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Pakistani females are at elevated risk of breast cancer, hence there is a need to explore every possible potential contributing factor. The present study was performed to analyze the perception of women about their Vit-D levels in both urban and rural areas. Women included 154 clinically diagnosed breast cancer patients from different hospitals and 248 randomly selected females as control group were recruited from Punjab, Pakistan. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS to find the association of Vit-D deficiency with breast carcinoma in different age groups. Out of a total of 402 respondent, 51.5% were completely ignorant of their Vit-D level. Pearson's Chi- square test for those who had perception about Vit-D deficiency among the breast cancer patients and control group revealed asymptotic 2-sided significance of 0.004 while among different age groups, 41 to 50 years were most prone to deficiency with P = 0.003. Urban women were found to had 12% greater association of Vit-D deficiency as compared to women living in rural areas. It was concluded that Vit-D deficiency is a highly contributing factor for breast cancer so every female must be aware of the importance of Vit-D and should maintain a sufficient level of this crucially important vitamin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic (As), a class-A human carcinogen, is ubiquitously present in the earth's crust and soil and may enter the air, water, and surface environments through different natural and anthropogenic sources. In this experiment, soil, irrigation water, and rice grains were sampled from conventional rice-growing areas of Punjab, Pakistan. Soil samples were collected from 0 to 15 cm surface soil of rice growing fields, and rice grains were collected from the same field at crop maturity. Irrigation water samples were collected from the source used to irrigate the respective rice fields. Coordinates of sampling locations were noted using a global positioning system, and a locations map was made using ArcGIS. Soil samples were digested in a microwave digester using aqua regia, and plant samples were block digested using nitric acid. Arsenic concentration was determined using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer coupled with an auto-sampler and integrated samples introduction system. The mean concentration of As in rice grains, soil, and water samples was found within the safe limit set by WHO except for a sample from Narowal (148.54 µg l−1) that exceeded the irrigation water standard limit, i.e., 100 µg l−1 for irrigation water. Principal component analysis was performed to reduce the multidimensional space of variables and samples. Through the calculations of estimated daily intake, it has been revealed that the As levels measured in this study would only contribute a small amount (less than 5%) of the total recommended daily intake allowance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumption pattern of cooked rice varies from individual to individual owing to their habitual perceptions. In this context, information about the cooking and eating quality attributes of rice cultivars grown in Pakistan may be helpful for the consumers for their personal selection as well as export purposes. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the quality attributes of six rice cultivars grown in major rice growing areas of the Punjab, Pakistan along with certified cultivars of Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku. These cultivars were characterized for their physical, chemical, pasting and cooking characteristics. Mean values showed greater variations among the brown and white rice samples for peak viscosity (701±0.32 to 786±0.19RVU), set back viscosity (2038±0.46 to 2265±0.49RVU), break down viscosity (224±0.46 to 279±0.49RVU), final viscosity (2746±0.49 to 2258±0.50RVU), kernel elongation ratio (2.65±1.15 to 2.97±1.30), volume expansion ratio (3.47±0.37 to 4.13±0.35) and water absorption ratio (3.21±0.29 to 3.57±0.19). Eating quality of cooked rice samples showed maximum preference of white rice samples due to better color, aroma, taste, texture. This was might be due to routine consumption of white rice in Pakistan as compared to brown rice. The variations in characteristics of brown and white fractions of cultivars from various locations were might be due to climatic, agronomic and other agricultural practices adopted during the rice cropping season as well as rice processing conditions. It is concluded from the current study that Basmati varieties especially grown in popular areas for rice cultivation are considered best for processors, consumers as well as exporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean is an oleaginous legume and endorsed source of complete plant protein that contributes highest gross output as an oil seed crop throughout the world. The aim of this study was to investigate effect of soybean varieties on physicochemical properties, compositional analysis, mineral contents, fatty acids, lipoxygenase, antioxidant and phytochemical screening with respect to functional product. The significant p<0.05 results recorded for composition and mineral contents varied in all varieties. Among fatty acids the most dramatic effect was seen in palmitic (8.23-12.47%), oleic (22.19-34.56%), linoleic (49.25-56.34%) and linolenic acids (5.23-8.23%). Three lipoxygenase isozymes (LOX-1, LOX-2 and LOX-3) in soybean showed inhibition potential; however, LOX-2 was the most inhibition prone enzyme. Phytochemical screening through phenolic contents showed variation in between 1.21 to 2.76 (mgGAE/g) and total flavonoid contents 0.42 to 1.78 (mgCE/g). Antioxidant activity by DPPH was 3.68 to 5.65, FRAP 20.78 to 29.56 and ABTS 9.63 to 13.48 (mgTE/g). Conclusively, results showed that soybeans have the potential as a functional food and nutritional component highest in Ajmeri followed by Willium- 82 and NARC-II, Rawal-I and Faisal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: (1) To investigate the inhibitory effect of Captopril on level of glycation (in vivo). (2) To study glycation inhibition in vivo. Study design: Case study. Period: Sep. 2006 to March. 2008. One year seven months. Setting: Department of Biochemistry University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Methods: Different parameters like fluorescence, total proteins, TBA (thiobarbituric acid) method, periodate borohydride assay were used to check the effect of inhibitor on glycation. Thirty two combinations were made and all these combinations were placed at 37̊C, at same time for five weeks. 3mL of blood sample was drawn after 1st, 3rd and 5th week of incubation to perform the experiments for glycation and glycation inhibition. Along with the same temperature (37̊C), different combinations of glucose and inhibitor were used. Results: Effective concentration of inhibitor helped to decrease the level of glycation. All concentrations of glucose (G , G and G ) showed 1 2 3 glycation with protein. The inhibitor Captopril (all concentrations) showed variations in inhibition of glycation at one temperature (37̊C) with different parameters (Fluorescence, TBA and Periodate) but the most effective concentration of inhibitors at each condition is I (1mM) but I (10 3 1 mM) and I (5 mM) were also equally effective after I . Periodate borohydride Assay is more effective for glycation determination than 2 3 thiobarbituric acid assay. Conclusions: Captopril can be used as glycation inhibitor in future. As it enhances the activity of transketolase, it can produce 3DG compound which can block the AGEs. However, more experimentations should be done on animal or on large scale before its application in diabetic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) is causing 100% morbidity in adult animals with a high mortality rate in young animals due to cardiomyopathy. The disease-causing virus (FMDV) has been classified into seven serotypes and several topotypes. Amongst serotypes, the serotype O is predominantly present in Pakistan. A vaccine that should be safer and appears as an alternative to conventional vaccines that have failed to control the disease is required. Keeping in view, a multiepitope-based subunit vaccine (MESV) is designed using computational biology-based approaches. The sequence and structural characterization of capsid proteins and 3Cpro of O PanAsia-II sub-lineage are carried out for screening the antigenic proteins. Further, the B- and T-cell epitopes are selected based on toxicity, antigenicity, allergenicity, conservancy, and topology. The Cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes are confirmed through molecular interactions with selected bovine alleles. The designed MESV is found stable, hydrophilic, antigenic, non-allergen, exposed extracellularly, non-toxic, and soluble. It will stimulate the protective immune response against the viral challenge as it has shown a strong binding affinity with the TLR4. These results suggest that the developed MESV will prove to be a potential candidate vaccine in controlling the disease against serotype O. For expression and accumulation of stable protein the sequence that encodes the multiepitope-based subunit vaccine is codonoptimized following the codon preference of E. coli and is cloned in pET-28a (+). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot-and-mouth disease is one of the devastating transboundary animal diseases causing heavy losses to the livestock industry. Different vaccines based on the inactivated FMD virus are used against this disease, but lack of immunological memory and the need for high biocontainment are the major drawbacks of these vaccines. A novel vaccine comprising recombinant antigenic regions is effective, as they lack viruses for production. Considering the fact, capsid proteins vp4, vp2, vp3, and vp1 with 3C protease of FMDV serotype Asia-1 were analyzed through reverse vaccinology approaches in this study. The sequence and structural analysis of the proteins is carried out through various bioinformatic tools and the sequence analysis has figured out the acidic nature and thermal stability of the proteins, likewise, the phylogenetic analysis helped us to trace the FMDV isolates, elucidating that selected proteins belong to the strain (Group VII), which is currently circulating in Pakistan. Next, the B-cell and MHC Class-I epitopes are identified from the antigenic proteins by immunoinformatic tools. The highly conserved, antigenic, and non-allergenic epitopes are used to design the vaccine. Accordingly, the codon adaptation and in silico cloning of the corresponding genes is performed. Thus, the bacterial expression vector could be used for efficient expression and large-scale production of the vaccine. [Display omitted] • Sindh-08 strain of serotype Asia-1, currently circulating in Pakistan. • Vp3, vp2 and vp1; the most antigenic ones among capsid proteins. • Highly antigenic and non-allergenic epitopes identified by immunoinformatic tools. • Alleles present in BoLA haplotypes taken from IPD-MHC database. • Highly conserved epitopes of vp3 and vp2 conjugated with CTB, an effective vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]