| 1. |
- Huq, Nafisa Lira, et al.
(författare)
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Community-based integrated intervention for skilled maternal health care utilization in riverine remote areas, Bangladesh
- 2023
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Ingår i: Sexual & Reproductive HealthCare. - : Elsevier. - 1877-5756 .- 1877-5764. ; 37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Despite the decrease in maternal mortality ratio, many women in Bangladesh are still at high-risk of death due to pregnancy-related morbidities. Increasing the rate of skilled maternal healthcare service utilization is effective to reduce maternal mortality rate. This paper examines the intervention effect of an integrated community-based maternal healthcare project implemented by a non-government organization, Friendship, aiming to provide maternal health services to women living in the remote riverine regions of Bangladesh.Methods: We examined the skilled maternal healthcare service utilization before and after project implementation of the mothers with birth experience of 0-6 months from the intervention (N =1,304) and comparison areas (N = 1,304). A difference-in-differences logistic model measured the effect of the intervention.Results: After the intervention, mothers were three times more likely to receive & GE; 4 ANC visits from skilled providers (AOR: 2.9; 95 % CI: 2.1-4.2), 1.5 times more likely to have skilled birth attendants during deliveries (AOR: 1.5; 95 % CI: 1.1-2.1) and 1.5 times more likely to seek at least one PNC within 42 days after delivery (AOR: 1.5; 95 % CI: 1.1-2.2) as compared to the comparison group.Conclusion: The intervention showed positive effect on improving the ANC coverage, skilled delivery, and PNC among the mothers residing the remote riverine areas. Therefore, it opens up the opportunity for adaptation of such integrated community and facility-based interventions by other LMICs.
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| 2. |
- Islam, Khairul, et al.
(författare)
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Dose-response relationship between arsenic exposure and the serum enzymes for liver function tests in the individuals exposed to arsenic : a cross sectional study in Bangladesh
- 2011
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Ingår i: Environmental Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1476-069X. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Chronic arsenic exposure has been shown to cause liver damage. However, serum hepatic enzyme activity as recognized on liver function tests (LFTs) showing a dose-response relationship with arsenic exposure has not yet been clearly documented. The aim of our study was to investigate the dose-response relationship between arsenic exposure and major serum enzyme marker activity associated with LFTs in the population living in arsenic-endemic areas in Bangladesh. Methods: A total of 200 residents living in arsenic-endemic areas in Bangladesh were selected as study subjects. Arsenic concentrations in the drinking water, hair and nails were measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The study subjects were stratified into quartile groups as follows, based on concentrations of arsenic in the drinking water, as well as in subjects' hair and nails: lowest, low, medium and high. The serum hepatic enzyme activities of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) were then assayed. Results: Arsenic concentrations in the subjects' hair and nails were positively correlated with arsenic levels in the drinking water. As regards the exposure-response relationship with arsenic in the drinking water, the respective activities of ALP, AST and ALT were found to be significantly increased in the high-exposure groups compared to the lowest-exposure groups before and after adjustments were made for different covariates. With internal exposure markers (arsenic in hair and nails), the ALP, AST and ALT activity profiles assumed a similar shape of dose-response relationship, with very few differences seen in the higher groups compared to the lowest group, most likely due to the temporalities of exposure metrics. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that arsenic concentrations in the drinking water were strongly correlated with arsenic concentrations in the subjects' hair and nails. Further, this study revealed a novel exposure- and dose- response relationship between arsenic exposure metrics and serum hepatic enzyme activity. Elevated serum hepatic enzyme activities in the higher exposure gradients provided new insights into arsenic-induced liver toxicity that might be helpful for the early prognosis of arsenic-induced liver diseases.
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| 3. |
- Aguilar, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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VAV3 mediates resistance to breast cancer endocrine therapy
- 2014
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Ingår i: Breast Cancer Research. - : BioMed Central. - 1465-5411 .- 1465-542X. ; 16:3, s. R53-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Endocrine therapies targeting cell proliferation and survival mediated by estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) are among the most effective systemic treatments for ERalpha-positive breast cancer. However, most tumors initially responsive to these therapies acquire resistance through mechanisms that involve ERalpha transcriptional regulatory plasticity. Here, we identify VAV3 as a critical component in this process.METHODS: A cell-based chemical compound screen was carried out to identify therapeutic strategies against resistance to endocrine therapy. Binding to ERalpha was evaluated by molecular docking analyses, an agonist fluoligand assay, and short-hairpin (sh) RNA-mediated protein depletion. Microarray analyses were performed to identify altered gene expression. Western blot of signaling and proliferation markers and shRNA-mediated protein depletion in viability and clonogenic assays were performed to delineate the role of VAV3. Genetic variation in VAV3 was assessed for association with the response to tamoxifen. Immunohistochemical analyses of VAV3 were carried out to determine the association with therapy response and different tumor markers. An analysis of gene expression association with drug sensitivity was carried out to identify a potential therapeutic approach based on differential VAV3 expression.RESULTS: The compound YC-1 was found to comparatively reduce the viability of cell models of acquired resistance. This effect was probably not due to activation of its canonical target (soluble guanylyl cyclase) but instead a result of binding to ERalpha. VAV3 was selectively reduced upon exposure to YC-1 or ERalpha depletion and, accordingly, VAV3 depletion comparatively reduced the viability of cell models of acquired resistance. In the clinical scenario, germline variation in VAV3 was associated with response to tamoxifen in Japanese breast cancer patients (rs10494071 combined P value = 8.4 x 10-4). The allele association combined with gene expression analyses indicated that low VAV3 expression predicts better clinical outcome. Conversely, high nuclear VAV3 expression in tumor cells was associated with poorer endocrine therapy response. Based on VAV3 expression levels and the response to erlotinib in cancer cell lines, targeting EGFR signaling may be a promising therapeutic strategy.CONCLUSIONS: This study proposes VAV3 as a biomarker and rationale signaling target to prevent and/or overcome resistance to endocrine therapy in breast cancer.
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| 4. |
- Ahmed, Bulbul, et al.
(författare)
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A review on natural sweetener plant - Stevia having medical and commercial importance
- 2011
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Ingår i: Agronomy Journal. - : Croatian society of agronomist. - 0002-1954. ; 73:1-2, s. 75-91
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Stevia is a perennial herb that belongs to the Asteraceae family. It is a natural sweetener plant and estimated to be 300 times sweeter than cane sugar. The leaves of stevia are the source of diterpene glycosides, viz. stevioside and rebaudioside. Stevioside is regenerated as a valuable natural sweetening agent because of its relatively good taste and chemical stability. Now it is being cultivated in Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Hawaii, Malaysia and overall South America for food and pharmaceutical products. Products can be added to tea and coffee, cooked or baked goods, processed foods and beverages, fruit juices,
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| 5. |
- Ahmed, Bulbul, et al.
(författare)
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Establishment of an Indirect Genetic Transformation Method for Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Bangladesh
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Central European Agriculture. - : Journal of Central Europian Agriculture (JCEA). - 1332-9049. ; 12:3, s. 519-528
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Arabidopsis thaliana is a small flowering plant belonging to the Brassicaceae family, which is adopted as a model plant for genetic research. Agrobacterium tumifaciensmediated transformation method for A. thaliana ecotype Bangladesh was established. Leaf discs of A. thaliana were incubated with A. tumefaciens strain LBA4404 containing chimeric nos. nptII. nos and intron-GUS genes. Following inoculation and co-cultivation, leaf discs were cultured on selection medium containing 50 mg/l kanamycin + 50 mg/l cefotaxime + 1.5 mg/l NAA and kanamycin resistant shoots were induced from the leaf discs after two weeks. Shoot regeneration was achieved after transferring the tissues onto fresh medium of the same combination. Finally, the shoots were rooted on MS medium containing 50 mg/l kanamycin. Incorporation and expression of the transgenes were confirmed by PCR analysis. Using this protocol, transgenic A. thaliana plants can be obtained and indicates that genomic transformation in higher plants is possible through insertion of desired gene. Although Agrobacterium mediated genetic transformation is established for A. thaliana, this study was the conducted to transform A. thaliana ecotype Bangladesh.
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| 6. |
- Ali, Nurshad, et al.
(författare)
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Association between arsenic exposure and plasma cholinesterase activity : a population based study in Bangladesh
- 2010
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Ingår i: Environmental Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1476-069X. ; 9:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Arsenic is a potent pollutant that has caused an environmental catastrophe in certain parts of the world including Bangladesh where millions of people are presently at risk due to drinking water contaminated by arsenic. Chronic arsenic exposure has been scientifically shown as a cause for liver damage, cancers, neurological disorders and several other ailments. The relationship between plasma cholinesterase (PChE) activity and arsenic exposure has not yet been clearly documented. However, decreased PChE activity has been found in patients suffering liver dysfunction, heart attack, cancer metastasis and neurotoxicity. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the PChE activity in individuals exposed to arsenic via drinking water in Bangladesh.Methods: A total of 141 Bangladeshi residents living in arsenic endemic areas with the mean arsenic exposure of 14.10 ± 3.27 years were selected as study subjects and split into tertile groups based on three water arsenic concentrations: low (< 129 μg/L), medium (130-264 μg/L) and high (> 265 μg/L). Study subjects were further sub-divided into two groups (≤50 μg/L and > 50 μg/L) based on the recommended upper limit of water arsenic concentration (50 μg/L) in Bangladesh. Blood samples were collected from the study subjects by venipuncture and arsenic concentrations in drinking water, hair and nail samples were measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS). PChE activity was assayed by spectrophotometer.Results: Arsenic concentrations in hair and nails were positively correlated with the arsenic levels in drinking water. Significant decreases in PChE activity were observed with increasing concentrations of arsenic in water, hair and nails. The average levels of PChE activity in low, medium and high arsenic exposure groups were also significantly different between each group. Lower levels of PChE activity were also observed in the > 50 μg/L group compared to the ≤50 μg/L group. Moreover, PChE activity was significantly decreased in the skin (+) symptoms group compared to those without (-).Conclusions: We found a significant inverse relationship between arsenic exposure and PChE activity in a human population in Bangladesh. This research demonstrates a novel exposure-response relationship between arsenic and PChE activity which may explain one of the biological mechanisms through which arsenic exerts its neuro-and hepatotoxicity in humans.
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| 7. |
- Bari, M. A., et al.
(författare)
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Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity of Solanum torvum (Solanaceae)
- 2010
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Ingår i: International Journal of Agriculture & Biology. - : Friends Science Publishers. - 1560-8530. ; 12:3, s. 386-390
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Leaves, stem, roots and inflorescence of Solanum torvum Sw. were extracted in two different organic solvents (chloroform & methanol). Antibacterial and antifungal effects of the extracts were tested on fifteen (six Gram positive & nine Gram negative) human pathogenic bacteria and on eight pathogenic fungi. Methanolic extracts of roots of S. torvum exhibited promising antibacterial and antifungal effects on all organisms tested in comparison with that observed in the leaves, stems and inflorescence extracts. The toxicity of the extracts was in the following order; root>stem>inflorescence>leaf. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of methanolic extract of roots of S. torvum were in the range between 64-128 µg mL -1 . Chloroform extracts of roots were more toxic (LC 50 35.4629 ppm) than other extracts analyzed in Brine shrimp test. In conclusion, S. torvum appears to be an attractive material for the development of antimicrobial drugs and environment friendly biopesticides.
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| 8. |
- Biswas, M. K., et al.
(författare)
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In exploitation of genetic diversity in potato breeding
- 2010
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Ingår i: Agronomski Glasnik (Agronomy Journal). - Zagreb : Hrvatsko agronomsko društvo. - 1848-8900. ; 72:4-5, s. 261-276
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With a view to select divergent parents genetic diversity was estimated among twenty genotypes. Thirty F1 progenies developed by line-tester mating were studied from seedling generation to first clonal generation for five important agronomic traits. Cluster analysis reveals that the parents could be grouped into seven different clusters. Cluster means showed wide range of variation for several traits among singles as well as multi genotypic clusters. Considering diversity pattern, parents should select from cluster I, III, IV, and V for the improvement of potato. Analysis of variance revealed that all most all the sources of variation were highly significant for all the studied traits in both generations. Parents Challisha, Lalpakri, Patnai, Chamak, Sadagoti, TPS-67 and TPS-364 were found to be good general combiners for tuber yield and yield contribution traits due to their gca effects. The sca effects showed that out of 30 hybrids 12 were found to have specific combining ability for tuber yield and those hybrids also exhibited considerable heterosis for tuber yield and yield contributing traits.
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| 9. |
- Hasan, Badrul, et al.
(författare)
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Fecal carriage of multi-drug resistant and extended spectrum beta-lactamases producing E. coli in household pigeons, Bangladesh
- 2014
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Ingår i: Veterinary Microbiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-1135 .- 1873-2542. ; 168:1, s. 221-224
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antibiotic resistance and ESBL constitute a risk to human and animal health. Birds residing close to humans could mirror the spectrum of human associated antibiotic resistance. Household pigeons were screened in Bangladesh to shed light on human associated, as well as, environmental antibiotic resistance. Escherichia coil from pigeons (n = 150) were tested against 11 antibiotics. 89% E. coil isolates were resistant to one or more critically important human antibiotics like ampicillin, cefadroxil, mecillinam, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin and tigecycline. No carbapenamase-producers were detected and the lower ESBL prevalence (5%) in pigeons. ESBL-producing E. coil isolates had bla(CTX-M_15) genes. Pigeons shared some bacterial clones and had bird associated sequence types like E. coil ST1408. Fecal carriage of bacteria resistance of critically important human antibiotics, together with examples of shared genotypes among pigeons, indicate the human-birds and bird to bird transmissions are important in the epidemiology of antibiotic resistance.
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| 10. |
- Islam, Md Shofikul, et al.
(författare)
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Elevated concentrations of serum matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 and their associations with circulating markers of cardiovascular diseases in chronic arsenic-exposed individuals
- 2015
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Ingår i: Environmental Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1476-069X. ; 14:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and cancers are the major causes of chronic arsenic exposure-related morbidity and mortality. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and −9 (MMP-9) are deeply involved in the pathogenesis of CVDs and cancers. This study has been designed to evaluate the interactions of arsenic exposure with serum MMP-2 and MMP-9 concentrations especially in relation to the circulating biomarkers of CVDs.Methods: A total of 373 human subjects, 265 from arsenic-endemic and 108 from non-endemic areas in Bangladesh were recruited for this study. Arsenic concentrations in the specimens were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and serum MMPs were quantified by immunoassay kits.Results: Serum MMP-2 and MMP-9 concentrations in arsenic-endemic population were significantly (p < 0.001) higher than those in non-endemic population. Both MMPs showed significant positive interactions with drinking water (rs = 0.208, p < 0.001 for MMP-2; rs = 0.163, p <0.01 for MMP-9), hair (rs= 0.163, p < 0.01 for MMP-2; rs = 0.173, p < 0.01 for MMP-9) and nail (rs= 0.160, p < 0.01 for MMP-2; rs = 0.182, p < 0.001 for MMP-9) arsenic of the study subjects. MMP-2 concentrations were 1.02, 1.03 and 1.05 times, and MMP-9 concentrations were 1.03, 1.06 and 1.07 times greater for 1 unit increase in log-transformed water, hair and nail arsenic concentrations, respectively, after adjusting for covariates (age, sex, BMI, smoking habit and hypertension). Furthermore, both MMPs were increased dose-dependently when the study subjects were split into three (≤10, 10.1-50 and > 50 μg/L) groups based on the regulatory upper limit of water arsenic concentration set by WHO and Bangladesh Government. MMPs were also found to be significantly (p < 0.05) associated with each other. Finally, the concentrations of both MMPs were correlated with several circulating markers related to CVDs.Conclusions: This study showed the significant positive associations and dose–response relationships of arsenic exposure with serum MMP-2 and MMP-9 concentrations. This study also showed the interactions of MMP-2 and MMP-9 concentrations with the circulating markers of CVDs suggesting the MMP-2 and MMP-9 -mediated mechanism of arsenic-induced CVDs.
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