On the Provision of Micro Loans - Microfinance Institutions and Traditional Banks

RUBANA MAHJABEEN 경제연구소 2010 Journal of Economic Development Vol.35 No.1

This paper employs a utility maximizing model to answer two questions: (i) what are the cost-related factors that determine the supply of a loan by traditional banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs)?; and (ii) why is the supply of micro loan zero under a bank’s maximization problem while it is positive under the maximization problem of an MFI? We find that costs associated with default, information asymmetry and liability determine the supply of a loan by a financial institution. Furthermore, we show that under certain conditions (that we derive) a bank may make a loss if it provides micro loan. As a result, it does not supply micro loan.

Germline Variations of Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Endonuclease 1 (APEX1) Detected in Female Breast Cancer Patients

Ali, Kashif,Mahjabeen, Ishrat,Sabir, Maimoona,Baig, Ruqia Mehmood,Zafeer, Maryam,Faheem, Muhammad,Kayani, Mahmood Akhtar Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.18

Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APEX1) is a multifunctional protein which plays a central role in the BER pathway. APEX1 gene being highly polymorphic in cancer patients and has been indicated to have a contributive role in Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site accumulation in DNA and consequently an increased risk of cancer development. In this case-control study, all exons of the APEX1 gene and its exon/intron boundaries were amplified in 530 breast cancer patients and 395 matched healthy controls and then analyzed by single-stranded conformational polymorphism followed by sequencing. Sequence analysis revealed fourteen heterozygous mutations, seven 5'UTR, one 3'UTR, two intronic and four missense. Among identified mutations one 5'UTR (rs41561214), one 3'UTR (rs17112002) and one missense mutation (Ser129Arg, Mahjabeen et al., 2013) had already been reported while the remaining eleven mutations. Six novel mutations (g.20923366T>G, g.20923435G>A, g.20923462G>A, g.20923516G>A, 20923539G>A, g.20923529C>T) were observed in 5'UTR region, two (g.20923585T>G, g.20923589T>G) in intron1 and three missense (Glu101Lys, Ala121Pro, Ser123Trp) in exon 4. Frequencues of 5'UTR mutations; g.20923366T>G, g.20923435G>A and 3'UTR (rs17112002) were calculated as 0.13, 0.1 and 0.1 respectively. Whereas, the frequency of missense mutations Glu101Lys, Ser123Trp and Ser129Arg was calculated as 0.05. A significant association was observed between APEX1 mutations and increased breast cancer by ~9 fold (OR=8.68, 95%CI=2.64 to 28.5) with g.20923435G>A (5'UTR), ~13 fold (OR= 12.6, 95%CI=3.01 to 53.0) with g.20923539G>A (5'UTR) and~5 fold increase with three missense mutations [Glu101Lys (OR=4.82, 95%CI=1.97 to 11.80), Ser123Trp (OR=4.62, 95%CI=1.7 to 12.19), Ser129Arg (OR=4.86, 95%CI=1.43 to 16.53)]. The incidence of observed mutations was found higher in patients with family history and with early menopause. In conclusion, our study demonstrates a significant association between germ line APEX1 mutations and breast cancer patients in the Pakistani population.

Correlation between Selected XRCC2, XRCC3 and RAD51 Gene Polymorphisms and Primary Breast Cancer in Women in Pakistan

Qureshi, Z.,Mahjabeen, I.,Baig, R.M.,Kayani, M.A. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Genetic polymorphisms in homologous recombination repair genes cause an abnormal development of cancerous cells. In the present study we evaluated the possibility of breast cancer association with single nucleotide polymorphisms of RAD51, XRCC2 and XRCC3 genes. Polymorphisms selected in this study were RAD51 135G/C, XRCC2 Arg188His; and XRCC3 Thr241Met. Each polymorphism was genotyped using Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism in study cohort of 306 females (156 breast cancer patients and 150 controls). We observed that heterozygous variant genotype (GC) of RAD51 135 G/C polymorphism was associated with a significantly (OR=2.70; 95%CI (0.63-1.79); p<0.03) increased risk of breast cancer. In case of the XRCC3 gene we observed that frequency of heterozygous (OR=2.88; 95%CI (1.02-8.14); p<0.02) and homozygous (OR=1.46; 95%CI (0.89-2.40); p<0.04) genotype of Thr241Met polymorphism were significantly higher in breast cancer patients. For the Arg188His polymorphism of XRCC2, ~2fold increase in breast cancer risk (OR=1.6, 95%CI = 0.73-3.50) was associated with GA genotype with a p value for trend of 0.03. Our results suggest that the 135G/C polymorphism of the RAD51, Thr241Met polymorphism of XRCC3 and Arg188His polymorphism of XRCC2 can be independent markers of breast cancer risk in Pakistan.

Association of SYK Genetic Variations with Breast Cancer Pathogenesis

Shakeel, Shafaq,Mahjabeen, Ishrat,Kayani, Mahmood Akhtar,Faryal, Rani Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.5

Spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) is a non-receptor type cytoplasmic protein and a known tumor suppressor gene in breast cancer. Polymorphisms in SYK have been reported to be associated with cell invasion/cell morality and an increased risk of cancer development. In this case control study, all exons of the SYK gene and its exon/ intron boundaries were amplified in 200 breast cancer cases and 100 matched controls and then analyzed by single stranded conformational polymorphism. Amplified products showing altered mobility patterns were sequenced and analyzed. Twelve variations were identified in exonic and intronic regions of DNA encoding SH2 domain and kinase domain of the SYK gene. All of these mutations are novel. Among them, 5 missense mutations were observed in exon 15 while one missense mutation was found in exon 8. In addition to these mutations, six mutations were also identified in intronic regions. We found a significant association between SYK mutations and breast cancer and observed that Glu241Arg, a missense mutation is associated with an increase risk of ~7 fold (OR=6.7, 95% CI=1.54-28.8), Thr581Pro (missense mutation) is associated with increased risk of ~16 fold (OR=15.5, 95%CI=2.07-115.45) and 63367 T>G (missense mutation) is associated with increased risk of ~13 fold (OR=12.8, 95%CI=1.71-96.71) for breast cancer. Significant associations were observed for each of these variations with both late menopause (p<0.01) and early menarche (p<0.005) cases when compared to controls. Our findings suggest that the polymorphic gene SYK may contribute to the development of breast cancer in at least the Pakistani population. This study provides an insight view of SYK which may provide a significant finding for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

Expression of CYP1A1 and GSTP1 in Human Brain Tumor Tissues in Pakistan

Wahid, Mussarat,Mahjabeen, Ishrat,Baig, Ruqia Mehmood,Kayani, Mahmood Akhtar Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.12

Most of the exogenous and endogenous chemical compounds are metabolized by enzymes of xenobiotic processing pathways, including the phase I cytochrome p450 species. Carcinogens and their metabolites are generally detoxified by phase II enzymes like glutathione-S-transferases (GST). The balance of enzymes determines whether metabolic activation of pro-carcinogens or inactivation of carcinogens occurs. Under certain conditions, deregulated expression of xenobiotic enzymes may also convert endogenous substrates to metabolites that can facilitate DNA adduct formation and ultimately lead to cancer development. In this study, we aimed to test the association between deregulation of metabolizing genes and brain tumorigenesis. The expression profile of metabolizing genes CYP1A1 and GSTP1 was therefore studied in a cohort of 36 brain tumor patients and controls using Western blotting. In a second part of the study we analyzed protein expression of GSTs in the same study cohort by ELISA. CYP1A1 expression was found to be significantly high (p<0.001) in brain tumor as compared to the normal tissues, with ~4 fold (OR=4, 95%CI=0.43-37) increase in some cases. In contrast, the expression of GSTP1 was found to be significantly low in brain tumor tissues as compared to the controls (p<0.02). This down regulation was significantly higher (OR=0.05, 95%CI=0.006-0.51; p<0.007) in certain grades of lesions. Furthermore, GSTs levels were significantly down-regulated (p<0.014) in brain tumor patients compared to controls. Statistically significant decrease in GST levels was observed in the more advanced lesions (III-IV, p<0.005) as compared to the early tissue grades (I-II). Thus, altered expression of these xenobiotic metabolizing genes may be involved in brain tumor development in Pakistani population. Investigation of expression of these genes may provide information not only for the prediction of individual cancer risk but also for the prevention of cancer.

Prognostic Significance of Altered Blood and Tissue Glutathione Levels in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cases

Khan, Sami Ullah,Mahjabeen, Ishrat,Malik, Faraz Arshad,Kayani, Mahmood Akhtar Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.18

Glutathione is a thiol compound that plays an important role in the antioxidant defense system of the cell and its deficiency leads to an increased susceptibility to oxidative stress and, thus, progression of many disease states including head and neck cancer. In the present study, alterations of glutathione levels were investigated in study cohort of 500 samples (cohort 1 containing 200 head and neck cancer blood samples along with 200 healthy controls and cohort II with 50 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tissue samples along with 50 control tissues) by high performance liquid chromatography. The results indicated that mean blood glutathione levels were significantly reduced in head and neck cancer patients (p<0.001) compared to respective controls. In contrast, the levels of glutathione total (p<0.05) and glutathione reduced (p<0.05) were significantly elevated in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tissues compared to the adjacent cancer-free control tissues. In addition to this, pearson correlation performed to correlate different tissue glutathione levels (GSH) with clinical/pathological parameters demonstrated a significant negative correlation between pT-stage and GSH level ($r=-0.263^{**}$; p<0.01), C-stage and GSH level ($r=-0.335^{**}$; p<0.01), grade and GSH ($r=-0.329^{**}$; p<0.01) and grade versus redox index ($r=-0.213^{**}$; p<0.01) in HNSCC tissues. Our study suggests that dysregulation of glutathione levels in head and neck cancer has the potential to predict metastasis, and may serve as a prognostic marker.

Association of RAD 51 135 G/C, 172 G/T and XRCC3 Thr241Met Gene Polymorphisms with Increased Risk of Head and Neck Cancer

Kayani, Mahmood Akhtar,Khan, Sumeera,Baig, Ruqia Mehmood,Mahjabeen, Ishrat Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Homologous recombination repair (HRR) plays an important role in protection against carcinogenic factors. Genes regulating the HRR mechanisms may impair their functions and consequently result in increased cancer susceptibility. RAD 51 and XRCC3 are key regulators of the HRR pathway and genetic variability in these may contribute to the appearance and progression of various cancers including head and neck cancer (HNC). The aim of the present study was to compare the distribution of genotypes of RAD51 (135G/C, 172 G/T) and XRCC3 (Thr241Met) polymorphisms between HNC patients and controls. Each polymorphism was genotyped using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymerase (PCR-RFLP) technique in 200 pathologically confirmed HNC patients along with 150 blood samples from normal, disease free healthy individuals. We observed that homozygous variant CC genotype of RAD51 135G/C was associated with a 2.5 fold increased HNC risk (OR=2.5; 95%CI=0.69-9.53; p<0.02), while second polymorphism of RAD 51 172 G/T, heterozygous variant GT genotype was associated with a 1.68 fold (OR=1.68; 95%CI=1.08-2.61; p<0.02) elevation when compared with controls. In the case of the Thr241Met polymorphism of XRCC3, we observed a 16 fold (OR=16; 95% CI=3.78-69.67; p<0.0002) increased HNC risk in patients compared to controls. These results further suggested that RAD51 (135G/C, 172 G/T) and XRCC3 (Thr241Met) polymorphisms may be effective biomarkers for genetic susceptibility to HNC. Larger studies are needed to confirm our findings and identify the underlying mechanisms.