Background Hypertension is a known risk factor for several chronic conditions including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. However, little is known about its impact on Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the context of Bangladesh. This study aimed to evaluate the association of hypertension on HRQoL among Bangladeshi patients corresponding to the socio-demographic condition, comorbid conditions, treatment, and health outcomes. Methods A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted using a pre-tested structured questionnaire among patients with hypertension in 22 tertiary medical college hospitals in Bangladesh. The study recruited male and female hypertensive patients of age ≥18 years between July 2020 to February 2021 using consecutive sampling methods. Health related quality of life was measured using the widely-used index of EQ-5D that considers 243 different health-related attributes and uses a scale in which 0 indicates a health state equivalent to death and 1 indicates perfect health status. The five dimensions of the quality index included mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain or discomfort, and anxiety or depression. Ordered logit regression and linear regression models were used to estimate the predictors of comorbidity and HRQoL. Results Of the 1,912 hypertensive patients, 56.2% were female, 86.5% were married, 70.7% were either overweight or obese, 67.6% had a family history of hypertension, and 85.5% were on anti-hypertensive medication. Among the individuals with comorbidities, 47.6% had diabetes, 32.3% were obese, 16.2% had heart disease, 15% were visually impaired, and 13.8% were suffering from psychological diseases. HRQoL was found to be inversely proportional to the number of comorbidities. The most frequent comorbidities of diabetes and obesity showed the highest EQ- 5D mean utilities of 0.59 and 0.64, respectively. Conclusions Prevalent comorbidities, diabetes and obesity were found to be the significant underlying causes of declining HRQoL. It is recommended that the comorbidities should be adequately addressed for better HRQoL. Special attention should be given to address mental health issues of patients with hypertension.

Presence of heavy metals and antibiotics in the poultry feed even in low concentrations is considered as potentially toxic and may cause hazardous effects on animal leading to accumulate in food chain. This study was performed to assess the status of heavy metals and antibiotics residue in different poultry feed samples collected from local markets of Mymensingh and Kishoreganj sadar upazila of Bangladesh. A total of 40 poultry feed samples were analyzed to detect the concentration of three heavy metals- chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and antibiotic residues using thin layer chromatography. A survey was also conducted among 30 feed sellers in the study areas whose knowledge regarding presence of heavy metals and antibiotics residues in poultry feed was evaluated. Survey data showed that about 80% feed sellers were literate whereas 20% were illiterate. Around 23% feed sellers had knowledge about the presence of heavy metals and 90% had about antibiotic residues in poultry feeds and its detrimental public health effects. The average Cr, Cd and Pb contents in poultry feed collected from Mymensingh sadar upazila were 0.402, 1.630 and 18.314 mgkg-1, respectively. The average content of Cr and Cd in feed collected from Kishoreganj sadar upazila were 7.884 and 0.006 mgkg-1, respectively, whereas Pb content was below the detection level in this area. The results from this study showed that Cd and Pb in Mymensingh sadar upazila, Cr in Kishoreganj sadar upazila, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline and oxytetracycline in both upazilas were present at alarming levels in most of the feed samples which could be harmful for poultry as well as human health. Therefore, it is suggested to take proper steps for monitoring and regular detection of heavy metals and antibiotic residues in poultry feeds with sources identification as we as community-based awareness among the stakeholder.

Background: In treatment of neuropathic pain, conventional analgesics showed various adverse effects. Spirulina platensis (Sp), a medicinal herb, shown to possess several beneficiary biological activities including analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcerogenic potential. Objectives: To assess the effect of Sp on neuropathic pain in Wistar rats and also to assess the involvement of ATP sensitive potassium channel (KATP) as its possible underlying mechanism of action. Methods: For this experimental study 120 Wistar rats of both sexes (200±50 gm body weight) were grouped into control [normal saline (NS) 5 ml/kg/day], sham control [sham surgery + NS], CCI control [Chronic constriction injury to sciatic nerve (CCI) + NS], Sp experimental [CCI + Sp 400 mg/kg/day], Gli experimental [CCI + Sp (400 ml/kg/day) + glibenclamide (15 mg/kg)] groups. Sp and NS were administered orally once daily for consecutive 21 days and single dose of glibenclamide was given intraperitoneally. Then again on the basis of neuropathic pain evaluation tests, all the groups were subdivided into ‘a’ (for walking track analysis), ‘b’ (for cold tail immersion test), ‘c’ (for von Frey test), ‘d’ (for hot plate test). The statistical analysis was done by one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post hoc test, where P£0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: In this study, Sp showed significantly (P£0.001) higher sciatic functional index, tail flick latency, paw withdrawal threshold and reaction time in Sp experimental rats compared to those of CCI control rats. In addition, there were significant (P£0.001) differences in the above-mentioned variables between rats of Sp experimental group and Gli experimental group. Conclusion: From the present study it could be concluded that, Spirulina platensis prevents the development of neuropathic pain in Wistar rats through opening of KATP channel. J Bngladesh Soc Physiol 2021;16(1): 1-10