Organisms Commons^™

Characterizing The Cutaneous Microbiome Of Eurycea Lucifuga As A Potential Defense Against Chytridiomycosis, Madeline Key

Senior Honors Theses

Chytridiomycosis is an emerging infectious disease that is significantly reducing global amphibian populations. The disease is caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a fungus that lethally modifies amphibian skin. Recent research has suggested that the cutaneous microbiome of individual amphibians may play a role in susceptibility to the pathogen. In this study, twelve cave salamanders (Eurycea lucifuga) were collected. Cutaneous bacteria from each salamander were isolated and identified using Sanger Sequencing. Additionally, a Bd-challenge assay was performed to determine each isolate’s antifungal activity. Results indicated many microbial isolates possessed inhibitory capabilities against Bd, which may …

Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices (Kap) Towards Covid-19 Pandemic Among Pregnant Women In A Tertiary Hospital In Karachi, Pakistan, Sumaira Naz, Syeda Dur E Shawar, Shamila Saleem, Ayesha Malik, Amir Raza

Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of the pregnant population during the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care hospital.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. KAP towards COVID-19 was assessed using 21-item questionnaires. A score for each category was calculated and points were summed. The outcome variables of KAP were compared with demographic characteristics. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 19.
Results: A total of 377 patients participated in the study. The majority of the patients were multiparous (36.8%) in the age group of …

Oxidative Stress Strongly Restricts The Effect Of Codon Choice On The Efficiency Of Protein Synthesis In Escherichia Coli, Lorenzo Eugenio Leiva, Sara Elgamal, Sebastian A. Leidel, Omar Orellana, Michael Ibba, Assaf Katz

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction

The response of enterobacteria to oxidative stress is usually considered to be regulated by transcription factors such as OxyR and SoxR. Nevertheless, several reports have shown that under oxidative stress the levels, modification and aminoacylation of tRNAs may be altered suggesting a role of codon bias in regulation of gene expression under this condition.

Methods

In order to characterize the effects of oxidative stress on translation elongation we constructed a library of 61 plasmids, each coding for the green fluorescent protein (GFP) translationally fused to a different set of four identical codons.

Results

Using these reporters, we observed that …

Impact Of Alcohol On Bone Health In People Living With Hiv: Integrating Clinical Data From Serum Bone Markers With Morphometric Analysis In A Non-Human Primate Model, Alexandra Denys, Allison Norman, Daniel S. Perrien, Larry J. Suva, Liz Simon, Lee S. Mcdaniel, Tekeda Ferguson, Kim Pedersen, David Welsh, Patricia E. Molina, Martin J.J. Ronis

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

People living with HIV (PLWH) represent a vulnerable population to adverse musculoskeletal outcomes due to HIV infection, antiretroviral therapy (ART), and at-risk alcohol use. Developing measures to prevent skeletal degeneration in this group requires a grasp of the relationship between alcohol use and low bone mass in both the PLWH population and its constituents as defined by sex, age, and race. We examined the association of alcohol use with serum biochemical markers of bone health in a diverse cohort of PLWH enrolled in the New Orleans Alcohol Use in HIV (NOAH) study. To explore the effects of alcohol on bone …

Metagenomics Next Generation Sequencing (Mngs): An Exciting Tool For Early And Accurate Diagnostic Of Fungal Pathogens In Plants, Fatma Seyma Gökdemir, Özlem Darcansoy Iseri, Abhishek Sharma, Premila Achar, Füsun Eyidogan

Faculty and Research Publications

Crop output is directly impacted by infections, with fungi as the major plant pathogens, making accurate diagnosis of these threats crucial. Developing technology and multidisciplinary approaches are turning to genomic analyses in addition to traditional culture methods in diagnostics of fungal plant pathogens. The metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) method is preferred for genotyping identification of organisms, identification at the species level, illumination of metabolic pathways, and determination of microbiota. Moreover, the data obtained so far show that this new approach is promising as an emerging new trend in fungal disease detection. Another approach covered by mNGS technologies, known as metabarcoding, …

Genomic Data Mining Reveals Abundant Uncharacterized Transporters In Coccidioides Immitis And Coccidioides Posadasii, Hong Cai, Hao Zhang, Daniel H. Guo, Yufeng Wang, Jianying Gu

Publications and Research

Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii are causative agents of coccidioidomycosis, commonly known as Valley Fever. The increasing Valley Fever cases in the past decades, the expansion of endemic regions, and the rising azole drug-resistant strains have underscored an urgent need for a better understanding of Coccidioides biology and new antifungal strategies. Transporters play essential roles in pathogen survival, growth, infection, and adaptation, and are considered as potential drug targets. However, the composition and roles of transport machinery in Coccidioides remain largely unknown. In this study, genomic data mining revealed an abundant, uncharacterized repertoire of transporters in Coccidioides genomes. The catalog …

Emergence Of A Multidrug-Resistant And Virulent Streptococcus Pneumoniae Lineage Mediates Serotype Replacement After Pcv13: An International Whole-Genome Sequencing Study, Stephanie W. Lo, Kate Mellor, Robert Cohen, Alba Redin Alonso, Sophie Belman, Narender Kumar, Paulina A. Hawkins, Rebecca A. Gladstone, Sadia Shakoor, Muhammad Imran Nisar

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background: Serotype 24F is one of the emerging pneumococcal serotypes after the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). We aimed to identify lineages driving the increase of serotype 24F in France and place these findings into a global context.
Methods: Whole-genome sequencing was performed on a collection of serotype 24F pneumococci from asymptomatic colonisation (n=229) and invasive disease (n=190) isolates among individuals younger than 18 years in France, from 2003 to 2018. To provide a global context, we included an additional collection of 24F isolates in the Global Pneumococcal Sequencing (GPS) project database for analysis. A Global Pneumococcal Sequence Cluster …

Frequency Of Bystander Exposure To Antibiotics For Enteropathogenic Bacteria Among Young Children In Low-Resource Settings, Elizabeth T. Rogawski Mcquade, Stephanie A. Brennhofer, Sarah E. Elwood, Timothy L. Mcmurry, Joseph A. Lewnard, Estomih R. Mduma, Sanjaya Shrestha, Najeeha Talat Iqbal, Pascal O. Bessong, Gagandeep Kang

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Children in low-resource settings carry enteric pathogens asymptomatically and are frequently treated with antibiotics, resulting in opportunities for pathogens to be exposed to antibiotics when not the target of treatment (i.e., bystander exposure). We quantified the frequency of bystander antibiotic exposures for enteric pathogens and estimated associations with resistance among children in eight low-resource settings. We analyzed 15,697 antibiotic courses from 1,715 children aged 0 to 2 y from the MAL-ED birth cohort. We calculated the incidence of bystander exposures and attributed exposures to respiratory and diarrheal illnesses. We associated bystander exposure with phenotypic susceptibility of E. coli isolates in …

Suicide Numbers During The First 9-15 Months Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Compared With Pre-Existing Trends: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis In 33 Countries, Jane Pirkis, David Gunnell, Sangsoo Shin, Marcos Del Pozo-Banos, Vikas Arya, Pablo Analuisa Aguilar, Louis Appleby, S. M. Yasir Arafat, Ella Arensman, Murad Khan

Department of Psychiatry

Background: Predicted increases in suicide were not generally observed in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the picture may be changing and patterns might vary across demographic groups. We aimed to provide a timely, granular picture of the pandemic's impact on suicides globally.
Methods: We identified suicide data from official public-sector sources for countries/areas-within-countries, searching websites and academic literature and contacting data custodians and authors as necessary. We sent our first data request on 22nd June 2021 and stopped collecting data on 31st October 2021. We used interrupted time series (ITS) analyses to model the association between the …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Career Choice Of Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Study Amongst Pre-Medical Students In Pakistan, Raisa Saleh, Russell Seth Martins, Muhammad Saad, Asad Saulat Fatimi, Manzar Abbas, Inaara Akbar, Hamzah Jehanzeb, Shamila Ladak, Shamama Kaleem, Sarah Nadeem

Medical College Documents

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the lives of healthcare workers due to the frontline nature of their work. Their hard work and sacrifice have forged new perceptions of healthcare workers. These changes may potentially influence students' interest in medicine. This study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected premedical students' decisions to pursue medicine as a career.
Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-designed online questionnaire was carried out amongst pre-medical students across Pakistan.
Results: A total of 1695 students from 93 public and private schools filled in the survey. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly …

Behavioural Support And Nicotine Replacement Therapy For Smokeless Tobacco Cessation: Protocol For A Pilot Randomised-Controlled Multi-Country Trial, Faraz Siddiqui, Linda Bauld, Ray Croucher, Cath Jackson, Ian Kellar, Mona Kanaan, Subhash Pokhrel, Rumana Huque, Romaina Iqbal, Javaid Ahmed Khan

Community Health Sciences

Background: Smokeless tobacco (ST) is consumed globally by more than 350 million people, with approximately 85% of all users based in South and Southeast Asia. In this region, ST products are cheap and easily accessible. Evidence-based interventions to people quit ST use are lacking. This study aims to test the feasibility of conducting a future definitive trial of ST cessation, using a culturally adapted behavioural intervention, and/or nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in three South Asian countries.
Methods: We will conduct a factorial design, randomised-controlled pilot trial in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Daily ST users will be recruited from primary health …

Cmv And Ebv Co-Infection In Hiv-Infected Children: Infection Rates And Analysis Of Differential Expression Of Cytokines In Hiv Mono- And Hiv-Cmv-Ebv Co-Infected Groups, Fizza Nazim, Hammad Afzal Kayani, Aspara Ali Nathwani, Fatima Mir, Syed Hani Abidi

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Background: CMV and EBV co-infections can affect the HIV disease progression by modulating the immune system. The disease dynamics can differ in HIV-positive adults and children. In Pakistan, HIV is rapidly expanding, especially in children; however, the prevalence of CMV and EBV co-infection and the effect on immune modulation in HIV-positive children are not known. This study aimed to bridge this gap by estimating the rate of active CMV and EBV co-infection in HIV-positive children, followed by the analysis of differential expression of cytokines in HIV mono- and HIV/CMV/EBV co-infected children.
Methods: DNA samples from 319 HIV-positive children, previously recruited …

The Sars-Cov-2 Differential Genomic Adaptation In Response To Varying Uvindex Reveals Potential Genomic Resources For Better Covid-19 Diagnosis And Prevention, Naveed Iqbal, Muhammad Rafiq, Masooma Ali, Sanaullah Tareen, Maqsood Ahmad, Faheem Nawaz, Sumair Khan, Rida Riaz, Ting Yang, Ambrin Fatima

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a pandemic disease reported in almost every country and causes life-threatening, severe respiratory symptoms. Recent studies showed that various environmental selection pressures challenge the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infectivity and, in response, the virus engenders new mutations, leading to the emergence of more virulent strains of WHO concern. Advance prediction of the forthcoming virulent SARS-CoV-2 strains in response to the principal environmental selection pressures like temperature and solar UV radiation is indispensable to overcome COVID-19. To discover the UV-solar radiation-driven genomic adaption of SARS-CoV-2, a curated dataset of 2,500 full-grade genomes from …

Microplastics In Freshly Fallen Snow: How May It Adversely Impact Human Health And Exacerbate The Covid-19 Crisis?, Ayesha Liaquat, Aleena Kashif, Sushma Rathi, Alishba Raza

Medical College Documents

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Biosecurity Measures, Social Pressure And Bullying On Attitudes, Perceptions, And Job Satisfaction Levels Among Healthcare Workers During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey, Azza Sarfraz, Zouina Sarfraz, Genesis Camacho-Leon, Geovanny Efraín Alvarado-Villa, Derly Madeleiny Andrade-Molina, Juan Carlos Fernandez-Cadena, Arjola Agolli, Zeynep Yukselen, Miguel Felix, Juan Carlos Gallardo Bastidas

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Introduction: The extent and nature of social pressure and bullying towards healthcare workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 remains unclear. The following study identifies the effect of social pressure and bullying directed towards HCWs when using biosecurity measures during the COVID-19 pandemic; further, the impact on perceptions, attitudes and job satisfaction level is also explored.
Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional survey-based study among 684 Ecuadorian HCWs. The survey consisted of 38 questions related to the frequency, attitudes, and perceptions of biosecurity measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to assess the validity of the questionnaire. Associations between variables …

"Don't Look Up" Your Science-Herd Immunity Or Herd Mentality?, Botond Z Igyártó

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

This analysis piece will attempt to examine some of the critical pandemic-related measures implemented in the United States from an immunological perspective and pinpoint caveats that should have been considered before their implementation. I also discuss alternative measures grounded in scientific data that were not thoroughly explored and likely could have helped fight the pandemic.

Solid-State Nmr Analysis Of Unlabeled Fungal Cell Walls From Aspergillus And Candida Species, Liyanage D. Fernando, Malitha C. Dickwella Widanage, S. Chandra Shekar, Frederic Mentink-Vigier, Ping Wang, Sungsool Wi, Tuo Wang

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Fungal infections cause high mortality in immunocompromised individuals, which has emerged as a significant threat to human health. The efforts devoted to the development of antifungal agents targeting the cell wall polysaccharides have been hindered by our incomplete picture of the assembly and remodeling of fungal cell walls. High-resolution solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ss NMR) studies have substantially revised our understanding of the polymorphic structure of polysaccharides and the nanoscale organization of cell walls in Aspergillus fumigatus and multiple other fungi. However, this approach requires 13C/15N-enrichment of the sample being studied, severely restricting its application. Here we employ the dynamic …

Incidence Of Typhoid And Paratyphoid Fever In Bangladesh, Nepal, And Pakistan: Results Of The Surveillance For Enteric Fever In Asia Project, Mohammad Tahir Yousafzai, Sadia Shakoor, Irum Fatima Dehraj, Junaid Mehmood, Rozina Thobani, Aneeta Hotwani, Najeeb Rehman, Seema Irfan, Abdul Momin Kazi, Mohammed J. Hunzai

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Precise enteric fever disease burden data are needed to inform prevention and control measures, including the use of newly available typhoid vaccines. We established the Surveillance for Enteric Fever in Asia Project (SEAP) to inform these strategies.
Methods: From September, 2016, to September, 2019, we conducted prospective clinical surveillance for Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (S Typhi) and Paratyphi (S Paratyphi) A, B, and C at health facilities in predetermined catchment areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh; Kathmandu and Kavrepalanchok, Nepal; and Karachi, Pakistan. Patients eligible for inclusion were outpatients with 3 or more consecutive days of fever in the last 7 …

Resolving The Repression Pathway Of Virulence Gene Hila In Salmonella, Alexandra King, Lon Chubiz Phd, Brenda Pratte, Lauren Daugherty

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Salmonella is a relatively abundant, virulent species of bacteria that is most known for spreading gastrointestinal diseases through food. These illnesses result in approximately 1.35 million infections, including over 25,000 hospitalizations each year, in the U.S. alone (CDC.gov). As antibiotic resistance becomes an increasingly urgent public health problem, the importance of developing alternative treatment methods is only becoming more crucial. One of the genes responsible for this virulence is known as hilA. HilA is the main transcriptional regulator of Salmonella Pathogenicity Island-1 gene (UniProt). SPI-1 plays an important role in the invasion of Salmonella into epithelial cells. The proteins encoded …

Effect Of Bovine Lactoferrin On Seroconversion Following Polio Vaccine Administration In Children: Protocol For A Double-Blinded Randomised Controlled Trial, Atif Habib, Sidrah Nausheen, Shanila Nooruddin, Tooba Javed, Tariq Samejo, Amjad Hussain, Suneeta Namdave, Sehrish Amirali, Muhammad Umer, Lumaan Sheikh

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Introduction: The oral polio vaccine (OPV) has substantial results in eliminating wild poliovirus and the vaccine of choice in polio eradication. However, the mucosal immunity induced by the OPV is still uncertain. Literature has shown that bovine lactoferrin (BLF) is a safe and useful protein found in cow's milk with extraordinary antimicrobial, antiviral, antiinflammatory and immune-modulatory functions that help children's gut to fight against micro-organisms like poliovirus. However, limited data exist regarding the effect of BLF on polio vaccine immune response. The primary objective is to evaluate the effect of BLF in enhancing mucosal and humoral immunity in children following …

Full- Versus Sub-Regional Quantification Of Amyloid-Beta Load On Mouse Brain Sections, Yuu Ohno, Riley Murphy, Matthew Choi, Weijun Ou, Rachita K. Sumbria

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Extracellular accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques is one of the major pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and is the target of the only FDA-approved disease-modifying treatment for AD. Accordingly, the use of transgenic mouse models that overexpress the amyloid precursor protein and thereby accumulate cerebral Aβ plaques are widely used to model human AD in mice. Therefore, immunoassays, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunostaining, commonly measure the Aβ load in brain tissues derived from AD transgenic mice. Though the methods for Aβ detection and quantification have been well established and documented, the impact of the size of the …

Medical Students In Karachi And Covid-19: Myths And Facts, Omer Bin Khalid Jamil, Muhammad Muhib, Muhammad Anas Abbal, Amna Muhammed Ahmed, Hafsa Hayat Khan, Nabeela Yar Khan

Department of Surgery

Objectives: COVID-19 pandemic brought mortalities, morbidities, fear, and financial despair among people around the world. As it advanced, misinformation and myths about it caught wildfire, contributing to misbelief among the already shocked population. Medical students are the building blocks of the medical community and can provide a pivotal role in combating COVID-19 misinformation by delivering correct knowledge and awareness to the non-medical population of the country. Hence, it is important to assess their knowledge and perception of COVID-19 myths. Therefore, this study evaluates medical student's knowledge regarding myths and misinformation related to COVID-19 infection and its vaccine. The study also …

Burden, Clinical Characteristics, Risk Factors, And Seasonality Of Adenovirus 40/41 Diarrhea In Children In Eight Low-Resource Settings, Godfrey Guga, Sarah Elwood, Caroline Kimathi, Gagandeep Kang, Margaret N. Kosek, Aldo A M Lima, Pascal O. Bessong, Amidou Samie, Najeeha Talat Iqbal, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Background: The application of molecular diagnostics has identified enteric group adenovirus serotypes 40 and 41 as important causes of diarrhea in children. However, many aspects of the epidemiology of adenovirus 40/41 diarrhea have not been described.
Methods: We used data from the 8-site Etiology, Risk Factors, and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development Project birth cohort study to describe site- and age-specific incidence, risk factors, clinical characteristics, and seasonality.
Results: The incidence of adenovirus 40/41 diarrhea was substantially higher by quantitative polymerase chain reaction than enzyme immunoassay and peaked at ∼30 episodes …

Integration Of Medicinal Fungi Into The Heber W. Youngken Jr. Medicinal Garden, Anthony Makashov

Senior Honors Projects

The Heber W. Youngken Jr. Medicinal Garden is a one-of-a-kind resource that houses close to 300 medicinal plants and is filled to the brim with educational opportunities. For the College of Pharmacy, this garden has been the centerpiece of many classes taught here at the University of Rhode Island and has roots as a physical teaching space. While the garden contains a plethora of plant species, medicinal fungi have yet to have been included in the garden, despite their relevance as both sources of pharmaceutical drug discovery and as natural products with inherent physiological benefits themselves. The purpose of my …

Author Correction: Short Amylin Receptor Antagonist Peptides Improve Memory Deficits In Alzheimer’S Disease Mouse Model, Rania Soudy, Ryoichi Kimura, Aarti Patel, Wen Fu, Kamaljit Kaur, David Westaway, Jing Yang, Jack Jhamandas

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Correction to: Scientific Reports https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47255-9, published online 29 July 2019

The original Article contained an error in Figure 1A where the control trace for both the HEK-AMY3 and HEKWT cells was duplicated...

The original Article has been corrected.

The Discovery And Analysis Of Mycobacteriophage “Rita”, Anna Fakhri

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Scholarship

Anna Fakhri ’24
Major: Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kathleen Cornely, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Mycobacteriophage “Rita” was isolated on Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 from an enriched soil sample from North Easton, Massachusetts. As Rita infects Mycobacterium smegmatis, further study of the phage was completed in order to determine its ability to be utilized in phage therapy for infections caused by pathogenic Mycobacterium, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium abscessus. Once isolated, the phage DNA was analyzed through PCR to determine the phage belonged to cluster F and subcluster F1. The phage DNA was sequenced, and a genome annotation was completed. The annotation …

Predominantly Methicillin-Susceptible S. Aureus Bacteria Found In Csp Students’ S. Aureus Strains, Roma Ambo

Research and Scholarship Symposium Posters

Positive Staphylococcus aureus strains from CSP students were tested for methicillin resistance (MRSA) using the Kirby-bauer assay. Kirby-bauer assay technique was used to determine the sensitivity of staphylococcus aureus bacteria against oxacillin. MRSA infection is the result of a bacteria that has built resistance against the antibiotics used to treat staph infections. The results of this experiment concludes that majority of the strains tested are methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA).

Development Of Evidence-Based Covid-19 Management Guidelines For Local Context: The Methodological Challenges, Sarah Nadeem, Salima Saleem Aamdani, Bushra Ayub, Nashia Ali Rizvi, Fatima Safi Arslan, Russell Seth Martins, Maria Khan, Syed Faisal Mahmood

Section of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has presented as a therapeutic challenge for clinicians worldwide due to its rapid spread along with evolving evidence and understanding of the disease. Internationally, recommendations to guide the management of COVID-19 have been created and updated continuously by the WHO and CDC, which have been locally adapted by different countries. Similarly, Pakistan's National Command Operation Center (NCOC), in its national COVID-19 management strategy, generated guidelines for national implementation. Keeping the guidelines updated has proved challenging globally and locally. Here, we present a summary of the process to assess the evidence, including a time-restricted …

Characterisation Of Drug-Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Mutations And Transmission In Pakistan, Gary Napier, Anwar Sheed Khan, Abdul Jabbar, Muhammad Tahir Khan, Sajid Ali, Muhammad Qasim, Noor Mohammad, Rumina Hasan, Zahra Hasan, Susana Campino

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a high-burden disease in Pakistan, with multi-drug (MDR) and extensive-drug (XDR) resistance, complicating infection control. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of M. tuberculosis is being used to infer lineages (strain-types), drug resistance mutations, and transmission patterns-all informing infection control and clinical decision making. Here we analyse WGS data on 535 M. tuberculosis isolates sourced across Pakistan between years 2003 and 2020, to understand the circulating strain-types and mutations related to 12 anti-TB drugs, as well as identify transmission clusters. Most isolates belonged to lineage 3 (n = 397; 74.2%) strain-types, and were MDR (n = …

Trigonella Foenum-Graecum Methanolic Extract On Isolated Smooth Muscles And Acetylcholinesterase Enzyme: An In Vitro And Mechanistic In Silico Investigation, Muhammad Nabeel Ghayur, Mohnad Abdalla, Asaad Khalid, Saeed Ahmad, Anwar Gilani

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Results: When tested on the baseline of isolated tissues, Tfg.Cr was devoid of any activity (stimulant or relaxant) till 10 mg/ml. This is an interesting finding, keeping in mind that the fenugreek seeds are used to alleviate constipation and diarrhoea. When Tfg.Cr was tried for any potential AChE inhibitory activity, it did show an inhibitory effect in increasing concentrations (47-380 μg/ml). This inhibitory effect was comparable to the effect produced by a standard AChE inhibitor physostigmine. One of the known fenugreek constituents, diosgenin, was also tested, and it also showed an AChE inhibitory effect in a concentration-dependent manner (11-190 …