The estimated prevalence of osteoporosis in Bahrain: a multi-centered-based study.

Objectives: the primary aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and risk factors of low bone mineral density in Bahrain.

Methods: this was a retrospective study, which targeted a cohort of 4822 Bahraini subjects (mean age 59.36 years: 93% females).

Caffeine protects against hippocampal alterations in type 2 diabetic rats via modulation of gliosis, inflammation and apoptosis.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is implicated in the injury of several organs, including the brain resulting in neuronal damage, which may lead to cognitive impairment and dementia. Additionally, it is linked to inflammation, cytokine release, apoptosis and various degenerative conditions. Astrocytes and microglia might have a role in mediating these processes.

Perception of online and face to face microbiology laboratory sessions among medical students and faculty at Arabian Gulf University: a mixed method study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all spheres of society including medical education and healthcare systems. In response to the pandemic, there has been a transition in medical education practice from traditional forms of teaching to online instruction delivery and virtual learning. Effective clinical microbiology education involves a combination of 'hands-on' practical learning and instructional delivery of scientific knowledge.

Perceptions of Medical Students on Distance Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study from Bahrain.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sudden shift from face-to-face to distance learning. We explored medical students' views of online learning during this pandemic at the Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of students in years two, three and four (n= 559) using an electronic questionnaire.

Evaluation of Curricular Adaptations Using Digital Transformation in a Medical School in Arabian Gulf during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Several institutions adopted innovative approaches to ensure continued learning for their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. All curricular innovations should undergo curriculum evaluation; hence, the objective of this paper was to share the salient features of evaluation using faculty and student's feedback on curricular adaptations implemented through digital transformation in a Medical School in Arabian Gulf during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a structured questionnaire.

Methodology: After getting informed consent, feedback about acceptability and limitations regarding various aspects of curricular adaptations was obtained from students and faculty, using a structured and validated questionnaire.

Prescribing patterns of psychotropic medications in psychiatric disorders: a descriptive study from Palestine.

Background The practice patterns of psychiatrists have changed over the last two decades. Objectives This study describes the pattern of prescribing psychotropic drugs in treating common psychiatric disorders, and investigates the rate of polypharmacy and potential drug-drug interactions. Setting Psychiatry governmental outpatient clinic in the north of West Bank, Palestine.

Prevalence of drugs with constipation-inducing potential and laxatives in community-dwelling older adults in Bahrain: therapeutic implications.

Objectives: This study evaluated the prevalence of prescribing drugs with constipation-inducing potential and the prophylactic use of laxatives in community-dwelling older adults.

Method: An audit of outpatient prescriptions ordered for older adults aged ≥65 years with one or more chronic morbidities in 24 governmental primary healthcare centres in Bahrain. The prescriptions were collected by pharmacist-in-charge of each health centre between December 2015 and June 2016.

Language barriers to studying medicine in English: perceptions of final-year medical students at the Arabian Gulf University.

Background: English is the language of instructions in many medical schools in the Arab world. Its use may create a language barrier and adversely affect an individual's learning and later professional life.

Aims: This study examined the views of final-year Arab medical students of a language barrier and its effect on their learning and academic performance, and their language preference for medial education.

Impact Of Prenatal Administration Of Melamine On Foetal Growth In Rats.

Background: Data on the potential effects of maternal exposure to melamine is scarce. We aimed to evaluate the impact of melamine administration on pregnancy outcome and foetal growth in rats.

Methods: Positively-mated female Sprague-Dawley rats (n=24) were treated from day 6 to day 20 of gestation with vehicle (control), melamine 300 mg/kg/day (group-1) or melamine 450 mg/kg/day (group 2).

Ambulatory Pharmacotherapy of Five Psychiatric Disorders in Bahrain: a Descriptive Study.

We examined the outpatient prescription pattern of psychotropic drugs used for the treatment of five major psychiatric diseases in Bahrain. Setting outpatient department of the main psychiatric hospital in Bahrain. Methods This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study in which we targeted randomly selected prescriptions (n = 992, 56.

Antihypertensive Prescribing Pattern in Older Adults: Implications of Age and the Use of Dual Single-Pill Combinations.

Introduction: Hypertension, if not appropriately treated, is associated with life-threatening complications.

Aims: This study evaluated antihypertensive prescribing patterns in older adults (≥ 65 years) versus young adults based on the current guidelines with an emphasis on the use of dual single-pill combinations (SPCs).

Methods: A nationwide audit of 8746 primary care prescriptions of hypertensive patients with comorbidities in Bahrain was performed.

Pharmacology and therapeutics resource session attendance and academic performance of pre-clerkship medical students in problem-based learning curricula.

Background: The relationship between large-group classroom attendance by students and test achievement in problem-based learning (PBL) curricula is unclear. This study examined the correlation between attendance at resource sessions (hybrid lectures in the PBL curriculum) and test scores achieved in pharmacology and determined whether the score achieved was related to student gender.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study over one academic year of 1404 pre-clerkship medical students was performed.

Therapeutic regimens for vitamin D deficiency in postmenopausal women: a systematic review.

Introduction: We reviewed the most effective vitamin D3 regimen for vitamin D deficiency in postmenopausal women.

Material And Methods: We searched for studies and clinical trials conducted on healthy postmenopausal women published on PubMed from 2000 to 2018 using the term "Vitamin D deficiency" combined with the following terms: "dose", "supplement", "supplementation", "cholecalciferol" or "cholecalciferol dose". We identified 1376 articles which matched the search criteria.

Therapeutic and maintenance regimens of vitamin D3 supplementation in healthy adults: A systematic review.

Studies carried out assessing the effect of different doses of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) on correcting serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency in healthy adults are limited and review studies are lacking. Moreover, the maintenance dose and its duration offered by these few studies are inconsistent. We performed a systematic review of randomized clinical controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the effect of different doses of vitamin D3 on serum 25(OH)D in healthy adults.

Understanding Preclerkship Medical Students' Poor Performance in Prescription Writing.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore reasons for poor performance in prescription writing stations of the objective structured practical examination (OSPE) and absenteeism in prescription writing sessions among preclerkship medical students at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) in Manama, Bahrain.

Methods: This descriptive study was carried out between September 2014 and June 2015 among 157 preclerkship medical students at AGU. Data were collected using focus group discussions and a questionnaire with closed- and open-ended items.

Competence of medical students in communicating drug therapy: Value of role-play demonstrations.

Objectives: This study used role-play demonstrations to train medical students to communicate drug therapy and evaluated the perceptions on this instructional approach.

Materials And Methods: The second-year medical students who attended a prescription writing session (n = 133), participated in this study. Prescription communication was introduced by using role-play demonstrations.

Prescription Writing in Small Groups as a Clinical Pharmacology Educational Intervention: Perceptions of Preclerkship Medical Students.

Medical students do not perform well in writing prescriptions, and the 3 variables-learner, teacher, and instructional method-are held responsible to various degrees. The objective of this clinical pharmacology educational intervention was to improve medical students' perceptions, motivation, and participation in prescription-writing sessions. The study participants were second-year medical students of the College of Medicine and Medical Sciences of the Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain.

Medical Students' Perceptions of Peer Assessment in a Problem-based Learning Curriculum.

Objectives: Peer assessment (PA) is believed to support learning and help students develop both professionally and personally. The aim of this study was to examine medical students' perceptions of intragroup PA in a problem-based learning (PBL) setting.

Methods: This study was carried out between September and November 2014 and involved six random groups of fourth-year undergraduate medical students (n = 60) enrolled at the Arabian Gulf University in Manama, Bahrain.

Inhibitory Effect of the Noncamptothecin Topoisomerase I Inhibitor LMP-400 on Female Mice Models and Human Pheochromocytoma Cells.

Metastatic pheochromocytoma continues to be an incurable disease, and treatment with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy offers limited efficacy. In the present study, we evaluated a novel topoisomerase I inhibitor, LMP-400, as a potential treatment for this devastating disease. We found a high expression of topoisomerase I in human metastatic pheochromocytoma, providing a basis for the evaluation of a topoisomerase 1 inhibitor as a therapeutic strategy.

Effect of experimentally induced hepatic and renal failure on the pharmacokinetics of topiramate in rats.

We aimed to investigate the effect of induced hepatic and renal failure on the pharmacokinetics of topiramate (TPM) in rats. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. Renal or hepatic failure was induced by a single i.

Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase prevents muscarinic and purinergic functional changes and development of cyclophosphamide-induced cystitis in the rat.

Nitric oxide (NO) has pivotal roles in cyclophosphamide- (CYP-) induced cystitis during which mucosal nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and muscarinic M5 receptor expressions are upregulated. In cystitis, urothelial muscarinic NO-linked effects hamper contractility. Therefore we wondered if a blockade of this axis also affects the induction of cystitis in the rat.

Combination of 13-Cis retinoic acid and lovastatin: marked antitumor potential in vivo in a pheochromocytoma allograft model in female athymic nude mice.

Currently, there are no reliably effective therapeutic options for metastatic pheochromocytoma (PCC) and paraganglioma. Moreover, there are no therapies that may prevent the onset or progression of tumors in patients with succinate dehydrogenase type B mutations, which are associated with very aggressive tumors. Therefore, we tested the approved and well-tolerated drugs lovastatin and 13-cis-retinoic acid (13cRA) in vitro in an aggressive PCC mouse cell line, mouse tumor tissue-derived (MTT) cells, and in vivo in a PCC allograft nude mouse model, in therapeutically relevant doses.

Irritable bowel syndrome in middle-aged and elderly Palestinians: its prevalence and effect of location of residence.

Objectives: The prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) around the world is variable, ranging from as little as 1.1 to 45%. Limited studies have been carried out in Arab populations.

Isothiocyanate-cysteine conjugates protect renal tissue against cisplatin-induced apoptosis via induction of heme oxygenase-1.

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a redox sensitive inducible enzyme endowed with important antioxidant and cytoprotective activities. Here we report that two water-soluble isothiocyanate-cysteine conjugates, S-[N-benzyl(thiocarbamoyl)]-l-cysteine (BTTC) and S-[N-(3-phenylpropyl)(thiocarbamoyl)]-l-cysteine (PTTC), potently increase HO-1 protein expression and heme oxygenase activity in renal tubular epithelial cells at 5 and 10μM, while higher concentrations are themselves cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic. Inhibitors of the pro-survival pathways ERK, MAPK and PI3K almost completely abolished the increase in HO-1 induction and heme oxygenase activity, while the JNK pathway appeared to be mainly involved in the apoptosis triggered by the isothiocyanates.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics prescription trends at a central west bank hospital.

Objectives: We aimed to reliably describe the pattern of outpatient prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and antibiotics (ATBs) at a central hospital in the West Bank, Palestine.

Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study investigating a cohort of 2,208 prescriptions ordered by outpatient clinics and the emergency room over one year in Beit Jala Hospital in Bethlehem, West Bank. The orders were analysed for the rate and types of NSAIDs and ATBs utilised, and the appropriateness of these drugs to the diagnosis.