Search

Purpose: To investigate the contractile responses of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) to spasmogens after incubation with harmaline, harmine, and harmalol, which are alkaloids obtained from Peganum harmala L., a member of the Zygophyllaceae family. Methods: Contractile responses of VSMCs to norepinephrine (NE; 1 µmol/L) and potassium chloride (KCl; 60 mmol/L) were recorded in rat aortic ring preparations pre-incubated with 0.5, 1, 5 and 10 µmol/L of each alkaloid for 15 min. Responses were expressed as mean values of contractions in incubated preparations, relative to the recorded tension prior to treatment with alkaloids. Results: Pre-incubation with harmaline at concentration of 10 µmol/L significantly reduced contractile responses to NE by 69.0 ± 3.0 % (p < 0.00002), and decreased KCl-induced contraction by 34.0 ± 9.0 % (p < 0.05). Harmalol was the most effective in inhibiting contractions to KCl (48.0 ± 9.0 %, p < 0.01). However, harmalol produced relatively moderate inhibitory effects on NE-induced contractions (46.0 ± 4.0 %, p < 0.005), followed by harmine (52.0 ± 8.0 %, p < 0.02), but it did not significantly affect contractile responses to KCl. Conclusion: These results highlight the differential effects of pre-incubation with alkaloids from P. harmala and their potential effects on the prevention of VSMC spasms induced by either chemicals or stimuli that change the membrane potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with heart failure (HF) are generally at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and having uncontrolled blood glucose. Furthermore, the prevalence of uncontrolled blood glucose in patients with HF is largely unknown. Identifying the factors associated with poor blood glucose control is a preliminary step in the development of effective intervention programs. The current cross-sectional study was conducted at two major hospitals to explore the factors associated with blood glucose control among patients with heart failure and type 2 diabetes. In addition to sociodemographic, medical records were used to collect medical information and a validated questionnaire was used to evaluate medication adherence. Regression analysis showed that poor medication adherence (OR = 0.432; 95%CI 0.204–0.912; P<0.05) and increased white blood cells count (OR = 1.12; 95%CI 1.033–1.213; P<0.01) were associated with poor glycemic control. For enhancing blood glucose control among patients with HF and diabetes, future intervention programs should specifically target patients who have high WBC counts and poor medication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SARS-CoV-2 appears to induce diverse innate and adaptive immune responses, resulting in different clinical manifestations of COVID-19. Due to their function in presenting viral peptides and initiating the adaptive immune response, certain Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) alleles may influence the susceptibility to severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, 92 COVID-19 patients from 15 different nationalities, with mild (n = 30), moderate (n = 35), and severe (n = 27) SARS-CoV-2 infection, living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were genotyped for the Class I HLA -A, -C, and -B alleles using next-generation sequencing (NGS) between the period of May 2020 to June 2020. Alleles and inferred haplotype frequencies in the hospitalized patient group (those with moderate to severe disease, n = 62) were compared to non-hospitalized patients (mild or asymptomatic, n = 30). An interesting trend was noted between the severity of COVID-19 and the HLA-C*04 (P = 0.0077) as well as HLA-B*35 (P = 0.0051) alleles. The class I haplotype HLA-C*04-B*35 was also significantly associated (P = 0.0049). The involvement of inflammation, HLA-C*04, and HLA-B*35 in COVID-19 severity highlights the potential roles of both the adaptive and innate immune responses against SARS-CoV-2. Both alleles have been linked to several respiratory diseases, including pulmonary arterial hypertension along with infections caused by the coronavirus and influenza. This study, therefore, supports the potential use of HLA testing in prioritizing public healthcare interventions for patients at risk of COVID-19 infection and disease progression, in addition to providing personalized immunotherapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a globally underdiagnosed genetic condition associated with premature cardiovascular death. The genetic etiology data on Arab FH patients is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the genetic basis of FH in a Saudi family using whole exome sequencing (WES) and multidimensional bioinformatic analysis. Our WES findings revealed a rare heterozygous gain-of-function variant (R496W) in the exon 9 of the PCSK9 gene as a causal factor for FH in this family. This variant was absent in healthy relatives of the proband and 200 healthy normolipidemic controls from Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, this variant has not been previously reported in various regional and global population genomic variant databases. Interestingly, this variant is classified as “likely pathogenic" (PP5) based on the variant interpretation guidelines of the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG). Computational functional characterization suggested that this variant could destabilize the native PCSK9 protein and alter its secondary and tertiary structural features. In addition, this variant was predicted to negatively influence its ligand-binding ability with LDLR and Alirocumab antibody molecules. This rare PCSK9 (R496W) variant is likely to expand our understanding of the genetic basis of FH in Saudi Arabia. This study also provides computational structural insights into the genotype-protein phenotype relationship of PCSK9 pathogenic variants and contributes to the development of personalized medicine for FH patients in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess medication adherence and to explore the factors associated with medication non-adherence among patient with HF in Jordan. Methods: The current cross-sectional study was conducted at the outpatient cardiology clinics at two main hospitals in Jordan from August 2021 through April 2022. Variables including socio-demographics, biomedical variables, in addition to disease and medication characteristics were collected using medical records and custom-designed questionnaire. Medication adherence was assessed using the 4-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the factors that are significantly and independently associated with medication non-adherence. Results: Of the 427 participating patients, 92.5% had low to moderate medication adherence. Results of the regression analysis revealed that that patients who had higher education level (OR=3.36; 95% CI 1.08– 10.43; P=0.04) and were not suffering from medication-related side effects (OR=4.7; 95% CI 1.91– 11.5; P=0.001) had significantly higher odds of being in the moderate adherence group. Patients who were taking statins (OR=16.59; 95% CI 1.79– 153.98; P=0.01) or ACEIs/ ARBs (OR=3.95; 95% CI 1.01– 15.41; P=0.04) had significantly higher odds of being in the high adherence group. Furthermore, Patients who were not taking anticoagulants had higher odds of being in the moderate (OR=2.77; 95% CI 1.2– 6.46; P=0.02) and high (OR=4.11; 95% CI 1.27– 13.36; P=0.02) adherence groups when compared to patients who were taking anticoagulants. Conclusion: The poor medication adherence in the present study sheds the light on the importance of implementing intervention programs which focus on improving patients' perception about the prescribed medications particularly for patients who have low educational levels, receive an anticoagulant, and do not receive a statin or an ACEI/ ARB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder affecting the central nervous system and motor functions. The biological complexity of PD is yet to reveal potential targets for intervention or to slow the disease severity. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the fidelity of blood to substantia nigra (SN) tissue gene expression from PD patients to provide a systematic approach to predict role of the key genes of PD pathobiology. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from multiple microarray data sets of PD blood and SN tissue from GEO database are identified. Using the theoretical network approach and variety of bioinformatic tools, we prioritized the key genes from DEGs. A total of 540 and 1024 DEGs were identified in blood and SN tissue samples, respectively. Functional pathways closely related to PD such as ERK1 and ERK2 cascades, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, Wnt, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), and PI3K-Akt signaling were observed by enrichment analysis. Expression patterns of 13 DEGs were similar in both blood and SN tissues. Comprehensive network topological analysis and gene regulatory networks identified additional 10 DEGs functionally connected with molecular mechanisms of PD through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), autophagy, and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathways. Potential drug molecules were identified by chemical-protein network and drug prediction analysis. These potential candidates can be further validated in vitro/in vivo to be used as biomarkers and/or novel drug targets for the PD pathology and/or to arrest or delay the neurodegeneration over the years, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on biocatalytic transformations of pinenes by cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes reveal the formation of different oxygenated products from a single substrate due to the multistate reactivity of CYP and the many reactive sites in the pinene scaffold. Up until now, the detailed mechanism of these biocatalytic transformations of pinenes have not been reported. Hereby, we report a systematic theoretical study of the plausible hydrogen abstraction and hydroxylation reactions of α- and β-pinenes by CYP using the density functional theory (DFT) method. All DFT calculations in this study were based on B3LYP/LAN computational methodology using the Gaussian09 software. We used the B3LYP functional with corrections for dispersive forces, BSSE, and anharmonicity to study the mechanism and thermodynamic properties of these reactions using a bare model (without CYP) and a pinene-CYP model. According to the potential energy surface and Boltzmann distribution for radical conformers, the major reaction products of CYP-catalyzed hydrogen abstraction from β-pinene are the doublet trans (53.4%) and doublet cis (46.1%) radical conformer at delta site. The formation of doublet cis/trans hydroxylated products released a total Gibbs free energy of about 48 kcal/mol. As for alpha pinene, the most stable radicals were trans-doublet (86.4%) and cis-doublet (13.6%) at epsilon sites, and their hydroxylation products released a total of ~50 kcal/mol Gibbs free energy. Our results highlight the likely C-H abstraction and oxygen rebounding sites accounting for the multi-state of CYP (doublet, quartet, and sextet spin states) and the formation of different conformers due to the presence of cis/trans allylic hydrogen in α-pinene and β-pinene molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In recent years, the responsibilities of community pharmacists have changed significantly. This study aimed to assess Jordanian public satisfaction with community pharmacists' role as healthcare providers and to evaluate factors affecting their satisfaction level. Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted among the Jordanian public using a convenience sampling approach between May 2022 and June 2022. A link to the self-administered questionnaire was distributed via different social media platforms to be filled by participants willing to participate to evaluate their views and satisfaction of community pharmacists' role as healthcare providers. Key findings: In this study, 710 participants agreed to participate in this study. The participants had a median age of 36.0 years and 62.3% of them were female. The most frequent reason for visiting any community pharmacy was purchasing prescription medications (83.1%). The location of the pharmacy was the most selected factor influencing the choice of a particular community pharmacy by the study participants (89.3%). Results showed that respondents had an acceptable satisfaction score about pharmacists' behaviours and roles (median score of 32.0 out of 40.0). More than 80% of the participants were satisfied with the language used by the pharmacist in discussing drug-related matters (84.9%), with the privacy maintained by the pharmacist while dealing with them (83.1%), with pharmacists' professionalism in dealing with patients (82.3%), and with the positive relationship between pharmacists and patients (81.0%). Respondents with a higher level of education showed more satisfaction towards pharmacists' services compared to those with lower levels of education (Beta = 0.088, P = 0.031). Conclusions: This study demonstrated an acceptable general satisfaction of community pharmacists while conducting their job, yet their role still mainly involves dispensing prescriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds and Aims: The role of Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) in increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases is reported in several populations. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation of high Lp(a) levels with the degree of coronary artery stenosis. Methods: Two hundred and sixty-eight patients were enrolled for this study. Patients who underwent coronary artery angiography and who had Lp(a) measurements available were included in this study. Binomial logistic regressions were applied to investigate the association between Lp(a) and stenosis in the four major coronary arteries. The effect of LDL and HDL Cholesterol on modulating the association of Lp(a) with coronary artery disease (CAD) was also evaluated. Multinomial regression analysis was applied to assess the association of Lp(a) with the different degrees of stenosis in the four major coronary arteries. Results: Our analyses showed that Lp(a) is a risk factor for CAD and this risk is significantly apparent in patients with HDL-cholesterol ≥ 35 mg/dL and in non-obese patients. A large proportion of the study patients with elevated Lp(a) levels had CAD even when exhibiting high HDL serum levels. Increased HDL with low Lp(a) serum levels were the least correlated with stenosis. A significantly higher levels of Lp(a) were found in patients with > 50% stenosis in at least two major coronary vessels arguing for pronounced and multiple stenotic lesions. Finally, the derived variant (rs1084651) of the LPA gene was significantly associated with CAD. Conclusion: Our study highlights the importance of Lp(a) levels as an independent biological marker of severe and multiple coronary artery stenosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several psychosocial, sleep/circadian, and cardiometabolic disorders have intricately interconnected pathologies involving melatonin disruption. Therefore, we hypothesize that melatonin could be a therapeutic target for treating potential comorbid diseases associated with this triad of psychosocial-sleep/circadian-cardiometabolic disorders. We investigated melatonin's target prediction and tractability for this triad of disorders. The melatonin's target prediction for the proposed psychosocial-sleep/circadian-cardiometabolic disorder triad was investigated using databases from Europe PMC, ChEMBL, Open Targets Genetics, Phenodigm, and PheWAS. The association scores for melatonin receptors MT1 and MT2 with this disorder triad were explored for evidence of target–disease predictions. The potential of melatonin as a tractable target in managing the disorder triad was investigated using supervised machine learning to identify melatonin activities in cardiovascular, neuronal, and metabolic assays at the cell, tissue, and organism levels in a curated ChEMBL database. Target–disease visualization was done by graphs created using "igraph" library-based scripts and displayed using the Gephi ForceAtlas algorithm. The combined Europe PMC (data type: text mining), ChEMBL (data type: drugs), Open Targets Genetics Portal (data type: genetic associations), PhenoDigm (data type: animal models), and PheWAS (data type: genetic associations) databases yielded types and varying levels of evidence for melatonin-disease triad correlations. Of the investigated databases, 235 association scores of melatonin receptors with the targeted diseases were greater than 0.2; to classify the evidence per disease class: 37% listed psychosocial disorders, 9% sleep/circadian disorders, and 54% cardiometabolic disorders. Using supervised machine learning, 546 cardiovascular, neuronal, or metabolic experimental assays with predicted or measured melatonin activity scores were identified in the ChEMBL curated database. Of 248 registered trials, 144 phase I to IV trials for melatonin or agonists have been completed, of which 33.3% were for psychosocial disorders, 59.7% were for sleep/circadian disorders, and 6.9% were for cardiometabolic disorders. Melatonin's druggability was evidenced by evaluating target prediction and tractability for the triad of psychosocial-sleep/circadian-cardiometabolic disorders. While melatonin research and development in sleep/circadian and psychosocial disorders is more advanced, as evidenced by melatonin association scores, substantial evidence on melatonin discovery in cardiovascular and metabolic disorders supports continued R&D in cardiometabolic disorders, as evidenced by melatonin activity scores. A multiplatform analysis provided an integrative assessment of the target–disease investigations that may justify further translational research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Jordan university hospital to evaluate the impact of microbial culture data and sensitivity results on optimizing UTI treatment. Methods: All positive urine cultures requested for adult patients (=18 years) admitted to Jordan University Hospital (JUH) within the period from January 2019-July 2021 were evaluated. The antibiotics prescribed before and after culture data and sensitivity results were compared to evaluate the impact of these diagnostic measures on optimizing UTI treatment. Results: During the study period, 2400 urine cultures revealed positive results. Among those patients, 1,600 (66.7%) were discharged before the availability of culture results and excluded. Of the remaining 800 patients, 701 patients (87.6%) received empiric treatment. After culture and sensitivity results were available, overall, 84 (10.5%) patients had optimization (improvement) in their UTI management after culture results were known, while 6 (0.8%) patients had a worsening in their treatments. Based on the culture results, we found that only 12.4% of patients were appropriately treated before and after the culture results. Moreover, our results revealed that 31.9% were inappropriately treated for their UTIs before and after culture results. Conclusion: This study revealed an alarmingly high rate of inappropriate treatment of UTIs despite the availability of urine culture and sensitivity data, and that culture results were not used to optimize treatment strategies for UTI. This practice can potentially result in poor health-related outcomes and adversely affects efforts to battle AMR. Multifaceted strategies must be implemented to help clinicians follow the best current evidence and current guidelines in their selection of antibiotics for the management of UTIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Home medication delivery service is a major service for the public. It reduces overcrowding and unnecessary visits to health centers. This study aims to investigate the public perception of home delivery of medication service in Jordan and evaluate factors affecting the use of this service. Methods: The study was conducted in March 2022 using an online survey. Participants were asked to fill out a validated questionnaire to evaluate their perception of home delivery of medication service. Results: Among the 1032 adult participated in this study, the majority reported that they had heard of home delivery of medication service (n = 832, 80.6%). However, only 30.9% of them have used this service before. Results showed that 71.4% of the participants (n = 737) believe that home delivery of medication service is more convenient and accessible than in-store drug refill. In addition, 65.6% of the participants (n = 677) believed that home delivery of medication service is suitable only for refill-prescription drugs (65.0%). The main pros of the service as perceived by the study participants were to serve sick patients, elderly, and disabled people (n = 822, 79.7%). In contrast, the inability of patients to build a professional relationship with pharmacists using home delivery of medications service was the most perceived con of this service (n = 627, 60.8%). Finally, regression analysis revealed that older participants, those with chronic diseases, and those who visit community pharmacies two times or more per month revealed higher use of the service (P = < 0.05). Conclusion: This study has shown that most participants showed positive perceptions toward the home delivery of medication services. However, participants believed that this service may decrease pharmacist's patient contact time, thus affecting the quality of medication counseling. More comprehensive future studies are necessary to examine the financial aspects of such a service and its associated drawbacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sinoatrial node (SAN) is composed of highly specialized cells that mandate the spontaneous beating of the heart through self-generation of an action potential (AP). Despite this automaticity, the SAN is under the modulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). In diabetes mellitus (DM), heart rate variability (HRV) manifests as a hallmark of diabetic cardiomyopathy. This is paralleled by an impaired regulation of the ANS, and by a pathological remodeling of the pacemaker structure and function. The direct effect of diabetes on the molecular signatures underscoring this pathology remains ill-defined. The recent focus on the electrical currents of the SAN in diabetes revealed a repressed firing rate of the AP and an elongation of its tracing, along with conduction abnormalities and contractile failure. These changes are blamed on the decreased expression of ion transporters and cell-cell communication ports at the SAN (i.e., HCN4, calcium and potassium channels, connexins 40, 45, and 46) which further promotes arrhythmias. Molecular analysis crystallized the RGS4 (regulator of potassium currents), mitochondrial thioredoxin-2 (reactive oxygen species; ROS scavenger), and the calcium-dependent calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII) as metabolic culprits of relaying the pathological remodeling of the SAN cells (SANCs) structure and function. A special attention is given to the oxidation of CaMKII and the generation of ROS that induce cell damage and apoptosis of diabetic SANCs. Consequently, the diabetic SAN contains a reduced number of cells with significant infiltration of fibrotic tissues that further delay the conduction of the AP between the SANCs. Failure of a genuine generation of AP and conduction of their derivative waves to the neighboring atrial myocardium may also occur as a result of the anti-diabetic regiment (both acute and/or chronic treatments). All together, these changes pose a challenge in the field of cardiology and call for further investigations to understand the etiology of the structural/functional remodeling of the SANCs in diabetes. Such an understanding may lead to more adequate therapies that can optimize glycemic control and improve health-related outcomes in patients with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted at Jordan University Hospital (JUH) to evaluate the appropriateness of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) empiric treatment based on microbial culture data and susceptibility testing. All urine cultures requested for adult patients (≥18 years) admitted to JUH within the period from January 2019–July 2021 were reviewed and only those cultures with positive episodes of infection were considered. In this study, 6950 urine culture episodes were screened; among them, 34.5% (n = 2400) revealed positive results. Among those patients with positive culture episodes, 1600 patients (66.7%) were discharged before the availability of culture results and were excluded. Of the remaining eligible 800 patients, 701 (87.6%) received empiric treatment. In 26.8% of the eligible cases (n = 214), the prescribed empiric agents failed to have appropriate coverage of the identified pathogens, and in 14.6% of the cases (n = 117) the identified microorganisms were reported as resistant to the prescribed empiric agents. Furthermore, only 13.4% of the patients (n = 107) were appropriately treated for their UTI with empiric antibacterial agents. We were not able to judge the appropriateness of UTI treatment for one third (n = 263, 32.9%) of the patients, because they did not have susceptibility reports performed. This study revealed an alarmingly high rate of inappropriate treatment of UTIs, which encourages the emergence of bacterial resistance and affects health-related outcomes negatively. Therefore, antimicrobial stewardship programs must be applied to optimize antibiotic consumption in hospital settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main aim of the study is to assess physicians' prescribing patterns using the World Health Organization (WHO) prescribing indicators among pediatric outpatient clinics, and to identify areas in need of intervention regarding the rational use of medicines among pediatric outpatients in Jordan. Methods: This is a descriptive observational cross-sectional study that was conducted at the outpatient pediatric clinics at Jordan University Hospital (JUH). During the study period, prescriptions were collected over a period of two months. Prescribing patterns were assessed using the five WHO drug prescribing indicators. Results: A total of 1011 prescriptions/encounters were assessed. More than half of the encounters were for male patients (n= 595, 58.9%), and the median age of patients was eight years (IQR = 7.9). The average number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 1.8 ± 1.3; however, a specific individual clinic, the respiratory clinic, witnessed an average of 2.1 drugs prescribed per encounter. All of the prescribed drugs were prescribed by generic name (100%). Only 47.7% of the drugs were from the essential drug list of the JUH. Overall, antibiotics were prescribed in 19.5% of the encounters, but at higher rates in some clinics such as respiratory clinics (50.8%). Injectables were prescribed in 9.5% of the 1011 encounters; however, they were prescribed at higher rates in endocrinology and neurology clinics, in 44.8% and 31.3% of encounters, respectively. Conclusion: This study revealed some adequate prescribing habits with an optimal prescribing pattern of generics and number of drugs per encounter among pediatric patients. However, the prescribing patterns of the essential drug list, antibiotics, and injectables, in specific clinics, failed to meet WHO standards. The findings of this study shed light on the need to establish national strategies to improve prescribing practices among the pediatric population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The objective of this study was to investigate the psychosocial and cardiovascular markers in healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a STROBE compliant, blended exploratory study. Residents, staff physicians, nurses, and auxiliary healthcare professionals from both inpatient and outpatient medicine services were recruited using a planned random probability sample. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Fuster-BEWAT score (FBS), and socio-demographic factors, as well as sleep quality, were studied. The correlations between burnout severity and cardiovascular risk were examined using multivariable linear regression models adjusted for confounding variables, such as sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics. Results: The regression analysis with FBS as the outcome showed a negative association between cardiovascular health and emotional exhaustion [Coef.(95%CI): −0.029 (−0.048, −0.01), p = 0.002]. The higher the emotional exhaustion the lower the cardiovascular health. Further, the model showed a positive association between personal accomplishment and cardiovascular health [Coef.(95%CI): 0.045 (0.007, 0.082), p = 0.02]. Emotional exhaustion was significantly positive correlated with REM sleep and light average (Spearman's rank correlation: 0.37 and 0.35, respectively, with P < 0.05). Conclusion: The data from this study show that healthcare practitioners who are with burnout and emotional exhaustion have an elevated cardiovascular risk, however, causality cannot be determined. As an adaptive response to stressful situations, REM sleep increases. The findings of this study may be relevant in creating preventive strategies for burnout and cardiovascular risk reduction or prevention. Clinical Trial Registration: [www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT04422418]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Enhancing the contribution of practicing pharmacists into scientific evidence via practice-based research (PBR) is crucial in maintaining high-quality clinical practice and healthcare delivery. Involving community pharmacists in PBR can potentially can also help break barriers to the utilization of the current best evidence in everyday pharmacy practice. The impact of pharmacists' attitude towards PBR on their utilization of current best evidence in pharmacy practice is understudied. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of community pharmacists' attitudes toward PBR on their utilization of current best evidence, barriers for conducting PBR in clinical practice were also investigated. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 169 community pharmacists working across Jordan filled a questionnaire to assess their attitudes towards PBR, barriers to PBR, and their utilization of the current best evidence in clinical practice. Results: Pharmacists in this study showed a positive attitude toward PBR (attitude mean score >3.5). A positive attitude towards PBR was associated with high utilization of the best current scientific evidence. We also investigated several barriers to PBR and their association with utilization those included; the lack of perceived benefits, lack of institutional support, and lack of self-engagements of community pharmacists to PBR. The lack of perceived benefit was found to be negatively associated with pharmacists' utilization of the current best scientific evidence. Conclusion: In this study, pharmacists' utilization of current best evidence was found to be significantly impacted by their attitude toward PBR. The current study findings highlight the importance of supporting, promoting, and facilitating PBR among community pharmacists which can potentially enhance their utilization of the current best evidence in their everyday pharmacy practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global and local whole genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 enables the tracing of domestic and international transmissions. We sequenced Viral RNA from 37 sampled Covid-19 patients with RT-PCR-confirmed infections across the UAE and developed time-resolved phylogenies with 69 local and 3,894 global genome sequences. Furthermore, we investigated specific clades associated with the UAE cohort and, their global diversity, introduction events and inferred domestic and international virus transmissions between January and June 2020. The study comprehensively characterized the genomic aspects of the virus and its spread within the UAE and identified that the prevalence shift of the D614G mutation was due to the later introductions of the G-variant associated with international travel, rather than higher local transmissibility. For clades spanning different emirates, the most recent common ancestors pre-date domestic travel bans. In conclusion, we observe a steep and sustained decline of international transmissions immediately following the introduction of international travel restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elevated concentrations of interleukin-6 have been demonstrated to be an important key factor in COVID-19 host immune impairment. It represents an important prognostic factor of harm associated with COVID-19 infection by stimulating a vigorous proinflammatory response, leading to the so-called "cytokine storm". Therefore, immunomodulatory interventions targeting interleukin-6 receptor antagonism have been investigated as potential treatments to counterbalance the host immune dysregulation and to support the advantageous effects of corticosteroids. Tocilizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that has gained much interest during the COVID-19 pandemic as an interleukin-6 receptor antagonist. Various early observational studies have reported beneficial effects of tocilizumab. Moreover, consequent randomized controlled trials have subsequently shown significant positive results about tocilizumab efficacy and safety, focusing on outcomes like mortality, risk of intensive care unit admission, and the need for mechanical ventilation, while others presented conflicting findings. In this review, we first described the pathophysiology of COVID-19 infection while highlighting the role of interleukin-6. Furthermore, we also discussed the non-conclusive evidence about tocilizumab to be used as the standard of care therapy for all patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, as well as its beneficial effects in selected patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic created a worldwide debilitating health crisis with the entire humanity suffering from the deleterious effects associated with the high infectivity and mortality rates. While significant evidence is currently available online and targets various aspects of the disease, both inflammatory and noninflammatory kidney manifestations secondary to COVID-19 infection are still largely underrepresented. In this review, we summarized current knowledge about COVID-19-related kidney manifestations, their pathologic mechanisms as well as various pharmacotherapies used to treat patients with COVID-19. We also shed light on the effect of these medications on kidney functions that can further enhance renal damage secondary to the illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to or ingestion of turpentine can alter the scent of urine, conferring it a flowery, violet-like scent. Turpentine's effect on urine was initially noticed after its use either as medicine or as a preservative in winemaking. Regardless of the source of exposure, the phenomenon requires metabolic conversion of turpentine component(s) to ionone, the molecule mainly responsible for the scent of violets. The purpose of this study was to identify the presence of ionone in the urine of rats that received β-pinene, and thus to demonstrate that the postulated conversion occurs. We treated rats intraperitoneally with normal saline (negative control), β-ionone (positive control), low-dose β-pinene (1/3 of LD50), and high-dose β-pinene (1/2 of LD50). Urine samples were collected up to 72 h after administration of the compounds, followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry identification of the presence of ionone. β-Ionone was found in the urine of rats exposed to both low and high doses of β-pinene. In contrast, α-ionone appears unlikely to have been formed in rats exposed to either low or high doses of β-pinene. β-pinene was converted to β-ionone, followed by partial excretion in the urine of rats. β-Ionone is a minor metabolite of β-pinene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The credibility and the reliability of Internet webpages to seek medication-related information is questionable. The main objective of the current study was to evaluate perception and experience of pharmacists with the use of Internet-based medication information by their patients. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study that was conducted to evaluate perception and experience of pharmacists with the use of Internet-based medication information by their patients. During the study period, 200 pharmacists were approached to participate in the study using a paper-based survey to assess their perceptions and current experience with the use of Internet-based medication information by their patients. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean/standard deviation for continuous variables, and frequency/percentages for qualitative variables). Also, simple linear regression was utilized to screen factors affecting pharmacists' perception scores of the use of Internet-based medication information. Results: Among 161 recruited pharmacists, the majority (n = 129, 80.1%) reported receiving inquiries from patients about Internet-based medication information within the last year. Among them, only 22.6% (n = 29) of pharmacists believed that Internet-based medication information is somewhat or very accurate. Unfortunately, only 24.2% (n = 31) of them stated that they always had enough time for their patient to discuss their Internet-based medication information. Regarding pharmacists' perception of the use of Internet-based medication information by their patients, more than half of the pharmacists (>50%) believe that Internet-based medication information could increase the patient's role in taking responsibility. On the other hand, 54.7% (n = 88) of the pharmacists believed that Internet-based medication information would contribute to rising the healthcare cost by obtaining unnecessary medications by patients. Finally, pharmacists' educational level was found to significantly affect their perception scores toward patient use of Internet-based medication information where those with higher educational level showed lower perception score (r = -0.200, P-value = 0.011). Conclusion: Although pharmacists felt that usage of Internet-based data by patients is beneficial, they also have believed that it has a negative impact in terms of rising the healthcare cost, and it promotes unnecessary fear or concern about medications. We suggest that pharmacists be trained on principles of critical appraisal to become professional in retrieval information on the Internet that might improve their delivery of healthcare information and their recommendations to patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

aim of this study was to assess the impact of an online educational workshop on improving the knowledge, and perception of community pharmacists in Jordan towards the antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and enhancing their ability to appropriately select correct antibiotic therapy. Methods: This is a pre-post study that was conducted in Jordan in December 2020. An electronic questionnaire was used to assess the awareness, perception of community pharmacists towards AMS, and their ability to appropriately select correct antibiotic before and after the educational workshop. The two-days' workshop was conducted on Zoom application. Analysis was conducted using Wilcoxon signed-rank test, McNemar's test using SPSS version 22. Results: During the study period, 100 community pharmacists attended the educational workshop. Pharmacists' knowledge was assessed prior to their participation which revealed a relatively good knowledge score with a median score of 6/10 (IQR = 4); their scores have improved significantly following the educational workshop with a median score of 7/10 (IOR = 2), p-value< 0.001. Although one-third of the participants knew the definition of AMS prior to the workshop, almost half of the respondents (n = 56, 56%) knew the definition after the educational workshop. Regarding community pharmacist's ability to appropriately select correct antibiotic therapy, they showed a significant improvement in selecting the optimal antimicrobial for the virtual cases following the workshop (p-value < 0.05). Perceptions towards AMS were consistently positive before and after the workshop. Conclusion: This study revealed the benefit of AMS-focused workshops for improving community pharmacists' knowledge and appropriate antibiotic prescribing. Thus, efforts are required to implement more AMS educational workshops for community pharmacists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lipid control represents a cornerstone in the management of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Nevertheless, little research has explored the factors associated with poor lipid control in patients with dyslipidaemia. Objective: The study aim was to investigate the variables associated with poor lipid control among patients with dyslipidaemia in Jordan. Method: In addition to socio-demographics, disease and medication-related variables, lipid profile including total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C and triglyceride and other biomedical variables were collected for patients diagnosed with dyslipidaemia using hospital medical charts at three major outpatient clinics in Jordan. The validated 4-item medication adherence scale and the beliefs about medications questionnaire were used to evaluate medication adherence and medication beliefs among the study participants. The participants were classified to have controlled and uncontrolled dyslipidaemia using recent AHA guidelines. A stepwise forward conditional binary regression was conducted to explore the variables significantly and independently associated with dyslipidaemia control. A P-value of < .05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 228 patients participated in the study. Most of the study participants (61%) were classified to have uncontrolled lipid profile and 60.1% of them were found to have ASCVD. Regression analysis revealed that increased necessity for dyslipidaemia medications increased the odds of dyslipidaemia control (OR = 1.14), whereas active smoking (OR = 0.42), low medication adherence (OR = 0.0.8) and the presence of ASCVD (odd ratio = 0.24) were significantly associated with poor dyslipidaemia control. Conclusion: Lipid profile has considerable scope for improvement in patients with dyslipidaemia in Jordan. Improving medication adherence by emphasising on medication necessity and simplifying the prescribed dosage regimen, particularly in smoking patients and those who have ASCVD, should be particularly considered in future clinical pharmacy service programmes aim at improving lipid control and health outcomes in patients with dyslipidaemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Hypertension (HTN) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it is an epidemic health problem with 1 billion people affected worldwide. Limited studies have examined the impact of HTN on physical, psychological and social functioning of HTN patients. Furthermore, little is known about factors that impair these domains among these patients. Thus, the aim of the present study is to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and to explore predictors of poor HRQoL in patients with HTN in Jordan.Methods: Hypertensive patients visiting cardiology and internal medicine departments were recruited from three major hospitals in Jordan. Patients' Socio-demographics and medical data were collected via direct patient encounters and medical records. The validated Arabic version of EQ-5D tool was used to assess HRQoL. Simple linear regression was performed to explore the factors associated with poor HRQoL.Results: The mean score of the EQ-5D index of the 300 participants was 0.732 (SD = 0.29, range from -0.594 to 1.0). While extreme problems were only reported by 10% of the participants, most of them reported "some problems" through the five dimensions with the highest percentage (43.3%) for mobility dimension. Gender, monthly income, number of medical conditions, number of medications, number of HTN medications, duration of HTN and the presence of any atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases were significantly associated with the EQ-5D index value (P-value <.05).Conclusions: The current study highlights factors that negatively impact HRQoL in patients with HTN. Such findings should provide useful information for future pharmaceutical care intervention programmes aimed at improving HRQoL and other health outcomes in patients with HTN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peganum harmala L., Zygophyllaceae popularly known as Wild Syrian rue, a well-known plant in folk medicine for many pharmacological uses including antispasmodic activity. Chemical composition of the plant showed that the most important constituents of this plant are betacarboline alkaloids such as harmalol, harmaline, and harmine. In this work, we aimed to evaluate the effects of these three major harmala alkaloids on induced rat ileum contractions, induced by acetylcholine, BaCl2 and KCl. Of these three harmala alkaloids, harmalol and harmaline produced a concentration-dependent spasmolytic activity, which was found to be reversible (i.e. disappeared after tissue wash-up. Both alkaloids inhibited acetylcholine and KCl-induced ileum contractions but BaCl2 -induced contractions were only inhibited by harmalol but not harmaline. Harmine did not show any inhibitory activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aim was to evaluate health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) and to explore factors associated with poor HRQoL in patients with type 2 diabetes in Jordan. Methods: The EQ‐5D questionnaire was used to assess HRQoL in outpatients (n = 196) with type 2 diabetic during their clinic appointment at three major Hospitals in Jordan. Sociodemographic and medical data were collected from patient interviews and medical files. Multiple linear regression was performed to build a model with variables associated with poor HRQoL. Key findings: The mean score of the total EQ‐5D index of the 196 participants was 0.724. Most of the patients reported 'some problems' through the five dimensions, with the highest percentage (46.1%) related to mobility domain. Regression analysis identified women gender (β = −0.252; P < 0.01), duration of diabetes (β = −0.344; P < 0.01) number of medications (β = −0.423; P < 0.01), and insulin therapy (β = −0.205; P < 0.05) as being significantly associated with poor HRQoL. Conclusions: The quality of life for patients with type 2 diabetes in Jordan has considerable scope for improvement. Future diabetes management programs should focus on improving HRQoL, with specific attention to be given for women patients, those who have long duration of diabetes, and patients receiving multiple medications or insulin therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Medication nonadherence represents a major barrier to achieve optimal health outcomes in patients with hypertension. The study aim was to identify obstacles to medication adherence in patients with hypertension in Jordan. Methods: Socio‐demographic and clinical variables in addition to medication adherence and health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) were assessed for patients attending three major hospitals in Jordan. Multiple logistic regression was carried out to identify predictors of medication nonadherence. Key findings: Of the 300 participants, 81% (n = 57) were classified as nonadherent. Both, the increase in the number of prescribed medications (OR = 0.349, CI = 0.17–1.19) and having comorbid illness (OR = 0.315, CI = 0.15–1.02) increased the risk of medication nonadherence by three times. The patients were also found six and eight times less likely to adhere to their medications if they had concerns about medications' side effects (OR = 0.165, CI = 0.09–0.95) and if they reported poor HRQoL (OR = 0.127, CI = 0.04–0.87) respectively. Conclusions: Clinical pharmacists should consider prescribing the least possible number of medications and improving patients' perceptions about the potential side effects of their medications. Furthermore, patients with comorbid diseases and those with poor HRQoL should be particularly addressed in future pharmaceutical care programs with the aim of improving medication adherence and health outcomes in patients with hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Pharmacists require a baseline level of knowledge in paediatric pharmaceutical care in order to be able to adequately care for paediatric patients and counsel their families. This study aimed to explore the self-reported knowledge, attitudes and competency of final-year pharmacy students in Jordan regarding paediatric pharmaceutical care. Methods: This study took place in Jordan between November 2016 and May 2017. A 28-item questionnaire was designed and administered to 400 students from all pharmacy programmes in Jordan during their final year of training. Results: A total of 354 students agreed to take part in the study (response rate: 88.5%). Most respondents (95.2%) were aware of the term ‘paediatrics’. However, almost one-third of the respondents (30.5%) reported never having taken paediatric dose calculation courses and more than half (55.6%) were unfamiliar with the term ‘off-label medicines’. Moreover, most respondents (65.1%) had low knowledge scores (≤2 out of 5) when presented with realistic paediatric case scenarios. There were no significant differences in knowledge and attitudes between undergraduate and doctoral students or between those from public or private universities (P >0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight an alarming deficiency in paediatric pharmaceutical knowledge among final-year pharmacy students in Jordan. As such, paediatric-related content should be emphasised in the pharmacy curricula of Jordanian universities so that pharmacy students receive more formalised education and more extensive training in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency, associated factors, and management approaches of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in Jordanian women. Design and Methods: Three hundred premenopausal women completed a self‐administered questionnaire. Findings: Moderate–severe PMS was reported by 29% of women, while 14% had PMDD. Younger unmarried women had the more severe condition. Herbal remedies and no medication were the most common approaches used to manage PMS/PMDD. Implications for Nursing Practice: High rates of PMS and PMDD found in this study highlight the need to increase awareness to this condition among health providers in order to facilitate its identification, diagnosis, and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the effect of circadian rhythm disruption in night-shift workers on systemic biomarkers of inflammation. METHODS Demographic data, clinical parameters and data on working patterns of 126 adult employees were documented. Serum levels of biomarkers were measured by enzymatic assay procedures. RESULTS: Night-shift workers had markedly lower anti-inflammatory IL-10 and cardioprotective adiponectin and MCP-1 compared to daytime workers. Night-shift workers' MIF, LAR, TNF-α and TNF-α/IL-10 ratio were significantly higher than those in day shift workers. Spearman's correlation showed that MIF, TNF-α, LAR and TNF-α/IL-10 ratios were positively and significantly correlated with both the duration of the night shift and total number of shifts (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, IL-10, adiponectin and MCP-1 were negatively and significantly correlated with both variables (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Night shift work may be closely associated with a higher propensity of cardiometabolic risk factors clustering. Therefore, close monitoring of shift workers' clinical status and lifestyle is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We sought to evaluate the efect of night shit working on increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) using three different predictors. Methods: One hundred and forty adult Jordanian employees were recruited in this cross-sectional study. Demographic data, anthropometric parameters, and working patterns information were documented. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was diagnosed, and atherogenic index of the plasma (AIP) and Framingham risk score were calculated. Results: Night shit workers had a signiicantly higher AIP ratio compared to daytime workers (p = 0.024). No signiicant association was observed between the two groups in term of 30-year Framingham risk score (p = 0.115). However, the duration of night shits and the number of night shits per months were found to signiicantly increase the 30-year Framingham risk (p = 0.000 and 0.012, respectively). Furthermore, the incidence of MetS among night shit workers was 15.9% (13/82) compared to 10.3% (6/58) among daytime workers (p = 0.484). Conclusions: his is the irst study to assess the association between night shit work and AIP as well as the 30-year Framingham risk score as predictors of CVDs. Night shit work was associated with an increase in AIP score compared to daytime work. Also, the duration of night shits and the number of night shits per month signiicantly increased the 30-year Framingham risk among night shit workers. hese indings suggest an association between night shit work and the risk of CVD and atherosclerosis. Our results highlight the need for interventional strategies to diminish the risk of CVD in night shit workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]