Shahana urooj Kazmi

Women University Swabi · Microbiology and Molecular Biology

IntroductionMultidrug resistance is an alarming issue worldwide. Herbal plants are being used as therapeutic agents since ages. One such plant is Caesalpinia pulcherrima , known for its beneficial effects. Therefore, this study was planned to isolate pure compounds and check its antimicrobial activity along with synergism.MethodologyAntimicrobial s...

Background Surgical site infection (SSI) is a crucial dilemma of surgery. Patients with SSIs not only face difficulty in treatment but also bear extra cost with high mortality rate. Resistant strains of Candida have emerged as an important nosocomial pathogen. Proteinase and phospholipase are exo- enzymes of Candida species, have importance with re...

Gastric cancers are the third leading cause of cancer mortality in the world. Helicobacter pylori causes over 60% of all stomach cancers. Colonization of the gastric mucosa by H. pylori results in increased DNA damage. Repair of DNA damage may also be reduced by H. pylori infection. Reduced DNA repair in combination with increased DNA damage can ca...

Helicobacter pylori is a causative agent of gastritis, gastroduodenal ulcers and gastric adenocarcinoma. Gastric patients serums were screened for H. pylori infection by thin layer immunoassay. A polystyrene plate coated with H. pylori sonicate whole cell antigen (10 ug/ml). Two fold diluted patients serum was allowed to react at 37 C, incubated at...

Objective: To evaluate the antibacterial activity of Aspirin, Mefenamic acid and Acetaminophen against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms. Methods: The study was conducted AKU Karachi in collaboration with DIHE Karachi from March 2018 to December 2018.Quantitative spectrophotometric method was used to study the reduct...

Objectives: Diabetic foot infection is one of the major complications of diabetes leading to lower limb amputations. Isolation and identification of bacteria causing diabetic foot infection, determination of antibiotic resistance, antimicrobial potential of protamine by electron microscopy and SDS-PAGE analysis, arethe aims of this study. Materia...

The objective of this study was to realize the degree of biosafety precautions and measures recorded among different Private Hospitals and Diagnostic labs personnel situated in different areas of Karachi including SITE Area, Orangi Town, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, New Karachi, Sadar, Malir Cant, Gulshan-iqbal, Gulistan-johar, Tariq road, Quaid Aba...

Background: The bullying incidences have been increasing in the past few years resulting in a number of psychosocial traumas including depression, anxiety, violence and many other health concerns. Despite being a global issue, not a large number of studies have addressed this distressing act. This social threat causes negativity on both sides wheth...

Objective(s) Escherichia coli is the key pathogen in the family producing ESBL (extended spectrum β-lactamase) and associated with community-acquired infections. Therefore, this study was planned to determine the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of uropathogenic E. coli, prevalence of the ESBL gene group and class 1 integrons. Materials and Metho...

Aim: This study was aimed to identify the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) genes in oral mucosa and find out their relationship between oral H. pylori infection and gastric complications. Methods: This study is a case control study consists of 567 subjects with periodontal infection (278 gastric complication cases and 289 controls nor...

The anti-inflammatory potential of extracts of all parts of Caesalpinia pulcherrima and fractions of fresh pods were explored. Each part of C. pulcherrima was extracted with methanol, acetone, and water. Fresh pods were further processed for fractionation. Methanol extract of pods (CP-Pods-M, 292 g) was subjected to solvent–solvent separation, whic...

This study assessed biosafety performance between 5 selected private-sector hospital medical laboratories in Karachi, Pakistan. A 40-question questionnaire was distributed among 120 technical staff to better understand the practices and awareness level of technical staff in place. To assess the supply of biosafety facilities and equipment to keep l...

Background: Multiple infections are the most common problem among HIV infected individuals. The prognostic impact of these co infections in HIV-population in resource-limited countries like Pakistan has not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to assess CD4 and hemoglobin (Hb) levels in patients with HIV mono infection and HIV co-infec...

Bacterial biofilms are complex structured communities surrounded in a matrix of extra-cellular polymeric substances growing on rough surfaces. It is involved in multiple functions like trapping of nutrients, adherence, stability of biofilm structure and the penetration of many antibiotics. 250 Pus samples were collected from the depth of ulcers fro...

Helicobacter pylori is one of the major risk factors involved in the development ofgastritis and gastric cancer (GC). H. pylori infection leads to increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by the host. Carriage of specific polymorphisms in cytokine genes may be associated with host susceptibility to the development of GC. We investigated t...

Marine pollution has now become worldwide environmental concern. Continuous discharge of untreated industrial effluent, municipal and power plant's contaminated wastewater has been a serious threat to marine habitat, aesthetic values and interest of visitors to coastal areas. Karachi is the largest city of Pakistan and industrial hub of the Arabian...

Objective: To determine the incidence of Coagulase- negative S. aureusin urinary tract infections and sensitivities of these isolates to antimicrobial agents. Study design: Cohort study. Place and duration of study: Dr. Essa Laboratory and Immunology and Infectious Disease Research Laboratory (IIDRL), Microbiology Department, University of Kar...

This is the largest molecular epidemiological study of HIV Phylogenetic analysis conducted in Pakistan which for the first time document presence of HIV 1 subtypes G, Circulating Recombinant Forms 01_AE (AU) and 02_AG which will add to the scientific literature in international datasets keeping track of genetic diversity and changes over time in HI...

Background: Although epidemiological studies have reported positive associations between circulating urate levels and cardiometabolic diseases, causality remains uncertain. Objectives: Through a Mendelian randomization approach, we assessed whether serum urate levels are causally relevant in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), coronary heart diseas...

The most common drinking beverage in large portion of the world is Camellia sinensis (green tea). In the present study, we evaluated the adjuvant effect of green tea and tea polyphenols to particulate and non-particulate antigens. BALB/c mice were immunized with particulate and non-particulate antigens. Modulation of immunoglobulin-secreting spleno...

Background: Diarrhoea is the second leading cause of childhood mortality in children under five years old. Water is a major contributing risk factor for this disease that is a common illness and a global killer. Material and Methods: Water samples from different areas of Karachi were collected and were processed by MPN technique to evaluate the pre...

Background: Multiple genetic variants have been reliably associated with obesity-related traits in Europeans, but little is known about their associations and interactions with lifestyle factors in South Asians. Methods: In 16,157 Pakistani adults (8232 controls; 7925 diagnosed with myocardial infarction [MI]) enrolled in the PROMIS Study, we te...

Introduction: Staphylococcus epidermidis is one of the most frequent causes of biofilm-associated infections on indwelling medical devices. With the emergence of methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis (MRSE), there is an urgent need to discover novel active agents against a range of Gram-positive pathogens. We screened the clinical isolates of S. ep...

Background: Obesity is a complex disease caused by the interplay of genetic and lifestyle factors, but identification of gene-lifestyle interactions in obesity has remained challenging. Few large-scale studies have reported use of genome-wide approaches to investigate gene-lifestyle interactions in obesity. Methods: In the PROMIS study, a cross-sec...

Synergistic combinations of antimicrobial agents with different mechanisms of action have been introduced as more successful strategies to combat infections involving multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria. In this study, we investigated synergistic antimicrobial activity of Camellia sinensis and Juglans regia which are commonly used plants with differ...

objectives A and B blood group antigens are fucosylated carbohydrate present on humanerythrocytes and body secretions. Their presence in body secretions depends on the expression of adominant allele of secretor gene FUT2 and is correlated with susceptibility to various infectious andnon-infectious diseases. We investigated the correlation of blood...

Hepatitis C virus is associated with Hepatitis C which can be acute or chronic. Acute hepatitis C is usually short term illness that can lead to chronic infection, while chronic hepatitis C is a chronic liver disease leading to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and even death. The mode of transmission is mainly parenteral and vertical. Hepatitis...

The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RT-PCR/RFLP) technique was used to identify and characterize Pakistani field isolates of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). These isolates have caused heavy losses to the poultry industry (mortality up to 60%) during the period between 199...

In the present study the potential of indigenous bacterial isolates from soil rhizosphere and marine environment to promote plant growth was determined. Eight bacterial strains isolated from Soil and marine samples were characterized for the Phosphate solubilizing activity. Qualitative and quantitative estimation of phosphate solubilization is done...

Objective: To determine the frequency and susceptibility pattern of multi-drug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from clinical specimens in Karachi. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in Microbiology Department, University of Karachi, from January 2012 to January 2013. Clinical specimens were collected from different h...

Berberis lycium is one of the species belong to family Berberidaceae, an evergreen shrub growing in the Himalayan region. The various parts of the plant i.e. Root; bark, stem, leaves and fruits are used by local inhabitants as a medicine or food. Root bark of Berberis lycium has tremendous phytotherapeutic effects. The present study was conducted t...

Introduction: The in vitro antimicrobial activity of Sea buckthorn (SBT) (Hippophaerhamnoides), Green tea (Camellia sinensis) and Dandasa (Juglansregia) on selected methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates from clinical samples was tested. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of six antiseptics/disinfectants against MRSA isolated...

Helicobacter pylori infection is an established risk factor for gastritis, gastric ulcer, peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. CagA +ve H. pylori has been associated with oxidative DNA damage of gastric mucosa but their combined role in the development of gastric cancer is still unknown. Here we compare the combined expression of cagA and 8-hydroxy-2'-...

Biofilms protect the pathogens from inhibitory effect of antibiotics and immune cells. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important pathogen, and one of the hallmarks of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection is its capability to adhere to, and propagate on edicmal devices, such as catheters, contact lenses, and wound dressings by forming strong biofilms. Ther...

Objective: To detect genes for enterotoxins, exfoliative and toxic shock syndrome toxins in Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strains isolated from clinical specimens. Study design: Cross-sectional observational study. Place and duration of study: Department of Molecular Genetics, Dr. Ziauddin Hospital, Karachi, from January to December 2010....

The current study was carried out on 550 healthy population having 250 males and 300 females. Five ml venous blood was collected following standard biosafety measures. ABO blood grouping was done by Tile method and found blood group B dominant in both sexes i.e. 180 male and 120 female were found with blood group B. Moreover, 2 ml of saliva was als...

Study of biofilms in Mycobacterium smegmatis can aid in understanding biofilm formation in other pathogenic Mycobacteria like Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Biofilms may contribute in therapeutic failure by protecting the bacteria from effective penetration and action of antimicrobial agents and immune factors and consequently leading to inefficient c...

Abstract: Ganoderma lucidum has been in practice traditionally for a multitude number of human diseases. In vivo study in BALC/c mice was conducted for the investigation of diuretic potential of this mushroom. The diuretic property was studied against Furosemide 40mg/kg, a standard drug. The results of aqueous extract of Ganoderma lucidum at doses...

The contaminated contact lens provides Pseudomonas aeruginosa an ideal site for attachment and biofilm production. Continuous contact of the eye to the biofilm-infested lens can lead to serious ocular diseases, such as keratitis (corneal ulcers). The biofilms also prevent effective penetration of the antibiotics, which increase the chances of antib...

Objective: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (MRSA) is an important pathogen in hospitals and communities. There is advance in technologies but infections by MRSA are difficult to diagnose. The current study was conducted to compare three phenotypic methods for with a genotypic method. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Plac...

This simple and easy study was conducted to trace out the actual temperature and time period to get rid of pathogenic bacteria from the water sample simply by boiling method. There is no perfect scientific basis yet exists from the search of literature regarding effect of boiling on water borne pathogens. Four common water borne pathogens were s...

Thrombotic disorders like myocardial and cerebral infarction are fatal blood clotting related diseases. Synthetic therapeutics used in such disorders have serious adverse effects, so there is a need to investigate some more safe natural thrombolytic agents. Present study is a preliminary work towards such endeavors. During this study analysis of th...

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a causative agent of gastritis, gastroduodenal ulcers and gastric adenocarcinoma. More than 50 % world population is colonized by H. pylori, which is closely related to the chronic gastritis and gastric ulcer infection. In this study, a total of 214 gastritis patient's serum samples were screened for anti-H. pylor...

Thrombotic disorders like myocardial and cerebral infarction are fatal blood clotting related diseases. Synthetic therapeutics used in such disorders have serious adverse effects, so there is a need to investigate some more safe natural thrombolytic agents. Present study is a preliminary work towards such endeavors. During this study analysis of th...

Lemon grass a popular aromatic plant which is commonly used as a substitute of green tea has a tremendous phytomedicinal potential. Like other tea plants it also having antimicrobial as well as antiprotozoal potential. Main objective of the present study was to find out the anthelmintic potential of aqueous extract of Cymbopogon citratus (lemon gra...

The purpose of the undertaken study was the evaluation of anthelmintic activity of Camellia sinensis (green tea) aqueous extract in experimental adult earthworm's Pheritima posthuma. The aqueous extract as well as control and standard drug for different concentration of 25 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml, 100 mg/ml were tested which included determination of paral...

Lemon grass a popular aromatic plant which is commonly used as a substitute of green tea has a tremendous phytomedicinal potential. Like other tea plants it also having antimicrobial as well as antiprotozoal potential. Main objective of the present study was to find out the anthelmintic potential of aqueous extract of Cymbopogon citratus (lemon gra...

Lemon grass a popular aromatic plant which is commonly used as a substitute of green tea has a tremendous phytomedicinal potential. Like other tea plants it also having antimicrobial as well as antiprotozoal potential. Main objective of the present study was to find out the anthelmintic potential of aqueous extract of Cymbopogon citratus (lemon gra...

Rapid and accurate identification of bacterial pathogens is a fundamental goal of clinical microbiology. The diagnosis and surveillance of diseases is dependent, to a great extent, on laboratory services, which cannot function without effective reliable reagents and diagnostics. Despite the advancement in microbiology diagnosis globally, resource-l...

Introduction: The etiological association of Helicobacter pylori with gastric ulcer (GU), gastric cancer (GC), and duodenal ulcer (DU) is well-known. Understanding the epidemiology of H. pylori facilitates the estimation of disease burden in a certain population. This study presents the diversity of H. pylori genotypes and their association with di...

Investigation of thrombolytic activity of crude extracts of Camellia sinensis (Green tea) using in-vitro thrombolytic model which is very simple, rapid and easy to do method. Both aqueous crude and methanolic extracts were studied however; the results of methanolic extract were more promising which exhibited maximum 95. 24% clot lysis as compared t...