Biography:

Dr. B.K.Manjunatha Goud has completed his MD Biochemistry from Kasturba Medical College Mangalore, Manipal University. Has total 7 years of experience in teaching medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy students. (Melaka Manipal Medical College for 2 years as Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and currently working in Ras Al Khaimah medical and Health Sciences University, UAE since 5 years). Has published more than 52 publications both national and international journals and reviewer for various indexed journals. Also contributed to a book chapter (one of which in diabetes area). Main areas of research are Diabetes Mellitus, Cancer, Molecular Biology, Medical education.

Abstract:

 Type 2 diabetes  (previously called “adult onset diabetes”) is the most common form of diabetes accounting for about 90 to 95 percent of all diabetes cases. Diabetes can have a significant impact on quality of life by increasing risk for a variety of complicat ions. Diabetic nephropathy is one of the  most serious complications of diabetes and the most common cause of end stage renal disease.Presence of microalbuminuria (MA) is an early indicator of diabetic nephropathy.Microalbumin is routinely done to monitor the progression of nephropathy.The measurement of glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb) is one of the wellestablished means of monitoring glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus.Glycosylation is a nonen zymatic reaction between free aldehyde group of glucose and free amino groups of proteins. The biosynthesis of glycosylated hemoglobin’s (HbA1a, HbA1b, and HbA1c) occurs slowly, continuously and almost irreversibly throughout the four month life span of erythrocytes and the process is nonenzymatic.Recent reports have shown that the concentration of total glycosylated hemoglobin measured by commonly used methods may change significantly over a period of hours. This reflects the short term fluctuations in glucose concentration. It is now realized that these rapid changes depend on the synthesis or dissociation of the labile fraction of HbA1c, which is not separable from the stable form of HbA1c, by most routine methods. Physicians should be aware of the expected variation in HbA1c measurements as well as factors which can interfere with the estimation of microalbumin, So that high standards are maintained while estimating the MA levels and glycated hemoglobin.

Biography:

I joined Ph.D. at the Department of Biochemistry, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh under the supervision of Dr. Shagufta Moin, Department of  Biochemistry , and co-supervision of Prof. M. Owais, Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit, A.M.U. The topic of my Ph.D. thesis is “Functional and Clinical Relevance of T-helper 17 cells in Diabetes Mellitus”. Th17 cells, which are a newly identified subset of T helper cells, have been found to be important in the pathogenesis of other autoim mune diseases. Its function is relatively unclear in type 1 diabetes.

Abstract:

Curcumin, an active component of turmeric has caught tremendous attention as a potential therapeutics for diabetes because it is a relatively safe and inexpensive drug that reduces  glycemia  and hyperlipidemia in rodent models of diabetes.The Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced experimental rat model of diabetes were used to evaluate the effect of in-house synthesized curcumin nanoparticles (Cur NPs) o n glycemia, body weight, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), oxidative stress and inflammatory immunological markers. In this study, we developed Aloe Vera leaf extract (AVLE) mediated curcumin nano-formulation for highly effective diabetes therapy. Polyphenol (AVLE) mediated bio-functional, Cur NPs showed excellent dispersibility and outstanding stability in physiological environments. The data of biochemical and inflammatory biomarkers revealed the ameliorative effect of Cur NPs on STZ-induced diabetic experimental wistar rat model. Interestingly, administration of Cur NPs for 4 weeks was able to prevent body weight loss, reduce the levels of glucose, hemoglobin (Hb), and HbA1C in blood and improve insulin sensitivity.The data of the present study clearly showed that the therapeutic efficacy of the AVLE synthesized Cur NPs were found better than that of free form of curcumin as well as with the AVLE alone. Cur NPs were also found to be effective in ameliorating the increased levels of fasting blood glucose, urine sugar, and urine volume in STZ-induced diabetic rats. Polyphenol mediated green synthesis of Cur NPs with effective and efficacious anti-diabetic potential may open new prospects for type 2 diabetes therapy.

Biography:

Zeba Farooqui is pursuing Ph.D. from Department of Biochemistry, A.M.U, Aligarh. She is presently working on “Protective effect of Nigella sativa and thymoquinone on cisplatin induced toxicity in rat kidney”.  She has published a research article in an international journal. She has presented her work in several scientific meetings and conferences.

Abstract:

  Nephrotoxicity   is a severe complication in patien ts undergoing  cisplatin  (CP) chemothe  rapy. Thymoquinone (TQ), a monoterpene isolated from volatile oil of  Nigella sativa seeds has been shown to exhibit strong  antioxidant  properties and protective effects aga inst oxidative damage induced by several drugs and toxicants. The present study was undertaken to investigate w hether TQ can prevent the CP-induced nephrotoxic effects. Rats were divided into four groups viz. control, CP, TQ and CP+TQ. Rats in the groups CP+TQ and TQ were administered TQ (1.5 mg/kg bwt orally), prior to and simultaneously with and without,  multiple doses of CP (3 mg/kg bwt, i.p) every fourth day for 20 days, respectively. CP nephrotoxicity was evident by increased serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). CP treatment caused oxidant/antioxidant imbalances as reflected by increased lipid peroxidation (LPO), decreased enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. Furthermore, the activities of brush border membrane (BBM) marker enzymes viz.  alkaline  phosphatase (ALP), γ-glutamyl transferase (GGTase) and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) were significantly declined in renal cortical and medullary homogenates and in isolated BBM vesicles (BBMV)  in CP treated rats. Oral TQ administration significantly attenuated CP induced increase in Scr and BUN and decrease in BBM   enzymes   activities. TQ administration also precluded CP induced alterations in the enzymatic and  non-enzymatic  antioxidant parameters. Histopathological observations showed extensive kidney damage in CP treated animals and remarkably reduce  d renal injury in CP and TQ co-treated group.  The results suggest that TQ alleviates CP induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative damage by strengthening antioxidant defense mechanism in the kidney.

Biography:

Abstract:

  Vitamin D   is known to have diverse effects on various systems in the body. There is evidence to suggest that a link exists between the serum vitamin D st atus and  tuberculosis . The pre sent study was designed to assess the alterations in serum 25  hydroxy-vitamin  D levels in newly diagnosed sputum AFB positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients and to study the association, if any, between serum vitamin D levels and different levels of sputum sm ear positivity.  Serum  25 hydroxy-vitamin D levels  were estimated in 65 sputum AFB positive pulmona ry tuberculosis pat ients and 65 age and gender-matched healthy controls. The levels of serum 25 hydroxy-vitamin D in tuberculosis patients were not statistically different from levels in healthy controls. However among patients  with pulmonary tuberculosis there was a significant negative correlation between the levels of serum 25 hydroxy-vitamin D and levels of sputum positivity. Serum vitamin D levels negatively correlates with bacterial load in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. 

Biography:

Abstract:

     T2DM      is a consequence of complex interactions among multiple genetic variants and environmental risk factors. This comp lex     disorder     is  also characterized by changes in various adipokines. In this study our objective was to estimate the levels of     adiponectin    , leptin and    resistin    (ALR) in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients, besides studying the effect of various drugs on their levels.   Study participants included 400 diabetic and 300 normal patients from the Department of    Endocrinology    and Department of Biochemistry, Govt Medical College Srinagar. Subjects were categorized under various groups i.e (Group 1: Metformin t reated) , (Group 2: Glimpiride treated) and cases were also categorized as obese with T2DM (Group A),  obese   without T2DM (Group B) and T2DM only (Group C). The serum ALR levels were estimated by  ELISA  (Alere)  , and also  biochemical  parameters were evaluated before and after treatment. Adiponectin levels were found to be significantly lower in T2DM cases as compared to controls (12±5.5 vs 22.5±7.9 μg/ml), while as leptin and resistin levels were found to be significantly higher than controls (14.3±7.4 vs 7.36±3.73ng/ml) (13.4 ± 1.56 vs 7.236± 2.129 pg/ml). Taking the effect of drugs into conside ration, the effect on adiponectin and resist  in levels were found to be highly significant in Group 2 before and after treatment (11±5 vs 19.2±4.5 μg /ml) (13.6± 2.5 vs 7.3± 2.9 pg/ml),while as more effect was observed in leptin among Group 1(metformin) treated cases (27±15 ng/ml vs 15±15 ng/ml).Further the adiponectin levels were found to be significantly lower in Group B, while as leptin and resistin levels were found to be significantly higher among obese cases when compared to  T2DM  cases only. Glimpiride also shows more effect on FBG,HbA1c% levels while as metformin shows more effect on Lipid profile levels From the study, it can be concluded that ALR levels are effected by use of antidiabetic drugs among which glimpiride shows more effect on adiponectin and resistin levels while leptin getseffected more by metformin. It can also be proposed that ALR levels are not affected by diabetes only, suggesting that their alterations in T2DM may be due to obesity as we observed more ALR changes in obese cases when compared to T2DM cases a nd so there might be an important link between adiposity and Insulin resistance.

Biography:

Suresh Kumar is Senior Lecturer in bioinformatics at Management and Science University, Malaysia. He previously worked as Senior Lecturer at National University of Malaysia, Malaysia. He has obtained his PhD from the University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. He did his post-doctoral work at Texas State University, USA. He has six years of experience in teaching and research. His research interests include structural bioinformatics, sequence analysis, Next-generation sequence data analysis.

Abstract:

Neisseria meningitidis is a parasitic  gram-negative  bacterium best known for its role in meningitis and other forms of meningococcal disease such as meningococcemia. It is important to identify possible novel drug targets and to  thrive serogroup B vaccines against the potential pathogen because one of Neisseria meningitidis’s strains, M C58, has natural transformation capacity. Because of the emergence of new drug resistant strains, even though several generic drugs and vaccines have been developed over time, Neisseria meningitidis infections remain a global health problem that appeals for the development of novel drugs and vaccines against the pathogen. In the complete genome of Neisseria meningitidis strain MC58, there are 2158 coding genes out of which 681 encodes for hypothetical proteins (HPs). With the h elp of various bioinformatics tools, the extensive functional analysis of these HPs was performed. We have analyzed 681 hypothetical proteins using various functional prediction tools like CDART, Interproscan, SMART, Interpro, CATH and pfam. Among 682 total hypothetical proteins, we successfully annotated 436 proteins present in Neisseria meningitidis genome. It was observed that out of 436 proteins, 13 proteins are enzymes, 26 proteins are transporters, 11 are assembly proteins, 6 proteins involve in cell division, 70 proteins are binding proteins, 15 proteins are integral membrane proteins, 6 proteins are catalytic domains, 15 proteins are factors, 24 proteins regulators, 3 are structural proteins, 3 are ion channels, 42 are RNA proteins, 111 proteins sequences contain a domain of unknown function (DUF), remaining proteins cannot be functionally determined by any of the tools. These analyses suggest a possible role of hypothetical proteins in the survival, development and pathogenesis of the organism. Further we have identified 38 hypothetical proteins as virulence causing factors using VICMpred tool. Virulence causing proteins can serve as potent drug targets for the drug discovery process. The outcomes of this comprehensive study will be useful for better understanding of pathogenesis, drug resistance, adaptability to host, epidemic causes and drug discovery for treatment of the disease.

Biography:

Ali Morsali received his BS (1995) and MS (1999) in Coordination Polymers from Kharazmi (Tarbiat Moallem) and Zanjan Universities respectively, and his PhD (2003) in   Inorganic    Chemistry  from Tarbiat Modares University under the supervision of Professor Alireza Mahjoub. He is currently a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry of Tarbiat Modares Univers ity. He has been a Full Professor at the Tarbiat Modares University since 2011. His research interests include the solid-state reactivity involving coordination  polymers  and rational design and synthesis of metal-organic frameworks and their application in clean energy field and gas storage.        

Abstract:

In the domain of health, one important challenge is the efficient delivery of drugs in the body using   non-toxic   nanocarriers. Up  until now, two routes have been set up: The “organic route”, which uses either biocompatible polymers and the “ inorganic route ”, in which the hosts are inorganic porous solids, such as zeolites or mesoporous silicate materials. Most of t he existing carrier materials show poor drug loading and rapid release of the proportion of the drug that is simply adsorbed at the external surface of the nanocarrier. Herein, we introduce a third way: Porous inorganic-organic hybrid solids. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of hybrid  crystalline  materials composed of organic linkers and metal nodes, with a diversity of structural characteristics and the nature of the pore surface. These materials have unquestionably enormous potential for many practical structure-related applications. This includes the more traditional areas of storage, separation or controlled release of gases, catalysis, sensing, and  d rug  delivery. I n this regards, we would like to introduce our azine/amide-functinalized pillar-layered TMU MOFs (TMU = Tarbiat Modares University) as potential drug delivery systems. For instance, the two 3D porous Zn(II)-based MOFs, containing azine-functionalized pores, [Zn₂(oba)₂(4-bpdb)]·(DMF)₂ (TMU-4) and [Zn₂(oba)₂(4-bpdh)]·(DMF)₂ (TMU-5) have showed acceptable capture of CO₂ with CO₂/N₂ selectivities of ~25 at 298 K. Moreover, a new MOF, TMU-30, based on isonicotinate N-oxide as an adsorptive site has been used for fast and highly efficient aqueous phase adsorption of Cr(VI) over a pH range of 2–9. Combination of high and regular porosity with the presence of functionalized-organic groups within  the TMUs can cumulate the advantages to achieve both a high drug loading and a controlled release.

Biography:

Ali Ramazani has completed his PhD under the supervision of Professor Issa Yavari in the Department of Chemistry at the Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Iran. He currently works as a Full Professor in Chemistry at the University of Zanjan, Iran. His studies focused on Organic Synthesis and Nanochemistry. He has published more than 350 papers and is an Editorial Board Member of the international journal Nanochemistry Research. He has received several national and international awards, including the 2013 Khwarizmi International Award, Several Top-Cited Author Awards and Best-Paper Awards from leading ISI Journals, Best Researcher Awards and the Best Lecturer Awards at the University of Zanjan.

Abstract:

L-proline is known as the most favored catalyst in enamine-mediated reactions. This simple amino acid as a bifunctional catalyst is efficiently applied in variety of organic transformations. The simplicity of this small molecule contrasts with the complex structure of the natural enzymes, which are capable of promoting similar transformations. A secondary amine, functionality refers to its enhanced nucleophilicity over the other amino acids, which is the particular feature in nucleophilic catalysts. From the catalytic performance point of view, proline is termed “the simplest enzyme”, meanwhile it is a building block or catalytic center of some of natural enzymes. The surprising versatility and specificity of this simple natural amino acid against toxic organometallic catalysts convert it to a promising candidate for artificial enzyme designing. Magnetic functionalization of L-proline gives recoverability and reusability to this efficient organocatalyst. Herein, we report the synthesis and use of magnetite L-proline as an efficient and reusable  nano -biocatalyst in the coupling reaction of dimedone, malononitrile and aromatic  aldehydes to afford the corresponding benzo-[b]-pyran derivatives in aqueous media and in good yields. Pyran derivatives have great biological and pharmacological importance that is organized as a significant class of heterocyclic compounds. Despite the catalytic role of proline in chemical reactions, it has been known for several decades, but its significance in  biochemistry  and biogenesis has still remained uncovered.