Search

Objectives: Aminoacidopathies are inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) that cause intellectual disability in children. Luckily, aminoacidopathies are potentially treatable, if diagnosed earlier in life. The focus of this study was the screening of aminoacidopathies in a cohort of patients suspected for IEMs. Methods: Blood samples from healthy (IQ > 90; n = 391) and intellectually disabled (IQ < 70; n = 409) children (suspected for IEMs) were collected from different areas of Northern Punjab, Pakistan. An analytical HPLC assay was used for the screening of plasma amino acids. Results: All the samples (n = 800) were analyzed on HPLC and forty-three out of 409 patient samples showed abnormal amino acid profiles mainly in the levels of glutamic acid, ornithine and methionine. Plasma concentration (Mean ± SD ng/mL) were significantly high in 40 patients for glutamic acid (patients: 165 ± 38 vs. controls: 57 ± 8, p < 0.00001) and ornithine (patients: 3177 ± 937 vs. controls: 1361 ± 91, p < 0.0001). Moreover, 3 patients showed abnormally high (53.3 ± 8.6 ng/mL) plasma levels of methionine. Conclusion: In conclusion, biochemical analysis of samples from such patients at the metabolites level could reveal the underlying diseases which could be confirmed through advanced biochemical and genetic analyses. Thus, treatment to some of such patients could be offered. Thus burden of intellectual disability caused by such rare metabolic diseases could be reduced from the target populations.

In present study, proximate chemical composition and tocopherol content were evaluated for estimation of food quality. The maize genotypes with promising agronomic parameters were analyzed for their biochemical composition and further guidance for maize crop improvement with respect to quality traits. Twelve (12) genotypes (n= 60) of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivated at Maize and Millet Research Institute, Yousafwala, Sahiwal, Punjab, Pakistan were evaluated for diversity based on protein, crude fiber, moisture contents, oil contents and tocopherol. The results showed that the crude protein contents were ranged from 1.75 to 5.25%, crude fiber 2.12 to 2.55%, fat contents 2.83 to 5.20%, moisture contents 9.75 to 11.95% and total tocopherol 1971 to 9382 µg/g -tocopherol was found in maximum concentration and crude fiber in minimum percentage. These findings will be helpful to produce quality products from the maize and valuable to protect human beings against degenerative processes, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salting-out-assisted liquid-liquid extraction (SALLE) was developed to extract thiacloprid (THI) from fruits and vegetables. SALLE conditions (NaCl/Na2SO4, pH, and solvent polarity) were investigated at various levels for the optimal recovery of THI. Meanwhile, reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) conditions were balanced over 1-100 µg/mL of THI. The optimized SALLE-RP-HPLC method offered 78.33-92.00% recovery of standard THI at an acceptable repeatability 1.81-4.30% and reproducibility 1.08-4.74%. The detection and quantification limits were found to be 0.03 and 0.05 µg/mL, respectively. The real-time analysis verifies its suitability and ease of use for the determination of THI in agricultural commodities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total 372 samples (169 sample from summer and 203 samples from winter) of milk and dairy products were collected from major cities of Punjab, Pakistan, during 2014–2015. The aflatoxin M 1 (AFM 1 ) levels were analyzed using HPLC, equipped with floresce n ce detector. The results have showed that AFM 1 was detected in 77 (45.5%) samples of milk and dairy products from summer at the range of LOD to 229.6 ng/L, and 114 (56.1%) samples from winter at a range of LOD to 345.8 ng/L. The highest mean of AFM 1 i.e. 94.9 ± 5.4 ng/L from summer and 129.6 ± 8.4 ng/L from winter was detected in raw milk samples. The results have shown that 37.5% of milk, 32% of UHT milk, 12.5% of powdered milk, 20% of flavored milk, 20% of yogurt and 16% of flavored milk samples from summer were found exceeded the recommended levels of AFM 1 i.e 50 ng/L (European Union permissible limit), as compared to 38.1%, 37.1%, 15.6%, 21.4%, 27.7% and 40% samples of milk, UHT milk, powdered milk, flavored milk, yogurt and flavored yogurt from winter, respectively. The mean level of AFM 1 in samples of milk, UHT milk and powdered milk samples from winter season has significantly (p˂ 0.05) higher as compared to the mean levels in samples from summer season. The dietary exposures of AFM 1 in milk and dairy products were calculated in five different age groups and the highest level of 3.42 and 3.33 ng/L/day in summer and 4.7 and 4.6 ng/L/day in winter were found in 1–5 years of male and female infants, respectively. The results of present study have shown significant levels of AFM 1 in milk and dairy products from Punjab, Pakistan and could pose considerable thereat to the health of local population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]