Journal of Basic and Emerging Sciences

Relationship Between Lipid Profiles and Serum Electrolytes in Cardiac Patients: A Gender Perspective

2025-01-06T08:48:12+00:00

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), include ischemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease and stroke, and are the primary causes of mortality in the majority of high, low, and middle-income countries. Cardiovascular disease incidences are resulted by the hereditary as well as environmental factors. Disparity of the lipid profile and electrolytes imbalance poses serious risk to CVD. The objective of this study was to find the gender base relationship between lipid profile and serum electrolytes in cardiac patients. 45 cardiovascular patients were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The serum samples were used for the evaluation of lipid profile and serum electrolytes. On the basis of statistical analysis, 66.6% of cardiac patients had dyslipidaemia, while 33.4% showed no such symptoms. Meanwhile 28.8% of cardiac patients had electrolyte imbalance and 71.2% of patients had normal electrolyte values. Statistically significant differences were observed for TC (p = 0.028) and HDL (p = 0.024) with males showing lower levels of TC and HDL as compared to females indicating that gender may influence lipid metabolism and associated cardiovascular risk. The study suggested that dyslipidemia was a chief contributing factor in the etiology of cardiovascular diseases being prominent in males.

Cloning and Expression of Thermomyces lanuginosus Phytase Gene in Pichia pastoris

2025-01-06T08:51:58+00:00

Phytase(myo-inositol-hexakisphosphate phosphohydrolase), (EC 3.1.3.8) has been inducted in local poultry feed mills and is of high value for better utilization of the inorganic phosphates and metals released from the complex sources of plant substrates. In this regard a locally isolated fungus Thermomyces lanuginosus which was known to produce thermostable enzymes and had earlier shown substantial clearance of Phytic acid on agar plates in these laboratories, was selected. The fungal phytase gene of size 1.5 kb from genomic DNA was PCR amplified and expressed in Yeast expression system of Pichia pastoris GS115. The phytase gene was cloned into the vector pPIC9K and confirmed through PCR and restriction digestion. Recombinant vector was linearized with pme1 and transformed into P. pastoris electro-competent cells. Methanol utilization fast (Mut⁺) selection was carried out on minimal methanol plates. Colony PCR resulted in the selection of four transformants. Recombinant resistant at 4 mg/ml of geneticin was selected as the potential phytase producing strain. It was further grown on minimal glycerol medium for inoculum and buffered methanol complex medium for the production of phytase. The crude enzyme showed 1.25 IU/mL phytase activity in shake flask. The kinetic parameters studied showed activation energy of 76.08 KJ/mol. The K_m and V_maxwere 0.091 mM and 0.074 U/mg. The recombinant P. pastoris phyS showed maximum activity at pH 4, and 40 ºC. The SDS-PAGE analysis showed a band of ∼54 kDa.

Anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and anti-pathogenic properties of black seed (Nigella sativa) and its components, a review

2025-01-06T08:57:06+00:00

In context of the recent scholarly works, different immunotherapeutic and immunomodulatory opportunities for the crude oil of Nigella sativa (N. sativa or NS) seeds items and its substances have been utilized. The delivered ends give inferences that both the oil and its substances, specifically, Thymoquinone (TQ), have measurable anti-oxidant effects through strengthening the anti-oxidant scrounger framework, which produces influence counteracting effects brought on by a few put-downs. The oil and TQ have demonstrated likewise compelling mitigating results on a few plans that cause inflammation like preliminary encephalomyelitis, peritonitis, colitis, edema, and osteoarthritis through withdrawal of the prostaglandins and leukotrienes. The oil and certain substances uncovered significant immunomodulatory characteristics, supporting the lymphocytes and cell-intervened safeguard responses. In particular, both the oil and its substances demonstrated inhibition to growth characteristics toward various microscopic organisms and malignancies. Joining these advantages with its utilization in medicine, NS seeds are a promising asset for substances that would accompany imminent recuperating strategies in various logical setups. The proficiency of these substances ought to be determined by the qualities of the condition. In the light of their successful immunomodulatory results, further examinations are expected to find beneficial results of TQ on the master antigen presenting tissues, like macrophages and dendritic tissues, as well as its modulatory results upon Th1-and Th2-intervened ailments. In the end, results developing from such exploration will impressively upgrade the immunotherapeutic program of TQ in logical designs.

Evaluation of Thermal Processing of Commercially Available Milk Brands in Lahore

2025-01-06T09:01:22+00:00

Raw milk and commercially available milk samples were tested for the alkaline phosphatase activity to evaluate the efficacy of the pasteurization of milk. A colorimetric assay used for the kinetic determination of serum alkaline phosphatase to detect ALP in the targeted samples. The colorimetric assay uses p-nitrophenyl phosphate as the reaction substrate. When ALP acts upon this substrate, it breaks down into a phosphate group and p-nitrophenol which produces the characteristic yellow colour in the solution. The increase in absorbance of the solution measured at 405 nm is directly related to the ALP activity in the respective sample. Three raw milk samples were tested firstly as a whole and then after fat removal through centrifugation at 4000 rpm for 30 min. Seven UHT and three naturally pasteurized commercial milk samples available in the local market were used for the ALP detection in this study. Significant values for ALP activity in raw milk samples was observed whereas, for all the pasteurized samples, the test was observed to be negative that indicate the effective pasteurization process before the milk was packed for marketing. Casein was the major protein found in milk as 3.43g per 100 ml of milk sample, whereas the values for standard deviation and relative standard deviation were 0.08 and 2.54 respectively. Based on the negative results for ALP and actual yield of casein found to be closer to the theoretical yield for all the samples it can be suggested that all the targeted milk brands were safe to be consumed.

Molecular Analysis of the CusA Transporter Involved in Copper Resistance in Prokaryotes: Cloning, Phylogenetics, and Structural Modeling

2025-01-06T09:03:47+00:00

Heavy metal toxicity is a well-known phenomenon. Same is the true even for essential metals when present above threshold levels. Various homeostatic and resistance mechanisms have aroused due to evolutionary pressures exerted by metal-rich environments. Copper is a dual faced metal that is essential as well as may be toxic for cellular processes. Efflux of excessive metal ions is one of the several resistance mechanisms in bacteria. CusA, an RND protein, plays a central role in a tripartite CusCBA efflux channel. In this study, the CusA from a copper-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strain was explored. The cusA gene were successfully amplified and cloned into a cloning vector and subjected to sequencing. The corresponding protein sequence was deduced and a comprehensive analysis was conducted, including its distribution and scope of homology in various bacterial taxa through multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree construction. The findings revealed that CusA is widely distributed and conserved across a broad range of Proteobacteria, suggesting a crucial and widespread role in metal homeostasis and resistance. The protein was further characterized through structural modeling to predict its three-dimensional structure. The analysis identified key domains and functionally important conserved residues involved in binding and efflux of copper ions. The study, highlighting its evolutionary conservation, provides insights into its functional dynamics across diverse bacterial species. These results enhance the understanding of metal resistance mechanisms and may be beneficial for future research on bacterial adaptation to environmental stresses.