Children carrying Staphylococcus aureus in their nasopharynx are at a higher risk of contracting systemic infection. Due to lack of sufficient information regarding such carriage, this study was conducted to explore the prevalence, antibiotic susceptibility, and genomic profiles of S. aureus isolated from nasopharyngeal samples of 163 randomly selected asymptomatic Bangladeshi children aged from 5–<15 years. Antibiotic susceptibility pattern and genomic analysis of the samples were conducted using standard microbiological methods and genomic tools. The carriage was confirmed in 44 (27%) children who were mostly well nourished without respiratory symptoms in the last 3 months. Higher carriage was observed among the younger age group (5–<10 years) who completed vaccines for pneumonia (p = 0.002) and influenza (p = 0.004). Among the isolates, 84.1% were multidrug-resistant and 47.5% (n = 40) were methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). All the isolates (100%) were resistant to cefixime with higher resistance to ampicillin (95.5%) and penicillin (90.9%). Among the three investigated isolates, two were ST80 (ID-1 and ID-52) and one was a novel strain (ID-19) with the presence of aph-Stph, blaI, blaZ, dha1, fosB, lmrS, mepA, norA, and tet38 genes. The current research demonstrates a high incidence of multidrug-resistant S. aureus and reports the first instance of ST80 in asymptomatic children in Bangladesh.

Despite advances in treating breast cancer with modern therapeutic approaches, it still causes significant morbidity and mortality in patients. Like many other diseases, oxidative stress is a significant risk factor for initiation and progression of breast cancer. Redox-sensitive transcription factors, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), activator protein-1 (AP-1), and hypoxia-induced regulators promote chronic inflammation, proliferation, angiogenesis, and metabolic adaptation of cancer cells. Therefore, regulating oxidative stress is necessary to repair cellular damage and slow or inhibit cancer progression. However, current therapeutic approaches for treating breast cancer have limitations that necessitate the development of new treatment strategies. Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive lipophilic phytocannabinoid, acts as a context-dependent redox modulator and selectively exploits oxidative vulnerabilities in breast malignancies and provides anticancer effects via modulation of Nrf2 pathway components. It demonstrates strong antioxidant capabilities, modulating redox balance and also disrupts multiple oncogenic pathways. There is also increasing interest in developing synthetic CBD derivatives with improved therapeutic potential for cancer treatment. Inhibiting the molecular targets of cancer cell development and progression by these derivatives may provide an effective therapeutic strategy. This review provides an understanding of CBD’s potential in reducing cancer cell proliferation, metastasis, inducing apoptosis and inhibiting angiogenesis. It also highlights novel approaches of CBD analogues on molecular targets in breast cancer cell lines.

Despite advances in treating breast cancer with modern therapeutic approaches, it still causes significant morbidity and mortality in patients. Like many other diseases, oxidative stress has significant risk factor for initiation and progression of breast cancer. Redox-sensitive transcription factors, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), activator protein-1 (AP-1), and hypoxia-induced regulators promote chronic inflammation, proliferation, angiogenesis, and metabolic adaptation of cancer cells. Therefore, regulating oxidative stress is necessary to repair cellular damage and slow or inhibit cancer progression. However, current therapeutic approaches for treating breast cancer have limitations that necessitate the development of new treatment strategies. Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive lipophilic phytocannabinoid, acts as a context-dependent redox modulator and selectively exploits oxidative vulnerabilities in breast malignancies. It demonstrates strong antioxidant capabilities, modulating redox balance and also disrupts multiple oncogenic pathways. There is also increasing interest in developing synthetic CBD derivatives with improved therapeutic potential for cancer treatment. Inhibiting the molecular targets of cancer cell development and progression by these derivatives may provide an effective therapeutic strategy. This review provides an understanding of CBD’s potential in reducing cancer cell proliferation, metastasis, inducing apoptosis and inhibiting angiogenesis. It also highlights novel approaches of CBD analogues on molecular targets in breast cancer cell lines.

Eye problems are prevalent among Bangladeshi population due to their ignorance regarding eye health. This study investigated the reasons for patients’ visit to an eye hospital and their knowledge about maintaining healthy eyes. Using a questionnaire, data were collected from 110 patients visiting a secondary eye care hospital situated in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Common reasons behind their hospital visit were blurry vision (45.5%), itchy eye (45.5%) and swollen or red eye (40.9%). Positive history of refractive errors and conjunctivitis were observed among the patients as well as their families. All adult patients (n = 92) knew that eating fruits, vegetables and fishes is good for the eyes. Majority of them were also aware of the importance of wearing protective eyewear (90.2%), knowing family eye health history (85.9%) and giving rest to eyes after electronic device use (81.5%). The positive impact of avoiding or quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy weight on eye health were known to less than half of them. Significantly higher (p < 0.05) knowledge score about eye health maintenance was related to young age, positive family history, male gender, higher education level and higher monthly family income. Therefore, improving the knowledge about maintenance of eye health needs to be addressed with highest importance to lower the continuing burden of visual impairments. Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 24(1): 1-9, 2025 (June)