Among hospitalized patients, the most common nosocomial infection is Urinary tract infection (UTI). The knowledge about the type of pathogens responsible for UTI and susceptibility and resistance pattern of the causative agents at a specific area may help the doctors to choose correct treatment regimen. This study was aimed to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility and resistance pattern of isolated urinary pathogens. This study was done at Anwer Khan Modern Medical College Hospital, Dhaka during January- June, 2011. Out of 498 clinical samples of urine collected, 245 (49.19%) showed significant bacterial growth. The most common pathogens isolated were Escherichia coli (142, 58.0%), Streptococcus feacalis (38, 15.5%), Pseudomonus (20, 8.2%), Klebsiella species (20, 8.2%) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (14, 5.7%). Members of the Enterobacteriaceae were 75%-100%sensitive to Amikacin and Nitrofurantoin while they were found variably sensitive to other commonly used antibiotics. Pseudomonas species were found 90% sensitive to Meropenem and 70% to Amikacin. Strep. feacalis were found 94.7% sensitive to Amoxicillin, 84.2% to Amoxiclave and 78.9% to Ciprofloxacin, 65.5% to Cephalexin, 50% to Ceftriaxone. The clinicians should use Meropenem and Amikacin selectively in cases of un-responsiveness to commonly used antibiotics. Anwer Khan Modern Medical College Journal Vol. 4, No. 2: July 2013, Pages 23-27 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/akmmcj.v4i2.16938

Metabolic syndrome (MS), a global epidemic, is a cluster of risk factors for CHD, T2DM, stroke and other various medical problems, which affects specially those who lead sedentary and stressful life. Among the health service providers of Bangladesh, doctors are very important group who leads sedentary and mentally stressful life with low physical exercise. The aim was to evaluate WHR (waist-hip ratio), WHtR (waist-height ratio) and TG, HDL-C for their predictive value of MS. In this cross-sectional study, by convenient and purposive sampling technique, 25-55 years aged 500 Bangladeshi doctors (male 334, female 166) were enrolled. The study was carried out in the Department of Biochemistry, BSMMU, Shahbag, Dhaka, Bangladesh. MS was diagnosed by modified NCEP ATP III criteria. Prevalence of MS was measured at 95% CI. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Prevalence of MS was found 38.8% in total study subjects; that in male and female was 24.6% and 14.2% respectively. Performance tests of predictors were done. WHR was the most sensitive (99.19% male & 98.59% female), TG was the most specific (94.79% male & 62.11% female) & accurate (78.1% male & 68.1% female) predictor. ROC curves of predictors were produced and all were found good (AUC>0.6) for their predictive value of MS; WHtR was revealed better than WHR as an index for MS (AUC 0.667 vs. 0.652 in male; 0.706 vs. 0.681 in female). It can be concluded, the prevalence of MS is very high among the doctors of Bangladesh; WHtR can be used as a good and relevant index for MS. Bangladesh J Med Biochem 2018; 11(1): 26-35

Tuberculosis is a common disease throughout the world, especially in developing countries. The most common form of the disease is pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) is also a growing problem worldwide. The diagnosis of PTB and EPTB is even harder when smears and cultures are negative. Due to its nature, the diversity of clinical pictures, the diagnosis of EPTB is often difficult and late. Advances in rapid diagnostic techniques are urgently required both for the early management of the new cases of TB and for the individuals already infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and are at risk of developing disease. In addition to standard TB diagnostic techniques, use of new biochemical surrogate markers like LDH and gamma interferon are new suggested. This study was undertaken to evaluate the diagnostic value and accuracy of serum LDH and gamma interferon for the diagnosis of PTB and EPTB. This crosssectional study was carried out in the Department of Pathology and Microbiology, NIDCH, Dhaka and by convenient and purposive sampling, 131 patients (male 98, female 33) having age range of 20-90 years were enrolled for the study. Serum LDH and QuantiFERON-TB gold (QFT-G i.e. gamma interferon) were estimated and the result was compared with the culture and histopathology results. Performance tests were done. Prevalence was measured at 95% CI. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Of 131 patients 89 (67.9%) had pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and the rest 42 (32.1%) had extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB). Level of LDH and gamma interferon in serum of all patients was found significantly high. TB pleural effusion was detected in 64% cases. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values, negative predictive values and accuracy of LDH and gamma interferon wre calculated both in PTB and EPTB. For LDH it was (SEN 89.22%, SPE 85.66%, PPV 88.82%, NPV 86.11%) and for gamma interferon (SEN 93.01%, SPE 91.64%, PPV 93.73%, NPV 91.18%) in PTB; and for LDH (SEN 89.27%, SPE 87.18%, PPV 84.35%, NPV 90.36%) and for gamma interferon (SEN 94.88%, SPE 93.65%, PPV 90.04%, NPV 95.82%) in EPTB respectively. When calculated in combination, the sensitivity and specificity was 100% and 50% respectively in both PTB and EPTB, and positive and negative predictive values of LDH and gamma interferon in combination were 94.00% and 91.58% in PTB and 90.43% and 96.71% in EPTB respectively. The study concludes that the diagnostic accuracy of LDH and gamma interferon is low when single test is done but it is significantly high when done in combination.Bangladesh J Med Biochem 2017; 10(2): 69-74