The Effect of the Linguistic Status of Text Previewing in Arabic on the Reading Comprehension Outcomes Among Second and Sixth Grade Native Arabs Readers: A Cross-Sectional View

The current study examined the effect of the linguistic status of the verbal previewing strategy on the outcomes of reading comprehension tasks among second (N = 25, age 7.08 ± .3), and sixth-grade students (N = 25, age 11.75 ± .25), with typical reading development. The texts for each group were carefully matched and were divided into three conditions of verbal previewing: (a) Standard Arabic previewing (hereafter: StA previewing); (b) spoken Arabic previewing (hereafter: SpA previewing); (c) without previewing. The results showed that for the second-grade readers, SpA previewing had a significant contribution to the reading comprehension outcomes compared to the other conditions of previewing while for the sixth-grade readers; StA previewing had a significant contribution to the outcomes of reading comprehension. The findings were explained according to the assumption that relatively native Arab speaking students develop a progressive change toward activation of StA representations for verbal learning. Such representations become more efficient as a result of the dominant exposure to StA during performing reading and writing tasks.

The Role of Morphological Decomposition in Reading Complex Words in Arabic in Elementary School Years

We examined the role of morphological processing in the reading of inflections and derivations in Arabic, a morphologically-rich language, among 228 first-graders and 230 second-graders. All words were morphologically complex, with differences in number of morphemes and morphological transparency. Inflections consisted of three morphemes, with high transparency of the root morpheme, while derivations consisted of two morphemes with lower transparency of the root. Results indicated that, despite their matching in frequency and syllabic length, reading performances of derivations was better than those of inflections. That is, three-morphemic highly transparent inflections were read slower and involved more errors than bi-morphemic less transparent derivations. These differences in reading performance between inflectional and derivational words might suggest that Arab-speaking novice readers use a morphological decomposition process that is reflected in reading accuracy and fluency. The results highlight the important role morphology has in reading, even at a young age, along with reading acquisition.

How Arabic diglossia affects the performances on phonological working memory tasks: Research evidence among first graders

The effect of bilingualism on verbal learning and memory was explored in different studies. Different researchers assume that the Arabic diglossia, represents a case of bilingualism in the lingual context. Hence, the current study aimed to investigate the impact of diglossia in Arabic on the phonological working memory among beginner readers. Forty-one Arabic first graders (M = 7.13, SD = .73) were administered three tasks of phonological working memory in two versions (i.e., spoken and standard language); Two tasks were designed to test verbal retrieval and one task was designed to test remembering of instructions. The participants showed significant diglossic differences between spoken and standard stimuli in verbal retrieval tasks while no such significant differences appeared in remembering of instructions' task, especially, when the processing demands increased. In addition, the findings may shed light on the importance of developing research tools and tasks with a higher level of sensitivity in order to examine the diglossic effect on memory functions in general and verbal working memory in particular. The results were discussed considering the impact of the Arabic diglossia on cognitive and memory processing skills.

How Can Orthographic Representations in Arabic Contribute to Phoneme Awareness Development?

The contribution of the orthographic representations to the development of phonemic awareness in Arabic was tested among 289 native Arab readers from the second, the fourth, and the sixth grade. Phonemic awareness was tested by using two phonemic segmentation tasks: words and pseudowords. The participants' words and pseudowords reading and spelling skills beside to orthographic knowledge were tested also. The results revealed that the accuracy levels of phoneme segmentation of words were higher than pseudowords for all ages. In addition, the results revealed that the pseudowords reading skills and the orthographic knowledge contributed significantly to the phoneme segmentations of words and pseudowords. The results were discussed in light of the assumption that in transparent orthographies, such like Arabic, the grain size of phoneme awareness development is contributed by capturing the correspondences between the phonology and the orthography and the orthographic representations development.

Communicable Diseases Prevalence among Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Communicable diseases remain a significant global health issue. The increase in refugees and asylum seekers associated with conflicts may alter the burden of communicable diseases in host countries. We conducted a systematic review of the prevalence of TB, HBC, HCV, and HIV among refugees and asylum seekers by regions of asylum and origin. Methods: Four electronic databases were searched from initiation to the 25 December 2022. Prevalence estimates were pooled into a random-effect model and were stratified by the region of origin and asylum. Meta-analysis was conducted to explore the heterogeneity of the included studies. Results: The most-reported asylum region was The Americas, represented by the United States of America. Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean was the region of the most-reported origin. The highest reported prevalence of active TB and HIV was among African refugees and asylum seekers. The highest reported prevalence of latent TB, HBV and HCV was among Asian and Eastern Mediterranean refugees and asylum seekers. High heterogeneity was found regardless of the communicable disease type or stratification. Conclusion: This review provided insights about refugees’ and asylum seekers’ status around the world and attempted to connect refugees’ and asylum seekers’ distribution and the burden of communicable diseases.

Incidental Colonic Masses and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection in a Treatment- Naïve Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patient without GI symptoms

Introduction/Objective

Gastrointestinal (GI) involvement by leukemia ranges from 5.7 to 13 % with very few published reports describing infiltration of the GI tract by chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). GI bleeding, abdominal pain, and obstruction have been described as presenting symptoms of GI involvement. Yet, discrete lesions are rare. Infection is a common complication in patients with CLL. In untreated patients, these infections are typically by encapsulated bacteria involving the respiratory tract and associated with hypogammaglobulinemia. Viral infections often happen after therapy. This report presents a patient with a history of treatment- naïve CLL and HSV who presented for colostomy reversal and was incidentally found to have two partially obstructing colonic masses, as well as cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection.

Methods/Case Report

This is a 78-years-old female with treatment-naïve CLL and past medical history of hypertension, atrial fibrillation, diverting colostomy secondary to chronic perineal HSV-2 ulcer and recent perirectal abscess. She presented for colostomy reversal in the absence of any reported GI symptoms at that time. Labs showed leukocytosis; WBCs count of 25 K/MM3, anemia and neutropenia. Endoscopic studies incidentally discovered two partially obstructing masses in the ascending and transverse colon that were biopsied. A right hemicolectomy and colostomy closure were followed, and the patient was discharged on valganciclovir.

Results (if a Case Study enter NA)

Histopathological examination demonstrated mucosal ulceration with viral cytopathic changes and positive CMV IHC stain. In addition, a dense atypical, small sized lymphoid cell infiltrate with no sheets of large cells or confluent necrosis were identified. Flowcytometry and IHC stains showed aberrant CD5+ B cells with CD23 co-expression consistent with the patient’s history of CLL.

Conclusion

The case describes the unique presentation of a patient with treatment- naïve CLL without any GI symptoms, yet was incidentally found to have colonic involvement by CLL forming discrete colonic masses as well as CMV and HSV infections. Since she is untreated, her infections (HSV and CMV) are likely secondary to being immunocompromised by CLL and neutropenia. In conclusion, although rare, GI involvement by CLL should be considered in treatment naïve CLL patient’s and concomitant infections should be evaluated.

How semantic knowledge enhances word recognition? New evidence from struggling readers performances

The current study examined the contribution of semantic knowledge to the process of reading aloud unfamiliar words among thirty non-typical readers from third grade. The performances of reading aloud were tested by using three lists of pseudowords: semantic, phonological, and un-trained. For each pseudoword in the list of semantic condition, an invented meaning was matched, and the participants orally trained to learn such invented meaning. For the list of the phonological condition, the participants were orally taught the pronunciation of the pseudowords only, while the third list of pseudowords was not trained at all. After the training phase, the subjects were examined by reading aloud the pseudowords which were presented randomly. For all lists of the pseudowords, there was no orthographic exposure before the reading trial. The findings showed that the higher levels of accuracy were significantly recorded for the semantic condition as compared to the other conditions, without a significant difference in the reading rate between all the conditions. The current findings were discussed in the context of the contribution of semantic activation to reading aloud of written words.

Unusual Case of Multiple Synchronous Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors of the Jejunum Presenting as an Arteriovenous Malformation

Introduction/Objective

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) arises from the interstitial cell of Cajal. 30% of GISTs arise in the jejunum. GISTS are generally solitary although multiple GISTs may be synchronous or metachronous. There are a few reports of a GIST of the jejunum mimicking a vascular malformation/arteriovenous malformation (AVM) prior to surgical excision.

Methods

Herein, we report a case of four synchronous GISTs of jejunum. One GIST, highly vascularized, presented with lower gastrointestinal bleeding. The patient was a 40-year-old female presenting with epigastric pain and melena.

Results

She was found to have an ulcerated lesion in the distal jejunum by capsule enteroscopy and double balloon enteroscopy, interpreted as an arteriovenous malformation and tattooed. Several other non-ulcerated “polyps” were described. Gross examination of the ensuing segmental resection of jejunum demonstrated four bosselated tumors ranging from 3.1 cm to 6.5 cm. Microscopically, three tumors did not extend to the surface of the jejunum and were predominantly composed of spindle cells. One tumor (identified by tattoo) extended to the surface with ulceration. This tumor was dominated by wide vascular channels with a spindle cell component between the channels. The four tumors were each positive for CD117, DOG1, and Succinate dehydrogenase B (SDH), identifying the four tumors as non-SDH-deficient GISTs. Ki-67 proliferation index was less than 5% in all four masses.

Conclusion

Multiple GISTs are rare, classified as either sporadic or familial. Familial GEISTs are described in neurofibromatosis type 1, Carney’s triad and Carney-Stratakis syndrome. Pediatric GISTs, with clinical and genetic features often differing from typical adult tumors may also be multiple. Our patient’s four GISTs are considered multiple synchronous sporadic neoplasms. This case serves as an important reminder for pathologists consider GIST in the evaluation of a highly vascular gastrointestinal proliferation and keep in mind the possibility of multiplicity.

SMARCA4 Deficient Thoracic Sarcoma Presenting with a Pathologic Fracture of Proximal Tibia and L5 Vertebral Body: a Case Report and Review of Literature

Introduction/Objective

SMARCA4 (BRG1) is a central component of the Switch/Sucrose-Non-Fermentable (SWI/SNF) chromatin remodeling complex which plays a critical role in the initiation, progression and dedifferentiation of a variety of cancers arising in different anatomical sites. The recently discovered SMARCA4-deficient thoracic sarcoma (DTS) can present as a mediastinal, pleural or pulmonary mass and constitutes a unique and highly lethal entity.

Methods

Here we present an interesting case of a 66-year-old, smoker male with past medical history of COPD, polysubstance abuse, hepatitis C virus, and alcoholic cirrhosis who presented with left proximal tibia pathological fracture, L5 vertebral body lytic lesion, left leg cellulitis and hypercalcemia. Imaging studies, tibia biopsy, thoracocentesis, histopathological examination, and immunohistochemical stains were performed.

Results

Imaging studies revealed a 3.1 cm, right upper lobe speculated lung mass along with multiple other lung nodules. Numerous arterially enhancing hepatic masses up to 2.8 cm were also identified. The patient underwent intramedullary nail, cementation and tibia biopsy followed by thoracentesis a month later.The histological sections revealed sheets of poorly differentiated malignant epithelioid cells showing high nuclear pleomorphism, prominent nucleoli, eosinophilc cytoplasm with extensive necrosis, and high mitosis (Ki-67 around 100%). The tumor cells lacked the expression of SMARCA4 (BRG1), cytokeratin, SALL4, CD34, TTF-1, P40, S100, HMB45, pan melanoma, desmin, CD31, ERG, CD30, CD56, chromogranin, CD38, CD45, CD3, ALK-1, myeloperoxidase, glypican-3, hepatocyte, and inhibin with mixed kappa and lambda. Tumor cells expressed SATB2 and focal synaptophysin, consistent with SMARCA4 deficient thoracic sarcoma metastasizing to the bone. The patient’s condition rapidly deteriorated and he died within two months.

Conclusion

An accurate diagnosis of these tumors is paramount and can be challenging. However, recognizing SMARCA4-DTS from other types of epithelioid tumors that involve the thoracic region is clinically relevant, as targeted therapies for SMARC-deficient tumors are currently being investigated and new clinical trial data show therapeutic benefit.

The Role of Morphological and Phonological Awareness in the Early Development of Word Spelling and Reading in Typically Developing and Disabled Arabic Readers

The study is a cross-sectional developmental investigation of morphological and phonological awareness in word spelling and reading in Arabic in reading-accuracy disabled (RD) children and in age-matched typically developing (TR) controls in grades 1-4 (N = 160). Morphological awareness tasks targeted the root and word pattern derivational system of Arabic, in both the oral and the written modalities. Phonological awareness employed a variety of orally administered segmentation and deletion tasks. The results demonstrated early deficits in morphological awareness, besides deficits in phonological awareness, in RD children as compared with typically developing controls, as well as in word and pseudoword spelling and reading (voweled and unvoweled). While phonological awareness emerged as the strongest predictor of reading, morphological awareness was also found to predict unique variance in reading, and even more so in spelling, beyond phonological awareness and cognitive skills. The results demonstrate the early emergence of morphological awareness deficits, alongside phonological deficits in Arabic RD, as well as the role of morphological processing in early reading and spelling. These findings reflect the centrality of derivational morphology in the structure of the spoken and the written Arabic word. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A sirs-based automated alarm system for the diagnosis of sepsis after burn injury

The present study examined the effectiveness of an automated systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS)-based alarm system for the early detection of sepsis in adult burn patients. In addition, the relevance of the sepsis criteria from the American Burn Association (ABA) and the Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3) for this patient group was determined. In this prospective observational study, we included 41 consecutive patients who were admitted to our burn ICU within a one-year period. SIRS alarms were calculated for these patients according to predefined criteria using the PREDEC ALARM automated alarm system and alarms generated according to ABA criteria and daily Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) results. The alarms were not visible to the treating doctors and nurses. The alarms identified were related to episodes of sepsis with positive blood cultures. Twenty-one sepsis events were recorded in 41 patients. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.72 for alarms using 2 SIRS criteria, 0.77 for 3 SIRS criteria, and 0.61 for 4 SIRS criteria. AUC values of 0.53 and 0.59 were calculated for the ABA criteria and Sepsis-3 definition, respectively. An alarm system using 3 SIRS criteria proved to be suitable for the early detection of sepsis in burn patients. The frequent number of false alarms requires further refinement of the alarm system. Based on the results of our study, the ABA criteria and the Sepsis-3 definition provide no advantages over the SIRS criteria in the early diagnosis of sepsis after burn injury.

How Does the Linguistic Distance Between Spoken and Standard Language in Arabic Affect Recall and Recognition Performances During Verbal Memory Examination

The current research examined how Arabic diglossia affects verbal learning memory. Thirty native Arab college students were tested using auditory verbal memory test that was adapted according to the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and developed in three versions: Pure spoken language version (SL), pure standard language version (SA), and phonologically similar version (PS). The result showed that for immediate free-recall, the performances were better for the SL and the PS conditions compared to the SA one. However, for the parts of delayed recall and recognition, the results did not reveal any significant consistent effect of diglossia. Accordingly, it was suggested that diglossia has a significant effect on the storage and short term memory functions but not on long term memory functions. The results were discussed in light of different approaches in the field of bilingual memory.

Poor Executive Functions among Children with Moderate-into-Severe Asthma: Evidence from WCST Performance

Executive functions (EFs) measures of 27 asthmatic children, with general learning difficulties, were tested by using the Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST), and were compared to the performances of 30 non-asthmatic children with general learning difficulties. The results revealed that the asthmatic group has poor performance through all the WCST psychometric parameters and especially the perseverative errors one. The results were discussed in light of the postulation that poor EFs could be associated with the learning difficulties of asthmatic children. Neurophysiological framework has been suggested to explain the etiology of poor EFs among children with moderate into severe asthma.

Fixed time interval compared with on-demand oral analgesia protocols for post-caesarean pain: a randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVES

To compare the efficacy, safety and satisfaction from two modes of oral analgesia administration for the treatment of post-caesarean pain in the first 48 h following surgery: on-demand versus fixed time interval administration.

DESIGN

Open label parallel-group, randomised-controlled trial from February to December 2013.

SETTING

University-affiliated hospital in Israel.

POPULATION

Two-hundred women who underwent caesarean delivery with regional anaesthesia.

METHODS

Patients were randomly assigned to receive predetermined combinations of tramadol, paracetamol and diclofenac either following patient demand or at predetermined 6-h intervals for the first 48 h. If the patient requested additional analgesia, Percocet (oxycodone and paracetamol) was given as a rescue treatment.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Pain intensity and satisfaction were self-evaluated with visual analogue scale of 0 (no pain/least satisfaction) to 10 (worst pain/highest satisfaction). Breastfeeding, need for supplemental formula, and maternal and neonatal adverse effects were also evaluated.

RESULTS

The 'fixed time interval' group, compared with the 'on-demand' group, had lower mean pain score (2.8 ± 0.84 versus 4.1 ± 0.48, respectively; P < 0.0001), higher satisfaction rate (9.1 ± 1.2 versus 8.3 ± 1.5, respectively; P < 0.0001), more breastfeeds (23.7 ± 6.5 versus 19.2 ± 6.2, respectively; P < 0.0001) and less use of supplemental formulas (8.2 ± 5.2 versus 11.9 ± 6.5, respectively; P < 0.0001). The number of times that drugs were given was slightly higher in the 'fixed time interval' group without an increase in maternal adverse effects, which were mild. No adverse effects were reported for the neonates.

CONCLUSION

Administration of oral analgesia in fixed time intervals is superior to drug administration following patient demand without increasing maternal or neonatal adverse outcomes.

TWEETABLE ABSTRACT

Oral analgesia in fixed time intervals is superior to analgesia following demand.

Morphology and Spelling in Arabic: Development and Interface

In the current study, two experiments were carried out: the first tested the development of derivational root and word-pattern morphological awareness in Arabic; the second tested morphological processing in Arabic spelling. 143 Arabic native speaking children with normal reading skills in 2nd, 4th and 6th grade participated in the study. The results of the first experiment demonstrated the early emergence of derivational morphological awareness in children, with root awareness emerging earlier than word-pattern awareness. The second experiment supported the implication of morphological processing in spelling words and pseudo words across all grades tested. The results are discussed within a developmental psycholinguistic framework with particular emphasis on the characteristics of the Arabic language and orthography.

The Role of Emergent Bilingualism in the Development of Morphological Awareness in Arabic and Hebrew

PURPOSE

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of dual language development and cross-linguistic influence on morphological awareness in young bilinguals' first language (L1) and second language (L2). We examined whether (a) the bilingual children (L1/L2 Arabic and L1/L2 Hebrew) precede their monolingual Hebrew- or Arabic-speaking peers in L1 and L2 morphological awareness, and (b) 1 Semitic language (Arabic) has cross-linguistic influence on another Semitic language (Hebrew) in morphological awareness.

METHOD

The study sample comprised 93 six-year-old children. The bilinguals had attended bilingual Hebrew-Arabic kindergartens for 1 academic year and were divided into 2 groups: home language Hebrew (L1) and home language Arabic (L1). These groups were compared to age-matched monolingual Hebrew speakers and monolingual Arabic speakers. We used nonwords similar in structure to familiar words in both target languages, representing 6 inflectional morphological categories.

RESULTS

L1 Arabic and L1 Hebrew bilinguals performed significantly better than Arabic- and Hebrew-speaking monolinguals in the respective languages. Differences were not found between the bilingual groups. We found evidence of cross-linguistic transfer of morphological awareness from Arabic to Hebrew in 2 categories-bound possessives and dual number-probably because these categories are more salient in Palestinian Spoken Arabic than in Hebrew.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that children with even an initial exposure to L2 reveal acceleration of sensitivity to word structure in both of their languages. We suggest that this is due to the fact that two Semitic languages, Arabic and Hebrew, share a common core of linguistic features, together with favorable contextual factors and instructional factors.

The Role of Phonological versus Morphological Skills in the Development of Arabic Spelling: An Intervention Study

The current study investigated the contribution of two linguistic intervention programs, phonological and morphological to the development of word spelling among skilled and poor native Arabic readers, in three grades: second, fourth and sixth. The participants were assigned to three experimental groups: morphological intervention, phonological intervention and a non-intervention control group. Phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and spelling abilities were tested before and after the intervention. Participants from both linguistic intervention programs and in all grades made significant progress in linguistic awareness and spelling after the intervention. The results showed that both intervention programs were successful in promoting children's spelling skills in both groups. Also, older poor readers showed a stronger response to the morphological intervention than the older skilled readers. A transfer effect was found with the phonological training contributing to the morphological skills and vice versa. The results of the current study were discussed in the light of developmental and psycholinguistic views of spelling acquisition as well as the characteristics of Arabic language and orthography.

Resolving the orthographic ambiguity during visual word recognition in Arabic: an event-related potential investigation

The Arabic alphabetical orthographic system has various unique features that include the existence of emphatic phonemic letters. These represent several pairs of letters that share a phonological similarity and use the same parts of the articulation system. The phonological and articulatory similarities between these letters lead to spelling errors where the subject tends to produce a pseudohomophone (PHw) instead of the correct word. Here, we investigated whether or not the unique orthographic features of the written Arabic words modulate early orthographic processes. For this purpose, we analyzed event-related potentials (ERPs) collected from adult skilled readers during an orthographic decision task on real words and their corresponding PHw. The subjects' reaction times (RTs) were faster in words than in PHw. ERPs analysis revealed significant response differences between words and the PHw starting during the N170 and extending to the P2 component, with no difference during processing steps devoted to phonological and lexico-semantic processing. Amplitude and latency differences were found also during the P6 component which peaked earlier for words and where source localization indicated the involvement of the classical left language areas. Our findings replicate some of the previous findings on PHw processing and extend them to involve early orthographical processes.

How does Arabic orthographic connectivity modulate brain activity during visual word recognition: an ERP study

One of the unique features of the Arabic orthography that differentiates it from many other alphabetical ones is the fact that most letters connect obligatorily to each other. Hence, these letters change their forms according to the location in the word (i.e. beginning, middle, or end), leading to the suggestion that connectivity adds a visual load which negatively impacts reading in Arabic. In this study, we investigated the effects of the orthographic connectivity on the time course of early brain electric responses during the visual word recognition. For this purpose, we collected event-related potentials (ERPs) from adult skilled readers while performing a lexical decision task using fully connected (Cw), partially connected and non-connected words (NCw). Reaction times variance was higher and accuracy was lower in NCw compared to Cw words. ERPs analysis revealed significant amplitude and latency differences between Cw and NCw at posterior electrodes during the N170 component which implied the temporo-occipital areas. Our findings show that instead of slowing down reading, orthographic connectivity in Arabic skilled readers seems to impact positively the reading process already during the early stages of word recognition. These results are discussed in relation to previous observations in the literature.

Ligamentum flavum cyst in the lumbar spine: a case report and review of the literature

Degenerative changes in the lumbar spine can be followed by cystic changes. Most reported intraspinal cysts are ganglion or synovial cysts. Ligamentum flavum pseudocyst, as a cystic lesion in the lumbar spine, is a rare and unusual cause of neurologic signs and symptoms and is usually seen in elderly persons (due to degenerative changes). They are preferentially located in the lower lumbar region, while cervical localization is rare. Complete removal of the cyst leads to excellent results and seems to preclude recurrence. We report the case of a right-sided ligamentum flavum cyst occurring at L3–L4 level in a 70-year-old woman, which was surgically removed with excellent postoperative results and complete resolution of symptoms. In addition, we discuss and review reports in the literature.

A new herbal combination, Etana, for enhancing erectile function: an efficacy and safety study in animals

We present herein a new herbal combination called Etana that is composed of five herbal extracts including Panax quinquelotius (Ginseng), Eurycoma longifolia (Tongkat Ali), Epimedium grandiflorum (Horny goat weed), Centella asiatica (Gotu Kola) and flower pollen extracts. Most of the above-mentioned extracts have a long historical and traditional use for erectile dysfunction (ED). On the basis of the mechanism of action of each of the above, a combination is introduced to overcome several physiological or induced factors of ED. This study was conducted to show an enhancement of erectile function in male rats. The animals were observed for 3 h after each administration for penile erection, genital grooming and copulation mounting, and the penile erection index (PEI) was calculated. The maximum response was observed at the concentration of 7.5 mg kg(-1) of Etana. At a 7.5 mg kg(-1) single dose, the percentage of responding rats was 53+/-7 with a PEI of 337+/-72 compared with 17+/-6 with a PEI of 30+/-10 for control animals. This PEI was significantly (P<0.001) higher than each single component and than the sum of any two herbal components of Etana. When compared with sildenafil citrate, Etana induced more pronounced PEI than 0.36 mg kg(-1), but similar to 0.71 mg kg(-1) of sildenafil. Furthermore, full acute and sub-acute toxicity studies showed no toxic effects of Etana. In conclusion, this study describes a new and safe combination of herbal components that enhance erectile function in male rats. Clinical studies are warranted for evaluating Etana's significance in ED.

Modulation of inflammatory response by pentoxifylline is independent of heme oxygenase-1 pathway

OBJECTIVE

It was reported that some effects of pentoxifylline (PTX) are mediated by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) induction. We investigated the role of HO-1 in anti-inflammatory activity of PTX.

METHODS

Experiments were performed in human and murine monocytes and endothelial cells and in HO-1 deficient mice.

RESULTS

PTX dose-dependently decreased expression of HO-1 in cell lines studied. As expected, PTX reduced also production of TNF. This effect was independent of HO-1 activity, as demonstrated in cells treated with HO-1 activators and inhibitors or in cells overexpressing HO-1. Moreover, inhibition of TNF was the same in human endothelial cells of different HO-1 genotypes, showing that PTX is similarly efficient in carriers of more and less active HO-1 promoter variants. In mice, PTX did not influence HO-1 expression, as measured in liver, kidney, spleen, heart, and skin. Accordingly, the response of PTX treated animals to LPS was the same in wild type and HO-1 deficient mice. PTX to a similar extent increased influx of leukocyte into peritoneal cavity, decreased production of TNF and reduced expression of VCAM-1 in vascular intima.

CONCLUSION

PTX inhibits production of TNF and may decrease inflammatory reaction both in vitro and in vivo, but these effects are independent of HO-1.