In the human genome, point variations are most common (Nachman & Crowell, 2000) and well understood. These variations, when existing in more than 1% of the population, is referred to as
Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) and can fall in the coding region of a gene, non coding region or intergenic regions.
This study was aimed to find out the prevalence of HCV infection and frequency of its genotypes in the
population of the Karol war village i.e. situated in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was a descriptive crosssectional study model. Tests were performed in the Department of Bacteriology, Institute of Public
Health Lahore, Pakistan. Cases positive for Anti-HCV antibodies by chemiluminescence assay were
subjected to HCV RNA detection by PCR. Genotyping was done by Geno-Sen’s HCV Genotyping
1/2/3/4 Real Time PCR kit for Rotor Gene. A total of 396 patients were enrolled for this study. The
incidence of positive HBSAg and HCV cases were 11.86% and 1.5% respectively. Males were more
affected with 61.7% (n=29) while positive cases in females were 38.3% (n=18). Age group of 31-45
years had higher infection rate among other ages (n=20). The frequency of genotypes 3, 1 and 2 was
36, 4 and 3 respectively while the genotype of 4 patients was found to be indeterminate. Genotype 3 is
the most prevalent genotype in the studied individuals which corresponds to the local data available so
far however 11.86 % positivity figure is quite alarming figure for that area.
Smoking is a known established threat playing a definite role in destroying youth, the future foundation for any generation. Whether steps taken are being effective or not have to be tested vigilantly as most of the previous results are based on self-reported questionnaires and the reliability of the questionnaires can be dubious. For most of the Asian parents, tobacco consumption can be a taboo especially if the teenagers are involved. Different studies have shown that prevalence of smoking among youngsters are as high as 37% to as low as 11.5% in Malaysia. How can these figures are verified as they are self-reported and how can be generations protected from ill effects of tobacco consumption. The onus not only lies on the government but also on parents/guardians, healthcare setup at various levels of care and on general population. Despite of stringent steps taken there are loopholes in the system providing these children and adolescents easy access to tobacco.
Bacterial biofilms are a complex community of microbes in which the cells are embedded in a polysaccharide matrix.
This slime is a mean of protection in hostile environments. Biofilms in hospital settings are perilous as they not only
make treatment difficult, cause blockage of pipes but are also cause of serious nosocomial infections thus making their
dispersal an even more important phenomenon. Any foaming method is not applicable at all places for the cleaning of
biofilms hence biofilm dispersal by household sweep containing hydrochloric acid was checked using the microliter
plate assay as dispersal strategy. Bacteria from hospital waste disposal pipes were isolated, its ability to form biofilm
was noted under different time intervals and then finally biofilm degradation was done using different concentrations
of household sweep. It was noted that household sweep can be successfully employed at many places especially waste
disposal pipes and acid resistant tubes. Our results indicated that 20% sweep (HCl conc. 1%) if used for only one
minute can reduce the biofilms to 50%. Similarly increasing contact time can reduce the biofilms further.
A normal health status is highly depends on body weight. Many health problems may occur or impose risk for
extremely obese individuals. Etiopathology of obesity includes interaction of several factors inclusive of
genetic and non-genetic factors such as lifestyle changes. This study aimed to launch Malaysian Obesity
DNA Bank and determine the prevalence of obesity along with anthropometric measurements of the subjects.
The cross-sectional study was conducted on total of 340 subjects (obese = 95, overweight = 122 and normal =
123), aged 19-60 years, in Terengganu. The BMI and well appropriate anthropometric measurements (waist
circumference, hip circumference, waist to hip ratio, fat percentage and ASindex) were determined through
standard protocols and formulae. The mean difference of anthropometrics was determined by independent ttest. Data was analysed using SPSS ver.16.0.0. The BMI was determined for all subjects and it was found that
out of 340 subjects, a total of 95 (27.9%) subjects were obese , followed by a total of 122 (35.8%) subjects
were overweight and normal individuals were 123 (36.1%). The mean of the BMI, WHR, Fat% and ASindex,
in Malay obese were 32.83, 0.88, 33.5 and 13.21 respectively, while in normal healthy individuals were 22.1,
0.78, 24.2 and 20.1 respectively. The difference of mean of BMI, WHR, Fat% and ASindex was calculated to
be 10.73, 0.1, 9.3 and 6.89 respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in Malaysia,
reporting that this is very first Obesity DNA Bank in South East Asia region and prevalence of obesity in
Terengganu, Malaysia to be 27.9%. In addition, it indicates a significant mean difference for anthropometric
measurements among obese and normal individuals. For Asindex calculations suggest that the prevalence of
genocide obesity is greater 89.9% of android obesity in Malay obese attributes
.
Genetic diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is complicated by the presence of SMN2 gene as majority of SMA patients show absence or deletion of SMN1 gene. PCR may amplify both the genes non selectively in presence of high amount of DNA. We evaluated whether allele-specific PCR for diagnostic screening of SMA is reliable in the presence of high amount of genomic DNA, which is commonly used when performing diagnostic screening using restriction enzymes.