Background:Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common worldwide. The treatment typically involves a combination of interferon-alpha (IFN-α) and ribavirin (RBV) therapy; however, the use of IFN-α is well documented to be associated with thyroid disease, the most common autoimmune disorder associated with IFN-α.Aim:The aim of the present study was to know the prevalence of thyroid abnormality in the HCV-positive patients on IFN and antiviral therapy.Materials and Methods:Fifty known HCV positive patients were enrolled for the study. All the patients were on IFN (3 million unit subcutaneously 3 times/week) and antiviral therapy (oral RBV 1000–1200 mg/day). Thyroid function tests were performed first at the start of treatment and then after 12 weeks of treatment.Results:13 (26%) of the patients were found to develop hypothyroidism, and 1 (2%) patient developed hyperthyroidism in the course of 12 weeks therapy.Conclusion:HCV patients on IFN and antiviral therapy have an effect on the thyroid gland, so these patients should be regularly screened for thyroid disorders and appropriately treated to maintain euthyroid status.

Background:Several studies indicate that obesity is closely related to insulin resistance (IR). However, this relationship has not been adequately explored.Aims:This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of IR among obese using some indirect methods for assessment of IR.Materials and Methods:We analyzed the correlation of fasting insulin (FI) with body mass index. We examined 100 obese and overweight. Anthropometric measurements were done for all individuals. Blood lipids parameters, glucose, and insulin were assayed after a 10 h fast. The indices McAuley (McA), homeostasis model assessments (HOMA), quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) were used to assess IR.Results:In this study, the correlations of FI with McA, HOMA and QUICKI were significant (P < 0.05). FI test had significant sensitivity and specificity when compared with McA, HOMA and QUICKI indices. FI gives parallel results to the assessment of IR by other methods. Validity of FI was further analyzed by Cohen's kappa test and had a satisfactory agreement (χ =0.940).Conclusion:Altogether, this study suggested that FI was sensitive and also specific as McA in assessment of IR in obese. Thus, FI can be used as an easy test to detect IR also in obese.

Background: Perimenopause refers to the period around menopause (40-55 years). This includes the period before menopause and the first year after menopause. Perimenopausal age is an important stage in a women’s life. Many women are diagnosed with hypothyroidism at midlife. Hypothyroidism - both overt and subclinical are associated with increased risk of CVS diseases. Subclinical hypothyroidism is more important as this stage is usually ignored from treatment point of view and if early intervention is done in SCH worsening of metabolic derangement may be avoided. Objectives: The present study was aimed to know the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism and associated dyslipidemia in perimenopausal females. Material and Methods: In our retrospective study we took 100 perimenopausal females (40-55years) who were investigated for thyroid and lipid profile. Atherogenic indices like TC/HDL-c, LDL-c/HDL-c, TG/HDL-c ratios were calculated from the individual lipid profile parameters. The reference guidelines for lipid profile was according to NCEP ATP III. Result: Subclinical hypothyroidism was found to be present in 18% of perimenopausal females The mean TSH levels were found to be higher in SCH as compared to euthyroid females with a mean value of 7.56±3.54(μIU/ ml). Dyslipidemia was seen in patients with SCH. TSH levels were found to be positively correlated with total cholesterol. Conclusion: We conclude that subclinical hypothyroidism is present in 18% females of perimenopausal age group. Increased TSH levels are associated with hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and elevated TC/HDL-C ratio and non cholesterol HDL. In perimenopausal women the condition is usually underdiagnosed and ignored but subclinical hypothyroidism in these females should be screened and treated timely to decrease the risk of accelerated atherosclerosis and premature coronary artery disease in them.

Background: Acute ischemic stroke is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Search has been on to find out the factors which can help in formulating the prognosis of acute ischemic stroke. One of the prognostic indicators, which has gained great clinical interest in recent times, is serum ferritin. Aims: To assess the serum ferritin levels in patients with acute ischemic stroke and to study the role of serum ferritin as a prognostic marker in these patients. Materials and Methods: This prospective, observational study was conducted on 50 patients of acute ischemic stroke aged ≥18 years who presented within 48 hours of onset of symptoms. Clinical severity of stroke was assessed at admission and on the 6 th day using Canadian Stroke Scale (CSS), and serum ferritin levels were measured at admission and on the 6 th day in all these subjects. Results: The mean serum ferritin levels at admission in patients with “more severe stroke” (CSS score at admission ≤7) and “less severe stroke” (CSS score at admission >7) were 282.77 ± 120.53 and 205.12 ± 110.96 ng/mL, respectively. The mean serum ferritin levels at admission were 173.71 ± 109.69 ng/mL in subjects who did not deteriorate and 336.86 ± 57.28 ng/mL in those who deteriorated, while the mean serum ferritin levels on the 6 th day were 193.29 ± 101.88 and 343.95 ± 52.34 ng/mL in subjects who did not deteriorate and those who deteriorated, respectively. Conclusions: Serum ferritin has a significant positive correlation with the severity of acute ischemic stroke ( P < 0.001), and the levels correlate with the outcome of the disease ( P < 0.001); the patients with higher serum ferritin at admission tend to deteriorate more as compared to those with lower levels. Thus, serum ferritin can be used as a prognostic marker in acute ischemic stroke.

Background: Neonatal septicemia refers to generalized bacterial infection of neonate, which includes septicemia, pneumonia and meningitis. In developing countries one of leading factors for neonatal morbidity and mortality is bacterial sepsis. Aim: Early diagnosis of sepsis in the neonate is often difficult because symptoms and signs are usually nonspecific. This study was conducted to evaluate C-reactive protein (CRP) as a screening tool for neonatal sepsis. Material and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Biochemistry at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot retrospectively from November 2013 to August 2014. 50 neonates were included with the age group of first 28days (4week) of life (infant age) in study. All of which were suspected to have sepsis in clinical settings. Patient with suspected sepsis having two or more of the following clinical features were used to identify patients: Respiratory and cardiovascular compromise, metabolic and neurologic changes. Blood samples were drawn prior to administration of antibiotic therapy on day one of admission for blood culture and CRP by trained staff with all aseptic precautions. Sample for blood culture was taken in blood culture bottle and the growth of bacteria was observed for 5 days after that they were reported and for CRP the investigation was performed by immunometric assay. Absolute neutrophil count and total leucocyte count was done by fully automated cell counter. Results: Among 50 septic screens, 39 (52%) patients had positive cultures, the sensitivity and specificity of ANC (Absolute Neutrophil Count) was 75% and 65.34%, TLC (Total Leucocyte Count) was 62% and 70.41%, CRP was 90 % and 83.21% respectively. This study also found that premature and low birth weight babies are more prone to neonatal sepsis. Conclusion: CRP is one of the most widely available, most studied, and most used laboratory tests for neonatal bacterial infection and despite the continuing emergence of new infection markers and it still plays a central role in the diagnosis of early-onset sepsis of the neonate.

Introduction: Diabetic nephropathy is one of the most common and serious complications of long standing type 2 diabetes mellitus. Microalbuminuria is a strong predictor of diabetic nephropathy. Homocysteine level plays an important role in pathogenesis of diabetic microvascular complications, particularly diabetic nephropathy. Vitamin B 12 , Folic acid and Vitamin B 6 facilitate homocysteine metabolism. Methods: This case-control study was carried out at a tertiary care centre. Total 150 subjects were enrolled, which included 60 cases of type 2 diabetes with microalbuminuria, 60 cases of type 2 diabetes without microalbuminuria and 30 healthy controls. Besides routine investigations, fasting blood glucose, glycated haemoglobin, and homocysteine levels in serum were measured. All subjects were screened for microalbuminuria. Statistical analysis was done. Results: Homocysteine levels, fasting blood glucose and glycated haemoglobin were significantly higher in patients of type 2 diabetes with microalbuminuria as compared to those without microalbuminuria (p = 0.00, p = 0.01, p = 0.01). Strong positive correlation was observed between the homocysteine levels and degree of microalbuminuria(r = +0.758, p = 0.00), and also between the fasting blood glucose levels and degree of microalbuminuria (r = +0.259, p = 0.02). Conclusions: It would be useful to perform an early screening for raised homocysteine levels and for low vitamin levels in the patients of uncontrolled diabetics. This would help to evaluate the need of folic acid, Vitamin B 12 and Vitamin B 6 supplements since these supplements can be beneficial for delaying the progress of diabetic nephropathy in these patients.

Various types of liver disease exist, such as hepatitis and alcoholic liver disease. These liver diseases can result in scarring of liver tissue, cirrhosis, and finally liver failure. During liver fibrosis, there is an excess and disorganized accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) components which cause the loss of normal liver cell functions. For patients with chronic liver disease, fibrosis prediction is an essential part of the assessment and management. To diagnose liver fibrosis, several invasive and noninvasive markers have been proposed. However, the adoption of invasive markers remains limited due to their inherent characteristics and poor patient acceptance rate. In contrast, noninvasive markers can expedite the clinical decision through informed judgment about disease stage and prognosis. These noninvasive markers are classified into two types: Imaging techniques and serum biomarkers. However, the diagnostic values of biomarkers associated with liver fibrosis have also been analyzed. For example, the serum levels of ECM proteins can react to either matrix accumulation or degradation. During virus-host interactions, several regulatory steps take place to control gene expression, such as the change in cellular microRNA expression profiles. MicroRNAs are a class of non-coding RNAs (18-20 long nucleotides) that function by post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Although various noninvasive markers have been suggested in recent years, certain limitations have restricted their clinical applications. Understanding the potential of non-invasive biomarkers as a therapeutic option to treat liver fibrosis is still in progress.

Background: It is well-known that deciency or over exposure to various elements has noticeable effects on human health. The effect of an element is determined by several characteristics, including absorption, metabolism, and degree of interaction with physiological processes. Iron is an essential element for almost all living organisms as it participates in a wide variety of metabolic processes, including oxygen transport, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis, and electron transport. The Study was Conducted Material and Methods: in department of Biochemistry Guru Gobind Singh Medical College Faridkot. Ethical clearance was taken from institutional ethical committee. Proper informed consent was taken from all the participitants. Out of 60 healthy patients, 30 were males and 30 females. The Correlation between iron in three time Result: intervals on the same day (Morning – Evening and Morning – Afternoon )for morning – afternoon values, the p value was <0.001 and the r value was 0.920. For morning – evening, the p value was <0.001 and r value was 0.928, which shows statistically highly signicant correlation. Conclusion: It was conducted that Iron levels showed signicant diurnal variations on same day samples. The variation was statistically non signicant for TIBC. Also no consistant pattern has observed for iron variation. So the time of day for Iron &TIBC estimation does not hold much value and only a fasting sample is required.