Effects of Carica Papaya and Psidium Guajava Extracts on Hepato-Renal Performance of Streptozotocin- Induced Diabetic Male Albino Rats Carica Papaya and Psidium Guajava Extracts & Diabetic rats

The growing number of diabetes coupled with the harsh side effects of some synthetic drugs has led to the increasing search for alternative medicine which are relatively cheap with minimum side effects. Objective: To investigate the anti-diabetic effect of ethanolic extract of Carica papaya and Psidiumguajava extracts separately and in combination, and the effect of treatment on hepato-renal performance. Methods: Papaya and guava leaves were macerated in 98% ethanol for extraction. Results: The result showed that ethanolic leaf extract of P. Guajava and C. Papaya significantly (P< 0.05) reduced blood glucose level, Total Cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and significant increase in high density lipoprotein (HDL) as compared to diabetic control group. Serum activities of liver enzymes such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was slightly elevated that indicate hepatotoxic nature of plant extracts. The level of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), bilirubin and HbA1C level were restored to normal range. A slight reduction in body weight (P>0.05) of treated groups was observed. Serum urea and creatinine concentration was restored to normal level in treated rats with regeneration of kidney function. Conclusions: The study concluded that individual and combined plant extract show anti-hyperglycemic effect but the combined remedy at this dose show hepatotoxicity

Genetic Analyses of the Major Tribes of Abbottabad and Mansehra Districts Through Dental Morphology and Dna Analyses

The Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province-Pakistan possesses an interesting combination of social integrity in the ethnic diversity of the region. People of the area can broadly be divided into the ancient Dards, Kushans and recently arrived people of Pathan dynasties. A number of references are available about the history and culture of the area but the general biology and phylogenetic relationship of people of the area based upon sound scientific grounds are still lacking. This dissertation provides first-hand information with reference to some of the important tribes of the area analyzed through variation in dental morphology, mitochondrial DNA sequences and haplotypic diversity in the people of central districts viz. Abbottabad and Mansehra of Hazara Division. The study was conducted from October 2010 to March 2014. Seven tribes viz. Abbassi, Awan, Gujar, Jadoon, Karlal, Syed and Tanoli were included in this study. Collection of dental casts, saliva samples for DNA isolation, optimization of PCR conditions, gene clean protocols and data analyses etc. were done in the Human Genetics Lab, Department of Genetics Hazara University. All the selected tribes were analyzed for Hyper Variable Sequences of mitochondrial DNA (HVS1 & 2 mtDNA) for determination of maternal affinities, diversity in the hypervariable region and availability of haplogroups, in different tribes. Each one of the dental casts was analyzed for a set of 17 tooth-trait combinations scored 150 individuals (75 males and 75 females) of each tribe in accordance with the Arizona State University Dental Morphology System. Only scorable samples from 393 individuals belonging to five ethnic groups i.e. Awans, Gujars, Karlals, Syeds and Tanolis were analyzed and included in this dissertation for elaborating the internationally available 22 populations of 2,433 prehistoric and living individuals of the region through Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, Neighbor Joining Cluster Analysis, Multidimensional Scaling and Principal Coordinates Analysis. Results of the dental trait analyses revealed highly consistent patterns across the data reduction schemes. All the ethnic groups of Abbottabad and Mansehra clustered separately and shared no affinity with the prehistoric Central XVI Asians, the prehistoric inhabitants of the Indus Valley or living communities of peninsular India. Though all the tribes has retained their own identity and seems to be polyphyletic in origin; the Syeds, Gujars and Karlals proved more closely related to one another among the analyzed tribes. Results of the hyper variable sequences of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of individuals from all the seven tribes analyzed for determination of maternal affinities through diversity in the hypervariable region and haplogroups diversity with respect to hypervariable sequence I (HVSI) analyzed from 223 individuals of the 7 tribes revealed 83 haplotypes with the 39 unique one. The haplogroup H proved the most frequent containing 40% of the analyzed people followed by haplogroup M which was recorded in 21.8% of the sampled populations. Results of the hypervariable sequence II (HVSII) obtained from 298 individuals of the seven tribes yielded 78 haplotypes. The most frequent haplogroup with respect to HVS II was haplogroup R, which was represented by 53 percent of the sampled population. The R group was followed by haplogroup M with 32% of individuals. The mega haplogroups recorded for the major ethnic groups of Abbottabad and Mansehra were H, R and M. These haplogroup distributions among the analyzed samples revealed the genetic lineage of people of Pakistani ancestry, with components from West Eurasia, South Asia, and a very limited contribution from Sub-Saharan haplogroups. The results provide a genetic baseline for understanding the biological affinities of the selected tribes of Abbottabad and Mansehra, and can be used as a useful source for forensic examination, molecular anthropology and population genetics of the people of the area.