Dietary habits as associated factors with irritable bowel syndrome among medical students: evidence from a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Research on Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) among medical students has increased globally, highlighting a high prevalence in this demographic. However, there is a lack of data specifically regarding the prevalence of IBS among medical students in Yemen. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of IBS among Yemeni medical students. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving medical students who completed a validated self-administered questionnaire incorporating socio-demographic information, dietary habits, smoking status, sleep patterns, and the Rome IV criteria for IBS. We used bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models to identify IBS's associated factors, estimated as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and average marginal effect (AME) on the predicted probability of IBS. RESULTS: The study included 351 medical students with a mean age of 22.53 ± 2.70 years; 39.60% (139) were females. The prevalence of IBS was 26.21% (92 students), with 67.39% (62) of them classified as IBS-M (mixed). In multivariable analysis, the consumption of carbonated soft drinks remained significantly associated with IBS (OR: 3.35; 95% CI: 1.14-9.88; P = 0.028). In males, coffee consumption had a substantial effect on the predicted probability of IBS (AME: 11.41%; 95% CI: 0.32-22.60). In females, the consumption of carbonated soft drinks had a significant effect on the predicted probability of IBS (AME: 24.91%; 95% CI: 8.34-41.48). CONCLUSION: The consumption of carbonated soft drinks is significantly associated with IBS among medical students, with a particularly notable increase in the predicted probability of IBS in females. These findings highlight the necessity for gender-specific dietary recommendations in IBS management. Further research is essential to investigate IBS in the general population to gain a comprehensive understanding of its prevalence and associated factors.

Metastatic Esophageal Carcinoma: Prognostic Factors and Survival.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer-related death. At initial diagnosis, about 50% of esophageal cancer patients present with metastasis. The prognosis of metastatic esophageal cancer is poor with 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of stage IV esophageal cancer patients registered at Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine department and Oncology Center Mansoura University in the period from 2009 to 2018 inclusive. Eligibility criteria were all pathologically proven stage IV esophageal cancer patients. The medical files of patients were reviewed. RESULTS: Most patients were ≥ 50 years (67.8%) with male predominance (76.7%). Middle third was the most common site of primary tumor (38.9%). Squamous cell carcinoma was more common with incidence of grade 3 (40%). T3-4 lesion was recorded in 61.1% and node positive in 66.7%. As regards metastasis; liver was the most common one (45.5%) followed by lung (30%). One-year survival rate was 25.6% with median survival time of 8 months. Multivariate analysis indicated that age (p = 0.03), site (p = 0.04), grade of primary tumor (p = 0.049), T classification (p = 0.0038), ECOG PS (p = 0.046), site (p = 0.026), and number of metastasis (p = 0.04) significantly affect prognosis while sex (p = 0.74) and histologic type (p = 0.94) do not. CONCLUSION: Metastatic esophageal carcinoma is a disease of poor prognosis especially in patients with the following criteria: old age, lower third location, high grade and large tumors, poor performance status, multiple sites of metastasis and presence of bone secondaries.

Cicer arietinum extract ameliorate γ-irradiation disorders via modulation of oxidative/antioxidative pathway.

Ionized radiations trigger thoughtful adverse hazards through multiple organ dysfunctions. Recently, antioxidant-based biodrugs are used to prevent and treat ionizing radiation hazards. The present study aimed to investigate the prospective ameliorative effect of Cicer arietinum extract (CAE) against γ-irradiation and the pathway of this amelioration in male albino rats. Twenty four rats were allocated into four groups; (i) control group, (ii) CAE group in which rats treated with a dosage of 500 mg CAE/kg b.wt, (iii) γ-irradiated group in which rats exposed to 6Gy γ-irradiation, (iv) γ-irradiated+CAE group; rats of this group treated with CAE 1 h post exposure. All rats treated for 21 days. Liver, kidney and femoral bone were rapidly excised and homogenized for the biochemical analysis. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer (ICP) analyses exhibit that γ-irradiation elicits significant change in the essential trace elements content in liver, kidney, and bone. Further, significant increases in TBARS and H2O2 contents accompanied by significant decreases in GSH, SOD, CAT, and GPx activities in liver, kidney and bone tissues were recorded in the γ-irradiated rats compared to control group. Additionally, marked reduction in the thickness of cortical bone was recorded in rats exposed to γ-irradiation. Conversely, CAE (500 mg/kg b.wt, p.o) administration for 21 days to γ-irradiated rats effectively reverses most of the altered parameters of the γ-irradiated rats. In conclusion, the present findings suggested that CAE is a potential agent that can be used against radiation hazards. This effect may be owing to its antioxidant mechanism, as CAE has an inhibitory effect against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide radical (O2·-) beside its ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). This finding recommended that CAE can be utilized clinically to mitigate ionized radiation-induced hazard effects.

Response of Triple Negative Breast Cancer to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Correlation between Ki-67 Expression and Pathological Response.

Triple-negative breast cancers constitute about 15% of all cases, but despite their higher response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the tumors are very aggressive and associated with a poor prognosis as well as a higher risk of early recurrence. This study was retrospectively performed on 101 patients with stage II and III invasive breast cancer who received 6-8 cycles of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Out of the total, 23 were in the triple negative breast cancer subgroup. Nuclear Ki-67 expression in both the large cohort group (n=101) and triple negative breast cancer subgroup (n=23) and its relation to the pathological response were evaluated. The purpose of the study was to identify the predictive value of nuclear protein Ki-67 expression among patients with invasive breast cancers, involving the triple negative breast cancer subgroup, treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in correlation to the rate of pathological complete response. The proliferation marker Ki-67 expression was highest in the triple negative breast cancer subgroup. No appreciable difference in the rate of Ki-67 expression in triple negative breast cancer subgroup using either a cutoff of 14% or 35%. Triple negative breast cancer subgroup showed lower rates of pathological complete response. Achievement of pathological complete response was significantly correlated with smaller tumor size and higher Ki-67 expression. The majority of triple negative breast cancer cases achieved pathological partial response. The study concluded that Ki-67 is a useful tool to predict chemosensitivity in the setting of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for invasive breast cancer but not for the triple negative breast cancer subgroup.

Conus vexillum venom induces oxidative stress in Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma cells: an insight into the mechanism of induction.

BACKGROUND: It is estimated that venoms of marine cone snails (genus Conus) contain more than 100,000 different small peptides with a wide range of pharmacological and biological actions. Some of these peptides were developed into potential therapeutic agents and as molecular tools to understand biological functions of nervous and cardiovascular systems. In this study we examined the cytotoxic and anticancer properties of the marine vermivorous cone snail Conus vexillum (collected from Hurgada and Sharm El-Shaikh, Red Sea, Egypt) and suggest the possible mechanisms involved. The in vitro cytotoxic effects of Conus venom were assessed against Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. RESULTS: Conus venom treatment resulted in concentration-dependent cytotoxicity as indicated by a lactate dehydrogenase leakage assay. Apoptotic effects were measured in vivo by measuring levels of reactive oxygen species and oxidative defense agents in albino mice injected with EAC cells. Conus venom (1.25 mg/kg) induced a significant increase (p < 0.05) in several oxidative stress biomarkers (lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl content and reactive nitrogen intermediates) of EAC cells after 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours of venom injection. Conus venom significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the activities of oxidative defense enzymes (catalase and superoxide dismutase) as well as the total antioxidant capacity of EAC cells, as evidenced by lowered levels of reduced glutathione. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate the cytotoxic potential of C. vexillum venom by inducing oxidative stress mediated mechanisms in tumor cells and suggest that the venom contains novel molecules with potential anticancer activity.

Conus vexillum venom induces oxidative stress in Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma cells: an insight into the mechanism of induction

Background: It is estimated that venoms of marine cone snails (genus Conus) contain more than 100,000 different small peptides with a wide range of pharmacological and biological actions. Some of these peptides were developed into potential therapeutic agents and as molecular tools to understand biological functions of nervous and cardiovascular systems. In this study we examined the cytotoxic and anticancer properties of the marine vermivorous cone snail Conus vexillum (collected from Hurgada and Sharm El-Shaikh, Red Sea, Egypt) and suggest the possible mechanisms involved. The in vitro cytotoxic effects of Conus venom were assessed against Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. Results: Conus venom treatment resulted in concentration-dependent cytotoxicity as indicated by a lactate dehydrogenase leakage assay. Apoptotic effects were measured in vivo by measuring levels of reactive oxygen species and oxidative defense agents in albino mice injected with EAC cells. Conus venom (1.25 mg/kg) induced a significant increase (p < 0.05) in several oxidative stress biomarkers (lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl content and reactive nitrogen intermediates) of EAC cells after 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours of venom injection. Conus venom significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the activities of oxidative defense enzymes (catalase and superoxide dismutase) as well as the total antioxidant capacity of EAC cells, as evidenced by lowered levels of reduced glutathione. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the cytotoxic potential of C. vexillum venom by inducing oxidative stress mediated mechanisms in tumor cells and suggest that the venom contains novel molecules with potential anticancer activity.(AU)

Conus vexillum venom induces oxidative stress in Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma cells: an insight into the mechanism of induction

It is estimated that venoms of marine cone snails (genus Conus) contain more than 100,000 different small peptides with a wide range of pharmacological and biological actions. Some of these peptides were developed into potential therapeutic agents and as molecular tools to understand biological functions of nervous and cardiovascular systems. In this study we examined the cytotoxic and anticancer properties of the marine vermivorous cone snail Conus vexillum (collected from Hurgada and Sharm El-Shaikh, Red Sea, Egypt) and suggest the possible mechanisms involved. The in vitro cytotoxic effects of Conus venom were assessed against Ehrlich’s ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. Results Conus venom treatment resulted in concentration-dependent cytotoxicity as indicated by a lactate dehydrogenase leakage assay. Apoptotic effects were measured in vivo by measuring levels of reactive oxygen species and oxidative defense agents in albino mice injected with EAC cells. Conus venom (1.25 mg/kg) induced a significant increase ( p  < 0.05) in several oxidative stress biomarkers (lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl content and reactive nitrogen intermediates) of EAC cells after 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours of venom injection. Conus venom significantly reduced ( p  < 0.05) the activities of oxidative defense enzymes (catalase and superoxide dismutase) as well as the total antioxidant capacity of EAC cells, as evidenced by lowered levels of reduced glutathione.Conclusions These results demonstrate the cytotoxic potential of C. vexillum venom by inducing oxidative stress mediated mechanisms in tumor cells and suggest that the venom contains novel.

Timing of revascularization after acute myocardial infarction.

The optimal timing of surgical revascularization after acute myocardial infarction remains controversial. Higher mortality after emergency coronary artery bypass has been documented. We retrospectively reviewed 278 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass between 2005 and 2007. The time from onset of myocardial infarction to surgical revascularization was the basis for dividing patients into 3 groups: surgery was performed within 24 h in group 1, at 24-72 h in group 2, and after 14 days in group 3. There was a definite relationship between the timing of revascularization and the outcome of surgery. Group 1 had a mortality rate of 11.7%, group 2 had 7% mortality, and group 3 had 2.5% mortality. Group 1 had the highest incidence of postoperative complications. Surgical revascularization within 24 h of acute myocardial infarction was associated with significantly higher risks of mortality and morbidity than procedures performed after 72 h.

Comparison of neurological outcomes in patients undergoing conventional coronary artery bypass grafting, on-pump beating heart coronary bypass, and off-pump coronary bypass.

OBJECTIVE: To study the differences in the prevalence of neurological complications following coronary artery bypass (CAB) carried out by conventional, on-pump beating and off-pump techniques. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all isolated coronary bypass operations (n=127) performed in King Fahad Cardiac Center, Riyadh over a period of one year starting from January 2005. Out of 127 patients, 73 underwent conventional CAB graft (CABG), 33 patents on-pump beating heart coronary bypass, and 21 had off pump coronary bypass grafting (OPCAB). All patients had preoperative carotid scans and those who developed neurological complications underwent CT-brain and expert neuro-psychiatric assessment. RESULTS: Preoperative characteristics of patients in all 3 groups were similar. The bypass times in the conventional CABG group were significantly longer than the on-pump beating group. The maximum number of grafts was in the on-pump beating group, followed by the conventional CABG, and the least in the OPCAB group. Seven out of 73 cases in the conventional bypass group developed neurological events of various severities. Only one out of 33 patients developed acute confusional state in the on-pump beating group and no neurological events were noticed in 21 patients operated by the OPCAB technique. Low ejection fraction, preoperative congestive cardiac failure, non-elective surgery and preoperative catastrophic state were found to be significant risk factors independent of the bypass technique. CONCLUSION: This study shows no significant difference in the prevalence of neurological complications among different types of bypass surgery in our institution. There was a trend towards less neurological outcomes in the OPCAB and on-pump beating groups.