Search

Musim Alotaibi,1,2 Ahmed Ali,1,3 Duaa Bakhshwin,4 Yasser Alatawi,5 Sultan Alotaibi,6 Abdullah Alhifany,7 Badr Alharthi,2 Nasser Alharthi,2 Awatef Alyazidi,2 Yasmeen Alharthi,2 Aziza Alrafiah8 1Department of Pharmacology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Pharmacy, King Faisal Medical Complex, Taif City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Pharmaceutics, Assiut University, Assiut City, Egypt; 4Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Tabuk, Tabuk City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Pharmacy, King Abdul-Aziz Medical, Jeddah City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Clinical Pharmacy College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 8Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah City, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Aziza Alrafiah P.O Box 80200, Jeddah, 21589, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaTel +966 126401000 Ext. 23495Fax +966 126401000 Ext. 21686Email aalrafiah@kau.edu.saBackground: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease due to SARS-COV-2. Patients with risk factors are vulnerable to severe morbidity and mortality. Favipiravir (FPV) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) are considered possible COVID-19 treatments.Objective: To investigate the effectiveness and safety of FPV compared to HCQ in patients with COVID-19 as the standard of care approved by the national protocol there.Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study on patients with COVID-19 who were administered either FPV or HCQ at King Faisal Medical Complex, Taif, Saudi Arabia, from June 2020 to August 2020.Results: In total, 508 patients were included in the analysis. Patients were categorized into three groups by medication. Patients enrolled in this study were 244 (55.8%) on FPV, 193 (44.2%) on HCQ and 71 (13.81%) on neither medication. Patients who re

Samah Labban,1,2 Fahad S Alshehri,3 Maher Kurdi,4 Yasser Alatawi,5 Badrah S Alghamdi6,7 1Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Rabigh, Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Physiology, Neuroscience Unit, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 7Pre-Clinical Research Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Badrah S AlghamdiDepartment of Physiology, Neuroscience Unit, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaTel +966 56 776 4144Email basalghamdi@kau.edu.saIntroduction: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that has become a leading cause of death in recent years. Impairments in spatial learning and memory are an important clinical feature of AD. Melatonin (MLT), the main product secreted by the pineal gland, showed multiple antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective properties.Purpose: The present study aimed to explore the possible prophylactic effects of MLT against spatial memory deficits in a sporadic mouse model of AD induced by D-galactose and aluminium chloride (AlCl3).Methods: Four groups of mice (n = 10 per group) were prepared: control, AD (the D-galactose and AlCl3 AD model group), AD+MLT (AD mice treated with 80 mg/kg MLT), and AD+DON (AD mice treated with 3 mg/kg donepezil). We then used the object location and Y-maze tests to assess spatial memory in the four groups. Gene expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) and cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (Creb1

Badrah S Alghamdi,1,2,* Yasser Alatawi,3,* Fahad S Alshehri,4 Haythum O Tayeb,5 Frank I Tarazi6 1Department of Physiology, Neuroscience Unit, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 2Pre-Clinical Research Unit, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 5Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Program, Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital, Boston, MA, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Badrah S Alghamdi Tel +966 567764144Email basalghamdi@kau.edu.saPurpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has evolved into a worldwide pandemic and continues to escalate exponentially in many countries across the globe. Recently, higher rates of psychological distress have been reported in several countries during the pandemic. Accordingly, the study aim was to investigate the relationship between public mental health and immune status during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Participants of this cross-sectional study were 2252 national and foreign residents of Saudi Arabia. We used a web-based self-rated questionnaire to measure the association between psychological distress (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales [DASS-21]) and immune status (Immune Status Questionnaire [ISQ]) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also investigated predictors of reduced immune status using binary logistic regression analyses.Results: Data from 1721 respondents showed that 17.5% of participants scored below the immune status cutoff (ISQ Ë‚ 6). Mean (± standard deviation) depression, anxiety, and stress scores in the reduced immune status group (ISQ Ë‚ 6) ind

Yasser Alatawi,1 Fahad S Alshehri,2 Abdullah A Alhifany,3 Adnan Alharbi,3 Badrah S Alghamdi4 1Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Physiology, Neuroscience Unit, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Fahad S AlshehriDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al‑Qura University, Al‑Abidiyya, Makkah 21955, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaTel +966 542166571Email fsshehri@uqu.edu.saPurpose: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of and factors associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia.Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional online survey that targeted adults over the age of 18 residing in Saudi Arabia. The data collection began June 1, 2020 and continued for four weeks. The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Specific, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire version BIP-Q5, and a 9-item health literacy measure were used.Results: There were 1249 participants, of which 62.21% were under the age of 34. The prevalence of PTSD was 19.5% among all participants. The results showed that both the perception of threat (OR =1.17, 95% CI = 1.13− 1.19) and health literacy (OR =0.97, 95% CI = 0.95− 0.99) were associated with PTSD symptoms.Conclusion: This study highlights important findings that the level of an individual’s perception of threat and health literacy is associated with symptoms of PTSD. Thus, an understanding of these constructs in the target population will enable the development of better measures designed to reduce the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.Keywords: COVID-19, Saudi Arabia, posttraumatic s