Modern-Day Management of the Dysglycemic Continuum: An Expert Viewpoint from the Arabian Gulf.

Prediabetes is the first stage of a continuum that extends through the diagnosis of clinical type 2 diabetes towards long-standing diabetes with multiple comorbidities. The diagnosis of prediabetes provides an opportunity to interrupt the diabetes continuum at an early stage to ensure long-term optimization of clinical outcomes. All people with prediabetes should receive intervention to improve their lifestyles (quality of diet and level of physical activity), as this has been proven beyond doubt to reduce substantially the risk of conversion to diabetes.

Confidence, attitude, and practice of scientific research among health professions' students in the United Arab Emirates.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the confidence, attitude, and scientific research practices of undergraduate students of different health profession specialties.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, an online-based questionnaire was distributed as a Google Form via groups and pages of medical universities available on social media sites such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter to the second- to sixth-year students of different health profession specialties in different universities across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the period from October through December 2023 using the convenience sampling technique. The questionnaire included four parts that assessed socio-demographics and custom-designed research-related questions (6 items), perceived confidence (8 items), attitudes (14 items), and the practice in the context of scientific research and its implementation (9 items).

Lipid and Glucose Profile across Different Mental Disorders.

: Schizophrenia, unipolar depression, bipolar disorder, bipolar mania, and bipolar depression are a few of the severe psychiatric diseases that affect millions of individuals and their overall life quality. This study aimed to look at differences in TGA, TC, HDL, LDL, and FPG levels in people who were going through acute episodes of listed diseases. : A cross-sectional prospective study was carried out in Jordan between January and November of 2023, involving all patients with the aforementioned diseases who attended three psychiatric clinics.

Modelling the trident SME-bank relationship.

Relationship banking (RB) with SMEs has been approached as a one-size-fits-all where no differences exist between micro, small, and medium businesses. Nevertheless, recent research has clearly identified three distinct levels of RB depending on variables such as the size and complexity of the business and the amount of borrowing. In this study, we create an original model of this fundamental trident, presented as a system of postulates and inferences in mathematical terms, to capture the structure and dynamics of the three RB levels from the supply/bank side.

Pharmacological Inhibition of PTEN Rescues Dopaminergic Neurons by Attenuating Apoptotic and Neuroinflammatory Signaling Events.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the selective degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta resulting in an irreversible and a debilitating motor dysfunction. Though both genetic and idiopathic factors are implicated in the disease etiology, idiopathic PD comprise the majority of clinical cases and is caused by exposure to environmental toxicants and oxidative stress. Fyn kinase activation has been identified as an early molecular signaling event that primes neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative events associated with dopaminergic cell death.

iCpG-Pos: an accurate computational approach for identification of CpG sites using positional features on single-cell whole genome sequence data.

Motivation: The investigation of DNA methylation can shed light on the processes underlying human well-being and help determine overall human health. However, insufficient coverage makes it challenging to implement single-stranded DNA methylation sequencing technologies, highlighting the need for an efficient prediction model. Models are required to create an understanding of the underlying biological systems and to project single-cell (methylated) data accurately.

Real-World Effectiveness of Four Types of COVID-19 Vaccines.

Background: There is a scarcity of evidence regarding the real-world effectiveness of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. This was the first study to evaluate the effectiveness of four types of vaccines against asymptomatic and symptomatic infection, and COVID-19 outcomes among the general population.

Methods: This was a matched comparison group quasi-experimental study conducted in Jordan between 1 January and 29 August 2021.

Point prevalence survey of antibiotic utilization in secondary care hospital in the United Arab Emirates.

Objectives: The present study was carried out to identify and report the pattern of antibiotics prescribing to determine the adherence to the international empirical and therapeutic guidelines of antibiotic use.

Methods: A point prevalence survey took place at a selected date of January 26, 2020, in which data collection was performed to all the patients present in the hospital who used at least one systemic antibiotic agent as an inpatient from 00:00 am until midnight of that day. This was performed using European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC - audit tool).

Multifaceted Pharmacological Potentials of Curcumin, Genistein, and Tanshinone IIA through Proteomic Approaches: An In-Depth Review.

Phytochemicals possess various intriguing pharmacological properties against diverse pathological conditions. Extensive studies are on-going to understand the structural/functional properties of phytochemicals as well as the molecular mechanisms of their therapeutic function against various disease conditions. Phytochemicals such as curcumin (Cur), genistein (Gen), and tanshinone-IIA (Tan IIA) have multifaceted therapeutic potentials and various efforts are in progress to understand the molecular dynamics of their function with different tools and technologies.

Illuminating the Molecular Intricacies of Exosomes and ncRNAs in Cardiovascular Diseases: Prospective Therapeutic and Biomarker Potential.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Accumulating evidences have highlighted the importance of exosomes and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in cardiac physiology and pathology. It is in general consensus that exosomes and ncRNAs play a crucial role in the maintenance of normal cellular function; and interestingly it is envisaged that their potential as prospective therapeutic candidates and biomarkers are increasing rapidly.

Plant based food bioactives: A boon or bane for neurological disorders.

Neurological disorders are the foremost occurring diseases across the globe resulting in progressive dysfunction, loss of neuronal structure ultimately cell death. Therefore, attention has been drawn toward the natural resources for the search of neuroprotective agents. Plant-based food bioactives have emerged as potential neuroprotective agents for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.

Active Safety Surveillance of Four Types of COVID-19 Vaccines: A National Study from Jordan.

Background: Although the Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2), Oxford-AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19), Sinopharm (BBIBP-CorV), and Sputnik V coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have been granted emergency approval in many nations, their safety has never been studied and compared in one community-based study. This study aimed to investigate and compare the incidence, nature, severity, and predictors of adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) with COVID-19 vaccines.

Method: This was a prospective observational study conducted in Jordan between 1 January and 21 September 2021.

Prospective Role of Bioactive Molecules and Exosomes in the Therapeutic Potential of Camel Milk against Human Diseases: An Updated Perspective.

Camel milk (CM) constitutes an important dietary source in the hot and arid regions of the world. CM is a colloidal mixture of nutritional components (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, and minerals) and non-nutritional components (hormones, growth factors, cytokines, immunoglobulins, and exosomes). Although the majority of previous research has been focused on the nutritional components of CM; there has been immense interest in the non-nutritional components in the recent past.

Antimicrobial prescribing and clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19 infection: Experience of a single center in an upper middle-income country.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe antimicrobial prescribing patterns in hospitalized adult patients with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 infection, and to determine the relationship between antimicrobial agent used and non-survival amongst the studied COVID-19 patients.

Methods: This is an observational, retrospective study. Specialty Clinic Hospital in Jordan is selected as the study setting for this conducted study.

Pharmacists' knowledge, attitude and practice in the UAE toward the public health crisis of COVID-19: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Internationally, pharmacists have shown a pivotal role in alleviating the unprecedented spread of the COVID-19 as they are the first touchpoint to patients. The aim of this study to evaluate the UAE pharmacists' knowledge about and practice in the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted during a period from August 2020 to January 2021.

Clinical characteristics and risk factors for mortality among COVID-19 hospitalized patients in UAE: Does ethnic origin have an impact.

Background: The relationship between COVID-19 patient's clinical characteristics and disease manifestation remains incompletely understood. The impact of ethnicity on mortality of patients with COVID-19 infection is poorly addressed in the literature. Emerging evidence suggests that many risk factors are related to symptoms severity and mortality risk, emphasizing the necessity of fulfilling this knowledge gap that may help reducing mortality from COVID-19 infections through tackling the risk factors.

Camel Milk Targeting Insulin Receptor-Toward Understanding the Antidiabetic Effects of Camel Milk.

Camel milk (CM) is known for its beneficial virtues in the human diet and health. This includes its antidiabetic properties demonstrated in many and studies. Nevertheless, the scientific rationale behind the molecular and cellular basis of such beneficial effects and the exact antidiabetic agent(s)/mechanism(s) are still elusive.

Investigating the association between severity of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy and neonatal outcomes.

Pregnant women with COVID-19 require special attention and care, since the infection does not only affect the mother, but also her neonate and adversely affects pregnancy outcomes. The main goal of this retrospective cohort study is to investigate association between the maternal COVID-19 severity and risk of developing adverse neonatal outcomes. Patients were stratified into asymptomatic/mild and moderate to severe COVID-19.

Camel and bovine milk lactoferrins activate insulin receptor and its related AKT and ERK1/2 pathways.

Lactoferrin (LF) is a milk protein that may be an interesting candidate for the antidiabetic properties of milk due to its well-documented bioactivity and implication in diabetes. Here, we investigated the functional action of LF purified from camel and bovine milk (cLF, bLF) on insulin receptors (IR) and their pharmacology and signaling in hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) and human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells. For this, we examined IR activation by bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) technology and the phosphorylation of its key downstream signaling kinases by western blot.

Synergistic activation of thrombin and angiotensin II receptors revealed by bioluminescence resonance energy transfer.

We recently reported a physical interaction between the angiotensin II (AngII) receptor (AT1R) and thrombin receptor (PAR1) in HEK293 cells using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) technology. This was characterized by thrombin trans-activating AT1R and the synergistic responses of the AT1R-PAR1 complex. Here, we investigated the other face of the coin by examining the effect of AT1R on PAR1 activity using BRET.

The plasticity of pancreatic cancer stem cells: implications in therapeutic resistance.

The ever-growing perception of cancer stem cells (CSCs) as a plastic state rather than a hardwired defined entity has evolved our understanding of the functional and biological plasticity of these elusive components in malignancies. Pancreatic cancer (PC), based on its biological features and clinical evolution, is a prototypical example of a CSC-driven disease. Since the discovery of pancreatic CSCs (PCSCs) in 2007, evidence has unraveled their control over many facets of the natural history of PC, including primary tumor growth, metastatic progression, disease recurrence, and acquired drug resistance.

Comparison between Branded and Generic Furosemide 40 mg Tablets Using Thermal Gravimetric Analysis and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy.

Background And Purpose: There has been a long-standing belief that generic drugs are of lower value in comparison to their branded name counterparts. They are in particular under scrutiny due to their low market price. Even though the reduction in costs is largely based on skipping expensive preclinical studies and clinical trials for generic drugs, the purity and quality of the raw materials in the production of generic drugs is debatable.

Interplay Between Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor and Thrombin Receptor Revealed by Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer Assay.

The key hormone of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), angiotensin II (AngII), and thrombin are known to play major roles in the vascular system and its related disorders. Previous studies reported connections between AngII and thrombin in both physiological and pathophysiological models. However, the molecular mechanisms controlling such interplay at the level of their receptors belonging to the family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are not fully understood.

Anti-Insulin Receptor Antibodies in the Pathology and Therapy of Diabetes Mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is recognized as the most common and the world's fastest-growing chronic disease with severe complications leading to increased mortality. Many strategies exist for the management of DM and its control, including treatment with insulin and insulin analogs, oral hypoglycemic therapy such as insulin secretion stimulators and insulin sensitizers, and diet and physical training. Over the years, many types of drugs and molecules with an interesting pharmacological diversity have been developed and proposed for their anti-diabetic potential.