PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Rahman

Publications and source records attributed to A Rahman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

Theory of mind deficits in children with fragile X syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Given the consistent findings of theory of mind deficits in children with autism, it would be extremely beneficial to examine the profile of theory of mind abilities in other clinical groups such as fragile X syndrome (FXS) and Down syndrome (DS). Aim The aim of the present study was to assess whether boys with FXS are impaired in simple social situations that require them to understand their own and others' mental states - in essence: do they have a 'theory of mind'? METHOD: Well-standardized tasks of theory of mind, the location change false belief task and the appearance-reality tasks were employed to examine whether any impairment might be specific to the FXS or part of a more generalized developmental deficit. RESULTS: The results suggest that children with FXS do have impairment in theory of mind that is comparable to the deficit reported in other groups with learning disabilities such as DS. However, closer inspection of the impairment between these groups revealed qualitative differences in error types (realist vs. phenomenist), suggestive of atypical development that goes beyond general cognitive delay. CONCLUSION: The findings are discussed in terms of the teasing apart of different components of social cognition in order to identify syndrome-specific deficiencies and proficiencies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Raised levels of interleukin 6 in systemic lupus erythematosus correlate with anaemia.

OBJECTIVES: Raised levels of the cytokines interleukin (IL) 6 and IL10 have been reported in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). OBJECTIVE: To determine if levels of IL6 and IL10 correlate with organ/system-specific disease activity in SLE, using the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) Disease Activity Index. METHODS: Levels of IL6 and IL10 in serum samples from 171 patients with SLE and 50 normal controls were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Levels of cytokines in individual patients with SLE were compared with the presence or absence of active disease in eight organ/systems using the BILAG index. RESULTS: Levels of IL6 were significantly higher (p = 0.005) in patients with active compared with inactive haematological disease, as scored by the BILAG index. Further analysis showed that this association was dependent on an inverse correlation (p = 0.002, r = -0.26) between IL6 levels and haemoglobin levels in patients with SLE. In contrast, IL10 levels did not correlate with individual organ/system disease activity. CONCLUSIONS: Raised levels of IL6 in SLE may influence the development of anaemia in this disease. These findings are in agreement with an increasing number of studies, which support physiological links between IL6 and anaemia. Importantly, with the exception of the haematological system, our studies do not provide evidence of any individual organ/system which would respond to therapeutic manipulation of either IL6 or IL10 levels.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Review of presentations at the 6th European Lupus Meeting 3-5 March 2005.

The 6th European Lupus Meeting was held at the Royal College of Physicians of London and was attended by 450 delegates. The conference brought together leading speakers from Europe and North America who reviewed current knowledge and exciting new developments in both clinical and basic science aspects of systemic lupus erythematosus. This review summarizes the major points covered in each session.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Autoantibodies, lupus and the science of sabotage.

Anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies (anti-dsDNA) and antiphospholipid antibodies (APL) are important in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) respectively. Not all anti-dsDNA or APL antibodies can cause clinical effects. Those that are particularly likely to cause tissue damage tend to be of IgG isotype and to possess particular binding properties. Rigorous statistical analysis of published sequences of human monoclonal anti-DNA and APL antibodies showed that IgG antibodies with binding properties characteristic of pathogenicity tend to have multiple somatic mutations in their variable regions. The distribution of these mutations suggests that they have been selected by antigen. This leads to accumulation of certain residues at the antigen-binding sites of these antibodies. Arginine residues are especially important. A computer-generated model of the pathogenic human monoclonal anti-DNA antibody B3 predicted that arginines in the heavy and light chain complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) would interact with dsDNA. We expressed cloned sequences encoding the B3 heavy and light chains in vitro to produce whole IgG. The cloned sequences of the heavy and light chains were manipulated to express a range of variant IgG antibodies. Binding assays on the expressed antibodies showed that altering specific arginine residues reduced binding to dsDNA in a way consistent with computer generated structural models. Changing the pattern of somatic mutations in the light chain altered binding to both dsDNA and histones, but in different ways. A single arginine-to-serine mutation in light-chain CDR1 of B3 reduced binding to both those antigens and may also have reduced the pathogenicity of the expressed antibodies in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. Monoclonal human APL were expressed using the same system. Nineteen different heavy-light combinations were expressed. The ability to bind cardiolipin correlated well with the presence of exposed arginine residues in the heavy- and light-chain CDRs. The heavy chain of the pathogenic APL antibody IS4 contains four exposed arginines in CDR3. The results of mutagenesis studies suggested that two of these promote binding to cardiolipin whereas the other two have no such effect.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Risk of coronary heart disease and stroke in a large British cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVES: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are at increased risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. We sought to determine how much of this risk was dependent on recognized cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS: Initially a software package 'Cardio-Risk-Manager', which utilizes Framingham data, was used to calculate a 10-yr risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke for 202 patients with SLE (Group 1) in comparison with hypothetical age- and sex-matched comparators. Subsequently 47 patients who had been followed since 1991 (Group 2) were studied to compare their predicted risks in 1991 with the actual number of cardiovascular events that occurred during the subsequent decade. RESULTS: Patients in Group 1 had a higher predicted 10-yr risk of stroke (P<0.0001), but not of CHD, than their comparators. However, following age stratification, traditional risk factors predicted a higher risk of CHD (P<0.0001) and of stroke (P<0.0001) in patients under 40 with SLE compared with age-matched comparators. The predicted 10-yr risks of CHD and stroke for patients aged 40 and above were not significantly different from those of their comparators. Predicted risks, however, were lower than the true 10-yr event rate for CHD and stroke in patients in Group 2. In this group, during the 10 yr of follow-up four patients (8.5%) suffered a CHD event and five patients (10.6%) had a stroke, significantly more than were predicted by the presence of conventional risk factors (P<0.001 for CHD and P<0.001 for stroke, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Conventional risk factors predicted an increased risk of stroke and CHD in younger patients. They do not, however, fully explain the high risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with SLE. Although it is important to address the management of orthodox risk factors for cardiovascular disease in patients with SLE, other causes must be sought to explain the increased incidence of CHD and stroke, especially in those aged over 40.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Raised prorenin and renin concentrations in pre-eclamptic placentae when measured after acid activation.

AIM: The aim of the study was to ascertain if there was any difference in the levels of prorenin and active renin between pre-eclamptic and normotensive feto-placental tissues. METHODS: Supernatants of homogenates from fresh, vaginally delivered placentae from 15 normotensive and 15 pre-eclamptic women were measured for renin concentration (RC), prorenin concentration and renin activity (RA). RA and RC were measured in the absence and presence of nephrectomised sheep plasma, respectively. Prorenin was estimated as the difference between renin concentration in the sample before and after acid activation. All concentrations are expressed as rate of angiotensin generation (ng/ml/h). Angiotensin I was measured by radioimmunoassay. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's 't' test for unpaired samples. All results are presented as mean+/-SEM. RESULTS: The concentrations of renin and prorenin were highest in the chorion laeve when compared to amnion and placenta (p < 0.01) in both the groups. Furthermore, the concentrations of renin and prorenin were significantly higher in all the tissues from women with pre-eclampsia (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Renin and prorenin levels are raised in the placental tissues from women with pre-eclampsia. With recent evidence suggesting that both prorenin and renin may have cellular effects independent of angiotensin II generation, there is a need for further study into its role in placentation.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Experimental results on the recognition of embryos in human assisted reproduction.

The recognition of embryos suitable for transfer in human assisted reproduction is important, and there is evidence that the morphology of the cells may influence the results achievable. A procedure for this recognition problem has been formulated based on morphological attributes of the images of the embryos, and it is therefore useful to compare the recognition of experts with that of a machine programme. The aim of this paper is to compare the precision in the recognition of viable embryos by a group of experts to that of a machine recognition procedure, both for a basic set of embryos and a blind set. Experts were asked to classify the images of 249 embryos transferred to 73 patients, indicated as the training set and another set of 103 embryos transferred to 35 patients called the blind set. A machine programme was used for the same classification. For all the experts the results were statistically not significantly different from independence, which means that viable embryos are not recognized as such for both data sets. Instead, the machine algorithm recognizes in a statistically significant way, the membership class for the embryos submitted. Cell morphology is important for IVF, but differences do not appear to be discernable by the senses, clinical insight, experience and/or training, while classification by machine methods provides more accurate results, which could be improved by enlarging the training set.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Mothers' mental health and infant growth: a case-control study from Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies in Pakistan show high rates of depression in women, while rates of malnutrition in children are also high. This study aimed to determine whether poor maternal mental health is associated with an increased risk of infant undernutrition. METHODS: Clinic-based case-control study. A total of 172 consecutive infants and their mothers attending for 9-month measles immunization were recruited over a 3-month period. Eighty-two undernourished infants [weight for age below the National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS)/World Health Organization (WHO) third centile] were matched to 90 controls (weight for age above 10th centile), and their mothers interviewed for mental distress using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (WHO SRQ-20, a psychiatric screening instrument). Infants' exposure to maternal distress (score > or = 10 on SRQ-20) and other potential risk or protective biological, social, socio-economic and family factors were measured. RESULTS: Mental distress determined by WHO SRQ-20 was associated with increased risk of undernutrition in infants (odds ratio 3.91, 95% confidence interval 1.95-7.86). This association remained significant after controlling for birthweight and social factors. CONCLUSION: Exposure to maternal mental distress is associated with undernutrition in 9-month infants in urban Pakistan. These mothers may represent a group whose children are at higher risk of ill health, and potentially be a specific target for advice on infant care. Early recognition and treatment of mental health problems in mothers may help reduce morbidity and mortality rates in children.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed2004

Rickets among children of a coastal area of Bangladesh.

Many children with rachitic deformities have been reported in southern coastal area of Bangladesh but the actual rate of prevalence was not known. A survey was conducted to determine the magnitude of rachitic problem among the children of Chakaria thana of Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh. Nine hundred children between 1-15 years selected randomly from 30 villages of total 340 villages. Face to face interview of the parents was taken and the children were examined for evidences of rickets. Serum calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were estimated and radiology of limbs were done in all clinically suspected cases and in a control of every eighth child. Seventy eight children (8.7%) had physical features suggestive of rickets. Fifty eight (6.4%) children had 'clinical rickekts' (positive physical feature(s) but normal ALP and negative radiology), 12 (1.3%) children had 'biochemical rickets' (positive physical features and raised ALP but negative radiology) and 8 (0.9%) children had 'confirmed rickets' (positive physical features, raised ALP and positive radiology). Out of 78 children with rachitic feature(s), Pectus carinatum was found as the most common clinical feature in 26 (33.3%) children followed by genu valgum in 23 (29.4%) cases. Twenty two normal children (2.2%) had raised level of ALP (>300U/L). The prevalence of rickets is high in children of Chakaria and further study is needed to find out the exact aetiology of rickets in children there.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Argyroside from Argyreia nervosa seeds.

The phytochemical investigation of the seeds of Argyreia nervosa has resulted in the isolation of a new steroidal glycoside, (24R)-ergost-5-en-11-oxo-3beta-ol-alpha-D-glucopyranoside, designated as argyroside. The structure has been elucidated by spectroscopic and chemical methods.

Acetates↗
PubMed2003

Acute left ventricular failure after large volume pericardiocentesis.

This paper reports on two cases of large volume pericardiocentesis followed by transient severe acute left ventricular (LV) systolic failure in the absence of any prior history of LV dysfunction. Acute LV volume overload due to interventricular volume mismatch is believed by most authors to be the cause for this phenomenon. Another plausible physiopathologic explanation is the acute increase in "wall stress" (Laplace's law) due to acute distention of the cardiac chambers secondary to a sudden increase in venous return at high filling pressures, combined with a "vacuum" effect of the evacuated pericardial space.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Exclusive breastfeeding and nutritional status in Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of the study were to assess exclusive breastfeeding practice and examine the factors effect on nutritional status of children from 0 to 24 months age. METHOD: Data from a national survey entitled "Surveillance on Breastfeeding and Weaning Situation and Child and Maternal Health in Bangladesh" were used to investigate the exclusive breastfeeding practice and to examine the factors having influence on child nutrition. Information was collected from mothers of 2781 children between 0 and 24 months of age. RESULTS: It was that 16% of women still exclusively breastfed their children for less than 6 months. Of the children 38.1% were stunted and 38% were under weight for their age. Overall, 46% of children were suffering from diseases. Bivariate analysis showed that maternal education and family income were important correlates of exclusive breastfeeding (Chi-square p<0.001). Exclusively breastfed children were nutritionally better off (p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that the children of illiterate women were nutritionally more vulnerable than children of women who had secondary and higher education (OR=1.69, 95% CI=1.33-2.15). The children of older age women were less likely to be stunted than children of younger age women (OR=0.78, 95% CI=0.64-0.96). CONCLUSION: Despite efforts of different government agencies and NGOs, exclusive breastfeeding rate was still low in Bangladesh. Traditional cultural barriers still exist. In order to remove the harmful cultural beliefs and to spread the messages of the benefit of exclusive breastfeeding for survival and nutritional status of the children more behaviour change communication should be made to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.

Adult↗