Illness Perception, Perceived Social Support and Quality of Life in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients

The objective of the current study is to determine the relationship between illness perception, perceived social support and quality of life in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. To this end, the World Health Organization Quality of life scale, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were used to measure the relationship between variables. The quantitative approach was used, with purposive sampling. A total of 150 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis were part of the final sample. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicate that social support of family, friends, and significant others, are significant positive predictors of quality of life in pulmonary TB patients. This study has implications for designing better health and social policy for pulmonary tuberculosis patients with respect to (i) advancing support from significant others, (ii) strengthening quality of life through daily activities and work opportunities, and (iii) provision of medical and treatment information consistently.

Phytochemical Studies on H. Eichwaldi and Related Species

This Ph.D thesis deals with the phytochemical studies on two species of the genus Heliotropium of Pakistani origin. The thesis is divided in to two parts: Section A deals with the phytochemical studies on Heliotropium eichwaldi that have led to the isolation of a novel compound Furo furan lactone [(4a,6b-dihydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)-2a-isopropyl-2-methylhexahydro- 4H-1,3,6-trioxacyclopenta[cd]pentalen-4-one)] 1. The structure elucidation of compound 5 was done by spectroscopic means and confirmed by X-ray crystallographic technique [Firdous S. et al., 2012 a]. In addition to that three known compounds, Heliotrine 4, β-Sitosterol 3-O- β-D-glucopyranoside 5 and β-Sitosterol 6 have also been isolated and characterized from this species. Section B of the thesis describes work on a related species Heliotropium ophioglossum. The phytochemical investigation on this plant resulted in the isolation and characterization of two new compounds Ophiamide-A (2S,3S,4R,6E,2̍R)-2-[2''-hydroxypentacosanoylamino]-octadec-6-ene-1,3,4-triol 42 and Ophiamide-B 1-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(2S,3S,4R,6E,2̍R)-2-[(2''-hydroxypentacosanoylamino]-octadec-6-ene-1,3,4-triol 43. These two new compounds exhibited potent urease inhibitory activity [Firdous S. et al., 2012 b]. In addition to this eight known compounds have also been isolated and identified for the first time from this species. The known compounds isolated from H. ophioglossum are 2''(4''''-Hydroxyphenyl)-ethyl Lignocerate 44, Glycerol Monopalmitate 45, Methyl 2,4-Dihydroxy Cinnamate 46, 4-Hydroxycinnamic acid 47, 4-Hydroxybenzoic acid 48, 1-Octacosanol 49, β-Sitosterol 3-O- β-D-glucopyranoside 5 and β-Sitosterol 6. The structure elucidation of all compounds involved modern spectroscopic techniques such as MS, 1H and 13C-NMR, IR and UV.