Publications by authors named "Rana Awada"

Lipids and glucose are important components of energy metabolism closely linked to each other. Glucose regulates cholesterol uptake regulating the expression of different membrane transport proteins including NPC1L1, SR-B1 and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. Here, we explored further the mechanism underlying glucose-mediated regulation of cholesterol absorption and secretion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, are characterized by chronic inflammation and oxidative stress, often mediated by activated microglial cells. Microglia-induced neuroinflammation is essential to neuronal damage, driven by the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species. Autotaxin (ATX), a lysophospholipase D enzyme, can modulate inflammation through its enzymatic product lysophosphatidic acid (LPA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Aim: spp. are Gram-negative bacilli that are widely recognized as a primary cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. Campylobacteriosis is the disease caused by this pathogen.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Aim: Great attention has been given recently to the prevalence of different spp. in poultry since the latter are considered the major contributing reservoir of human campylobacteriosis. In Lebanon, the occurrence of campylobacteriosis in humans is high.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The aim of this study was to assess the level of food hygiene and food shopping knowledge and practices among residents of Lebanon during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify their socio-demographic determinants. A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online questionnaire composed of 13 questions about demographics, and 25 questions related to knowledge and practices in terms of hand maintenance, mask placing, and food shopping. A total of 1337 participants filled the survey.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: species are currently the most common cause of bacterial gastroenteritis. In Lebanon, infection occurrence is underdiagnosed owing to the lack of specific culture and rapid test kits, particularly among children. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence, laboratory findings, and clinical characteristics of infection in hospitalized children with acute gastroenteritis in South Lebanon.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Rhus coriaria L. represents a herbal shrub that is used widely in traditional medicine in the Middle East region to treat different diseases including inflammation-related disorders. R.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Aim: Brucellosis is endemic zoonotic and highly contagious bacterial disease. Recently, several brucellosis cases were reported in Lebanon, causing significant economic losses; however, no study was done so far on farms located in the southern part of the country. Thus, the aim of our study was to estimate the prevalence of in South Lebanon using three different serological tests in the diagnosis of brucellosis in cattle.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Aim: Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium of the genus . This disease is present worldwide, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries, where it is endemic. This first-of-its-kind study in Lebanon aimed to assess the prevalence of brucellosis across the country and to determine the efficacy of a vaccine for reducing losses in herds so that its toll on public health is reduced.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The fungus Fusarium graminearum is the causative agent of economically significant plant diseases such as Fusarium Healed Blight (FHB) of cereals, its mycotoxins as deoxynivalenol (DON), Nivalenol (NIV) and Zearalenone (ZEN) contaminate wheat and other grains. The objectives of the present study were to determine the mechanism by which the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa inhibits the growth of F. graminearum.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

First seen as a storage organ, the white adipose tissue (WAT) is now considered as an endocrine organ. WAT can produce an array of bioactive factors known as adipokines acting at physiological level and playing a vital role in energy metabolism as well as in immune response. The global effect of adipokines in metabolic activities is well established, but their impact on the physiology and the pathophysiology of the central nervous system (CNS) remains poorly defined.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Inflammation is essential in defense against infection or injury. It is tightly regulated, as over-response can be detrimental, especially in immune-privileged organs such as the central nervous system (CNS). Microglia constitutes the major source of inflammatory factors, but are also involved in the regulation of the inflammation and in the reparation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Oxidative stress occurs when antioxidant defenses are overwhelmed by oxygen-reactive species and can lead to cellular damage, as seen in several neurodegenerative disorders. Microglia are specialized cells in the central nervous system that act as the first and main form of active immune defense in the response to pathological events. Autotaxin (ATX) plays an important role in the modulation of critical cellular functions, through its enzymatic production of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: White adipose tissue (WAT) is now considered a defined tissue capable of interactions with other organ systems. WAT role in elevating the level of systemic chronic inflammation suggests that alterations in this tissue as the result of disease or environmental factors may influence the development and progression of various obesity-related pathologies. This study investigated WAT cell-specific responses to an organometal compound, trimethyltin (TMT), to determine possible contribution to induced inflammation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: fopen(/var/lib/php/sessions/ci_sessionctli85mf9tlu6lqmph9endjego3jeef4): Failed to open stream: No space left on device

Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php

Line Number: 177

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /var/lib/php/sessions)

Filename: Session/Session.php

Line Number: 137

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once