No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

This study focuses on isolation of pathogenic bacteria from external and internal surfaces of cockroaches collected from houses and hospitals in Lahore. In total, 240 adult cockroaches were collected from houses and hospitals by hand or using sticky traps and food-bait traps. Cockroach species were identified, and microbial screening was done for external surfaces and gut tracts of cockroaches. Jaccard's index of similarity, Bray-Curtis' index of dissimilarity, and Shannon-Wiener's diversity index were used to measure the bacterial community diversity (all species of bacteria) in each habitat. Relative abundance and frequency were measured for each bacterial species on external and internal surfaces of cockroaches. Among human habitations, two major species of cockroaches were isolated, i.e., Periplaneta americana (P. americana) and Blattella germanica (B. germanica). Out of 240 cockroaches collected, 167 were P. americana and 73 were B. germanica. In total, 11 bacterial species were isolated, but no different bacterial load in each habitat was observed. The most common diagnostic bacterium isolated from the external surface of cockroaches was found to be Escherichia coli (10.31%). In contrast, the most common isolate from the internal gut tract of cockroaches was found to be Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with relative frequency of 19.96%. Jaccard's index of similarity of bacterial species found on cockroaches was highest (0.3125) in houses, whereas Bray-Curtis' index of dissimilarity was highest for hospitals (0.2174). The highest Shannon-Wiener's diversity index value was found in bacteria on cockroaches collected from the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (2.610632). No Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterobacter aerogenes, and Streptococcus pneumonia were found in the digestive tract of any cockroach.

Myristica fragrans seeds are traditionally used to treat dyspepsia, vomiting and abdominal pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effect of Myristica fragrans in ethanol induced gastric ulcer. Study was carried out on rats, divided into four groups; negative control, positive control, standard drug control, and Myristica fragrans extract treated rats. The pH, ulcer index, acidity values and histopathological examination of stomach were evaluated. Myristica fragrans significantly (P<0.05) reduced gastric lesions by 41.68% in ethanol induced ulcer model at 200 mg/kg when compared to sucralfate (60.41%). However, histopathological findings appeared similar in Myristica fragrans extract treated and standard drug control groups, where stomachs were found with mild erosion of superficial epithelium and few infiltrated inflammatory cells. pH of gastric contents of rats from extract treated was increased (4.25 ± 0.25) as compared to positive control group (2.25 ± 0.25). Ulcer index of extract treated rats was improved (41.74%). Moreover, total acidity of extract treated group (60.0 ± 0.47) was decreased as compared to control group (74.50 ± 1.04). It is concluded that Myristica fragrans showed significant protecting activity in ethanol induced ulcer. Isolation and purification of phytochemicals responsible for gastroprotective activity becomes necessary.