Maternal anemia is a frequent problem during pregnancy, especially in developing countries, such as Pakistan. In this context, the present study was conducted to determine factors associated with maternal anemia prevalent among women of different age groups visiting different hospitals in Lahore from February to April 2017. The current study used a cross-sectional design involving 390 pregnant women. Data related to demographic area, maternal age, gestational age/period, educational and income level, as well as socioeconomic status of all the participants were collected. Also, hemoglobin levels of the participants were obtained for assessment of maternal anemia. A total of 57.7% of participants were anemic (34.4 % mild and 23.3% moderate anemia). Bivariate analysis showed that less education (p = 0.01), occupation as housewife (p = 0.03), lower income (p = 0.001), rural residence (p = 0.028), and greater number of house members (p = 0.04) were significantly associated with maternal anemia. Results of multivariable logistic regression showed that low income was the only significant factor independently associated with maternal anemia. These results suggest that interventions, such as the Nutrition Support Program, to improve nutritional status of pregnant women by providing free food supplements with focus on the poor and marginalized communities are recommended to prevent anemia.

Objective: The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and investigate factors associated with dysmenorrhic pain among university students in Lahore, Pakistan.Design and Setting: A cross-sectional study was conducted across various public and private sector universities in Lahore.Methods: A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 600 randomly selected female university students.Results: The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 91.5%. Age at menarche (odds ratio [OR] = 1.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.10–3.50) was the only significant factor associated with dysmenorrhea. The mean pain severity score among dysmenorrhic students was 5.62 ± 2.28. Most of the participants (65.8%) were experiencing moderate/severe pain. Univariate analysis showed that irregular cycle (OR [95% CI] = 1.62 [1.13–2.33]), age at menarche of ≤14 years (OR [95% CI] = 1.46 [1.05–2.04]), duration of menses of more than 5 days (OR [95% CI] = 1.42 [1.02–1.99]), stress (OR [95% CI] = 2.16 [1.54–3.03]), moderate meat/protein consumption (OR [95% CI] = 1.55 [1.08–2.21]), and medical specialization (OR [95% CI] = 1.72 [1.17–2.52]) were significantly associated with pain severity among dysmenorrhic female students. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis revealed that medical specialization (OR [95% CI] = 1.83 [1.22–2.73]), age at menarche (OR [95% CI] = 0.603 [0.42–0.86]), regularity of menses (OR [95% CI] = 1.52 [1.04–2.22]), moderate meat/protein consumption (OR [95% CI] = 1.69 [1.16–2.45]), and stress (OR [95% CI] = 1.87 [1.32–2.66]) were independent predictors of moderate/severe dysmenorrhic pain.Conclusion: The study revealed an alarmingly high prevalence of dysmenorrhea among university students. High levels of stress and early menarche were the potent determinants of moderate/severe dysmenorrhea that disturbs quality of life.

Background: Nanotechnology is gaining emerging interest in advanced drug discovery therapeutics due to their tremendous properties including enhanced delivery of therapeutic payload, extensive surface to volume ratio, high permeability, retention behaviors, etc. The gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are favored due to their advanced features, such as biogenic, tunable physiochemical response, ease in synthesis, and wide range of biomedical applications. The phytochemicals have been focused to design Au nano-carrier-based conjugation for active-targeting drug delivery due to their nano conjugation ability. Aim: The present study describes the facile synthesis of 20nm spherical AuNPs and their conjugation with reported anti-cancer phytocompound Withanolide-A (1). Methods: The 20nm sAuNPs were synthesized chemically and characterized their phytochemical gold nanoconjugates through UV-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging techniques. The anti-cancer therapeutic potentials were tested with both nanoconjugates and pure WithanolideA (1) by using SKBR3 breast cancer cells line. Results: The synthesized sAuNPs showed significant conjugation with Withanolide-A and showed stability. Furthermore, these Au nanoconjugates with Withanolide-A (1) significantly induce blockage of SKBR3 cell growth at half maximal active concentration that compared to pure Withanolide-A (1). Conclusion: Our findings provide a foundation to further progress how they can overcome cancer drug resistance by conjugating active drugs in combination with AuNPs through optimizing the effective drug concentration and removing the surface barrier.

Vanillin is a secondary metabolite of plants and the major organoleptic aroma component of natural vanilla. Nowadays, the chemical synthesis method used for vanillin production has been rejected by the United States and European legislation, while plant-derived vanillin is expensive. The current study demonstrates vanillin production via solid-state fermentation (SSF) by Enterobacter hormaechei using different ferulic acid-rich fruit peels as substrates. From different ferulic acid-rich fruit peels (pomegranate, banana, and orange) screened Punica granatum (pomegranate) peels yielded maximum biovanillin (0.09 mg/g) after 24 h. Different bioprocess parameters, including moisture content, inoculum size, pH, and temperature, were optimized using central composite design (CCD) of the response surface methodology (RSM). The maximum biovanillin yield (0.462 mg/g) from Punica granatum peels was achieved at 60% moisture content, 2 mL inoculum size, 6.5 pH, and 32 °C temperature. An F-value of 12.94 and a p-value of 0.00 were recorded by the variance analysis indicated the proposed model’s significance. The coefficient of determination (R²) confirmed the model’s goodness of fit, having a value of 91.89%, which indicated the model’s accuracy. The optimally produced biovanillin was extracted and confirmed using FTIR. Further purity analysis was done by HPLC and the biovanillin was reported to be 99.2% pure. The results demonstrated that microbial conversion of ferulic acid-rich fruit peels to biovanillin offers a cost-effective approach for the industrial production of biovanillin.

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is one of the accomplished sources of bioactive compounds, including anthocyanin, phenolic acids, flavonols, ellagitannins, and a diverse range of minerals and vitamins that can help to boost human health. This study was carried out to explore the antidiabetic, antioxidative and antihyperlipidemic potential of strawberry extracts against alloxan-induced (100 mg/kg body weight) diabetic rats. Accordingly, rats were categorized into six groups including control (G₀), positive control (G₁), treatment groups (G₂, G₃, and G₄) given strawberry extract at 250, 500, and 750 mg/kg of body weight, respectively, and G₅ provided metformin @70 mg/kg BW for 28 days with ad libitum diet. At the trial termination, the rats were sacrificed and were subjected to analysis including body weight, blood glucose level and glycemic indicators, antioxidant parameters, lipid profile, renal function test (RFT), liver function test (LFT) and histopathology for pancreatic tissues. The results indicated that treatment of diabetic rats with strawberry extract at 500 mg/kg body weight (BW) resulted in significant reductions in blood glucose level, serum urea, and creatinine as well as significant increases in body weight, insulin activity, and protein levels. In addition, the diabetic rats that did not receive strawberry extract (control) exhibited an increase in plasma glucose, urea, uric acid, creatinine, and a decrease in body weight and insulin levels. Briefly, it is reported that strawberry fruit extracts reduced blood sugar levels, possess hypolipidemic potential, and helped to maintain antioxidant levels in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

Vanillin is a flavorful and aromatic secondary metabolite found in vanilla plants. Natural vanillin, produced through processed vanilla beans accounts for scarcely 0.2% of industrial requirements. Vanillin produced via chemical methods and microbial fermentation fills the remaining gap. Among naturally available precursors for biovanillin synthesis, ferulic acid is widely used because of its structural similarity and abundant availability. Herein, various agricultural lignocellulosic by-products (sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, rice straw, rice bran, and corn cob) were scrutinized for their ferulic acid content, and their biotransformation into biovanillin was examined by solid-state fermentation (SSF). Then, different physicochemical parameters, i.e., moisture content, pH, temperature, inoculum size, and incubation days, were optimized to achieve a high yield of biovanillin using central composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM). Among agricultural by-products tested, sugarcane bagasse produced 0.029 g/100 g of biovanillin using Enterobacter hormaechei through SSF. After optimization, the highest concentration of biovanillin (0.476 g/100 g) was achieved at a moisture content of 70%, temperature of 37.5 °C, pH 7.5, inoculum size of 4 mL and incubation time of 48 h. The F-value of 6.10 and p-value of 0.002 evidenced the ultimate significance of the model. The significance of the constructed model was supported by the 91.73% coefficient of determination (R²), indicating that the effects of moisture, pH, and temperature were significant. HPLC and FTIR confirmed the sample identification and purity (was reported to be 98.3% pure). In conclusion, sugarcane bagasse appears to be a cost-effective substrate choice for large-scale biovanillin production.