PURPOSE: This paper explores the effects of SQ in CVD.
METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was performed to identify relevant studies about SQ and CVD. A comprehensive search in Medline and Scopus for relevant studies published between the years 1946 and 2019 was performed. The main inclusion criteria were that the study was published in English; that the study reported association or effect of SQ and CVD; and that CVD should be related to lifestyle variables, aging, or experimentally induced conditions.
RESULTS: The literature searches identified 5562 potentially relevant articles, whereby 21 studies met the inclusion criteria. There were three human studies and 18 animal experimental studies included in this paper. Only one human study reported positive outcome of SQ in CVD. The remaining two studies reported inconsistent and/or no effect. For animal studies, 15 studies reported positive effect while the remaining reported negative and/or no effect of SQ on various related parameters.
CONCLUSIONS: This evidence-based review emphasizes the potential of SQ being used for cardiovascular-related diseases. The effect of SQ, especially of plant-based warrants further exploration. Controlled human observational studies should be performed to provide comprehensive evidence.
METHODS: The self-administered online survey utilized in this cross-sectional study was derived from the Global Health Professions Students Survey (GHPSS), which involved medical, dental, and pharmacy students. A total of 328 participants completed a questionnaire from June to August 2022, with a response rate of 91.1%.
RESULTS: The overall smoking prevalence was 4.6% among the medical, dental, and pharmacy students who participated in this study; 46.7% of current smokers were exposed to secondhand smoke at home compared to 17.6% of non-smokers (p=0.011); and 66.7% of smokers were exposed to secondhand smoke in public compared to 40.3% of non-smokers (p=0.043). In all, 99.1% of respondents supported the smoking ban and 46.7% of current smokers supported the smoking ban in discos/bars/pubs, compared to 82.0% of non-smokers (p=0.002). Of the participants, 96.6% received lessons on the danger of tobacco, and 65.5% received smoking cessation training. Among factors associated with current smoking was gender; male students had a 19-fold higher likelihood of smoking than female students (adjusted odds ratio, AOR=19.25; 95% CI: 4.25-87.19, p<0.001). In addition, home exposure to secondhand smoke was four times more common for current smokers (OR=4.11; 95% CI: 1.43-11.79, p=0.009).
CONCLUSIONS: Although smoking prevalence was low among the students in this study, there was a higher percentage of them exposed to secondhand smoke at home and in public.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty Turkom-Cera ceramic disks (10 mm × 3 mm) were prepared and randomly divided into four groups. The disks were wet ground to 1000-grit and subjected to four surface treatments: (1) No treatment (Control), (2) sandblasting, (3) silane application, and (4) sandblasting + silane. The four groups of 10 specimens each were bonded with Panavia-F resin cement according to manufacturer's recommendations. The SBS was determined using the universal testing machine (Instron) at 0.5 mm/min crosshead speed. Failure modes were recorded and a qualitative micromorphologic examination of different surface treatments was performed. The data were analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD) tests.
RESULTS: The SBS of the control, sandblasting, silane, and sandblasting + silane groups were: 10.8 ± 1.5, 16.4 ± 3.4, 16.2 ± 2.5, and 19.1 ± 2.4 MPa respectively. According to the Tukey HSD test, only the mean SBS of the control group was significantly different from the other three groups. There was no significant difference between sandblasting, silane, and sandblasting + silane groups.
CONCLUSION: In this study, the three surface treatments used improved the bond strength of resin cement to Turkom-Cera disks.
CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The surface treatments used in this study appeared to be suitable methods for the cementation of glass infiltrated all-ceramic restorations.
METHODS: Fifty-one (51) participants (36 males and 15 females, 38.84 ± 11.73 years) with overweight and obesity (BMI = 29.75 ± 5.04 kg/m2) were recruited and monitored before and at the end of the commencement of the four-week IF. Six healthy subjects with normal BMI (21.4±2.20 kg/m2) were recruited only to standardize the reference for normal levels of gene expressions. At the two time points, anthropometric, biochemical, and dietary assessments were performed, and LAMP2, LC3B, ATG5, and ATG4D gene expressions were assessed using qRT-PCR on RNA extracted from whole blood samples.
RESULTS: At the end of IF, and compared to the pre-fasting levels, the relative gene expressions among participants with overweight/obesity were significantly increased for the three autophagy genes LAMP2, LC3B, and ATG5, with increments of about 4.2 folds, 1.9-fold, and 1.4-fold, respectively. In contrast, the increase in the ATG4D gene was not significant. Concomitantly, significant decreases were found in body weight, BMI, fat mass, body fat percent, hip and waist circumferences, LDL, IL-6, and TNF-a (P <0.05), While HDL, IL-10, and CD163 significantly increased (P <0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis for genetic expressions showed no significant association between high-energy intake, waist circumference, or obesity and the four gene expressions.
CONCLUSIONS: Four consecutive weeks of dawn-to-dusk IF of Ramadan is associated with the upregulation of autophagy gene expressions in participants with overweight/obesity, and this may explain, at least in part, its favorable short-term temporal metabolic and health-improving effects on early aging-related markers. Hence, IF presumably may entail a protective impact against early markers of aging and metabolic diseases in participants with overweight/obesity.
METHODS: The produced formulations were evaluated based on particle size and shape (particle size distribution (PSD), scanning electron microscope (SEM)), incompatibility (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR)), drug release pattern, permeation behavior, in vivo hypoglycemic effects, and in vitro anticancer potential.
RESULTS: Compatibility studies concluded that there was minimal interaction between metformin HCl and the polymer, whereas SEM images revealed smoother, more spherical nanoparticles than microspheres. Drug release from the formulations was primarily controlled by the non-Fickian diffusion process, except for A1 and A4 by Fickian, and B3 by Super case II. Korsmeyer-Peppas was the best-fit model for the maximum formulations. The best formulations of microspheres and nanoparticles, based on greater drug release, drug entrapment, and compatibility characteristics, were attributed to the study of drug permeation by non-everted intestinal sacs, in vivo anti-hyperglycemic activity, and in vitro anticancer activity.
CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the proposed metformin HCl formulation can dramatically reduce hyperglycemic conditions and may also have anticancer potential.