The association between tobacco and alcohol use and health outcomes in individuals living with diabetes and prediabetes in South Africa: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Smoking and alcohol misuse are lifestyle factors that can be controlled and have significant health effects. Both these factors increase the risk of developing conditions such as diabetes mellitus because they affect glucose metabolism and can interfere with blood glucose control in individuals with diabetes. Research on tobacco and alcohol use and specific health outcomes among adults with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) could provide valuable information leading to more efficient treatment and management of this disease.

Unique Lessons From the Natural Progression of Rejection in Human Uterine Allografts.

Introduction: Uterus transplantation (UTx) is a novel treatment for absolute uterine infertility. Acute T cell-mediated rejection (TCMR) can be monitored only through serial cervical biopsies.

Methods: This study, the first of its kind in human transplantation, evaluated clinical, serological, and pathophysiological manifestations of allograft rejection from immunosuppression withdrawal (ISW) to graft hysterectomy (Hx).

Students' Perception of Online Versus Face-to-Face Learning: What Do the Healthcare Teachers Have to Know?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions confronted the possibility of complete closure and took countermeasures by adapting e-learning platforms. The present cross-sectional study quantified the impact of the pandemic on medical education using a validated and reliable tool. The tool was used to explore the perceptions of 270 healthcare students about e-learning in comparison to traditional learning systems.

Early Graft Failure After Living-Donor Liver Transplant.

Background: Living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been increasing in the USA. While data exist on longer-term patient and graft outcomes, a contemporary analysis of short-term outcomes is needed.

Aim: Evaluate short-term (30-day) graft failure rates and identify predictors associated with these outcomes.

Prospective cohort study of vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy: Prevalence and limited effectiveness of 1000 IU vitamin D supplementation.

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent worldwide among pregnant women. Although vitamin D supplementation is effective in improving vitamin D status, the safety and optimal dosing of vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy remain less well understood.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women and evaluate the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation in improving vitamin D status during pregnancy.

Revolutionizing cancer care strategies: immunotherapy, gene therapy, and molecular targeted therapy.

Despite the availability of technological advances in traditional anti-cancer therapies, there is a need for more precise and targeted cancer treatment strategies. The wide-ranging shortfalls of conventional anticancer therapies such as systematic toxicity, compromised life quality, and limited to severe side effects are major areas of concern of conventional cancer treatment approaches. Owing to the expansion of knowledge and technological advancements in the field of cancer biology, more innovative and safe anti-cancerous approaches such as immune therapy, gene therapy and targeted therapy are rapidly evolving with the aim to address the limitations of conventional therapies.

Fructose intake and its association with relative telomere length: an exploratory study among healthy Lebanese adults.

Introduction: Shorter relative telomere length (RTL) has been associated with increased incidence of morbidity. Although still disputed, available evidence suggests that dietary factors, including sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) may be linked with shorter RTL. It was argued that the link between SSB and RTL may be explained by the sugar content of these beverages, and specifically fructose given its impact on oxidative stress and the inflammatory response.

Endothelin Receptor Blocker Reverses Breast Cancer-Induced Cardiac Remodeling.

Background: Although some cancer therapies have overt and/or subclinical cardiotoxic effects that increase subsequent cardiovascular risk in breast cancer patients, we have recently shown that the breast tumor itself can also induce cardiac hypertrophy through the activation of the endothelin system to contribute to cardiovascular risk. However, the extent to which the suppression of the activation of the endothelin system could improve cardiac remodeling in breast cancer patients has yet to be investigated.

Objectives: We aimed to retrospectively assess the cardiac morphology/function in patients with breast cancer before receiving cancer chemotherapy and to investigate if the suppression of the activation of the endothelin system improves cardiac remodeling in a mouse model of breast cancer.

Supporting Public Health Research Capacity, Quality, and Productivity in a Diverse Region.

Public health research plays a critical role in strengthening health systems and improving their performance and impact. However, scholarly production in public health coming from the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) remains well below the world average and lacks a tangible growth trend over time. During the seventh Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network Regional Conference, a roundtable session brought together a panel of public health experts representing Global Health Development/Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network affiliates, universities or academia, and research institutions from the region, where they shared insights on the current situation of public health research; challenges and barriers to research facing the different countries in the EMR and the region in general; and how research agendas, productivity, and quality can be supported through strengthening research capacity in the region.

Advancing Artificial Intelligence for Clinical Knowledge Retrieval: A Case Study Using ChatGPT-4 and Link Retrieval Plug-In to Analyze Diabetic Ketoacidosis Guidelines.

Introduction This case study aimed to enhance the traceability and retrieval accuracy of ChatGPT-4 in medical text by employing a step-by-step systematic approach. The focus was on retrieving clinical answers from three international guidelines on diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Methods A systematic methodology was developed to guide the retrieval process.

MDM2- an indispensable player in tumorigenesis.

Murine double minute 2 (MDM2) is a well-recognized molecule for its oncogenic potential. Since its identification, various cancer-promoting roles of MDM2 such as growth stimulation, sustained angiogenesis, metabolic reprogramming, apoptosis evasion, metastasis, and immunosuppression have been established. Alterations in the expression levels of MDM2 occur in multiple types of cancers resulting in uncontrolled proliferation.

Exploring ChatGPT's Potential in Facilitating Adaptation of Clinical Guidelines: A Case Study of Diabetic Ketoacidosis Guidelines.

Background This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of ChatGPT, an advanced natural language processing model, in adapting and synthesizing clinical guidelines for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) by comparing and contrasting different guideline sources. Methodology We employed a comprehensive comparison approach and examined three reputable guideline sources: Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines Expert Committee (2018), Emergency Management of Hyperglycaemia in Primary Care, and Joint British Diabetes Societies (JBDS) 02 The Management of Diabetic Ketoacidosis in Adults. Data extraction focused on diagnostic criteria, risk factors, signs and symptoms, investigations, and treatment recommendations.

Primary Epiploic Appendagitis: Not Rare But Rarely Diagnosed Pathology.

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the clinical and laboratory parameters which may be suggestive of or even pathognomonic for primary epiploic appendagitis (PEA) and to discuss the diagnostic efficacy of ultrasound (US) compared to computed tomography (CT) in patients with PEA.

Materials And Methods: For this retrospective study, 92 patients diagnosed with PEA using US, CT or both modalities were included. All patient symptoms, clinical findings and laboratory parameters were reviewed.

An Introduction to the Special Issue "Protein Glycation in Food, Nutrition, Health and Disease".

On 20-24 September 2021, leading researchers in the field of glycation met online at the 14th International Symposium on the Maillard Reaction (IMARS-14), hosted by the authors of this introductory editorial, who are from Doha, Qatar [...

The Stigmatizing Attitudes of Syrian University Students Toward Schizophrenia.

Background:  Stigma is frequently considered an obstacle to schizophrenia treatment and recovery. However, little is known regarding the stigma experienced by persons with schizophrenia among Syrian college students.

Methods: A total of 963 students from Syrian colleges and universities participated in this study, using a questionnaire with a case vignette illustrating schizophrenia.

Cardiac Arrest in an Adolescent Boy Due to the Anomalous Origin of the Left Main Coronary Artery: Emergency Department Perspective.

Congenital anomalies of the origin of the coronary arteries are rare. Multiple anomalies have been reported where the common one is left circumflex arising from the right sinus of Valsalva (RSV). Other anomalies are a single coronary artery from the left sinus of Valsalva, both coronary arteries originating from RSV, and the left anterior descending from RSV.

Carnosol Induces p38-Mediated ER Stress Response and Autophagy in Human Breast Cancer Cells.

We recently reported that carnosol induces ROS-dependent autophagy and apoptosis in breast cancer cells. We also reported that carnosol inhibits breast cancer cell migration, invasion, and tumor growth, as well as targets STAT3, PCAF, and p300 to proteasome degradation. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying its anti-malignant activity in breast cancer.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Pretreatment With Intravenous Fluid in Reducing the Risk of Developing Contrast-Induced Nephropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Contrast media administration to patients during cardiac events increases the risk of developing contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN). CIN is among some complications usually associated with the percutaneous coronary intervention and may result in acute renal failure. Several risk factors are associated with CIN.

Emerging Glycation-Based Therapeutics-Glyoxalase 1 Inducers and Glyoxalase 1 Inhibitors.

The abnormal accumulation of methylglyoxal (MG) leading to increased glycation of protein and DNA has emerged as an important metabolic stress, dicarbonyl stress, linked to aging, and disease. Increased MG glycation produces inactivation and misfolding of proteins, cell dysfunction, activation of the unfolded protein response, and related low-grade inflammation. Glycation of DNA and the spliceosome contribute to an antiproliferative and apoptotic response of high, cytotoxic levels of MG.

Hexokinase-2-Linked Glycolytic Overload and Unscheduled Glycolysis-Driver of Insulin Resistance and Development of Vascular Complications of Diabetes.

The recent discovery of the glucose-induced stabilization of hexokinase-2 (HK2) to proteolysis in cell dysfunction in model hyperglycemia has revealed a likely key initiating factor contributing to the development of insulin resistance and vascular complications in diabetes. Consequently, the increased flux of glucose metabolism without a change in the expression and activity of glycolytic enzymes produces a wave of increased glycolytic intermediates driving mitochondrial dysfunction and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, the activation of hexosamine and protein kinase C pathways, the increased formation of methylglyoxal-producing dicarbonyl stress, and the activation of the unfolded protein response. This is called HK2-linked glycolytic overload and unscheduled glycolysis.

NADPH-derived ROS generation drives fibrosis and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition in systemic sclerosis: Potential cross talk with circulating miRNAs.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an immune disorder characterized by diffuse fibrosis and vascular abnormalities of the affected organs. Although the etiopathology of this disease is largely unknown, endothelial damage and oxidative stress appear implicated in its initiation and maintenance. Here, we show for the first time that circulating factors present in SSc sera increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, collagen synthesis, and proliferation of human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs).

Association between waterpipe smoking and obesity: Population-based study in Qatar.

Introduction: Over the past decade obesity prevalence has been increasing rapidly in the Gulf region (GR) including Qatar, becoming one of the major health issues in the region. Concomitantly, waterpipe (WP) smoking is increasing worldwide especially in the GR, and although the effect of cigarette smoking on body weight is well-established, studies indicating an association between WP smoking and obesity are scarce. Thus, we explored the association between WP smoking and obesity in comparison with cigarette smokers and healthy population in Qatar.

The Relationship Between Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Related Thyroid Diseases.

Diabetes and thyroid diseases are caused by endocrine dysfunction and both have been demonstrated to mutually impact each other. Variation in thyroid hormone levels, even within the normal range, can trigger the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), particularly in people with prediabetes. However, the available evidence is contradictory.