Momentum of Ajwa Dates towards Cardiovascular Diseases Momentum of Ajwa Dates towards Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the top most cause of morality around the world.  It is predicted that the number casualties from CVDs will increase to more than 24 million till 2030 people. Medicinal plants provide the major raw materials for medicine preparations. They are gaining high consideration due to their effectiveness and increasing cost of modern medicines. Many successful drugs are plant based, including aspirin from the willow bark, morphine from opium poppy, quinine from the cinchona bark, and digoxin from the foxglove. According to World Health Organization (WTO), ~70% to 80% of people around the world rely on herbal sources for the treatment of their disease. Plant sources are endorsed due to the fact that they contain an optimal amount of  antioxidants and phytochemicals that help to avoid and treat many diseases. Phoenix dactylifera L. Particularly Ajwa variety, is the most rich in phytonutrientsthat can benefit to control many cardiovascular diseases. It contains6 vitamins (vitamin A, C, B1, B2, B3 &riboflavin), high amount of fibers, Potassium, Magnesium and 23 amino acids which play a healthy role towards hypertension, muscular contractions, and blood pressure control. It has been studied that Niacin (B3) helps to control cholesterol and low density lipoprotein levels (LDL), as high cholesterol is the one of the main cause of cardiovascular diseases so, Ajwa could be a vital regulatory source. According to the findings of Sabbah M. Et al, Ajwa extracts significantly improved the DNA integrity and also reduced the cardiomyocytes congestion, edema and the cellular stress wielded on cardiac muscles resulting the restoration of cardiomyocytes architecture in Doxorubicin (DOX) induced cardiotoxicity in rats. Research done by Alqarni et al, proves that Ajwa extracts has successfully decreased the LDL‐C, VLDL‐C, and triglycerides concentration. Additionally, treatment with ajwa pulp also improved the HDL‐C level and antioxidant enzymes activity. In another invivo study, Ajwa preparation has successfullydecreased the diclofenac-induced pulmonary and hepatic instabilities. Vitamin-K play important role in blood coagulation, and in case of anticoagulant therapy, activity of vitamin-K controlled by drugs (warfarin) that sometimes causes serious side effects. According to the reported data, Salicylic acid is the vitamin-K antagonist and has capability to block the action of vitamin K during the coagulation pathway. Dates contain ~3.75 to 4.50 mg/100 g of salicylic acid. Thus, providing anticoagulation effect too. So, the limelight of the reported data provides an enough reason that plants can be used as primary source of drug designing for the cardiovascular disease. They hold true momentum to address the increasing healthdiseases, which cannot be lost to distraction or apathy. Fight against the burden of CDVs, is affecting all countries and specially, under developing and the poor countries.

Relationship B/W C1418t Segment of Tm Gene Polymorphism With Coronary Artery Disease Patietns in General Adult Population of Karachi, Pakistan

Background Coronary artery disease is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity around the world. The Indo-Pak sub-Continent has one of the highest predispositions to Coronary artery disease. Apart from the established risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking, alcohol intake, family history, and obesity that played an important role in the development of CAD, genetic polymorphism also emerge as a risk factor in the incidence of Coronary artery disease. Thrombomodulin (THBD) gene is one of them. It is a transmembrane protein expressed on the surface of endothelial cells. It is an important vasoprotective and thromboresistant substance. This natural anticoagulant abates thrombin’s activity and activates Protein C. The relationship between Thrombomodulin gene polymorphisms and coronary disease remains Controversial. It has been reported that a single nucleotide polymorphism (CT) at position 1418 of thrombomodulin gene results in amino acid change from alanine (A) to valine (V) at protein position 455 of TM gene (Ala 455 Val). A considerable number of studies conducted across the globe showed a varied relationship between TM gene polymorphism and coronary artery disease. Therefore the aim of the present study is to assess the association between TM gene Polymorphism and coronary artery disease in general adult Population of Karachi, Pakistan ii METHODOLOGY This is a case control study that was conducted in Tabba Heart Institute in association with National Institute of Blood Disease, Karachi. In this study we explore the association between C/T dimorphism that might predict as a risk factor for coronary artery disease in population of Karachi. We compared C/T dimorphism in 92 cases with 90 control subjects by allele specific amplification. RESULTS The frequency of CC, CT and TT genotype was 81 (90 %), 6 (6.7%) 3 (3.3%) in controls and 67 (72.8%), 20 (21.7%) and 5 (5.4%) in cases respectively. In case group the CT/TT genotype were found to be significantly associated with coronary artery diseases when compared with control group (p-value 0.009). Both cases and control were in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), i.e. for cases HWE was (X2 = 3.81, p>0.05) and for controls HWE was (X2 = 19.4, p>0.05). CONCLUSION TM C1418T polymorphism appears as a risk marker in Coronary Artery Disease patients in the population of Karachi, Pakistan.