Biology subjects

Ahsan, G. U.

Publications and source records attributed to Ahsan, G. U..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Genome Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Isolate from Bangladesh

Recently the first genome sequence for a Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2 isolate from Bangladesh became available. The sequencing was carried out by the Child Health Research Foundation and provided the first insight into the genetic details of the viral strain responsible for the SARS-CoV-2 infections in Bangladesh. Here we carried out a comparative study were we explored the phylogenetic relationship between the Bangladeshi isolate with other isolates from different parts of the world. Afterwards we identified single nucleotide variants in the Bangladeshi isolate, using the Wuhan virus reference sequence. We found a total of 9 variants in the Bangladeshi isolate using 2 separate tools. Barring 2, the rest of these variants were also observed in other isolates from different countries. Most of the variants occurred in the ORF1ab gen. Another noteworthy finding was a sequence of three consecutive variants in the N protein gene that were observed in other isolates as well. Lastly the phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relationship between the Bangladeshi isolate and those from Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Greece, California, Spain, Israel, and Sri Lanka.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Road traffic delays and musculoskeletal health complaints among full-time bank employees: A cross-sectional study in Dhaka city

BackgroundThe factors of road traffic delays (RTDs) have significant consequences for both commuters health and the countrys economy as a whole. Addressing the musculoskeletal health complaints (MHCs) among full-time employees has not been fully explored. The current study investigates the association between RTDs-related factors and MHCs among bank employees.\n\nMethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study among full-time employees from 32 banks in Dhaka city. Descriptive statistics summarized the gaps in the socio-demographic and RTDs-related factors on the one-month prevalence of MHCs. Random intercept logistic regression models were used to identify the associate factors of the MHCs.\n\nResultsOut of 628 full-time bank employees, the one-month prevalence of MHCs was 57.7%. The MHCs are more prevalent among adults of age group 40-60 years (68%) than the age group 20-40 years (54%). The one-month prevalence of lower back pain (LBP) was highest (36.6%), followed by neck pain (22.9%) and upper back pain (21.2%). Multilevel logistic regression analysis of employees showed that the odds of MHCs were lower among male employees (AOR=0.42, 95% CI= 0.27, 0.64), car commuters (AOR = 0.38, 95% CI=0.19-0.76, reference: bus commuters) and rickshaw commuters (AOR=. = 0.39, 95% CI=0.22-0.69, reference: bus commuters). The MHCs were significantly higher among employees with following factors: obesity (AOR= 1.50, 95% CI= 1.02-2.21), prolonged commute time to the office (AOR = 7.48, 95% CI =3.64-15.38) and working extended-time in a day (AOR= 1.50, 95% CI= 1.02-2.21).\n\nConclusionsThe study indicates a high burden of musculoskeletal health complaints among the employees in Dhaka city, and the most prevalent complaint was low back pain. Our study suggests that factors related to road traffic delays might act synergistically on developing musculoskeletal problems in full-time employees.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2019

Profiling Gene Specific Changes to RNA Editome in Preeclampsia

RNA editing is a form of post-transcriptional modification that results in changes to the messenger RNA sequence. At the onset of the study we focused on detecting the changes in RNA editing patterns in cell lines exposed to hypoxic conditions followed by the detection of changes in RNA editing patterns in the fetuses of preeclamptic mothers using publicly available RNA sequence data from the NCBI SRA database. The results showed an increase in RNA editing activity in hypoxic cell lines and a decrease in RNA editing activity in the fetuses with preeclamptic mothers. A total of 85 genes common in the cell lines and 33 in the fetus disease models and not present in controls were identified as harboring editing sites in exonic, downstream, upstream or splicing regions. Subsequently we focused on unique editing sites in genes and categorized in order of relevance to Preeclampsia as A, B and C (A being most closely related to the disease and C the least). The genes implicated ones involved in respiration chains, blood cell growth, cytokine and complement activation. Among the most significant of the genes were CTSB, GSR, CASP10, and MAPK13. Total number of common editing sites were found in different conditions and these were 667 for cell lines and 23 for fetuses. Validation of these variations in a larger samples size determines refined editing sites which could be used as potential diagnostic markers for intervention.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2018

Identifying Changes in RNA Editome Unique to Major Depressive Disorder

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most significant psychiatric disorders in the world today. Its incidence is widespread in society and its heavy adverse impact on the quality of life is well documented. Previously genetic studies on MDD had identified a hereditary component of the disease as well as crediting RNA editing with a role in its development. The later due to an overexpression of a heavily edited isoform of the Serotonin 2c receptor. Here we used publicly available RNA sequence data from suicide patients diagnosed with MDD as well as controls for identifying RNA editing sites unique to MDD. After variant calling and several steps of filtering, we identified 142 unique RNA editing sites in the MDD patients. These included intronic, downstream, UTR3 and exonic edits. The latter comprising several amino acid changes in the encoded protein. The genes implicated to be uniquely edited in MDD included the aforementioned and previously implicated Serotonin 2c receptor, others involved in functions that play roles in depression and suicide such as Cannabinoid Receptor 1, Frizzled Class 3 Receptor, Neuroligin 3 and others.

genomics↗