Disposition Kinetics of Cathinone and its Metabolites after Oral Administration in Rats.

Background: Cathinone is a natural stimulant found in the Catha edulis plant. Its derivatives make up the largest group of new psychoactive substances. In order to better understand its effects, it is imperative to investigate its distribution, pharmacokinetics, and metabolic profile.

Amphetamine-Related Fatalities and Altered Brain Chemicals: A Preliminary Investigation Using the Comparative Toxicogenomic Database.

Amphetamine is a psychostimulant drug with a high risk of toxicity and death when misused. Abuse of amphetamines is associated with an altered organic profile, which includes omega fatty acids. Low omega fatty acid levels are linked to mental disorders.

Fatalities Involving Khat in Jazan, Saudi Arabia, 2018 to 2021.

Interpreting fatalities involving khat is challenging due to a lack of data on cathinone and cathine reference concentrations in postmortem tissues. This study investigated the autopsy findings and toxicological results of fatalities involving khat in Saudi Arabia's Jazan region from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2021. All confirmed cathine and cathinone results in postmortem blood, urine, brain, liver, kidney, and stomach samples were recorded and analyzed.

Cathine and cathinone disposition kinetics and neurotransmitter profile in several organs of rats exposed to a single dose of extract.

Objectives: (Khat) is a stimulant plant that contains cathine and cathinone, which its abuses induce euphoria, alertness, and motor activity. Since the toxicokinetics of these substances remain unclear, this study was carried out to investigate the disposition kinetics of cathine and cathinone, the neurotransmitter profile, following a single dose of extract in rats.

Methods: Twenty-four adult male Wistar albino rats (250-300 g) were randomly selected and divided into six groups of four rats each.

Lead Nitrate Induces Inflammation and Apoptosis in Rat Lungs Through the Activation of NF-κB and AhR Signaling Pathways.

Lead (Pb) is one of the most frequent hazardous air contaminants, where the lungs are particularly vulnerable to its toxicity. However, the Pb distribution and its impact on lung inflammation/apoptosis and particularly the involvement of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) signaling pathways in Pb-induced lung toxicity have not yet been fully investigated. Adult male Wistar albino rats were exposed to Pb nitrate 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg b.

Habitual khat chewing alters urinary inorganic profile in adult healthy males.

Objectives: Khat () is a stimulant plant, and it is abusive to induce euphoria, alertness and activity. Concomitant use of medications and khat chewing predisposes to the appearance of drug interactions result in treatment failure or toxicity. This study determined the changes in the urinary inorganic profile in adult healthy males who are chewing khat compared with non-khat chewer males.

Habitual khat chewing alters urinary inorganic profile in adult healthy males.

Objectives: Khat () is a stimulant plant, and it is abusive to induce euphoria, alertness and activity. Concomitant use of medications and khat chewing predisposes to the appearance of drug interactions result in treatment failure or toxicity. This study determined the changes in the urinary inorganic profile in adult healthy males who are chewing khat compared with non-khat chewer males.

BCL-2 Inhibitor Venetoclax Induces Autophagy-Associated Cell Death, Cell Cycle Arrest, and Apoptosis in Human Breast Cancer Cells.

Introduction: Venetoclax (VCX) is a selective BCL-2 inhibitor approved for the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma. However, the mechanisms of anti-cancer effect of VCX either as a monotherapy or in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents against breast cancer need investigation.

Methods: Breast cancer cell lines with different molecular subtypes (MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, and SKBR-3) were treated with different concentrations of VCX for indicated time points.

Drug-Related Problems and Pharmacist Intervention at a General Hospital in the Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia.

Objective: This study examined the incidence of drug-related problems (DRPs) in different inpatient departments along with the medical team response to pharmacist's action in addressing DRPs at Jazan Hospital, Saudi Arabia.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective study was conducted among inpatients at Ministry of Health hospital in Jazan, a region in southwestern Saudi Arabia. We collected data for a 2-year period (from 2016 to 2017).

Gefitinib loaded nanostructured lipid carriers: characterization, evaluation and anti-human colon cancer activity .

NLC containing Gefitinib (NANOGEF) was prepared using stearic acid, sesame oil and surfactants (sodium lauryl sulfate and tween 80). NANOGEFs were evaluated for particle size, polydispersity index (PdI), zeta potential, entrapment efficiency (EE), stability, release studies and cytotoxicity studies (MTT assay). The optimized NANOGEF exhibited particle size of 74.

The role of NF-κB and AhR transcription factors in lead-induced lung toxicity in human lung cancer A549 cells.

Lead (Pb) is recognized as the first heavy metal of the top six toxic air pollutants threatening human health and the second hazardous substance. Pb exposure is associated with lung impairment and high incidences of lung cancer. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) signaling pathways are known to be expressed and play an important role in the lung.

Genotoxic impact of long-term cigarette and waterpipe smoking on DNA damage and oxidative stress in healthy subjects.

Although a plethora of studies have examined tobacco smoke-cancer disease association, the involvement of cellular genetic toxicity remains unclear. Therefore, the present study provides molecular evidence for a pathway involved in the DNA damage induced by long-term cigarette and waterpipe smoke in human subjects. The study population consisted of 45 subjects who were divided into three groups; healthy nonsmokers group, cigarette smokers group, and waterpipe smokers group.

Gene expression profiling to identify the toxicities and potentially relevant human disease outcomes associated with environmental heavy metal exposure.

Heavy metals are the most commonly encountered toxic substances that increase susceptibility to various diseases after prolonged exposure. We have previously shown that healthy volunteers living near a mining area had significant contamination with heavy metals associated with significant changes in the expression of some detoxifying genes, xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes, and DNA repair genes. However, alterations of most of the molecular target genes associated with diseases are still unknown.

Molecular mechanisms of cardiotoxicity of gefitinib in vivo and in vitro rat cardiomyocyte: Role of apoptosis and oxidative stress.

Gefitinib (GEF) is a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor with anti-cancer properties, yet few cases of cardiotoxicity has been reported as a significant side effect associated with GEF treatment. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the potential cardiotoxic effect of GEF and the possible mechanisms involved using in vivo and in vitro rat cardiomyocyte model. Treatment of rat cardiomyocyte H9c2 cell line with GEF (0, 1, 5, and 10μM) caused cardiomyocyte death and upregulation of hypertrophic gene markers, such as brain natriuretic peptides (BNP) and Beta-myosin heavy chain (β-MHC) in a concentration-dependent manner at the mRNA and protein levels associated with an increase in the percentage of hypertrophied cardiac cells.

Differential Effects of Sunitinib on the Expression Profiles of Xenobiotic-Metabolizing Enzymes and Transporters in Rat Liver and Kidneys.

Sunitinib (SUN) is a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor that was recently approved for the treatment of gastrointestinal tract and renal cancers. To date, very little is known about the effects of SUN on the expression of hepatic and renal xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes (XMEs) and transporters. The present study was designed to investigate the capacity of chronic SUN treatment to modulate the mRNA and protein expression levels of phase I cytochrome P450 (CYP), phase II conjugating enzymes, and phase III transporters in rat liver and kidneys.

Effect of long-term human exposure to environmental heavy metals on the expression of detoxification and DNA repair genes.

The present study was designed to evaluate the influence of long-term environmental human exposure to three heavy metals, lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg), on the expression of detoxifying, xenobiotic metabolizing, and DNA repair genes in Mahd Ad-Dahab city. The study groups consisted of 40 healthy male residents (heavy metal-exposed) and 20 healthy male from Riyadh city, 700 km away, and served as control group. The heavy metal-exposed group with high exposure to Pb, Cd, or Hg was divided into three subgroups Pb-, Cd-, and Hg-exposed groups, respectively.