Independent and Joint Associations of Pessimism, Total Calorie Intake and Acid-Producing Diets with Insomnia Symptoms among Breast Cancer Survivors

Body appreciation is associated with optimism/pessimism in patients with chronic kidney disease: Results from a cross-sectional study and validation of the Arabic version of the Optimism-Pessimism Short Scale-2

BACKGROUND

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients encounter many obstacles that affect their physical and psychological well-being. The primary objective of the present study was to investigate potential correlates of optimism/pessimism in a sample of patients with CKD, including socio-demographics, body appreciation and disordered eating symptoms. As a secondary objective, we proposed to examine the psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the Optimism-Pessimism Short Scale-2 (SOP2) before its use in our sample.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out between April and May 2023, enrolling 108 participants from three hospitals in Lebanon providing insights into their sociodemographic characteristics, physical activity levels, body appreciation, optimism, pessimism, and eating attitudes.

RESULTS

Results indicated that the Arabic-language adaptation of the SOP2 has good reliability coefficients. The two facets of the scale displayed a strong correlation to each other, and highly similar correlations with external study variables (i.e., household crowding index, physical activity, body appreciation, disordered eating), suggesting that the SOP2 can be interpreted as a unidimensional measure for the psychological dispositional optimism as proposed by the developers. Furthermore, findings revealed a strong positive correlation between body appreciation and optimism, suggesting that CKD patients who appreciate their bodies tend to exhibit a more optimistic outlook on life. Conversely, higher body appreciation is associated with lower pessimism, indicating that a positive body image may mitigate feelings of hopelessness and despair in CKD patients.

CONCLUSION

This study contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it offers the Arabic SOP2 as an brief tool to administer, and psychometrically sound instrument that can be useful for clinical and research purposes. Second, it unveils a clear correlation between higher body appreciation and a more optimistic, less pessimistic mindset in patients with CKD.

Comparing the sensitivity of fatigue and sleep disturbance assessment tools in women with advanced cancer undergoing chemotherapy

Objective

This study aims to investigate the variations in fatigue and sleep disturbances among female patients with advanced lung cancer (ALC) and advanced breast cancer (ABC) during chemotherapy.

Methods

A total of 36 female patients with ALC and 36 with ABC, all of whom had completed their first cycle of chemotherapy, were included. Fatigue was assessed using the General Fatigue Scale (GFS), and sleep disturbances were evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) at designated time points throughout the chemotherapy process.

Results

Linear regression analysis indicated that variables such as age, education level, employment status, cancer type, clinical stage, and symptom distress had no significant correlation with either fatigue or sleep disturbances. The GFS significantly discriminated fatigue among the ALC, ABC, and combined groups, while the PSQI demonstrated a significant distinction in sleep disturbance only within the ALC and combined groups.

Conclusions

In summary, when considering the findings of both assessments in this study, the GFS score exhibited greater sensitivity in detecting fatigue than the PSQI score did for identifying sleep disturbances in advanced cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Atorvastatin and Nitrofurantoin Repurposed in the Context of Breast Cancer and Neuroblastoma Cells

Chemotherapy still plays a central role in the treatment of cancer. However, it is often accompanied by off-target effects that result in severe side-effects and development of drug resistance. The aim of this work was to study the efficacy of different repurposed drugs on the viability of MCF-7 and SH-SY5Y breast cancer and neuroblastoma cells, respectively. In addition, combinations of these repurposed drugs with a classical chemotherapeutic drug (doxorubicin) were also carried out. The cytotoxic effects of the repurposed drugs were evaluated individually and in combination in both cancer cell lines, assessed by MTT assays and morphological evaluation of the cells. The results demonstrated that atorvastatin reduced the viability of both cell lines. However, nitrofurantoin was able to induce cytotoxic effects in MCF-7 cells, but not in SH-SY5Y cells. The combinations of the repurposed drugs with doxorubicin induced a higher inhibition on cell viability than the repurposed drugs individually. The combination of the two repurposed drugs demonstrated that they potentiate each other. Synergism studies revealed that the combination of doxorubicin with the two repurposed drugs was more effective in SH-SY5Y cells, compared to MCF-7 cells. Taken together, our preliminary study highlights the potential use of atorvastatin and nitrofurantoin in the context of breast cancer and neuroblastoma.