shahzad Hussain - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by shahzad Hussain

BioMed Research International, 2021

Snakebite is one of the most neglected diseases of developing countries. Deaths due to snakebite ... more Snakebite is one of the most neglected diseases of developing countries. Deaths due to snakebite envenoming are quite high in Pakistan, and many deaths are caused by Echis carinatus envenomation. Traditional use of medicinal plants against snakebites is a common practice in Pakistan due to countless benefits. The current study was performed with the objective to evaluate eighteen Pakistani medicinal plants inhibitory potential against hyaluronidase and alkaline phosphatase enzymes of Pakistani Echis carinatus venom. Hyaluronidase activity (0.2-1.6 mg/0.1 mL) and alkaline phosphatase activity (0.1-0.8 mg/0.1 mL) were measured in dose-dependent manner. Crude methanolic extracts of medicinal plants were used for in vitro investigation of their inhibitory activity against toxic enzymes. All active plants were fractioned using different solvents and were again analyzed for inhibitory activity of same enzymes. Results indicated all plants were able to neutralize hyaluronidase that Swertia...

Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, 2019

Introduction: Appropriately managing mental disorders is a growing priority across countries in v... more Introduction: Appropriately managing mental disorders is a growing priority across countries in view of the impact on morbidity and mortality. This includes patients with bipolar disorders (BD). Management of BD is a concern as this is a complex disease with often misdiagnosis, which is a major issue in lower and middleincome countries (LMICs) with typically a limited number of trained personnel and resources. This needs to be addressed. Areas covered: Medicines are the cornerstone of managing patients with Bipolar II across countries including LMICs. The choice of medicines, especially antipsychotics, is important in LMICs with high rates of diabetes and HIV. However, care is currently compromised in LMICs by issues such as the stigma, cultural beliefs, a limited number of trained professionals and high patient co-payments. Expert opinion: Encouragingly, some LMICs have introduced guidelines for patients with BD; however, this is very variable. Strategies for the future include addressing the lack of national guidelines for patients with BD, improving resources for mental disorders including personnel, improving medicine availability and patients' rights, and monitoring prescribing against agreed guidelines. A number of strategies have been identified to improve the treatment of patients with Bipolar II in LMICs, and will be followed up.

The present study aimed to screen the Rhazya stricta Decne root for its antihyperglycemic and ant... more The present study aimed to screen the Rhazya stricta Decne root for its antihyperglycemic and antioxidants potential through invitro assays along with phytochemical and elemental analyses. The crude extract was prepared through maceration and fractionated using solvent-solvent extraction technique. The spectroscopic studies indicated the presence of various phytochemical classes in the extract and its fractions. The antioxidant assays showed notable results along with a good concentration of phenolic and flavonoid contents. Enzyme inhibition assays demonstrated glucose-lowering effects by inhibiting the enzyme activity which could reduce post-prandial blood glucose level. The Dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) inhibition assay results showed the novel DPP-IV inhibition activity of the plant extract and all fractions showed noteworthy enzyme inhibition and antihyperglycemic activity. Conclusively, the Rhazya stricta root extract displayed its antioxidant and antihyperglycemic potential...

Hospital Practice, 2020

Introduction: Mental health and neurological disorders are prevalent in Pakistan. However, there ... more Introduction: Mental health and neurological disorders are prevalent in Pakistan. However, there are considerable concerns with their management due to issues of access, availability of trained personnel and stigma alongside paucity of such data. Consequently, there is a need to document current treatment approaches starting with tertiary hospitals in Pakistan where patients with more severe mental and neurological disorders are typically treated. Subsequently, use the findings to help direct future policies and initiatives. Methods: Multi-centred, cross-sectional, prospective study principally evaluating current medicine usage among patients attending tertiary hospitals in Pakistan with psychiatric and neurological disorders. In addition, possible factors contributing to the prevalence of these disorders in this population to help with future care. All 23 tertiary care hospitals in the ten major Districts in Pakistan were included, which cover 75% of the population. Results: 57664 patients were evaluated of which 35.3% were females. Both females and males had multiple brain disorders and multiple co-morbidities. Schizophrenia was the most prevalent disorder overall among both females (25.2%) and males (30.4%). A median of six medicines were prescribed per patient, with antipsychotics and antidepressants the most prescribed medicines. Clozapine was the most prescribed medicine in males (12.25%) and females (11.83%) including for psychiatric disorders, with

Alendronate sodium, a bisphosphonate drug, is used to treat osteoporosis and other bone diseases.... more Alendronate sodium, a bisphosphonate drug, is used to treat osteoporosis and other bone diseases. The present study was designed to conduct comparative bioavailability analysis of oral formulations of alendronate sodium through an open-label, randomized, 2-sequence, 2-period crossover study. Healthy adult male Pakistani volunteers received a single 70mg dose of the test or reference formulation of alendronate sodium followed by a 7 day washout period. Plasma drug concentrations were determined using a validated HPLC-post column fluorescence derivatization method. AUC0-t, AUC0-∞, Cmax and Tmax were determined by non-compartmental analysis and were found within the permitted range of 80% to 125% set by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Results show that both in vitro and in vivo assays of all test brands were within the specification of the US Pharmacopoeial limits and were statistically bioequivalent. No adverse events were reported in this study.

Acta poloniae pharmaceutica

Irrational drug use practices are a burden to healthcare facilities. Poor prescribing practices a... more Irrational drug use practices are a burden to healthcare facilities. Poor prescribing practices affect the overall management and cost of treatment of non-communicable diseases that are the major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. In an effort to improve prescribing practices, this study was designed to assess prescribing, consultation and facility indicators in healthcare facilities of Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan from December 2012 to December 2013. In this cross-sectional study, random and convenient sampling were used to collected data from both private and public healthcare facilities. Quantitative data were collected using structured questionnaire, observations and prescription analysis, whereas qualitative information on factors influencing prescribing practices was obtained by interviewing medical practitioners. A total of 13693 prescriptions were obtained from 500 patient-prescriber encounters. Results show that history taking, physical examination and di...

African journal of pharmacy and pharmacology

Half of all medicines are prescribed or sold inappropriately and half of all patients fail to tak... more Half of all medicines are prescribed or sold inappropriately and half of all patients fail to take their medicines correctly worldwide. The present study was conducted to evaluate the pattern and practice of drugs within the modern medical system by investigating the prescription pattern, drug use in private and public health care facilities, assessment of the magnitude of the problem, identifying factors responsible for the problem, suggesting measures in Pakistan. There were marked differences between the qualities of consultation indicators between general practitioners (GPs) and public health care providers. The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.92 for all types of health care providers, mean number of drugs dispensed was 2.41 and 50% of the dispensed drugs were adequately labeled. Five categories of drugs comprised around 70% of all drugs prescribed. Injections prescribed per prescription were 0.32, infusions 0.07, apsules/tablets 1.85, syrups/suspensions 0.8. Numb...

Pakistan journal of pharmaceutical sciences

Eclipta alba is a small branched perennial herb, which has been used as a traditional medicine in... more Eclipta alba is a small branched perennial herb, which has been used as a traditional medicine in different countries mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The plant E. alba plays a significant role in the ayurvedic, traditional and unani systems of medicine. It is popularly known as "Bhringaraj". The herb has been known for its medicinal value and has been used as an analgesic, antimytotoxic, antihepatotoxic, antibacterial, antioxidant, antihaemorrhagic, antihyperglycemic and immunomodulatory and also recognized as a reincarnated plant. Broad range of chemical constituents have been detached from E. alba including coumestans, alkaloids, thiopenes, flavonoids, polyacetylenes, triterpenes and their glycosides. Pharmacological activities have been seen in the metabolites and extracts of this plant. Therefore this herb produces robust curative lead compounds, which would be propitious for humanity. The purpose of this review recapitulates all data related t...

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2021

A combined experimental and theoretical study to determine how the replacement of magnetic ions w... more A combined experimental and theoretical study to determine how the replacement of magnetic ions with diamagnetic ones in CoFe2O4 i.e., CoFe1.5X0.5O4 (X = Al, Ga, In) affects the structure, electronic, and magnetic properties.

The present study was conducted for the optimization of pretreatment process that was used for en... more The present study was conducted for the optimization of pretreatment process that was used for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass (Water Hyacinth, WH), which is a renewable resource for the production of bioethanol with decentralized availability. Response surface methodology has been employed for the optimization of temperature (oC), time (hr) and different concentrations of maleic acid (MA), sulfuric acid (SA) and phosphoric acid (PA) that seemed to be significant variables with P < 0.05. High F and R2 values and low P-value for hydrolysis yield indicated the model predictability. The pretreated biomass producing 39.96 g/l, 39.86 g/l and 37.9 g/l of reducing sugars during enzymatic hydrolysis with yield 79.93, 78.71 and 75.9 % from PA, MA and SA treated respectively. The order of catalytic effectiveness for hydrolysis yield was found to be phosphoric acid > maleic acid > sulfuric acid. Mixture of sugars was obtained during dilute acid pretreatment with glucos...

Phytochemicals - Source of Antioxidants and Role in Disease Prevention, 2018

Food Science and Technology, 2021

The population of Camels in the world is about 28 million while camel milk production is about 2.... more The population of Camels in the world is about 28 million while camel milk production is about 2.85 million tons (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2017). Despite its unique chemical composition, fermented camel produces weak gels (Kaskous, 2016; Khan & Alzohairy, 2011). Fermented camel milk products are characterized as watery, weak, and poor structure (Rahman et al., 2009). Probably, this distinguishing property is because of the extended structure and limited dispersion of casein and the lack of Beta-lactoglobulin (b-lg) in camel milk compared with CWM milk (Al Haj & Al Kanhal, 2010; El-Agamy et al., 2009; Kamal et al., 2017). The average molecular size of camel milk casein is 468 ± 1.00 nm, whereas CWM milk is 137 ± 1.50 nm. This difference explains the variation in the physicochemical properties between the CWM and camel milk (Bornaz et al., 2009; Kamal et al., 2017). The average camel milk composition is 2.2-6.1% fat, 3.2-5.6% lactose, 3.0-3.9 protein, 0.6-1.0 ash, and specific gravity of 1.026-1.036 (Getachew, 2003). Camel milk is rich in insulin, vitamins and minerals such as sodium, potassium, iron, copper, zinc and magnesium and low in cholesterol (Al-Hashem, 2009; Rao et al., 1970). Current findings indicate that the antidiabetic action of camel is not due to insulin action. Therefore, in an effort to determine the antidiabetic action of camel milk, researchers reported that insulin was not responsible for that this activity and suggested further research to determine the real cause (Abou-Soliman et al., 2020). By virtue of its high vitamin C content (58.5 mg/kg) and low lactose content (for lactose intolerant consumers), it is possible to keep camel milk at ambient temperature for extended time (Singh et al., 2006). Therefore, camel milk is nutritious in addition to its medicinal value (Shabo et al., 2005; Shalash, 1980). Camel milk has salty taste and opaque white color due to the small fat particles which consist mainly of long chain poly unsaturated fatty acid (Abu-Lehia, 1987). The average protein content of Camel milk is 2.65% but it lacks the allergic β-lacto globulin and different β-casein composition compared to other milks. Camel milk exhibits immunological and antioxidant activity, and contains various enzymes with antibacterial activity (Kappeler, 1998). A number of proteins known for their defensive and immunological action in camel milk are lysozymes, lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, and peptydoglycon-recognition protein (Mal et al., 2006; Morin et al., 1995; Singh et al., 2006). Soft gel of camel milk can be attributed to the high ratio of whey protein to casein (Abu-Tarboush, 1996; Berhe et al., 2018; Shamsia, 2009). Due to the soft gel of camel milk, researcher made efforts to improve the poor textural properties of camel milk products. Some of the approaches used were to fortify camel milk with powdered skim CWM milk (Salih & Ahmed Hamid, 2013) or by adding hydrocolloids or stabilizers (Al-Zoreky & Al-Otaibi, 2015). One of the most encouraging attempts to improve the gelling properties of camel milk was the use of microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) (Abdulqadr et al., 2014; Farnsworth et al., 2006; Ozer et al., 2007). Acceptable gel-firmness can be reached by incorporating CaCl 2 or sodium phosphate signified by higher G' and lower gelation time (Kamal et al., 2017). Casein proteins are characterized as extended molecule with long coil-like or as subunits that can be considered as supermolecule (Farrell et al., 2006). Conversely, in alkaline environment such as urea, it disentangles, which is evident of hydrogen bonding between the supermolecule unites (Holt,

Foods, 2020

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of various native starches on the rheological ... more This study was conducted to investigate the effect of various native starches on the rheological and textural properties of non-fat set yogurt. The yogurt samples were prepared while using five types of starches (potato, sweet potato, corn, chickpea, and Turkish beans). The physical properties of the prepared yogurt were analyzed while using shear viscosity, viscoelasticity, and texture analysis. The tests were performed after 0, 7, and 15 days storage. The effect of these starches on the yogurt viscoelastic properties, texture, syneresis, and sensory evaluation were determined under optimum conditions. The results showed that adding 1% starch could significantly (p < 0.05) reduce syneresis and improve yogurt firmness. Starches exhibited different effect on the overall quality of the yogurt due to their origin and amylose content. Regardless of the number of storage period duration, all of the samples, including the control behaved as pseudoplastic materials (n < 1) with vario...

Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2020

Magnetoelectric multiferroics are of considerable interest due to the fascinating science and pot... more Magnetoelectric multiferroics are of considerable interest due to the fascinating science and potential applications. In this study, multiferroic Bi 1-x Nd x FeO 3 (0 x 0.25) samples have been prepared by a two-stage solid-state reaction method and correlation between various properties has been studied. It can be seen that Nd 3þ substitution destabilized the polar R3c symmetry due to chemical strain effects arising from the size mismatch between Bi 3þ and Nd 3þ cations which triggered partial structural transformation to triclinic structure (P 1 symmetry). Raman scattering experiments elucidated slight changes in covalency of BieO bond and softening of modes corresponding to oxygen motion suggests a significant destabilization of FeO 6 octahedra. The increase in magnetization has been attributed to the suppression of the spiral spin structure and variation in FeeOeFe bond angle due to the strain induced in the unit cell by Nd 3þ substitution. The step-like feature in magnetization at the low field has been attributed to charge melting in connection with manganites. An anomalous decrease in coercivity with decrease in temperature has been observed for Bi 0.75 Nd 0.25 FeO 3 sample which can be explained on the basis that the decrease in effective magnetic anisotropy and is an indicator of presence of magnetoelectric coupling. The bandgap increases with increase in Nd 3þ content which is attributed to the decrease in interatomic lattice parameters which resulted in increased binding forces of valance electrons.

Journal of Electronic Materials, 2019

BiFeO 3 is a very promising material for future technical applications. The effects of the differ... more BiFeO 3 is a very promising material for future technical applications. The effects of the different size and valance state of Bi 3+ and Ba 2+ as A-site cations in BiFeO 3 (BFO) has been studied. The introduction of large-size Ba ions at Bi site resulted in significant lattice strain and a partial structural phase transformation from rhombohedral R3c to cubic Pm 3m phase. Significant changes in the Raman spectrum, including variation in intensities and fullwidth at half-maxima, shifts in peak positions, and overlapping of Raman modes, were observed on incorporation of Ba into the lattice. The overlapping of various Raman modes for Ba-doped compositions confirmed the structural transformation. The decrease in intensity of A modes can be ascribed to replacement of Bi by Ba atoms, while the softening of E modes indicates presence of oxygen vacancies and suggests substantial changes in and destabilization of FeO 6 octahedra. Destabilization of FeO 6 octahedra was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Optical spectra showed the presence of charge transfer and doubly degenerate d-d transitions. A slight red-shift in the d-d transition was observed, attributed to variation in the crystal field strength. The bandgap increased with increasing Ba incorporation, which is related to weakening of dipolar moments due to the structural transformation from a noncentrosymmetric to centrosymmetric structure. Such better understanding of the mechanisms governing the optical response of BFO could enable researchers to engineer the bandgap and conductivity for enhanced photoferroelectric properties.

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 2018

Polycrystalline Bi 1−x Ba x FeO 3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.30) samples have been prepared by two stage solid st... more Polycrystalline Bi 1−x Ba x FeO 3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.30) samples have been prepared by two stage solid state reaction method. The surface texture of the prepared material exhibited a uniform grain distribution with minor empty space suggesting that the density of the pelletized samples is high and grain size is found to decrease with Ba substitution. An important observation is the stabilization of a dielectric anomaly near the magnetic transition temperature in temperature dependent dielectric studies which is ascribed to the presence of magnetoelectric (ME) coupling. This ME coupling effect has been demonstrated by measuring the effect of varying magnetic fields on the dielectric constant. The dielectric constant increased with increasing applied magnetic field giving a coupling coefficient (ε r (H) − ε r (0))/ε r (0) of 1% at H = 5 kOe at room temperature which demonstrate the importance of these material from application point of view. The dielectric constant is high at low frequencies and is found to decrease at moderate frequencies indicating the Maxwell-Wagner contribution to the dielectric response. The increase in Ba content and temperature resulted in an increase in bulk resistance and exhibits a typical negative temperature coefficient of resistance behavior. A temperature dependent and non-Debye type of relaxation process is revealed by impedance spectroscopic studies. The conductivity spectra revealed the presence of hopping mechanism in the electrical transport process and the activation energies lying in the range from 0.45 to 0.70 eV indicate that the conduction of oxygen vacancies through hopping mechanism.

Food Science and Technology, 2018

2 Materials and methods 2.1 Collection of raw materials Wheat flour (Grain Silos and Flour Mills ... more 2 Materials and methods 2.1 Collection of raw materials Wheat flour (Grain Silos and Flour Mills Org., Saudi Arabia) was purchased from a local supermarket, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The flour composition provided by the retailer was as: protein 12.5%, fat 0.8%, fiber 0.25% and total carbohydrates 73.75%. Cordia fruit from Cordia myxa tree was collected from Al-Rajhi Farms, South Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Analytical grade reagents were obtained from AvonChem (10 Waterloo St. W, Macclesfield, England). 2.2 Gum Cordia (GC) extraction and modification Mature cordia fruits were collected, de-stoned and blended in Waring Blender (New Hartford, Conn., USA) for 60s. The blended pericarps and seeds were suspended separately in 2 volumes of distilled water at 50 °C for 2-3 h and filtered twice through the

PloS one, 2018

The article proposes three modified percentile estimators for parameter estimation of the Pareto ... more The article proposes three modified percentile estimators for parameter estimation of the Pareto distribution. These modifications are based on median, geometric mean and expectation of empirical cumulative distribution function of first-order statistic. The proposed modified estimators are compared with traditional percentile estimators through a Monte Carlo simulation for different parameter combinations with varying sample sizes. Performance of different estimators is assessed in terms of total mean square error and total relative deviation. It is determined that modified percentile estimator based on expectation of empirical cumulative distribution function of first-order statistic provides efficient and precise parameter estimates compared to other estimators considered. The simulation results were further confirmed using two real life examples where maximum likelihood and moment estimators were also considered.

Lipids in health and disease, Jan 8, 2017

Current day consumers prefer natural antioxidants to synthetic antioxidants because they are more... more Current day consumers prefer natural antioxidants to synthetic antioxidants because they are more active. However, the activity generally depends on the specific condition and composition of food. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of wheat germ oil and α-lipoic acid on the quality characteristics, antioxidant status, fatty acid profile, and sensory attributes of chicken nuggets. Six types of diets were prepared for feeding the chickens to evaluate the quality of nuggets made from the leg meat of these experimental animals. These included control, diet enriched with wheat germ oil (WGO), which is a rich natural source of α-tocopherol (AT), diet with added AT or α-lipoic acid (ALA), diet with a combination of either ALA and WGO (ALA + WGO) or ALA and synthetic AT (ALA + AT). ALA has great synergism with synthetic as well as natural AT (WGO). The diet with WGO and ALA showed the best potential with respect to both antioxidant activity and total phenolic content. HPLC ...

Lipids in Health and Disease, 2017

Background: Chicken meat contains higher percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids that are susce... more Background: Chicken meat contains higher percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids that are susceptible to oxidative deterioration ultimately leading towards lower consumer acceptability for chicken meat products. Accordingly, meat processing industries are looking for combinations of natural antioxidants to enhance the oxidative stability and consumer acceptability of meat based products. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of directly added quercetin dihydrate in combination with α-tocopherol on oxidative stability, color characteristics, total carbonyls and flavor volatile compounds in chicken meat patties. Methods: Considering the preliminary studies, 3 levels of quercetin dihdrate @ 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg meat in combination with α-tocopherol at the rate 100 and 200 mg/kg meat were added to develop chicken meat patties and were stored at refrigeration temperature for 7 days. The oxidative stability of the antioxidant treated patties was determined by measuring malonaldehydes using TBARS and total carbonyls assay. The color (Lightness, redness and yellowness) of the patties was determined by using Konica Minolta Color Meter. Moreover, the volatile compounds were measured through gas chromatography at various storage intervals. Results: The results elucidated that quercetin dehydrate inclusion at the rate of 50 mg/kg meat as well as particularly 100 mg/kg meat decreased the oxidation by reducing generation of malonaldehydes and total carbonyls in treated patties. Highest value for TBARS at initiation of storage was reported in (T 0) as 1.93 ± 0.02 whereas lowest were reported in T 6 and T 5 as 0.37 ± 0.01 and 0.38 ± 0.03 that were increased to 3.47 ± 0.14, 0.90 ± 0.05 and 0.94 ± 0.34 at the completion of storage. Moreover, the lowest carbonyls also reported in T6 and the values at various storage intervals (1st, 3rd and 7th) were as 0.59 ± 0.025, 0.77 ± 0.015 and 1.02 ± 0.031, respectively. The antioxidants inclusion also inhibited volatile flavoring compounds particularly aldehydes like hexanal and pentanal in a dose dependent manner (p ≤ 0.05). Lowest hexanal values reported in T 6 as 2488 ± 103 followed by T 4 (3701 ± 111) at the start of the trial whereas highest in T 0 (control) as 54,768 ± 431 that were increased to 9569 ± 607, 112,550 ± 897 and 359,826 ± 1285, correspondingly. The hexanal, as a critical indicator for the determination of volatiles in meat based products, was decreased with the addition of antioxidants and its highest values were reported in control group. Conclusions: Quercetin dihydrate addition along with alpha tocopherol is a pragmatic choice to improve oxidative storability and volatile flavor compounds in cooked meat patties. The data obtained will help meat processor to better develop antioxidant enriched formulations to augment oxidative stability and quality of processed meat products.