs by 25%, and targets for the main behavioral and metabolic NCD risk factors and 2 health systems targets.2 Furthermore, in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the importance of addressing NCD issues with the inclusion of a similarly ambitious target to reduce the number of premature deaths from NCDs by one third by 2030.3The key to controlling the global epidemic of NCDs and meeting these ambitious but achievable NCD targets is primary prevention based on comprehensive population-wide programs. Effective prevention of NCDs is possible through identification of the major common risk factors and their prevention and control.4–6A few common and preventable risk factors underlie most NCDs. These NCD risk factors are the leading cause of the death and disability burden in all countries, regardless of their economic development status. The leading behavioral risk factors for NCDs are tobacco use, harmful alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet including high salt and sodium intake, physical inactivity, and overweight and obesity, and the leading physiological risk factors are raised blood pressure, raised blood glucose, and abnormal blood lipids.7,8Recognizing a global need for risk-factor data on these key NCD risk factors, WHO initiated the STEPwise approach to surveillance (STEPS) in 2002. The key goals of STEPS are to guide the establishment of risk-factor surveillance systems in countries by providing a framework and approach; to strengthen the availability of data to help countries inform, monitor, and evaluate their policies and programs; to facilitate the development of population profiles of NCD risk-factor exposures; to enable comparability across populations and across time frames; and to build human and institutional capacity for NCD surveillance.9,10Since its inception, the STEPS approach has advocated that small amounts of good-quality data are more valuable than large amounts of poor-quality data.10 The STEPS approach supports monitoring a few modifiable NCD risk factors that reflect a large part of the future NCD burden and that can indicate the impact of interventions considered to be effective in reducing the leading NCDs. Because STEPS also promotes the collection of data on a number of different risk factors, it has the benefit over single risk factor surveys in that it allows an understanding of how risk factors cluster within a population and offers an opportunity for countries to estimate the small proportion of the population with high overall risk of a cardiovascular event for referral for possible treatment.9,10Our objective was to outline the framework and methods used by STEPS, to describe the development and current status of STEPS, to discuss the strengths and limitations of STEPS surveillance, and to highlight future directions.     

Successful pregnancy outcome in decompensated chronic liver disease with portal vein thrombosis: case report and review of literature

Pregnancy is rare in women with decompensated chronic liver disease. In this case report, we describe a case of a young woman who presented with hepatitis B-related decompensated chronic liver disease with portal vein thrombosis having successful full-term uneventful pregnancy.     

Primary synovial chondrosarcoma of the hip joint in a 45-year-old male: case report and literature review

Synovial chondrosarcoma is a rare tumor, seen most commonly arising from antecedent synovial chondromatosis, the more common benign entity. The distinction between the two can be difficult on the basis of clinical, imaging, and histologic criteria. The authors report a case of pathologically proven synovial chondrosarcoma of the hip in a 45-year-old male initially treated for presumed synovial chondromatosis. The case is made more unusual by the fact that no evidence of co-existent synovial chondromatosis was noted at histology. The literature as regards synovial chondrosarcoma, both de novo and secondary cases, is reviewed.     

Gene Transfer with Three Amphiphilic Glycol Chitosans—the Degree of Polymerisation is the Main Controller of Transfection Efficiency

A number of studies have examined the possibility of delivering genes for the treatment of genetic diseases using various polymers and lipids. We have previously demonstrated the gene transfer ability of amphiphilic polymers (a soluble amine polymer covalently bound to lipid pendant groups). In the current communication we explore the gene transfer activity of amphiphilic glycol chitosans. Glycol chitosan was acid depolymerised to give polymers of various molecular weights. Palmitoyl or hexadecyl and in some cases additional N-methyl quaternary ammonium groups were attached to the polymers. DNA binding was studied by measuring the reduced fluorescence of ethidium bromide and the polyplex particle size and zeta potential. Biological characterisation of the polyplexes involved haemolysis, cytotoxicity and gene transfer assays. For the 22 polymers tested, DNA binding was optimum at a nitrogen to phosphate ratio of 2:1 and above. Polyplexes were 200–500 nm in diameter with a neutral or positive zeta potential. The haemolytic activity of the N-methyl polymers was studied and no haemolysis was detected up to a concentration of 10 mg ml^?1. Cytotoxicity studies showed that the biocompatibility of glycol chitosan was adversely affected by a combination of a palmitoyl group and depolymerisation and that biocompatibility was subsequently restored with the introduction of N-methyl groups. In vitro transfection efficiency superior to the cationic lipid formulation N-[1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl]-N,N,N-trimethylammonium methyl sulphate (DOTAP) was seen with depolymerised glycol chitosan in the A431 cell line only and with the depolymerised N-methyl quaternary ammonium amphiphilic derivatives in both the A431 and A549 cell lines. Degree of polymerisation (DP) was the most important controller of transfection efficiency and transfection resided within polymers with a DP of 73–171. High DP polymers diminished DNA–cell association, the first step in the cellular gene transfer process, thus apparently diminishing cell uptake. In vivo transfection with the N-methyl quaternary ammonium amphiphile was best at a DP of 86 and this glycol chitosan amphiphile gave superior liver and heart gene expression levels when compared to both Exgen 500 (linear polyethylenimine) and Superfect (a polyamidoamine dendrimer).     

Isolation and Inhibitory Effects of Eupatilin,a Flavone Isolated from Artemisia monosperma Del., on Rat Isolated Smooth Muscle

The isolation for the first time from Artemisia monosperma (Compositae) of the known flavone eupatilin and its effects on rat isolated smooth muscle preparations are described. In concentrations from 10 -7 M to 3×10 -4 M, eupatilin (5, 7-dihydroxy-6, 3', 4'-trimethoxyflavone) inhibited in a reversible manner the phasic contractions and the tone of rat isolated ileum, uterus, and urinary bladder. It relaxed the tonic contractions of the phenylephrine-precontracted pulmonary artery and acetylcholine-precontracted trachea. Eupatilin also shifted the concentration-effect curves of acetylcholine and calcium chloride on rat isolated ileum, oxytocin concentration-effect curve on uterine smooth muscle and phenylephrine concentration-effect curve on pulmonary artery smooth muscle. These observations indicate that eupatilin possesses a nonspecific antispasmodic effect on rat isolated smooth muscle. They also suggest that the inhibitory effect of eupatilin may be mediated by changes in Ca 2+ metabolism in these preparations.