Prevalence and risk factors associated with mental disorders among migrants in the MENA region: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The MENA region has experienced extraordinary events in recent years, resulting in an influx of refugees and displaced people who are vulnerable to mental disorders. Several previous studies have examined their prevalence, but none have focused on this region. This systematic review provided an estimate of the prevalence of mental illness and associated risk factors in the MENA region, and overcame the methodological limitations of individual studies. METHODS: Thorough searches of the relevant databases were carried out to locate relevant published articles. Furthermore, cross-sectional studies were conducted to assess mental disorders in refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, or internally displaced people residing in the MENA region. Only studies meeting the aforementioned criteria were considered. For this purpose, RStudio software version 2023.12.0 + 369 with netmeta package was used for measurement and data analysis. JBI used to assess study quality. RESULTS: The results, including 32 cross-sectional studies with a total of 21659 participants were obtained and discussed. The overall prevalence was 42% (95% CI; 30%, 54%) for depression, 43% (95% CI; 31%, 57%) for anxiety, 22% (95% CI; 11%, 39%) for stress, and 45% (95% CI; 36%, 53%) for PTSD. As a result, it was noted that being female was associated with depression, and being female and unemployed was associated with PTSD, however being married was protective against this later. CONCLUSION: Compared to the rest of the globe, MENA has a greater rate of mental illness among refugees. Nevertheless, much effort should be devoted on listing causes associated, as well as their management and prevention.

The cultural epidemiology of stigma among people with schizophrenia : Adaptation and cross-cultural validation of the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC), in Dialectal Arabic (Darija), Morocco.

INTRODUCTION: Stigma underlies the violation of certain social, economic, and cultural rights of patients with schizophrenia, including their access to treatment and care. Measurement of stigma remains as complex and multifaceted as the phenomenon itself. Several measurement tools are available to assess the prevalence, intensity and qualities of stigma. The aim of the study was to carry out a cross-cultural adaptation of the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC), in the Moroccan Arabic dialect commonly known as "Darija". PATIENTS AND METHOD: The study was conducted in three psychiatric departments of public hospitals in the Souss-Massa region, located in southern Morocco. For the diagnosis of schizophrenia, the study was based on the decisions of the psychiatrists practicing at the study sites. The cross-cultural adaptation in Moroccan Darija of the stigma scale developed by Michel Weiss in the EMIC was carried out according to the six-step scientific method developed by Dorcas et al. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha (internal consistency) was 0.845. Convergent validity determined by Pearson's coefficient showed a significant inter-item correlation and the intra-class correlation coefficient (test-retest) was 0.975 (0.993; 0.991). The item added in relation to the COVID-19 situation presented psychometric values similar to the others. CONCLUSION: The Darija version is culturally acceptable and can be used to approach the phenomenon of stigmatization in Morocco.

Characterization of the interaction between endostatin short peptide and VEGF receptor 3.

Corneal angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis are induced by vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) signaling through its receptors VEGFR-1, -2, and -3. Endostatin is a peptide antagonist of these receptors that causes inhibition of bFGF-induced corneal angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. Here we show that binding of VEGF-C and endostatin to recombinant VEGFR-3 is competitive. Alignments of the primary amino acid sequences of VEGF-C and the C-terminal endostatin peptide (mEP: LEQKAASCHNSYIVLCIENSFMTSFSK) identified two conserved cysteine residues separated by seven amino acids. Peptides of VEGF-C and mEP containing these conserved residues bound to VEGFR-3. However, substitution of alanine for either of the cysteines in the mEP peptide perturbed the secondary structure, and this mutated peptide was unable to bind to VEGFR-3. Analysis by surface plasmon resonance demonstrated that the binding of the mEP peptide for recombinant VEGFR-3 had a Ka of 1.41 x 107 M⁻¹ s⁻¹, Kd of 0.6718 s⁻¹, and a KD of 4.78 x 10⁻8 M. Characterization of the mechanism of endostatin binding to VEGFR-3 may lead to the development of novel therapies for lymphangiogenesis-related disorders, such as transplant rejection, lymphedema, and cancer metastasis.

The INO80 ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex is a nucleosome spacing factor.

The mobilization of nucleosomes by the ATP-dependent remodeler INO80 is quite different from another remodeler (SWI/SNF) that is also involved in gene activation. Unlike that recently shown for SWI/SNF, INO80 is unable to disassemble nucleosomes when remodeling short nucleosomal arrays. Instead, INO80 more closely resembles, although with notable exceptions, the nucleosome spacing activity of ISW2 and ISW1a, which are generally involved in transcription repression. INO80 required a minimum of 33 to 43 bp of extranucleosomal DNA for mobilizing nucleosomes, with 70 bp being optimal. INO80 prefers to move mononucleosomes to the center of DNA, like ISW2 and ISW1a, but does so with higher precision. Unlike ISW2/1a, INO80 does not require the H4 tail for nucleosome mobilization; instead, the H2A histone tail negatively regulates nucleosome movement by INO80. INO80 moved arrays of two or three nucleosomes with 50 or 79 bp of linker DNA closer together, with a final length of ∼30 bp of linker DNA or a repeat length of ∼177 bp. A minimum length of >30 bp of linker DNA was required for nucleosome movement and spacing by INO80 in arrays.

MMP-7 knock-in corneal fibroblast cell lines secrete MMP-7 with proteolytic activity towards collagen XVIII.

PURPOSE: To determine whether matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) that is stably overexpressed by mouse corneal fibroblast cell lines exhibits proteolytic activity against the NC1 fragment of collagen XVIII. METHODS: Corneal fibroblasts isolated from MMP-7 knockout (7ko) mice were subjected to SV40 T-antigen immortalization and stably transfected with a bicistronic retroviral vector encoding green fluorescence protein and active MMP-7. The resulting MMP-7 knock-in fibroblasts (7ko-MMP-7 cells) were isolated and enriched by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). Culture media samples from 7ko and 7ko-MMP-7 cells were then incubated with the recombinant NC1 fragment of collagen XVIII, and NC1 degradation was monitored by immunoblotting. RESULTS: Immunoblot analysis revealed that MMP-7 was present in lysates and culture media from 7ko-MMP-7 fibroblasts, but not media from immortalized 7ko fibroblasts. Importantly, lower amounts of the NC1 fragment were present in in vitro enzymatic reaction mixtures containing concentrated 7ko-MMP-7 media than in those containing concentrated 7ko media. CONCLUSION: Immortalized fibroblasts stably transfected with MMP-7 secrete active MMP-7 with proteolytic activity towards the NC1 fragment of collagen XVIII.

SWI/SNF has intrinsic nucleosome disassembly activity that is dependent on adjacent nucleosomes.

The ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex SWI/SNF regulates transcription and has been implicated in promoter nucleosome eviction. Efficient nucleosome disassembly by SWI/SNF alone in biochemical assays, however, has not been directly observed. Employing a model system of dinucleosomes rather than mononucleosomes, we demonstrate that remodeling leads to ordered and efficient disassembly of one of the two nucleosomes. An H2A/H2B dimer is first rapidly displaced, and then, in a slower reaction, an entire histone octamer is lost. Nucleosome disassembly by SWI/SNF did not require additional factors such as chaperones or acceptors of histones. Observations in single molecules as well as bulk measurement suggest that a key intermediate in this process is one in which a nucleosome is moved toward the adjacent nucleosome. SWI/SNF recruited by the transcriptional activator Gal4-VP16 preferentially mobilizes the proximal nucleosome and destabilizes the adjacent nucleosome.