New three-dimensional poly(decanediol-co-tricarballylate) elastomeric fibrous mesh fabricated by photoreactive electrospinning for cardiac tissue engineering applications

Reactive electrospinning is capable of efficiently producing in situ crosslinked scaffolds resembling the natural extracellular matrix with tunable characteristics. In this study, we aimed to synthesize, characterize, and investigate the in vitro cytocompatibility of electrospun fibers of acrylated poly(1,10-decanediol-co-tricarballylate) copolymer prepared utilizing the photoreactive electrospinning process with ultraviolet radiation for crosslinking, to be used for cardiac tissue engineering applications. Chemical, thermal, and morphological characterization confirmed the successful synthesis of the polymer used for production of the electrospun fibrous scaffolds with more than 70% porosity. Mechanical testing confirmed the elastomeric nature of the fibers required to withstand cardiac contraction and relaxation. The cell viability assay showed no significant cytotoxicity of the fibers on cultured cardiomyoblasts and the cell-scaffolds interaction study showed a significant increase in cell attachment and growth on the electrospun fibers compared to the reference. This data suggests that the newly synthesized fibrous scaffold constitutes a promising candidate for cardiac tissue engineering applications. - 2018 by the authors.We would like to thank Fatima Mraiche for supplying the H9C2 cardiomyoblasts and Nabeel Abdulrahman for his support in the fluorescent imaging. The support of Qatar University Central Lab Unit team led by Saeed Al-Meer is highly appreciated. We acknowledge Michelle Somerville at the University of Bristol for her help with tissue culture studies.Scopu

The Effect of Chronic Endurance Exercise on Serum Levels of MOTS-c and Humanin in Professional Athletes

Background: Humanin and the mitochondrial open reading frame of the 12S rRNA-c (MOTS-c) are mitochondrial encoded peptides involved in energy metabolism, cytoprotection, longevity, insulin sensitivity and their expression decrease with age. Levels of these molecules have been shown to respond to acute exercise, however little is known about their modulation under different chronic exercise conditions. In this study, we aim to compare levels of Humanin and MOTS-c in non-athletes vs professional (moderate and high endurance) athletes. Methods: Serum samples were collected from 30 non-athlete controls and 75 professional athletes (47 low/moderate endurance and 28 high endurance athletes). Levels of Humanin and MOTS-c were measured by the enzyme linked immunosorbent aaasy (ELISA) and linear models were generated to compare the effect of different levels of endurance exercise on these factors in different age groups. Spearman correlation was used to assess the correlation between these factors in athletes and non-athletes. Results: We showed that professional athletes had lower levels of MOTS-c and higher levels of Humanin than sedentary controls. Within the athletic groups, high endurance athletes had lower levels of Humanin than low/moderate endurance athletes of the same gender/age groups, whereas MOTS-c levels did not change between the subgroups. Humanin and MOTS-c levels were highly correlated in athletes, but not in sedentary controls. Conclusions: This pilot data suggests that serum levels of the mitochondrial proteins MOTS-c and Humanin change in response to chronic exercise with implications on energy metabolism and performance.This research was funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), grant number NPRP13S-1230-190008, and Qatar University, grant number QUCG-BRC-21/22-1 (MAE).Scopu

Preparation and optimization of monodisperse polymeric microparticles using modified vibrating orifice aerosol generator for controlled delivery of letrozole in breast cancer therapy

Letrozole (LTZ) is effective for the treatment of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. In this work, and for the first time, using vibrating orifice aerosol generator (VOAG) technology, monodisperse poly-�-caprolactone (PCL), and poly (D, L-Lactide) (PDLLA) LTZ-loaded microparticles were prepared and found to elicit selective high cytotoxicity against cancerous breast cells with no apparent toxicity on healthy cells in vitro. Plackett?Burman experimental design was utilized to identify the most significant factors affecting particle size distribution to optimize the prepared particles. The generated microparticles were characterized in terms of microscopic morphology, size, zeta potential, drug entrapment efficiency, and release profile over one-month period. Long-term cytotoxicity of the microparticles was also investigated using MCF-7 human breast cancer cell lines in comparison with primary mammary epithelial cells (MEC). The prepared polymeric particles were monodispersed, spherical, and apparently smooth, regardless of the polymer used or the loaded LTZ concentration. Particle size varied from 15.6 to 91.6 �m and from 22.7 to 99.6 �m with size distribution (expressed as span values) ranging from 0.22 to 1.24 and from 0.29 to 1.48 for PCL and PDLLA based microparticles, respectively. Upon optimizing the manufacture parameters, span was reduced to 0.162?0.195. Drug entrapment reached as high as 96.8%, and drug release from PDLLA and PCL followed a biphasic zero-order release using 5 or 30% w/w drug loading in the formulations. Long-term in vitro cytotoxicity studies indicated that microparticles formulations significantly inhibited the growth of MCF-7 cell line over a prolonged period of time but did not have toxic effects on the normal breast epithelial cells. ? 2018, ? 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Qatar University Qatar Foundation Qatar National Research FundScopu

Biochemical, Histological and Ultrastructural Studies on the Effect of Citric acid Supplementation on Aflatoxins-intoxicated Japanese Quail

For poultry farmers and quails producers’, one of the biggest challenges is dealing with natural diet contaminants like mycotoxins. Worldwide, mycotoxins are present in all feed sources, primarily in corn, and they significantly reduce the health, immune function, and performance of birds. For this purpose, the effect of citric acid (CA) supplement on contaminated diet with Aflatoxins (AFL) in the liver biochemical, histological, and ultrastructural studies of male Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix). Influences of experimental diets were assessed in 3 replications of 6 birds each (n = 18 per treatment). Quails two weeks old were assigned into 4 equal groups. The control quails fed only basal diet, AFL group quails were given basal diet contaminated with 2.5 mg AFL/kg diet, citric group quails fed basal diet with 10 g citric acid/Kg, and AFL/citric group quails fed basal diet contaminated with 2.5 mg AFL /Kg and augmented with 10 g/Kg citric acid. After four weeks, feeding AFL to quails induced hepatotoxicity as evidenced by significant decline in body weight, serum albumin and total protein while it significantly increased serum ALT, and AST activities. AFL also induces liver oxidative stress by the elevation of lipid peroxidation and reducing GPx, ADH, SOD and catalase activities. Descriptive hepatic histological and ultrastructural alteration were also noted in the AFL group. Treatment with CA induced an increase in total protein, albumin, SOD, GPx, ADH and significantly decreased ALT and AST activities and MDA level. Moreover, it also improved the histological and ultrastructure alternations induced in the liver of AFL group. It was concluded that supplementation of CA into the AFL polluted diets lessened the adverse influences of AFL on quail’s liver

The association of HFE gene H63D polymorphism with endurance athlete status and aerobic capacity: novel findings and a meta-analysis

© 2020, The Author(s). Purpose: Iron is an important component of the oxygen-binding proteins and may be critical to optimal athletic performance. Previous studies have suggested that the G allele of C/G rare variant (rs1799945), which causes H63D amino acid replacement, in the HFE is associated with elevated iron indexes and may give some advantage in endurance-oriented sports. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the HFE H63D polymorphism and elite endurance athlete status in Japanese and Russian populations, aerobic capacity and to perform a meta-analysis using current findings and three previous studies. Methods: The study involved 315 international-level endurance athletes (255 Russian and 60 Japanese) and 809 healthy controls (405 Russian and 404 Japanese). Genotyping was performed using micro-array analysis or by PCR. VO2max in 46 male Russian endurance athletes was determined using gas analysis system. Results: The frequency of the iron-increasing CG/GG genotypes was significantly higher in Russian (38.0 vs 24.9%; OR 1.85, P = 0.0003) and Japanese (13.3 vs 5.0%; OR 2.95, P = 0.011) endurance athletes compared to ethnically matched controls. The meta-analysis using five cohorts (two French, Japanese, Spanish, and Russian; 586 athletes and 1416 controls) showed significant prevalence of the CG/GG genotypes in endurance athletes compared to controls (OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.58–2.45; P = 1.7 × 10–9). Furthermore, the HFE G allele was associated with high V̇O2max in male athletes [CC: 61.8 (6.1), CG/GG: 66.3 (7.8) ml/min/kg; P = 0.036]. Conclusions: We have shown that the HFE H63D polymorphism is strongly associated with elite endurance athlete status, regardless ethnicities and aerobic capacity in Russian athletes

Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals a Novel Association Between MYBPC3 Gene Polymorphism, Endurance Athlete Status, Aerobic Capacity and Steroid Metabolism

© Copyright © 2020 Al-Khelaifi, Yousri, Diboun, Semenova, Kostryukova, Kulemin, Borisov, Andryushchenko, Larin, Generozov, Miyamoto-Mikami, Murakami, Zempo, Miyachi, Takaragawa, Kumagai, Naito, Fuku, Abraham, Hingorani, Donati, Botrè, Georgakopoulos, Suhre, Ahmetov, Albagha and Elrayess. Background: The genetic predisposition to elite athletic performance has been a controversial subject due to the underpowered studies and the small effect size of identified genetic variants. The aims of this study were to investigate the association of common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with endurance athlete status in a large cohort of elite European athletes using GWAS approach, followed by replication studies in Russian and Japanese elite athletes and functional validation using metabolomics analysis. Results: The association of 476,728 SNPs of Illumina DrugCore Gene chip and endurance athlete status was investigated in 796 European international-level athletes (645 males, 151 females) by comparing allelic frequencies between athletes specialized in sports with high (n = 662) and low/moderate (n = 134) aerobic component. Replication of results was performed by comparing the frequencies of the most significant SNPs between 242 and 168 elite Russian high and low/moderate aerobic athletes, respectively, and between 60 elite Japanese endurance athletes and 406 controls. A meta-analysis has identified rs1052373 (GG homozygotes) in Myosin Binding Protein (MYBPC3; implicated in cardiac hypertrophic myopathy) gene to be associated with endurance athlete status (P = 1.43 × 10−8, odd ratio 2.2). Homozygotes carriers of rs1052373 G allele in Russian athletes had significantly greater VO2max than carriers of the AA + AG (P = 0.005). Subsequent metabolomics analysis revealed several amino acids and lipids associated with rs1052373 G allele (1.82 × 10–05) including the testosterone precursor androstenediol (3beta,17beta) disulfate. Conclusions: This is the first report of genome-wide significant SNP and related metabolites associated with elite athlete status. Further investigations of the functional relevance of the identified SNPs and metabolites in relation to enhanced athletic performance are warranted

Empower Generations: Longitudinal Study for National Capacities in Life Sciences and Healthcare

Background: The decrease in the number of adolescents showing genuine interest in the fields of healthcare has been one of the recent concerns worldwide. A plethora of studies have discussed the factors that influence career choices of high school students, including science educational pedagogies, gender, environment, the student’s cognitive capabilities, and social perceptions of occupations being gender-based. As reported in 2012, a majority of the Qatari high-school students have shown a greater interest in business, technological, and administrative careers and a lower interest in healthcare. Comprehensive national and institutional strategies have since been utilized to direct the interest of Qatari generation toward healthcare careers. Objective: The primary objective of this case-control study is to assess the effect of schooling type on the enrollment in the Empower Generations (EG) career training in healthcare at the Qatar University. The secondary objectives are: (1) to describe the effect of initial career interest on the EG and healthcare majors composite’s enrollments and (2) assess the association between the history of enrollment in EG and university GPAs. Method: This is a case-control study that utilized the Qatar University’s enrollment databases for the health professions majors, that is, Health Sciences, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dentistry. The datasets were collected from the registration records between 2013 and 2020. The statistical analysis was performed on the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 26; the study used Chi-Square Test and Independence and logistic regression to assess the effect of schooling type and initial career interest on the enrollment in the EG training at the Qatar University. All statistics were tested for p = 0.05 and 95% CI. Results: Total QU-Health records of admissions from 2013 to 2020 involve 562 eligible students. A total of 180 students (32%) attended EG training before they were admitted to QU-Health, whereas a total of 382 (68%) were enrolled to QU-Health without attending EG training. The study revealed significant findings regarding the association between EG training and international schools (p < 0.001). Among the group who attended EG training, there were 63 students (75%) who reported that they did not have an initial career interest before they joined the EG training compared to 21 students (25%) reported that they did not have an initial career interest but enrolled immediately to healthcare majors. The findings indicate insignificant association between the history of EG training and the high school percentage p = 0.397. However, the association between a history of EG training and the university’s GPA is significant, with a p < 0.001, OR 5.016 (2.954–8.518). Conclusion: The study has shown significant association between the EG training enrollment and the type of school and the initial career interest of high school students. The EG training is perceived to direct the interest of high school students toward the careers of healthcare and is thought to enhance the performance of college students through their university’s GPAs