FTHL17, PRM2, CABYR, CPXCR1, ADAM29, and CABS1 are highly expressed in colon cancer patients and are regulated in vitro by epigenetic alterations.

Background: Colon cancer is a serious public health issue and a major cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, including Saudi Arabia. Knowledge of genes associated with colon cancer development and progression is essential for identifying new cancer-specific biomarkers to improve the diagnosis of colon cancer. Methods: The expression levels of FTHL17, PRM2, CABYR, CPXCR1, ADAM29, and CABS1 in 15 adjacent colon cancer and normal colon tissue samples from male patients were investigated using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) assays. qRT-PCR analysis was also used to determine whether reducing DNA methyltransferase (via 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment) or histone deacetylation (via trichostatin treatment) increased the expression levels of the tested genes. Results: The analysis of the 15 colon cancer and adjacent normal colon tissue samples revealed that all six genes were expressed in both groups, but their expression levels were significantly higher in the colon cancer group. Furthermore, the mRNA expression levels of the FTHL17, PRM2, CABYR, CPXCR1, and ADAM29 genes were considerably upregulated after treatment of HCT116 and Caco-2 cells with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine and trichostatin. However, the CABS1 gene was activated only with trichostatin treatment. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that FTHL17, PRM2, CABYR, CPXCR1, ADAM29, and CABS1 are suitable candidate biomarkers of colon cancer and their expressions are regulated by hypomethylation and hyperacetylation.

Promoting Oral Health Using Social Media Platforms: Seeking Arabic Online Oral Health Related Information (OHRI).

Access to oral health care services around the world is limited by a lack of universal coverage. The internet and social media can be an important source for patients to access supplementary oral health related information (OHRI). Online OHRI presents an opportunity to enhance dental public health education about innumerable oral health issues and promote dental self-care. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of social media users among the Saudi population and identify the preferred social media platform for seeking Arabic OHRI and its impact on seekers' knowledge, attitude, and behavior. A total of 2652 Twitter followers were surveyed, using a web-based self-administered questionnaire to collect data on demographic characteristics and online OHRI seeking behavior More than two thirds, 67.7% (n= 1796), of the participants reported they were seeking Arabic online OHRI, while 41.1% of the participants reported they had no preference for using a specific social media platform. These results emphasize the need and importance of supporting the content of social media with trusted and high quality online OHRI resources to promote a high level of public awareness about oral health and dental health services. Further studies in this regard are highly recommended on a larger scale of nationalities to explore the role of social media platform preference in promoting health promotion and dental public health awareness.

Exploring the Role of Twitter in Promoting Women's Health in the Arab World: Lessons Learned.

Women's health is a topic that has been largely overlooked within the Arab world. Nevertheless, the constant growth in the use of social media provides an opportunity to improve women's health in the Arab world. In this paper, we discuss our experiences and lessons learned with the development of a women's health promotional campaign in the Arabic language using Twitter, a popular social media platform in the Arab world. We analyzed the combined experiences of five researchers in the development of the Twitter account. Two separate meetings were held, one on March 10 and another on March 25, 2015 with the researchers to review their experiences and lessons learned in developing a Twitter health promotion platform for women's health in the Arab world. The shared experiences were thematically transcribed, coded, matched and grouped under six key themes identified as the main driving forces for the development of a successful health promotion Twitter account. We found that the success of the Twitter account was the result of: defining clear goals, being passionate about the health promotion campaign, being motivated and creative, being knowledgeable about the health promotion area, developing trust between Twitter accounts users and the healthcare provider, and being patient in communicating with Twitter account users. Future research needs to focus on a more detailed analysis of the twitter feeds shared between the users and the health practitioners which can enhance our understanding of the social media based public health educational interventions.

The Prevalence of Using Social Media among Healthcare Professionals in Saudi Arabia: A Pilot Study.

Keeping up-to-date with new health information is a necessity for healthcare professionals. Today, social media platforms such as Twitter, among others, are important sources for healthcare professionals. Within the Arab world, little is known about how healthcare professionals use social media to update their healthcare information. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of healthcare professionals, primarily physicians, in seeking online health information in Saudi Arabia. We conducted a web-based survey among Twitter participants between February 1 and March 10, 2015. The primary outcome measures were the self-reported rates of Twitter use, perceived effects, and the influence of Twitter information on clinical practice. Our results revealed that the prevalence rate of physician's seeking online health information was 79% (n=166); the majority of them (71.4%, n=150) reported that Twitter had a significant impact in increasing their medical knowledge and in improving their clinical practice. Over half of the survey participates reported the need for investment in establishing trustworthy and credible health Twitter accounts. The participants reported that their preference for social media health accounts that focus on women's health, non-communicable disease and psychotherapy (20%, 18.1% and 14.5% respectively). The findings showed clearly that seeking web-based medical information through social media is popular among physicians, in general, but especially among younger physicians in Saudi Arabia. The study findings indicate to the necessity for further research on designing and implementing a national social media based educational outreach program to provide evidence-based healthcare information and improve healthcare providers' knowledge and skills in Saudi Arabia.

Electronic Dental Record (EDR) Use in Saudi Arabia: An Exploratory Study.

The purpose of this exploratory study is to provide an overview of the electronic dental records (EDR) systems used at National Guard Health Affair (NGHA) hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Different sources of data were collected between February 18 and March 16, 2014. Sources of data included interviews with key informants. Key informants interviews included one 30 minute interview with an information technology specialist working at NGHA; seven 30-40 minute interview with dentists working in both the NGHA hospital and affiliated NGHA Primary Healthcare Clinics (PHCs). Two dental ward clerks were interviewed for 30 minutes and two dental directors were interviewed for 1 hour each. Four main themes emerged as a result of the analysis of the data. The main themes that emerged centered on staff satisfaction and workload, incomplete information, missing files, and adoption of EDRs. There were several challenges identified with the use of EDRs in Saudi Arabia. The challenges related to resistance to use the EDRs by clinical staff; lack of computer skills by clinical staff; usability of the systems; lack of interest in using EDRs; and lack of a clear management change strategy. Moving forward, these issues should be addressed so that more EDRs are implemented in all healthcare institutions in Saudi Arabia.