Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs

Consanguineous marriages have been practiced since the early existence of modern humans. Until now consanguinity is widely practiced in several global communities with variable rates depending on religion, culture, and geography. Arab populations have a long tradition of consanguinity due to socio-cultural factors. Many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and specifically first cousin marriages which may reach 25-30% of all marriages. In some countries like Qatar, Yemen, and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as postnatal mortality and rates of congenital malformations. The association of consanguinity with other reproductive health parameters, such as fertility and fetal wastage, is controversial. The main impact of consanguinity, however, is an increase in the rate of homozygotes for autosomal recessive genetic disorders. Worldwide, known dominant disorders are more numerous than known recessive disorders. However, data on genetic disorders in Arab populations as extracted from the Catalogue of Transmission Genetics in Arabs (CTGA) database indicate a relative abundance of recessive disorders in the region that is clearly associated with the practice of consanguinity

Fuzzy θ-perfect irreducible mappings and fuzzy θ-proximity spaces

In this paper we introduce and study the concepts of fuzzy perfect, fuzzy theta-continuous, fuzzy irreducible and fuzzy theta-perfect mappings. It is shown that the small image of a canonical open fuzzy set remains canonical open under fuzzy theta-closed irreducible mapping. Also, we introduce and study the concept of fuzzy theta-proximity spaces and point out their interrelation with separated fuzzy proximity spaces by means of fuzzy theta-perfect irreducible mappings

Expression of Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid (TRPV) channels in different passages of articular chondrocytes.

Ion channels play important roles in chondrocyte mechanotransduction. The transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) subfamily of ion channels consists of six members. TRPV1-4 are temperature sensitive calcium-permeable, relatively non-selective cation channels whereas TRPV5 and TRPV6 show high selectivity for calcium over other cations. In this study we investigated the effect of time in culture and passage number on the expression of TRPV4, TRPV5 and TRPV6 in articular chondrocytes isolated from equine metacarpophalangeal joints. Polyclonal antibodies raised against TRPV4, TRPV5 and TRPV6 were used to compare the expression of these channels in lysates from first expansion chondrocytes (P0) and cells from passages 1-3 (P1, P2 and P3) by western blotting. TRPV4, TRPV5 and TRPV6 were expressed in all passages examined. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence confirmed the presence of these channels in sections of formalin fixed articular cartilage and monolayer cultures of methanol fixed P2 chondrocytes. TRPV5 and TRPV6 were upregulated with time and passage in culture suggesting that a shift in the phenotype of the cells in monolayer culture alters the expression of these channels. In conclusion, several TRPV channels are likely to be involved in calcium signaling and homeostasis in chondrocytes

Cardiovascular disease risk and prevention amongst Syrian refugees: mixed methods study of Médecins Sans Frontières programme in Jordan

Background The growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) presented new challenges for medical humanitarian aid and little was known about primary health care approaches for these diseases in humanitarian response. We aimed to evaluate Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF’s) use of total CVD risk based prevention strategies amongst Syrian refugees in northern Jordan to identify opportunities to improve total CVD risk based guidance for humanitarian settings. Methods We evaluated CVD risk assessment and management in two outpatient NCD clinics in the Irbid governorate of Jordan using a mixed methods design with qualitative and quantitative strands of equal priority, integrated during data collection and interpretation. World Health Organisation/International Society of Hypertension (WHO/ISH) CVD risk charts requiring measured cholesterol were used in the clinics and in our analysis. An electronic database of routine clinical information was used to determine the CVD risk profile of the clinic population, the pattern and concordance of lipid-lowering treatment prescriptions, and the prevalence and accuracy of documented CVD risk scores. This was combined with semi-structured interviews with MSF health workers, which were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed thematically. Results We reviewed the clinical records of 2907 patients. One fifth (20.9%; 95% CI 19.5, 22.4) of patients had a history of CVD while 56.8% (95% CI 54.9, 58.6) of patients had a WHO/ISH risk of &lt;10%. Only 23.3% (95% CI 21.9, 25.0) of patients had a documented WHO/ISH risk score of which 65% were correct. 60.4% (95% CI 58.6, 62.2) of patients were eligible for lipid-lowering treatment and 48.3% (95% CI 45.9, 50.6) of these patients were prescribed it. Analysis of interviews with sixteen MSF staff identified nine explanatory themes. Providers had confusion about when and how to use the risk charts, tended to favour lifestyle intervention over drug treatment, and had uncertainty about the role of lipid-lowering treatment in primary but not secondary prevention. Patients were reluctant to start, stop, or change medication and were less able to modify risk factors and benefit from health education because of their social and economic context. Conclusions Four priority areas to improve CVD risk-based guidance for prevention in humanitarian settings include: practical training for health workers on total CVD risk assessment and associated guidance; supporting the use of CVD risk charts as a communication tool and task sharing; contextualising risk scoring in a broader, single consultation, total CVD risk-based algorithm; and targeting popular health myths amongst the community.</p

Nootkatone Counteracts Melamine-Mediated Nephrotoxicity via Modulation of Intermediate Filament Proteins, Oxidative, Inflammatory, and Apoptotic Events

Doaa Abdelrahaman,1 Ola A Habotta,2 Ahmed Ateya,3 Ahmed A Aldarmahi,4,5 Reham A El-Shafei,6 Mohamed M Badawy,7,8 Ahmed A El-Mansy,9,10 Thoraya M A-Elgadir,11 Aml M Nada,12 Mona G Elhadidy,13,14 Eman Hamza,15,16 Khairiah M Alwutayed,17 Mohamed El-Sherbiny,18 Liana Fericean,19 Florin Imbrea,20 Ahmed Abdeen21 1Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 3Department of Animal Husbandry and Wealth Development, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 4Department of Basic Science, College of Science and Health Professions, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 5National Guard- Health Affairs, King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre, Jeddah, 21582, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 7Department of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 8Department of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Delta University for Science and Technology, Gamasa, Egypt; 9Department of Basic Medical and Dental Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Zarqa University, Zarqa, Jordan; 10Department of Medical Histology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 11Department of Clinical Biochemistry, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia; 12Department of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 13Department of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 14Department of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Baha University, Al Aqiq, Saudi Arabia; 15Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 16Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Horus University, Damietta, Egypt; 17Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 18Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, AlMaarefa University, Riyadh, 11597, Saudi Arabia; 19Department of Biology and Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Life Sciences “king Michael I” from Timișoara, Calea Aradului, Romania; 20Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Life Sciences “King Mihai I” from Timisoara, Calea Aradului, Romania; 21Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Toukh, EgyptCorrespondence: Florin Imbrea, University of Life Sciences “King Mihai I” from Timisoara, 119, Calea Aradului, Timisoara, 300645, Romania, Email [email protected] Ahmed Abdeen, Benha University, Toukh, 13736, Egypt, Email [email protected]: Nootkatone (NK), a bioactive sesquiterpene ketone, is a major ingredient in grapefruit that has distinguished biological activities. Melamine (MM), a food adulterant, was reported to induce toxic effects including renal disorders. Hence, this protocol was devoted to evaluate the renoprotective impact of NK toward MM-evoked renal damage.Methods: Rats were either exposed to MM (700 mg/kg) or a combination of MM and two doses of NK (5 and 10 mg/kg).Results: The results showed that NK therapy notably decreased the kidney functional parameters, along with KIM-1 and NGAL expressions of MM group. Furthermore, a decrease in MDA and NO levels as well as an elevation in SOD, CAT, GSH, and SOD and NRF2 mRNA expression in the NK group demonstrated NK’s ability to enhance the renal antioxidant defense of the MM group. Significant suppression in renal inflammatory markers was achieved by NK via lessening of IL-1β and TNF-α, besides downregulation of NF-κB and IL-1β expressions. NK also downregulated vimentin, nestin, and desmin in the MM group. Additionally, in response to the MM exposure, NK hindered renal apoptosis by decreasing caspase-3 expression and restoring renal histopathological features.Conclusion: These outcomes suggest that NK can be considered as a prospective candidate to guard against MM exposure-mediated renal toxic effects.Keywords: apoptosis, inflammation, intermediate proteins, melamine nephrotoxicity, nootkatone, oxidative stres