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Background: Venomous arthropods are arthropod species that use toxins for defense and offense. The objective of this study was to assess the biodiversity and abundance of venomous arthropods on the premises of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Pitfall traps, sticky, and bait traps, beating and knockdown, and active search and handpicking with forceps were the methods used to collect various arthropods on the university campus. The data collected during this study were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences version 23.0. Results: A total of 1,070 venomous arthropods were collected from the study areas, and they belong to four classes, six orders, fourteen families, and twenty-two species of the phylum Arthropoda. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that venomous arthropods are widespread on the NAU, Awka campus. Regular fumigation of the university premises is important in preventing human injuries, and infectious diseases carried by some arthropods.

There is a lack of detailed information on the epidemiology, prevention, and treatment of gambling disorder (GD) in Nigeria, a country that has the second-largest online sports gaming market in Africa. The objective of this review article was to emphasize the need for a nationwide epidemiological study on the GD caused by compulsive sports betting in Nigeria. The literature searches were carried out using the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science electronic databases regarding articles concerning sports betting, problem gambling, GD, and mental health in Nigeria using the following medical subject headings: Pathological Gambling AND Gamblings AND Federal Republic of Nigeria AND Social Epidemiology. A nationwide surveillance is necessary to determine the epidemiology, risk factors, and prevention and treatment measures for GD in Nigeria. To prevent negative public health consequences, sports gambling activities in Nigeria should be restricted and controlled. There is a need to set aside strict measures to control both legal and illegal online and offline sports betting activities in Nigeria. Moreover, the implementation of an effective mental health-care delivery policy to tackle gambling addiction and associated psychiatric comorbidities in Nigeria will enable efficient diagnosis and treatment of individuals with GD and improve relapse prevention. A well-funded and functional mental health-care system and research framework will facilitate effective mental health-care delivery among individuals at risk of GD and patients with GD in Nigeria. Expanding access to and use of mental health treatment services could substantially reduce the prevalence of GD and associated comorbidities in Nigeria.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has a significant negative impact on emotions and feelings of loneliness in terms of lack of companionship, social isolation, and connections in older adults. Compulsive loneliness can negatively alter cognition, mental, and physical health and lifespan in the elderly. Isolation and restricted social interaction in the time of COVID-19 pandemic was clearly connected with the symptoms of mood and behavioral disorders in older adults. The aim of this narrative review was to evaluate the impact of loneliness caused by the public health social isolation measures aimed to curtail the prevalence of COVID-19 on the physical and mental health in older adults. Articles regarding the effect of loneliness caused by the public health social isolation measures aimed to curtail the prevalence of COVID-19 on the physical and mental health of older adults were searched on PubMed electronic database. Relevant articles were selected; full-text articles were assessed; and significant evidence were extracted. To avoid the negative impact of social isolation on older adults during the era of COVID-19, it is essential to involve older adults in the activities such as physical activity, playing games with their peers, and sightseeing.

Precision medicine intends to tailor medical practice with a focus on the individual, built on the utilization of genetic tests, the identification of biomarkers, and the development of targeted medicines, and this can be achieved by having a complex knowledge of epigenetic mechanisms. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an age-linked neurodegenerative disease that affects majorly individuals above 65; there is a growing indication that epigenetic disruption and dysregulation in the expression of micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) arise in PD. Genome-wide association studies discovered a straightforward consequence of the methylation status of α-synuclein in the pathogenesis of PD. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a form of neurodegenerative disease, epitomized by memory loss. The dysregulation of non-coding RNAs and epigenetic aberrations have been identified in AD. This narrative review aimed to elaborate on the potential epigenomic treatments for PD and AD. About 199 scientific articles written in English, which reported on novel epigenomic-based treatment for PD and AD, were selected for this review from the PubMed database. Full articles and relevant data were extracted. Treatments targeting DNA methylation or miRNAs appear to show promising outcomes for PD and AD. Moreover, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and associated protein 9 is a potential genome editing tool for deciphering and manipulating the epigenome for the treatment of PD and AD.

A glioma is a kind of tumor that initiates in the glial cells of the brain or the spinal cord. High rates of complications and mortality are leading features of gliomas, a glioma can be treated through a surgical procedure, radiation, and chemotherapy. This short communication aimed to analyze the crucial role of epigenetic alterations in the pathogenesis of gliomas and the possible treatment of gliomas by manipulating epigenetic mechanisms. The pathogenesis of glioma is associated with key epigenetic mechanisms, which are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation, abnormal microribonucleic acid (RNA), chromatin remodeling, and histone modifications. Alterations and mutations in genes are often seen in gliomas. Alterations and mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) are commonly found in gliomas; mutant IDH1 facilitates the maintenance of genomic stability in tumors by increasing the DNA damage reaction. Moreover, therapeutic modification of epigenetic alterations connected with the development of gliomas is of utmost clinical significance; comprehensive knowledge of epigenetic aberrations that lead to the formation of glioma will help in the design and development of epigenetic drugs for the treatment of gliomas. Some medications that target epigenetic alterations such as inhibitors of mutant IDH, bromodomain and extraterminal motif inhibitors, histone deacetylase inhibitor, DNA methylation inhibitors, and enhancer of zeste homolog 2 inhibitors are presently used to tackle glioma.

Gambling disorder (GD) is characterized by a pattern of continual or persistent gambling behavior, which may be online or offline, demonstrated by impaired control over gambling (e.g., inception, rate, passion, duration, cessation, and perspective). GD entails growing precedence given to gambling activities to the point that gambling takes priority over other daily activities and continuation and intensification of gambling despite the rate of negative consequences. The pattern of gambling behavior may be constant or episodic and recurrent. With regard to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, gambling behavior and associated characteristics are usually apparent over at least 12 months for a diagnosis to be assigned, although the required period may be reduced if all the diagnostic criteria are met and the symptoms are severe.

Exercise has been linked to a significant decrease in cancer pathogenesis. Irisin is an exercise-induced myokine that is released from the skeletal muscle upon cleavage of the membrane of fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5. Exercise has been revealed to raise irisin concentration in the blood and muscle cells via the upregulation of peroxisome proliferator receptor γ coactivator-1α expression. Exercise-induced irisin reduces the risk of numerous cancers by burning excess body fat. We hypothesized that exercise-induced irisin may mitigate tumor proliferation by inducing apoptosis and improving cancer treatment outcomes via modulating several signaling and metabolic pathways, mainly by increasing the phosphorylation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase and acetyl-CoA-carboxylase, via deactivating the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B Snail signaling pathway, by upregulating the apoptosis pathway through the inhibition of epithelial–mesenchymal transition and via stimulating caspase activity.

Physical activity (PA) is associated with a clear decrease in blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular mortality in both men and women. The aim of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of PA as an adjunct therapy in support of the prevention and pharmacological treatment of hypertension. Studies that reported on the correlation of PA and exercise on BP control among hypertensive patients from 1994 to 2019 were evaluated. PubMed electronic database was utilized. The MeSH system was used to extract relevant research studies from PubMed using the following keywords: “Exercise,” “training,” “hypertension,” “blood pressure,” “systematic review,” and “meta-analysis,” All selected articles were published in English. Sedentariness negatively affects cardiometabolic health, body composition, and BP among hypertensive patients, whereas PA significantly improves cardiometabolic parameters and body composition and leads to an overall improvement in cardiac parasympathetic system by increasing vagal tone, causing a reduction in resting heart rate, and systolic BP in hypertensive adults. Exercise should be tailored according to patient's clinical and functional status to avoid imposing variable internal training load on the patients. Moderate intensity aerobic, isometric and dynamic resistance exercise training alone, or a combination was equally effective in lowering BP among hypertensive adults.