The small molecule Erk1/2 signaling pathway inhibitor PD98059 improves DNA repair in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis SJL/J mouse model of multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disorder in which the myelin sheath covering the central nervous system axons is damaged or lost, disrupting action potential conduction and leading to various neurological complications. The pathogenesis of MS remains unclear, and no effective therapies are currently available. MS is triggered by environmental factors in genetically susceptible individuals. DNA damage and DNA repair failure have been proposed as MS genetic risk factors; however, inconsistent evidence has been found in multiple studies. Therefore, more investigations are needed to ascertain whether DNA damage/repair is altered in this disorder. In this context, therapies that prevent DNA damage or enhance DNA repair could be effective strategies for MS treatment. The overactivation of the extracellular-signal-related kinase 1 and 2 (Erk1/2) pathway can lead to DNA damage and has been linked to MS pathogenesis. In our study, we observed substantially elevated oxidative DNA damage and slower DNA repair rates in an experimentally autoimmune encephalomyelitis animal model of MS (EAE). Moreover, statistical decreases in oxidative DNA strand breaks and faster repair rates were observed in EAE animals injected with the Erk1/2 inhibitor PD98059 (PD). Moreover, the expression of several genes associated with DNA strand breaks and repair changed in EAE mice at both the mRNA and protein levels, as revealed by the RT² Profiler PCR array and verified by RT-PCR and protein analyses. The treatment with PD mitigated these changes and improved DNA repair gene expression. Our results demonstrate clear associations between Erk1/2 activation, DNA damage/repair, and MS pathology, and further suggest that PD therapy may be a promising adjuvant therapeutic strategy.

Postpartum depression and health-related quality of life: a Saudi Arabian perspective

Background and Objectives

The mental and physical functioning of an individual is partly determined by their health-related quality of life (HRQOL), which is a multifaceted component. Women who have recently given birth must have a good quality of life to provide proper care and development for their infant. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between postpartum depression (PPD) and HRQOL in Saudi Arabian women and to identify potential risk factors that could influence them.

Methods

This study comprised 253 mothers aged 1-24 weeks postpartum from several health centers in Saudi Arabia, recruited by random purposive sampling. The study's questionnaire featured three sections: the first section had demographic information; the second and third sections contained the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scale and the HRQOL scale (SF-12), respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi square analyses, independent samples t-tests and binary logistic regression analysis using IBM SPSS 25.

Results

Results of current study indicate that 59.68% of the patients exhibited probable post-partum depression symptoms. Participants who were depressed had significantly lower mental component (MCS) and physical component scores than participants who were in good health. When compared to non-smokers, smokers have a 21-fold higher risk of developing depression. Similar to this, mothers who worked had a 3.98 times higher risk of depression, and patients with a history of depression had a 3.6 times higher chance of getting PPD. The probability of developing PPD was also significantly higher in those who lived outside the Riyadh region, had given birth more than twice before this time, and had experienced undesired pregnancies.

Conclusion

Our study demonstrated an inverse correlation between postpartum depression and health-related quality of life scores. Treatment for depression, particularly among mothers, is crucial for improving their quality of life and, as a result, creating a favorable environment for the development of newborn babies.

Hematological indices in the adult saudi population: Reference intervals by gender, age, and region

Introduction

Hematological parameters are critical in disease diagnosis, management, and monitoring; however, complete blood count (CBC) reference intervals vary across populations. The aim of the current study was to provide the reference ranges of hematological parameters/indices in the healthy adult Saudi population.

Methods

A multicenter retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of employees who were screened pre-employment from January 2015 to December 2019, at tertiary care hospitals in three regions. Demographic and CBC data were extracted from the electronic health system. The 2.5^th and 97.5^th percentiles were used to determine the reference intervals.

Results

Of a total of 1,388 participants, 53.82% were male. The majority 96% was less than 40 years old, and 85% were from the Central region. Gender-related differences were observed for the RBC count, Hb, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC, and the platelet count. Age-related differences were observed for the RBC, Hb, HCT, and eosinophils. The WBC parameters did not differ by gender or age categories. Region-related differences were observed for the RBC, hemoglobin, HCT, MCV, WBC, and basophils. The platelet count was higher in the female group, the age group 40 years and above, and in the Western region. The prevalence of anemia was high in the female group and the Eastern region. The overall neutropenia rate was 12.8%.

Conclusion

The data from this study provide hematological parameter reference ranges for the adult Saudi population by gender, age, and region. Gender and age-related differences were observed for the hematological parameters. Anemia was more frequent in the female group and the Eastern region. Caution must be taken when comparing or interpreting results from different age groups, gender, region of origin, and ethnicity.

Neuroimaging and Neuropsychological Performance in Parkinson's Disease Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review

Introduction: One of the most common non motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) is cognitive decline. Scientific evidence has demonstrated that patients with PD experience rapid cognitive decline in multiple cognitive domains, specifically executive functions, attention, visuospatial, language and memory. However, the extent of cognitive decline with its correlation to brain regions on neuroimaging have not been reviewed extensively in the literature. Objective: The objective of this review is to summarize the existing literature that explores cognitive performance in patients with PD with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using different neuroimaging techniques. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on PubMed and Web of Science databases. This review is focused on articles that explored neuroimaging and neuropsychological performance in patients with Parkinson’s disease. We screened articles and excluded those that did not fit the criteria of this study, and a total of 13 articles have met the criteria. Results: Overall, PD-MCI patients experienced more cognitive decline than PD patients without MCI. Global cognitive ability was associated with frontal lobe, basal ganglia, para-hippocampal gyrus, occipital lobe, and the cerebellum. In addition, some specific cognitive domains were associated with specific brain regions. Attention and executive functions were associated with insula network and the parietal and frontal regions. Learning and memory were associated with grey matter atrophy and right cingulate gyrus and the limbic lobe. Language was associated with frontal cortex, precuneus, and anterior cingulate gyrus. Visuospatial ability was associated with Salience network (SN) and White Matter Hyperintensity (WMH). Conclusion: This review of the literature showed that PD-MCI patients display different cognitive impairment as well as different neuroanatomical changes when compared to PD-Normal Cognition (NC).  These findings may suggest that cognitive impairment in PD-MCI patients require different clinical treatment and care. This review also can have diagnostic and treatment implications for this group of patients.

Identify and Assess Drug Interactions with Atorvastatin in Inpatient Care

Background: Atorvastatin is a recent HMG-COA reductase inhibitor used to treat primary hypercholesterolemia, homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, and mixed dyslipidemias. It is also taken to prevent heart disease, including strokes and heart attacks. In addition, Atorvastatin is used to lower bad cholesterol low-density lipoproteins (LDL) levels, increase good cholesterol high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, and lower triglycerides. It works by reducing the amount of cholesterol produced in the body, hence reducing the amount of cholesterol that may build up on the walls of arteries. Atorvastatin is long-acting, has few adverse effects, and is low in price. Nevertheless, it interacts with a wide variety of medications. These interactions may be lead to adverse drug reactions. Objective: The study aims to identify and asset atorvastatin interactions with other medicines at King Abdulaziz Hospital. Also, to prevent atorvastatin interactions in the future. Methods: The retrospective study investigated 280 electronic prescriptions inside the inpatient clinic at King Abdulaziz Hospital in Saudi Arabia between January and April 2021 to identify and asset interactions among atorvastatin and different medications. Results: Most atorvastatin interactions are category C (44.64%) and category B (41.43%). Atorvastatin had the most common interactions with esomeprazole (16.07%), clopidogrel (14.64%), and sitagliptin (12.14%). Atorvastatin had clinical interactions with medications metabolized by the cytochrome P450 3A4 )CYP3A4(. Use of atorvastatin with cyclosporine or clarithromycin increased the risk for atorvastatin toxicities such as myopathy and rhabdomyolysis. In addition, Atorvastatin decreases clopidogrel's antiplatelet effect and increases the risk of skeletal muscle toxicity of daptomycin. Conclusion: The majority of atorvastatin interactions may be avoided by adhering to best practices in clinical care and clinical pharmacology, such as avoiding complicated treatment regimens, utilizing a single pharmacy for all prescriptions, and recognizing patient risk factors. Health care professionals should use drug-drug interaction checkers such as Medscape and Micromedex, as well as a book such as the Handbook of Drug Interactions.

Anticancer Drug-Induced Cardiotoxicity: Insights and Pharmacogenetics

The advancement in therapy has provided a dramatic improvement in the rate of recovery among cancer patients. However, this improved survival is also associated with enhanced risks for cardiovascular manifestations, including hypertension, arrhythmias, and heart failure. The cardiotoxicity induced by chemotherapy is a life-threatening consequence that restricts the use of several chemotherapy drugs in clinical practice. This article addresses the prevalence of cardiotoxicity mediated by commonly used chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic agents. The role of susceptible genes and radiation therapy in the occurrence of cardiotoxicity is also reviewed. This review also emphasizes the protective role of antioxidants and future perspectives in anticancer drug-induced cardiotoxicities.

Role of some natural anti-oxidants in the down regulation of Kim, VCAM1, Cystatin C protein expression in lead acetate-induced acute kidney injury

BACKGROUND

Lead is a dangerous systemic toxicant and can provoke life-threatening renal injury. The plan of this study was to evaluate the potential impact of curcumin (CRMN) and L-ascorbic acid (L-ascb) alone or together to counteract lead acetate (Pb-acetate)-induced renal damage in rats and to find out the underlying mechanisms of action of these nutraceuticals.

METHODS

Pb-acetate (100 mg/kg/day, i.p.) was injected in male rats along with L-ascb (250 mg/kg/day) and/or CRMN (200 mg/kg/day) orally for 7 days.

RESULTS

Pb-acetate administration increased serum urea, creatinine and uric acid. Renal tissue showed a marked depletion in reduced glutathione level and superoxide dismutase activity and elevation in nitric oxide and malondialdehyde levels. Serum C-reactive protein and IL-1β levels were elevated. Up-regulation of the expression of kidney injury molecule, vascular adhesion molecule-1 and Cystatin C were noticed after Pb-acetate administration. DNA fragmentation was also increased in renal tissues. Histopathological examination revealed a destructed partial layer of Bowman's capsule, proximal and distal convoluted tubules. Treatment with the aforementioned antioxidants ameliorated most of the altered measured biomarker levels.

CONCLUSION

Interestingly, the combination of L-ascb and CRMN showed the superlative protective effect against Pb-acetate-induced nephrotoxicity.

Identification of the novel HLA-B*08:01:01:02 allele in a Saudi individual

HLA-B*08:01:01:02 differs from HLA-B*08:01:01:01 by a T to C substitution at position 3086.

Engineering analysis of diamond-like carbon coated polymeric materials for biomedical applications

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films have received much attention recently owing to their properties, which are similar to diamond: hardness, thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance against chemicals, abrasion resistance, good biocompatibility, and uniform flat surface. Furthermore, DLC films can be deposited easily on many substrates for wide area coat at room temperature. DLC films were developed for applications as biomedical materials in blood contacting-devices (e.g., rotary blood pump) and showed good biocompatibility for these applications. In this study, we investigated the surface roughness by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Hi-vision camera, SEM for surface imaging. The DLC films were produced by radio frequency glow discharge plasma decomposed of hydrocarbon gas at room temperature and low pressure (53 Pa) on several kinds of polycarbonate substrates. For the evaluation of the relation between deposition rate and platelet adhesion that we investigated in a previous study, DLC films were deposited at the same methane pressure for several deposition times, and film thickness was investigated. In addition, the deposition rate of DLC films on polymeric substrates is similar to the deposition rate of those deposited on Si substrates. There were no significant differences in substrates' surface roughness that were coated by DLC films in different deposition rates (16-40 nm). The surface energy and the contact angle of the DLC films were investigated. The chemical bond of DLC films also was evaluated. The evaluation of surface properties by many methods and measurements and the relationship between the platelet adhesion and film thickness is discussed. Finally, the presented DLC films appear to be promising candidates for biomedical applications and merit investigation.

Improved blood compatibility of DLC coated polymeric material

There is currently an increasing interest in the use of DLC (diamond like carbon) films in biomedical applications. These investigations making use of DLC in the biomedical area indicate its attractive properties. In this study, we succeeded in depositing DLC on polymer substrates and found the best conditions and method for this application. We evaluated the blood compatibility of polycarbonate substrates coated by DLC (PC-DLC) under different conditions by using epifluorescent video microscopy (EVM) combined with a parallel plate flow chamber. Segmented polyurethane (SPU), which has been used to fabricate medical devices including an artificial heart, and proven to have acceptable blood compatibility, was compared with polycarbonate substrates coated with DLC film. The EVM system measured platelet adhesion on the surface of the DLC, by using whole human blood containing Mepacrine labeled platelets perfuse at a wall shear rate of 100 s(-1) at 1 min intervals for a period of 20 min. PC-DLC demonstrated that Tecoflex showed higher complement activation than PC-DLC. There were significant differences between the PC-DLC substrates. On the basis of these results, it is recommended for use as a coating material in implantable blood contacting devices such as artificial hearts, pacemakers, and other devices. This DLC seems to be a promising candidate for biomaterials applications and merits further investigation.