Sedative Drug Use among King Saud University Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Sampling Study

Introduction. Medical students experience significant psychological stress and are therefore at higher risk of using sedatives. There are currently no studies describing the prevalence of sedative drug use among medical students in Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with sedative drug use among medical students in Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional convenience sampling study gathered data by anonymous questionnaire from students enrolled at the King Saud University College of Medicine in 2011. The questionnaires collected data regarding social and demographic variables, sleep patterns, and the use of stimulant and sedative drugs since enrollment. Sedatives were defined as any pharmaceutical preparations that induce sleep. Results and Discussion. Of the 729 students who returned questionnaires, 17.0% reported sedative drug use at some time since enrollment. Higher academic year, lower grade point average, regular exercise, fewer hours of sleep per day, poorer quality of sleep, and the presence of sleeping disorders were found to be significantly associated with sedative drug use. Conclusions. Further study is required to increase our understanding of sedative drug use patterns in this relatively high-risk group, as such understanding will help in the development of early intervention programs

Clinical Presentation and Surgical Management of Five Pediatric Cases with Bronchogenic Cysts: Retrospective Case Series

Background: Bronchogenic cysts (BCs) refer to congenital lesions that result from primitive or abnormal foregut budding, and can be pulmonary or mediastinal. Their occurrence can take place at any point on the tracheobronchial tree, but they are usually localized in the lung parenchyma and mediastinum, and may be symptomatic or asymptomatic. Bronchogenic cyst symptoms can vary, depending on the size and location of the cyst. Methods: A retrospective review of the charts of five patients with a histopathological diagnosis of bronchogenic cysts was performed between 2014 and 2020. The patients reported in this study were diagnosed and managed at Abha Maternity and Children Hospital, Abha, southwest Saudi Arabia. In addition, demographic information, as well as diagnostic and therapeutic information, was provided for each patient, both at discharge and after discharge. All patients had confirmed congenital bronchogenic cysts with different clinical phenotypes and radiological findings. Results: All patients had histopathologically confirmed bronchogenic cysts with different clinical and radiological presentations. Two patients had mediastinal-located cysts; one had a laryngeal cyst; and the last two patients had infected intrapulmonary bronchogenic cysts. All patients underwent complete excision and did not experience recurrence or other postoperative complications during the follow-up period. The latter two patients required lobectomies of the right middle and upper lobes. Conclusions: Although bronchogenic cysts are considered a rare congenital pulmonary malformation, they should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pediatric patients with unusual airway and parenchymal lung manifestations, particularly, persistent stridor, feeding difficulty, and complicated pneumonia. Surgical excision of the cyst is the gold-standard therapy for symptomatic bronchogenic cysts and is highly recommended for asymptomatic ones. Long-term follow-up studies will be required to explore any long-term complications of BCs, particularly regarding the malignancy transformation

Expression and new exon mutations of the human Beta defensins and their association on colon cancer development.

The development of cancer involves genetic predisposition and a variety of environmental exposures. Genome-wide linkage analyses provide evidence for the significant linkage of many diseases to susceptibility loci on chromosome 8p23, the location of the human defensin gene cluster. Human β-defensins (hBDs) are important molecules of innate immunity. This study was designed to analyze the expression and genetic variations in hBDs (hBD-1, hBD-2, hBD-3 and hBD-4) and their putative association with colon cancer. hBD gene expression and relative protein expression were evaluated by Real-Time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry, respectively, from 40 normal patients and 40 age-matched patients with colon cancer in Saudi Arabia. In addition, hBD polymorphisms were genotyped by exon sequencing and by promoter methylation. hBD-1, hBD-2, hBD-3 and hBD-4 basal messenger RNA expression was significantly lower in tumor tissues compared with normal tissues. Several insertion mutations were detected in different exons of the analyzed hBDs. However, no methylation in any hBDs promoters was detected because of the limited number of CpG islands in these regions. We demonstrated for the first time a link between hBD expression and colon cancer. This suggests that there is a significant link between innate immunity deregulation through disruption of cationic peptides (hBDs) and the potential development of colon cancer

Differents structures of hBDs: hBD-1 (panel A), hBD2 (Panel B), and hBD3mutant and wild type (panel C and D).

<p>Differents structures of hBDs: hBD-1 (panel A), hBD2 (Panel B), and hBD3mutant and wild type (panel C and D).</p

Clinical data of patients diagnosed with colon cancer via colonoscopy.

<p>Clinical data of patients diagnosed with colon cancer via colonoscopy.</p

Summary of hBDs mutations and their nature/location found in colon cancer tissues.

<p>N = Normal colon tissue</p><p>T = Tumor</p><p>Summary of hBDs mutations and their nature/location found in colon cancer tissues.</p

Amino acid sequence alignment of four human beta defensins (panel A for hBD1, panel B for hBD2,Panel C for hBD3 and panel D for hBD4) with the amino acid sequences for their corresponding observed mutants.

<p>Mutations are highlighted in red for each hBDs gene.</p

Predicted effect of the mutations affecting hBD-3 on protein structure stability.

<p>^apredicted protein thermal stability change (∆∆G in Kcal/mol) of mutation from CUPSAT program.</p><p>^brelative solvent accessibility of the wild type residue computed from PoP MuSiC program.</p><p>^cpridected protein stability change (∆∆G in Kcal/mol) of mutation from PoP MuSiC program.</p><p>Predicted effect of the mutations affecting hBD-3 on protein structure stability.</p

Human beta defensin (hBD) protein expression in colon cancer tissues.

<p>Tissues were immunostained using specific hBD antibodies (Panel 2A). hBD- positive cells in the tissues were estimated as follows: 0 points, no positive color; 1 point, <20% positive staining; 2 points, 21‑50% positive staining; 3 points, 51–75% positive staining; and 4 points, >75% positive staining. This is presented in Panel B.</p