• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.8-11
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• 2012

The Kashmir Himalaya, known for its indigenous and endemic flora, also provides home to a large number of exotic plants, which exhibit a wide taxonomical and distributional stretch. Although, some preliminary studies have been carried out in the region on some aspects of its exotic flora, the inventorization and documentation of its exotic have received a little or negligible attention. There is a lot of scope of these exotic plant species in Kashmir valley, but lack of authentic identification has been as a big hurdle in their scientific management. It is in this backdrop that the present floristic study was carried out to identify, inventorize, document and characterize the exotic plant species grown in the Valley. The present study has revealed that Kashmir Valley grows 317 exotic plant species, which belong to 209 genera in 85 families. Dicotyledons are the largest group, represented by 252 species in 163 genera and 67 families. Monocotyledons comprise 52 species in 37 genera and 13 families. Gymnosperms are the smallest group, with 13 species distributed in 9 genera and 5 families. Asteraceae is the largest family containing 33 exotic species.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.74-74
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• 2022

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.4177-4181
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• 2012

Cancer is a multi-factorial disease and variation in genetic susceptibility, due to inherited differences in the capacity to repair mismatches in the genome, is an important factor in the development of gastric cancer (GC), for example. Epigenetic changes, including aberrant methylation of 5/CpG islands in the promoter regions of mismatch repair (MMR) genes like hMLH1, have been implicated in the development of various types of GC. In the present study we evaluated the role of hMLH1 promoter hypermethylation in Kashmiri GC patients and controls, and assessed correlations with various dietary and lifestyle factors. The study included 70 GC patients (56 males and 14 females; age ($mean{\pm}S.D$) $50{\pm}11.4$ years). Distinction between methylated and unmethylated was achieved with MS-PCR and DNA band patterns. The Chi-square test was applied to assess the risk due to promoter hypermethylation. We found a strikingly high frequency of promoter hypermethylation in GC cases than in normal samples (72.9% (51/70) in GC cases vs 20% (14/70) in normal samples (p=0.0001).We also observed a statistically significant association between methylated hMLH1 gene promoter and smoking, consumption of sundried vegetables and hot salted tea with the risk of GC. This study revealed that hMLH1 hypermethylation is strongly associated with GC and suggested roles for epigenetic changes in stomach cancer causation in the Kashmir valley.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.419-422
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• 2014

Background: Lymphadenopathy is a common presentation in both benign and malignant diseases which need to be diagnosed without delay. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) helps us diagnose a disease and follow its course, including the response to therapy. Aim: This study aimed to analyze the clinicopathological features of metastatic lymphadenopathy and the diagnostic utility of FNAC in our setting. Materials and Methods: This two-year prospective study included all the patients with metastatic lymphadenopathy, diagnosed with FNAC. Results: A total of 412 cases (male:female ratio, 1.3:1; age range, 3 to 90 years) were studied. Supraclavicular lymph nodes were involved most commonly (50.5%). The commonest metastatic tumor was squamous cell carcinoma in general (30.1%) and in males (37.6%), and infiltrating ductal carcinoma (25.3%) in females. Lung, with 64 (15.5%) cases followed by esophagus, 60 (14.6%) cases; breast, 49 (11.9%) cases; skin, 32 (7.8%) cases; and stomach, 25 (6.1%) cases were the most common primary sites of malignancy. In 69 patients, excision biopsy was performed. Histopathological findings correlated well with that of cytology in all these cases. Conclusions: FNAC is an important tool in the diagnostic work up of metastatic lymphadenopathy, which in the hands of an experienced and skilful cytopathologist can avoid the need for excision biopsy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.4319-4323
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• 2014

Background: Phospholipase C epsilon 1 (PLCE1) encodes a member of the phospholipase family of proteins that play crucial roles in carcinogenesis and progression of several cancers including esophageal cancer (EC). In two large scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP, rs2274223A>G, rs3765524C>T) in PLCE1 were identified as novel susceptibility loci of esophageal cancer (EC) in China. The aim of the present study was to investigate this finding in Kashmir Valley, a high risk area. Materials and Methods: We determined genotypes of three potentially functional SNPs (rs2274223A>G, rs3765524C>T and rs7922612C>T) of PLCE1 in 135 EC patients, and 195 age and gender matched controls in Kashmiri valley by PCR RFLP method. Risk for developing EC was estimated by binary logistic regression using SPSS. Results: The selected PLCE1 polymorphisms did not show independent association with EC. However, the $G_{2274223}T_{3765524}T_{7922612}$ haplotype was significantly associated with increased risk of EC (OR=2.92; 95% CI=1.30-6.54; p=0.009). Smoking and salted tea proved to be independent risk factors for EC. Conclusions: Genetic variations in PLCE1 modulate risk of EC in the high risk Kashmiri population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3621-3625
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• 2012

Lymphadenopathy is one of the commonest and significant manifestations of local as well as systemic ailments, especially malignancies. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) helps in diagnosing the disease itself, in general, but more importantly ruling out malignancy, in particular. Hence it saves much of the cost and use of resources incurred with excision biopsy of such lymph nodes. This prompted us to study the cytologic patterns of lymphadenopathy in our setting and the diagnostic utility of FNAC in the evaluation of lymphadenopathy. In this retrospective observational study, 1,579 patients (953 males and 626 females) with lymphadenopathy who were subjected to FNAC over a period of three years (January 2009 to December 2011) were studied. The cervical region was involved in most of the cases (76%) followed by the axillary region (17.5%). Metastatic malignancy (38.2%) was the commonest cause of lymphadenopathy followed by reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (36.9%), tuberculosis (9.1%) and lymphomas (8.6%). Squamous cell carcinoma (32.2%) followed by adenocarcinoma (21.9%) were the most frequent metastatic tumors. FNAC is a useful diagnostic tool in the management of patients presenting with lymphadenopathy and should be considered before more invasive and costly procedures are performed, particularly in developing countries.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1077-1079
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• 2012

The Kashmiri population is culturally distinct with special dietary features owing to the temperate climatic conditions of Kashmir valley. This has habituated the population to preserve food in smoked, pickled and sundried forms which include considerable amounts of $N$-nitroso compounds (NOCs). These are known to cause cytotoxicity, DNA damage, mutation, unscheduled DNA synthesis and DNA methylation. All of these changes at molecular level are known to contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer. One of the prominent NOCs found in Kashmiri food is $N$-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Here we review the occurrence of NDMA in sundried foods, dried fish, kehwa, traditional pickle, $Brassica$ $oleracia$ and $tobbaco$. We also discuss its possible role in the high prevalence of gastrointestinal cancers in Kashmir.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4403-4408
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• 2013

Background: Chronic inflammation is considered as an important factor in the pathogenesis of lung cancer. The presence of inflammatory cells and higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the tumor microenvironment and their surrounding tissues is gaining much importance in research. Materials and Methods: One hundred ninety NSCLC cases and 200 age, smoking and sex matched controls were evaluated for association of IL-8 -251 (rs4073) and IL-8 -845 (rs2227532) in our population. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was used followed by direct sequencing for the detection of SNPs. Results: The IL-8 -845 polymorphism was not found in our population. No significant association was observed between the IL-8 -251 AT genotypes and IL-8 -25 AA genotypes and NSCLC (p=0.05) in our population. The IL-8 -251 A allele was also non-significant (p=0.05) in NSCLC patients. Conclusions: In conclusion, this report reveals lack of association between IL-8 - 251 A/T polymorphism and NSCLC in our Kashmir Valley population.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.343-373
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• 2024

Background: The present study provides valuable insights into the traditional uses of medicinal plants by the inhabitants of the Northern District of the lesser Himalayas in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. The study likely focuses on documenting and preserving the region's indigenous knowledge and practices related to medicinal plants. Ethnobotanical data were collected by interviewing 72 local informants including practitioners, farmers, teachers, and laborers from different localities of District Jhelum Valley. Different quantitative tools were used for the analysis of ethnobotanical data including relative frequency of citation, use value, informant consensus factor, fidelity level, cultural value, practical value, consensus value for plant part, rank order priority, percentage respondent knowledge, economic value and their total value were calculated. Jaccard's index (JI) was used to compare the present knowledge with the previous studies in the same or surrounding areas. Results: A total of 129 species belonging to 111 genera and 63 families were documented along with their ethnobotanical uses. Dominant families based on the number of species include Rosaceae contributing 12 species followed by Asteraceae and Saxifragaceae with 8 species each. The comparative study of the novelty of species and their uses by the JI revealed 13 novel plant species which were not reported earlier from this region. Conclusions: This information is not only important for scientific and ethnobotanical purposes but also for the sustainable management of medicinal plant resources and the potential discovery of new natural medicine. Such studies can help to bridge the gap between traditional and modern medicines and collaboration between traditional healers and health care practitioners.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3047-3052
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• 2012

The enzyme encoded by the MGMT gene is involved in the repair of alkylated lesions formed in DNA by carcinogenic nitrosamines. Since dietary items consumed by the Kashmiri population contain high concentrations of these agents, it is biologically plausible that MGMT polymorphic variants may be associated with their risk of esophageal cancer. The present study was performed to assess whether non-synonymous SNPS at codon Leu84Phe and codon Ileu143Val of the MGMT gene, close to the active site of the protein, might be linked to predisposition of Kashmiris to esophageal cancer. Genotyping was carried out by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism on 92 cases and 77 healthy controls. Codon 84 and codon 143 SNPs of the MGMT gene were not associated with any increase in risk. While the frequency of the Phe allele at codon 84 in cases was (0.16), slightly higher than controls (0.12), the difference was not statistically significant. Similarly, the frequency of Valine allele in cases at codon 143 (0.08) and controls (0.09) was nearly equal. Moreover, no significant association of MGMT genotypes with the clinicopatholgic variables of esophageal cancer patients was observed. In conclusion, MGMT variants at codon 84 and codon143 may not be involved in the susceptibility of the Kashmiri population to esophageal cancer.