Introduction: Studies have shown that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) increase the brain burden of amyloid-beta (Aβ) and also create vitamin B₁₂deficiency. However, these two phenomena have deleterious effect on cognition and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Since the use of PPIs has increased tremendously for the last few years, it is of great public health importance to investigate the cognitive impact of PPIs. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of neuropsychological association of each PPI with different cognitive functions.Methods: Sixty volunteers of either gender were recruited and divided randomly into six groups: five test groups for five classes of PPIs and one control group. All the groups participated in the five computerized neuropsychological tests (nine subtests) of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery twice: at the beginning of the study and 7 days thereafter.Results: We found statistically and clinically significant impairment in visual memory, attention, executive function, and working and planning function. One-way analysis of variance findings showed that all PPIs had a similar negative impact on cognition. However, paired-samplesttests indicated that omeprazole showed significant (p < 0.05) results in seven subtests; lansoprazole and pantoprazole showed significant results in five subtests; and rabeprazole showed significant results in four subtests. Among five classes of PPIs, esomeprazole showed comparatively less impact on cognitive function with significant results in three subtests.Conclusions: The present study reveals for the first time that different PPIs have varying degrees of influence on different cognitive domains and have associations with AD. These findings should be considered when balancing the risks and benefits of prescribing these medications. A study done for a longer period of time with a larger sample size might yield better results.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a disabling health problem with a very high global prevalence and burden. Alteration of inflammatory markers in depression is of growing interest to many psychiatry researchers. This study aimed to examine the serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in MDD patients to find out their association with depression. The present study recruited 88 MDD patients and 86 control subjects matched by age, gender, and body mass index (BMI). The Hamilton depression rating scale (Ham-D) was used on all patients to measure their severity of depression. Serum levels of IL-6 and CRP were analyzed by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits (Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA). The mean values of serum levels of IL-6 and CRP were 2.94 ± 0.12 pg/mL and 0.99 ± 0.02 mg/L for the patient group and 2.42 ± 0.21 pg/mL and 1.09 ± 0.06 mg/L for the control group, respectively. We found significantly elevated concentrations of serum IL-6 in MDD patients compared with control subjects (p < 0.001). However, the alteration of serum CRP levels was not significant between the groups (p = 0.126). Ham-D scores of patients were positively correlated with serum IL-6 (r = 0.552; p = 0.004) and CRP (r = 0.621; p < 0.001) levels. Moreover, serum IL-6 and CRP levels were observed to be positively correlated (r = 0.452; p = 0.043) with each other in depression. The present study suggests that increased serum IL-6 level might be a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of depression.

To uncover the antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity, five different extracts ofTerminalia arjuna bark were examined. In the present study, the free radical scavenging potential of five extracts of the bark of Terminalia arjuna was assessed by measuring its capability for scavenging 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, hydrogen peroxide radical, nitric oxide radicals (NO), as well as its ability in reducing power capacity assessment, cupric reducing antioxidant capacity, using appropriate assay systems compared to natural and synthetic antioxidants. Total antioxidant capacity, phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined spectrophotometrically. In DPPH free radical scavenging activity, the highest IC50 value was showed by methanol extract with a value of6.34 µg/ml followed by ethanol and petroleum ether having value of 7.76 and 25.63,respectively, as opposed to that of the scavenging effects of ascorbic acid and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) of 5.698 and 8.816, respectively. Methanol extract showed highest activity having IC50 value of 14.436 and 25.184 μg/ml in hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide scavenging assay, respectively. All the five fractions showed good reducing power and cupric reducing capacity with increasing concentration again taking methanol extract to the top position. The methanol extract yielded 817.488 ± 8.108 mg/g gallic acid equivalent phenolic content and 199.122 ± 8.282 mg/g Quercetin equivalent flavonoid content that was highest among five extracts. Methanol extract of T. arjuna was found to possess the highest total antioxidant capacity (415.925 ± 2.291) followed by ethanol (377.675 ± 1.889) mg/g Ascorbic Acid Equivalent, respectively. A linear correlation appeared between the total antioxidant capacity and the total phenolic contents of the extracts with good correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.891). n-Hexane and chloroform extract showed least activity in all the measures. The results obtained beacon that T. arjuna is a potential source of antioxidants and thus could prevent many radical related diseases. Key words: Terminalia arjuna, n-hexane extract, petroleum ether extract, chloroform extract, ethanol extract, methanol extract, in vitro antioxidant activity.

Direct extraction of DNA from natural environment and clinical samples has become a useful alternative for the phylogenetic identification and in situ detection of individual microbial cells without cultivation. In this study, three different Gram positive microorganisms (B. cereus, B. subtilis, and S. aureus) were chosen for genomic DNA extraction. High salt SDS (Sodium Dodesyl Sulfate) based extraction method was followed to extract genomic DNA with addition of three different lysis protocols to observe the effect of proteinase-K on total genomic DNA yield, lysis steps were carried with SDS, SDS with 3 μl proteinase-K and SDS with 6μl proteinase-K. High molecular weight intact DNA bands were observed only for Bacillus subtilis when the extraction procedure was carried out in presence of SDS, SDS with proteinase-K (3μl) and SDS with increased amount of proteinase-K (6μl). In presence of SDS and increased amount of proteinase-K (6μl) the mean value of DNA concentration for Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus were found to be 1.53±0.15, 1.36±0.10 and 1.65±0.10 μg/μl respectively. However, in absence of proteinase-K, the mean values of DNA concentration were found to be decreased (1.28±0.10, 1.34±0.15, 1.23±0.10 μg/μl for B. cereus, B. subtilis, and S. aureus respectively) for all these stains. Although in case of B. subtilis the overall effect of proteinase-K was not found to be significant in terms of DNA concentration and DNA band intensity, however, for B. cereus, and S. aureus sharp decrease in total extracted DNA concentration was observed suggesting the increased lysis effect of proteinase-K on the thick peptidoglycan layer of Gram-positive cell wall such as B. cereus, and S. aureus. Key words: Extraction; Genomic DNA; Lysis buffer; Gram positive organism. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/sjps.v4i1.8867 SJPS 2011; 4(1): 53-57

The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of brick kilns on socioeconomic conditions working environment, hazards and risk associated with each of the tasks as well as the negative effect of hazardous work of brick field workers. A semi-structured survey has been served as the main data collection method from the different 9 brick fields of Gouripur and Ishwargonj sub district under the Mymensingh district (n=402). Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) were used to summarize the data. The socioeconomic condition of the brick kiln workers indicated that the majority of the workers are male respondents at the brick kiln with low education level, 91.79% of workers receiving monthly income less than 15000 BDT, as well as facing major health and environmental difficulties. 42.29% of the workers are current smokers, the majority of the workers claimed that they didn’t get proper sanitation (90.8%) and drinking water (98.01%) and having some locomotion problems. A high frequency of respiratory problem, gastrointestinal illnesses, eye and ear problem as well as having some site injuries during work, more commonly in legs and hands were observed in the brick kiln workers and sometime more than that. A sustainable approach should be taken to minimize environmental and health hazards inherent in brick kilns at the right time. Key words: Brick kilns, Bangladesh, socioeconomic status, occupational hazards.