Greenwashed Cigarette Ad Text and Imagery Produce Inaccurate Harm, Addictiveness, and Nicotine Content Perceptions: Results from a Randomized Online Experiment.

INTRODUCTION: The tobacco industry has a long history of circumventing regulations to present their products, inaccurately, as less harmful. Greenwashing (portraying a product as natural/eco-friendly) is increasingly used by tobacco companies and may mislead consumers to believe that certain cigarettes are less harmful than others. This study assesses the effect of some common greenwashing tactics on consumer product perceptions. METHODS: We conducted an online experiment with 1,504 participants ages 18-29, randomized to view a cigarette ad manipulated for presence/absence of a combination of 4 different greenwashing techniques: greenwashed ad text, greenwashed ad imagery, recycled paper ad background, and image of greenwashed cigarette pack. Participants rated perceived absolute harm, relative harm to other cigarettes, absolute addictiveness, relative addictiveness, and relative nicotine content. RESULTS: Participants who viewed ads containing greenwashed text were more likely to have inaccurate perceptions about absolute harm (AOR=1.72), relative harm (AOR=3.92), relative addictiveness (AOR=2.93) and nicotine content (AOR=2.08). Participants who viewed ads containing greenwashed imagery were more likely to have inaccurate perceptions of relative harm (AOR=1.55), absolute addictiveness (AOR=1.72), relative addictiveness (AOR=1.60) and nicotine content (AOR=1.48). Forty-two percent of those who saw an ad with all greenwashed features believed the product was less harmful than other cigarettes vs. 2% of those who saw an ad without greenwashed features. CONCLUSIONS: We found greenwashed text and imagery produced inaccurate risk perceptions. More active U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) enforcement against such greenwashing and new FDA rulemaking to prohibit unnecessary imagery in tobacco advertising and establish plain packaging requirements would help protect consumers and public health. IMPLICATIONS: These findings provide evidence that greenwashing tactics used by the tobacco industry increase inaccurate product risk perceptions. These tactics could be a way for the industry to make implicit modified risk claims, despite applicable U.S. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act prohibitions. Findings from this study support the need for prohibitions on these tactics, and the potential for such prohibitions to help protect public health.

Understanding rural women's preferences for telephone call engagement with primary health care providers in Nigeria: a discrete choice experiment.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of mobile phones to provide primary health care services and maintain continuity of care. This study aims to understand rural women's preferences for telephone call engagement with primary health care providers in Nigeria. METHODS: A discrete choice experiment was conducted alongside an action research project that empowered primary health care workers to develop and implement a telephone call intervention to assess and enhance experiences with facility childbirth care. Between January and March 2022, 30 providers from 10 primary health care facilities implemented the choice experiment among rural women who had institutional childbirth to elicit service user preferences for telephone call engagement. The women were asked to express their preferred scenario for telephone call engagement with their primary health care providers. Generalised linear mixed models were used to estimate women's preferences. RESULTS: Data for 460 women were available for the discrete choice experiment. The study showed that rural women have preferences for telephone call engagement with primary health care providers. Specifically, women preferred engaging with female to male callers (ß=1.665 (95% CI 1.41, 1.93), SE=0.13, p<0.001), preferred call duration under 15 min (ß=1.287 (95% CI 0.61, 1.96), SE=0.34, p<0.001) and preferred being notified before the telephone engagement (warm calling) (ß=1.828 (95% CI 1.10, 2.56), SE=0.37, p<0.001). Phone credit incentive was also a statistically significant predictor of women's preferences for engagement. However, neither the availability of scheduling options, the period of the day or the day of the week predicts women's preferences. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights the importance of understanding rural women's preferences for telephone call engagement with healthcare providers in low-income and middle-income countries. These findings can inform the development of mobile phone-based interventions and improve acceptability and broader adoption.

Student satisfaction and academic efficacy during online learning with the mediating effect of student engagement: A multi-country study.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented changes to educational institutions, forcing their closure and a subsequent shift to online education to cater to student learning requirements. However, successful online learning depends on several factors and may also vary between countries. As such, this cross-sectional study sought to investigate how engagement of university students, a major driver of online learning, was influenced by course content, online interaction, student acceptance, and satisfaction with online learning, as well as self-efficacy across nine countries (China, India, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Portugal, Serbia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a questionnaire-based approach, data collected from 6,489 university students showed that student engagement was strongly linked to perception of the quality of the course content and online interactions (p < .001). The current study also indicated that online interactions are a major determinant of academic efficacy but only if mediated by engagement within the online learning context. A negative correlation between student engagement and satisfaction with online learning was found, demonstrating the importance of students being engaged behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively to feel satisfied with learning. Academic efficacy and student satisfaction were explained by course content, online interaction, and online learning acceptance, being mediated by student engagement. Student satisfaction and, to a lesser degree academic efficacy, were also associated with online learning acceptance. Overall, the structural equation model was a good fit for the data collected from all nine countries (CFI = .947, TLI = .943; RMSEA = .068; SRMR = .048), despite differences in the percentage variations explained by each factor (no invariance), likely due to differences in levels of technology use, learning management systems, and the preparedness of teachers to migrate to full online instruction. Despite limitations, the results of this study highlight the most important factors affecting online learning, providing insight into potential approaches for improving student experiences in online learning environments.

Effect of combined tobacco use and type 2 diabetes mellitus on prevalent fibrosis in patients with MASLD.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have investigated the independent effect of cigarette smoking or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on MASLD. However, the interaction effect between tobacco consumption and T2DM on MASLD severity remains underexplored. In this study, we assessed the combined effect of tobacco use and T2DM on hepatic fibrosis in MASLD. METHODS: We conducted a single-center retrospective cross-sectional analysis of eligible participants from the Mass General Brigham Fibroscan© database. The participants were divided into 3 groups: those with T2DM and a history of tobacco use (primary exposure group), those with T2DM but no history of tobacco use (secondary exposure group), and those without T2DM and no history of tobacco use (reference group). An additional model was developed, which included a fourth group, participants with a history of tobacco use but no T2DM. The likelihood of fibrosis was determined using a defined fibrosis-4 index cutoff value of 1.3. In addition, we computed the estimated marginal means for liver stiffness measurement and compared the values among the exposure groups. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to explore the associations between the exposure groups and the risk for hepatic fibrosis. RESULTS: Overall, 598 individuals were enrolled in the study. The bivariable logistic regression model revealed a significant independent association between T2DM, combined smoking and T2DM, and the outcome of interest, fibrosis. Age, sex, metabolic syndrome, aspirin use, statin use, hemoglobin A1C (A1C), and total bilirubin level were also significantly associated with fibrosis. In the adjusted fibrosis-4 multivariable model (comparing exposure groups to controls), cigarette smoking and T2DM interaction had higher odds of prevalent fibrosis (aOR, 3.04; 95% CI, 1.62-5.76), compared to those with T2DM alone (aOR 2.28; 95% CI, 1.37-3.85). The continuous liver stiffness measurement comparison across the exposure group showed an estimated marginal means of 6.26 (95% CL: 5.58-6.94), 7.54 (95% CL: 6.78-8.30), and 7.88 (6.78-8.99) for the reference group, T2DM only group, and tobacco-T2DM group, respectively. The diabetes-only group and the combined tobacco-T2DM group had statistically significant associations with liver stiffness measurement (p values: 0.013 and 0.014, respectively). CONCLUSION: Although diabetes is independently associated with hepatic fibrosis in patients with MASLD, the combination of tobacco consumption and diabetes is associated with a higher prevalence of fibrosis. Therefore, lifestyle change through tobacco use cessation in patients with diabetes could be beneficial in reducing the incidence of liver fibrosis among individuals with MASLD.

The empirical dietary inflammatory pattern score and the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: Diet plays an important role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Inflammation is a potential mechanism linking diet to NAFLD development and its progression to cirrhosis.1 We analyzed data from a large, prospective cohort of US women to examine the influence of dietary inflammatory potential on the long-term risk of developing NAFLD and cirrhosis. METHODS: We prospectively followed 96,016 women in the Nurses' Health Study II cohort (1995-2017) who were free of chronic liver disease, including NAFLD, at baseline. The inflammatory potential of the diet was ascertained using an established, food-based empirical dietary inflammatory pattern score. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios and 95% CIs for incident NAFLD and cirrhosis. RESULTS: Over 2,085,947 person-years of follow-up, we documented 4389 cases of incident NAFLD and 102 cases of incident cirrhosis. Increasing cumulative average empirical dietary inflammatory pattern (EDIP) score was significantly and positively associated with incident NAFLD (multivariable-adjusted HR 1.31 per each 1-U increase in EDIP score, p-trend < 0.0001) and cirrhosis (p-trend of 0.034). Our findings also were consistent when examining recent diets using simple updated EDIP scores. In analyses of specific EDIP components, we observed an increased risk of incident NAFLD and cirrhosis with higher consumption of certain proinflammatory components of the EDIP score. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary patterns with a higher proinflammatory potential may be associated with a higher risk of developing both NAFLD and cirrhosis. Reducing the inflammatory potential of diet may potentially provide an effective strategy for preventing the development of NAFLD and progression to cirrhosis.

The Potential Utility of Tirzepatide for the Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most prevalent endocrinopathy in women of reproductive age. The metabolic dysfunction associated with PCOS increases the probability of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D), endometrial cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Research has shown that the metabolic features of PCOS may be improved by weight loss following treatment with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists. Tirzepatide is a dual GLP-GIP (gastric inhibitory polypeptide) receptor agonist that shares a very similar mechanism of action with GLP-1R agonists, and it is hypothesized that it may be a potential contender in the treatment of PCOS. The success of GLP-1R agonists is usually hindered by their adverse gastrointestinal effects, leading to reduced compliance. The mechanism of action of Tirzepatide partly addresses this issue, as its dual receptor affinity may reduce the intensity of gastrointestinal symptoms. Tirzepatide has been licensed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and given the metabolic issues and obesity that accompanies PCOS, it may be of value in its management for those PCOS patients who are obese with metabolic syndrome, although it may not benefit those who are of normal weight. This study reviews the current therapies for the treatment of PCOS and evaluates the potential use of Tirzepatide to address the symptoms of PCOS, including reproductive dysfunction, obesity, and insulin resistance.

Psychometrics evaluation of the university student engagement inventory in online learning among Arab students.

AIM: Student' engagement is a predictor of various educational outcomes, and it is a key factor in perceived learning. This study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of University Student Engagement Inventory (USEI) among students of Arab universities. METHODS: In this cross-sectional methodological study 525 Arab university students participated. Data was collected from December 2020 to January 2021. The confirmatory factor analysis used for construct validity, reliability and Invariance analysis for Sex were evaluated. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis indices confirmed the good model fit to the data (CFIscl=0.977, NFIscl=0.974, TLIscl=0.972, SRMR = 0.036, RMSEAscl=0.111, n = 525). All tested models showed strong invariance of the USEI between male and females. There was also evidence of convergent (AVE > 0.7 for all the scales) and discriminant validity (HTMT > 0.75 for all scales). Reliability evidence for the USEI measures in the sample of Arabic students was high (αordinal and ω above 0.86). CONCLUSION: The results of this study support the validity and reliability of the USEI with 15 items and 3 factors and demonstrate the importance of students' engagement in the learning process, academic progress, and self-directed learning.

Extrahepatic Outcomes of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Nonhepatocellular Cancers.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) encompasses the entire spectrum of fatty liver disease in individuals without significant alcohol consumption, including isolated steatosis, steatohepatitis, and cirrhosis. The overall global prevalence of NAFLD is estimated to be 30%, and the associated clinical and economic burden will continue to increase. NAFLD is a multisystemic disease with established links to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, chronic kidney disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and intra- and extrahepatic malignancies. In this article the authors review the potential mechanisms and current evidence for the association between NAFLD and extrahepatic cancers and the resultant impact on clinical outcomes.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF INCREASING MATERIALS CIRCULARITY: A Focus on Critical Metal Recovery from Electronic Waste.

This article is a summary of the authors' response to the 2023 Circular Economy Request for Information: Challenges and Opportunities of Increasing Materials Circularity, a call for information issued by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) in March 2023. Information can be found at www.energy.gov/eere/ammto/2023-circular-economy-request-information-challenges-and-opportunities-increasing.

Assessment of Pain and Anxiety During Arteriovenous Fistula Cannulation Among Hemodialysis Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia.

Background: The number of hemodialysis patients has dramatically increased over the years. The cost of healthcare provision to those patients has been rising as well. In addition, pain management during arteriovenous fistula (AVF) cannulation is an important aspect of nursing care. Patients' outcomes and appropriate pain control are one of the most critical issues in healthcare. Purpose: To measure the level of pain and anxiety associated with arteriovenous fistula cannulation among hemodialysis patients. Methods: A correlational cross-sectional research design was used in this study at the Hemodialysis Unit at King Fahad Hospital of the university, Al-Khobar, in the Eastern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using a self-administered questionnaire. Ethical approval was obtained. A convenience sample of 117 HD patients from the previous mentioned setting were included in the study. The data were collected using three tools: sociodemographic characteristics, Numerical Analogue Scale (NAS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Using IBM SPSS software package version 25.0, statistical significance of the obtained results was judged at the 5% level. Results: According to the results, most of the participants experienced a mild to moderate level of pain and anxiety during arteriovenous fistula cannulation. Furthermore, there was a positive association between the level of pain and anxiety, with statistical significance (p<0.001). Conclusion: Based on the results of the study, most of the study participants' level of pain and anxiety during AVF cannulation ranged between mild and moderate.

The Relationship Between Self-Care Behavior and Concerns About Body Image in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis in Iran.

Background and Aim: Hemodialysis treatment saves the life of people with end-stage renal disease (ERDS), but does not prevent the suffering of the disease, anxiety, hopelessness, and so on. Many studies have been performed on self-care behaviors as well as body image in different patients, but so far, no research has been done to investigate the relationship between self-care behavior and body image concerns in hemodialysis patients. Therefore, the aims of this study are to determine the relationship between self-care behavior and body image concern in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional design was used to evaluate Self-care Behavior and Concerns about Body Image in a convenience sample of 280 patients with ERDS. Measures included demographic factors, health characteristics, and validated instruments of the study constructs Body Image Concern Questionnaire (BICI) and Assessment of self-care behaviors with arteriovenous fistula (ASBHD-AVF). Results: This study showed that self-care behaviors have the ability to predict body image concerns. There was a negative and significant relationship between self-care behavior and body image concern (B = -0.162, ß = -0.140, p = 0.020). These variables explain 7.5% of predictors. Conclusion: Although the findings of the present study showed that increasing age and improving the level of self-care behaviors in patients undergoing hemodialysis reduces body image anxiety, but women were the strongest predictor of body image anxiety.

Baseline procalcitonin as a predictor of bacterial infection and clinical outcomes in COVID-19: A case-control study.

PURPOSE: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is associated with a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms including acute respiratory failure. Biomarkers that can predict outcomes in patients with COVID-19 can assist with patient management. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether procalcitonin (PCT) can predict clinical outcome and bacterial superinfection in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). METHODS: Adult patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 by nasopharyngeal PCR who were admitted to a tertiary care center in Boston, MA with SARS-CoV-2 infection between March 17 and April 30, 2020 with a baseline PCT value were studied. Patients who were presumed positive for SARS-CoV-2, who lacked PCT levels, or who had a positive urinalysis with negative cultures were excluded. Demographics, clinical and laboratory data were extracted from the electronic medical records. RESULTS: 324 patient charts were reviewed and grouped by clinical and microbiologic outcomes by day 28. Baseline PCT levels were significantly higher for patients who were treated for true bacteremia (p = 0.0005) and bacterial pneumonia (p = 0.00077) compared with the non-bacterial infection group. Baseline PCT positively correlated with the NIAID ordinal scale and survival over time. When compared to other inflammatory biomarkers, PCT showed superiority in predicting bacteremia. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline PCT levels are associated with outcome and bacterial superinfection in patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2.

The Effect of Dracocephalum Extract on Sleep Quality in Post-Menopausal Women: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Objective: Sleep disturbance is one of the most prevalent problems in post-menopausal females. The current research intended to evaluate the effects of Dracocephalum on sleep disorder in post-menopausal females. Method : The current study is a randomized, double-blind controlled trial, in which 110 post-menopausal women were randomly allocated to Dracocephalum or placebo groups. The intervention group took Dracocephalum capsules containing 250 mg Dracocephalum extract twice daily for one month. While, the placebo group took the same capsule containing 250 mg of starch twice daily for one month. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was completed by the participants of both groups before and after the treatment and the data obtained were analyzed with Chi-square, paired and independent t-test in SPSS (version 20). Results: The mean score of sleep quality before and after the treatment was 12.69 ± 3.98 and 8.58 ± 1.97 in the treatment group, respectively. Also, the score of sleep quality in the placebo group was 13.48 ± 2.60 and 11.21 ± 2.74 at the beginning and end of the research, respectively. The symptoms of sleep disorder in the intervention group significantly improved after the treatment (P < 0.001), while this was not the case with the placebo group (P = 0.155). Besides, there was a significant difference between the two groups in the mean score of sleep quality after the treatment (P = 0.012). Conclusion: Dracocephalum extracts are effective in reducing symptoms of sleep disorders in post-menopausal women.

Corrigendum: Genomic Assays in Node Positive Breast Cancer Patients: A Review.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.609100.].

Arrhythmias in Neonates and Infants at a Tertiary Care Center.

Background Limited data about arrhythmias in neonates and infants are coming out from the Middle East. Objectives To evaluate different types of arrhythmias in neonates and infants at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), a tertiary care center in Lebanon, with the focus on the nature of arrhythmia, treatment modalities and relation to surgery. Methods Data were collected retrospectively from the hospital records. We included all neonates and infants presenting to AUBMC between 2013 and 2017. Collected data included: the type of arrhythmia, the treatment modality used and its success, the need for additional modes of treatment, the relationship to congenital heart diseases, and the cardiac surgeries performed. Results Of 16,346 subjects admitted to AUBMC between 2013 and 2017, 90 subjects developed arrhythmias that required medical intervention. The most frequent types of arrhythmias were supraventricular tachycardia (62.22%), junctional ectopic tachycardia (13.33%), complete heart block (7.78%), atrial flutter (5.56%), multifocal atrial tachycardia (3.33%), Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome (3.33%), non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (2.22%), sinus pause (1.11%), and premature ventricular contractions (1.11%). Bivariate analysis showed a significant difference between arrhythmias not related to cardiac surgery and arrhythmias related to cardiac surgery in terms of the type of arrhythmia developed, the presence of congenital heart defect, prematurity, and electrolyte disturbances (P-value <0.005). However, multivariate logistic regression showed no significant difference between the two groups after adjustment for the significant variables (P-value > 0.05). Conclusion There is a significant difference between arrhythmias not related to cardiac surgery and arrhythmias related to cardiac surgery in neonates and infants at AUBMC. However, the difference disappears after adjusting for different variables.

Practice and Barriers toward Breast Self-Examination among Palestinian Women in Gaza City, Palestine.

Breast self-examination (BSE) is one of many first-line screening practices aimed at early detection and prevention of fatal outcomes of breast cancer. The present study aimed to identify Palestinian women's practices, awareness, and barriers to BSE. Using descriptive-analytical methods, a previously validated questionnaire was administered to a conveniently selected sample of women. The study was conducted among women who visited primary health clinics (PHCs) in Gaza City. A total of 390 participants who met the selection criteria answered the self-administered questionnaires. We used SPSS version 24.0 to analyze the data. The findings suggest that the practice of BSE among women in Gaza is low, with only 40% of the study participants reporting that they never practiced BSE before, even though 76.7% reported that they were aware of BSE. In general, the main barriers to BSE practices were that participants had wrong perceptions and lacked knowledge about BSE. Others also reported fear of detecting breast cancer as a barrier. The practice of BSE among Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip is low and marred with trivial issues as barriers that could be eliminated with dedicated and extensive educational campaigns in the area.

Review: Importance of vitamin D in cancer management.

Vitamin D is essential element for growth and development of bones. The receptor of the metabolite of vitamin D known as "nuclear calcitriol" have been identified in tissues and is responsible for playing a wide range of biological processes. Calcidiol [25(OH) D3] corresponds to the storage space and the chief flowing metabolite of vitamin D3. Calcitriol 1-α-25-dihydroxycholecalciferol is formed in the kidney. Deficiency of vitamin D and lack of sun exposure has been found to cause unceasing illnesses together with various lethal cancers. At cellular level the mechanism of anticancer action of vitamin D has not been entirely implicated. For the setting off and regulation of particular genes, calcitriol-VDR-RXR complex attach to definite DNA fragments called as vitamin D response elements (VDREs). After binding with VDR, calcitriol performs its function by regulating the function of over and above 60 genes providing direction for antiproliferative, prodifferentiating and antimetastatic effects on cells to result in antiangiogenic property. Vitamin D deficiency is evaluated as level of calcidiol less than 20ng/mL, shortage to the level of 21-29 ng/mL, and adequacy level is 30ng/mL.

Genomic Assays in Node Positive Breast Cancer Patients: A Review.

In recent years, developments in breast cancer have allowed yet another realization of individualized medicine in the field of oncology. One of these advances is genomic assays, which are considered elements of standard clinical practice in the management of breast cancer. These assays are widely used today not only to measure recurrence risk in breast cancer patients at an early stage but also to tailor treatment as well and minimize avoidable treatment side effects. At present, genomic tests are applied extensively in node negative disease. In this article, we review the use of these tests in node positive disease, explore their ramifications on neoadjuvant chemotherapy decisions, highlight sufficiently powered recent studies emphasizing their use and review the most recent guidelines.

Prevalence of sexual dysfunction in women with systemic lupus erythematosus and its related factors.

OBJECTIVES: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) affects all body organs. This disease has marked physiological, mental, and cognitive effects on the patient and results in sexual dysfunction, depression, and decreased self-confidence. This study was conducted to compare sexual function, depression, anxiety, stress, and the related factors in women suffering from SLE. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 340 women (170 with SLE and 170 healthy) aged 18-49 years were investigated. Convenience sampling was used to select the participants. In this study, a demographic questionnaire, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales - 21 Items (DASS-21), and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) were applied. Data were analyzed with SPSS 16 using Spearman's correlation, χ2, Mann-Whitney, covariance, and multiple regression statistics; p-values less than 0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: The results showed a significant difference in sexual function between the SLE and healthy groups. According to covariance analysis, the difference remained significant after controlling for confounding factors (stress, depression, anxiety). Moreover, the effect of SLE on the sexual function had a significant correlation with age, life status, number and age of children, economic status, menstruation, duration of marriage, age at diagnosis, disease duration and activity, stress, anxiety, and depression. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that age, disease activity, depression, and life status had the highest correlation with sexual dysfunction in women with SLE. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicated that more attention should be paid to the sexual health of women suffering from SLE as a neglected aspect of their treatment, which requires an interdisciplinary approach to shift the care of these patients from a biomedical model to a biopsychosocial model.

MicroRNAs as Potential Pharmaco-targets in Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Compounded by Diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Ischemia-Reperfusion (I/R) injury is the tissue damage that results from re-oxygenation of ischemic tissues. There are many players that contribute to I/R injury. One of these factors is the family of microRNAs (miRNAs), which are currently being heavily studied. This review aims to critically summarize the latest papers that attributed roles of certain miRNAs in I/R injury, particularly in diabetic conditions and dissect their potential as novel pharmacologic targets in the treatment and management of diabetes. METHODS: PubMed was searched for publications containing microRNA and I/R, in the absence or presence of diabetes. All papers that provided sufficient evidence linking miRNA with I/R, especially in the context of diabetes, were selected. Several miRNAs are found to be either pro-apoptotic, as in the case of miR-34a, miR-144, miR-155, and miR-200, or anti-apoptotic, as in the case of miR-210, miR-21, and miR-146a. Here, we further dissect the evidence that shows diverse cell-context dependent effects of these miRNAs, particularly in cardiomyocytes, endothelial, or leukocytes. We also provide insight into cases where the possibility of having two miRNAs working together to intensify a given response is noted. CONCLUSIONS: This review arrives at the conclusion that the utilization of miRNAs as translational agents or pharmaco-targets in treating I/R injury in diabetic patients is promising and becoming increasingly clearer.