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not available Bangladesh Crit Care J September 2021; 9 (2): 101-103

For just about 30 years, researchers have considered the likelihood to utilize nucleic acids as antiviral therapeutics. In principle, small single-stranded nucleotide sequence (oligonucleotide) could hybridize to a particular gene or messenger RNA and diminish transcription or translation, respectively, in this manner decreasing the amount of protein that is synthesized. Until now, an incredible number of antisense oligonucleotides, double-stranded oligonucleotides, aptamers, ribozymes, deoxyribozymes, interfering RNAs, chimeric RNA-DNA molecules, antibody genes has been created artificially and applied effectively for comprehension and manipulating biological processes and in clinical preliminaries to treat a variety of diseases. Their versatility and potency make them similarly fit candidates for fighting viral infections. However, troubles with their efficiency, off-target effects, toxicity, delivery, and stability halted the development of nucleic acid-based therapeutics that can be utilized in the clinic. The potential for nucleic acid therapeutic agents is significant and is quite recently beginning to be realized. In this review, we have summarized some of the recent advancements made in the area of nucleic acid based therapeutics and focused on the methods of their delivery and associated challenges.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a significant complication in patients with cancer and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Rates of AKI vary in cancer patients on the basis of several factors, including types of malignancy (either solid tumor or hematologic), stage of malignancy, associated complications such as critical illness, and type of supportive or interventional therapy given to the patient. AKI is a common finding within the patients diagnosed as malignancy. However, AKI as initial presentation of malignant disease is uncommon. Six cases of metastatic malignancy presenting initially as acute kidney injury are reviewed in this prospective study. We have reviewed one case of metastatic small cell carcinoma of lung, one case of metastatic carcinoma of rectum, one case of metastatic carcinoma, of lung with Horner’s syndrome, one case of metastatic pancreatic carcinoma and one case of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of cervix. Out of them, two patients needed hemodialysis during hospital stay. Bangladesh Crit Care J March 2020; 8(1): 29-32

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a pandemic since March 2020.Kidney-transplant recipients appear to be at particularly high risk for critical COVID-19 illness due to chronic immunosuppression and coexisting conditions. We report a case of a young lady who being a renal allograft recipient developed concomitant COVID-19 and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Bangladesh Crit Care J March 2021; 9(1): 56-58

Kallmann syndrome (KS) is a rare inherited disorder. It is characterized by hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in association with anosmia or hyposmia, results from defective migration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone producing neurons and olfactory axons. Because KS is a disease due to mutation of genes, patients with KS often display midline head and brain abnormalities such as cleft lip and/or palate and corpus callosum dysgenesis, septo-optic dysplasia, renal agenesis and other phenotypic abnormalities. Here we report a case of 19 years old boy presented with non-development of secondary sex characters, small penis, anosmia and clubfoot. Karyotype was 46XY and hormonal measurement revealed hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. MRI of the brain revealed bilateral agenesis of the olfactory bulb and sulcus, corpus callosal dysgenesis, septo-optic dysplasia and smaller pituitary gland. USG of abdomen revealed right renal agenesis.

Not Available Bangladesh Crit Care J March 2020; 8(1): 58-60

Aims The present study was aimed to investigate the anxiolytic effect of γ-oryzanol (GORZ) during chronic restraint stress treatment (CRST), which is a well-documented model of stress-related disorders, like anxiety, and its potential molecular mechanisms. Materials and methods In this experiment, 5-week-old male ICR mice were used and the concentration of GORZ was fixed at 0.5% in the mouse standard diet (14% casein, AIN 93 M). Mice were immobilized daily for 3 h from ZT 2.5 to 5.5 (ZT0 was designated as light-on time) for 20 consecutive days, followed by behavioral testing, including the open field test (OFT) and elevated plus maze (EPM) test. The concentration of serum corticosterone (CORT) was measured. In addition, the expression of central monoamine neurotransmitters with their metabolites in the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and amygdala of the brain were examined. Key findings 0.5% GORZ partially blocked stress-induced reduction of body weight gain while stressed mice had significantly lower body weights during the entire experimental period. Further, 0.5% GORZ treatment could significantly improve the main behavioral parameters even in CRST situations. The significant increase in serum CORT levels indicated CRST-induced stress, which was almost unaffected by 0.5% GORZ treatment. Moreover, 0.5% GORZ also supported the anxiolytic mechanism with enhancement of 5-HIAA and NE levels in the amygdala of brain after CRST. Significance Taken together, our studies suggested that 0.5% GORZ is a potential therapeutic drug candidate against anxiety under chronic stress conditions.

Background A high-fat diet (HFD) can induce obesity and metabolic disorders that are closely associated with cognitive impairments, and the progression of several psychiatric disorders such as anxiety. We have previously demonstrated the anxiolytic-like effect of Gamma oryzanol (GORZ) in chronic restraint stressed mice. Objective We studied the neurochemical and molecular mechanisms that underlie the preventive effect of GORZ in HFD-induced anxiety-like behaviors, monoaminergic dysfunction, and inflammation. Methods Eight-week-old Institute of Cancer (ICR) male mice weighing 33-34 g were divided into the following groups and free-fed for 8 weeks: control (14% casein, AIN 93M); HFD; HFD + GORZ (0.5% GORZ). Body weight gain was checked weekly. The anxiolytic-like effects of GORZ were examined via open-field test (OFT) and elevated plus maze (EPM) test. Brain levels of monoamines [5-hydroxy tryptamine (5-HT), dopamine (DA), and norepinephrine (NE)] and their metabolites [5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA), homovanillic acid (HVA), and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG)], proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-αα (Tnf-α) mRNA levels, and interleukin 1-β (Il-1β) mRNA levels in the cerebral cortex and amygdala were examined using high-performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD), and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. Results Mice fed a HFD for eight weeks showed anxiety-like behaviors in association with HFD-induced body weight gain. GORZ potentially blocked HFD-induced anxiety-like behaviors via significant improvement of the primary behavioral parameters in behavioral tests, with a minor reduction in HFD-induced body weight gain. Furthermore, GORZ treatment significantly downregulated HFD-induced upregulation of dopamine levels in the brain's amygdala. Significant reduction of the relative mRNA expression of Tnf-α and Il-1 β was also observed in the amygdala of HFD + GORZ mice, compared to HFD mice. Conclusions Our findings strongly suggest that 0.5% GORZ exerts anxiolytic-like effects, possibly through downregulation of dopamine, and via expression of proinflammatory cytokines Tnf-α and Il-1 β in the case of chronic HFD exposure.

not availableJahangirnagar University J. Biol. Sci. 5(2): 57-60, 2016 (December)

The microbial activity of ten selected Azospirillum isolates was measured in terms of the amount of CO2 evolved by the isolates after incubation for 5 days which ranged from 6.88 to19.25 mg. Nitrogen fixing efficiency all of the isolates was determined by microkjeldhal method and the nitrogen fixing efficiency ranged from 10.03 to 13.11 mg N/g substrate. The growth of Azospirillum isolates was significant affected by different physiological factors such as pH, temperature and salinity. Most of the isolates showed optimum growth at pH 6.8, temperature 37°C and in the absence of NaCl. Azospirillum has the potential to be used as a substitute and or supplement of N-fertilizers. Further research is needed to estimate N-supplement potentials of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) systems at the farm level.Jahangirnagar University J. Biol. Sci. 3(1): 47-53, 2014 (June)

We report the presence of organophosphorus and carbamate residues in 24 surface water samples and five ground water samples from Pirgacha Thana, Rangpur district, Bangladesh using high-performance liquid chromatography. A number of samples of surface water from paddy fields were found to contain chlorpyriphos, carbofuran and carbaryl at concentrations ranging from 0-1.189, 0-3.395 and 0-0.163 μg/L, respectively. Surface water from the lakes had chlorpyriphos, carbofuran and carbaryl at concentrations ranging from 0.544-0.895, 0.949-1.671 and 0-0.195 μg/L, respectively. This result indicates that the general public living in the area of Rangpur is at high risk of pesticide exposure from contaminated waters in the environment.