Enhance the oral insulin delivery route using a modified chitosan-based formulation fabricated by microwave.

Chitosan (Cs) was subjected to ball milling and subsequently functionalized with Dinitro salicylic acid (Cs-DNS) to enhance the efficacy of oral insulin delivery. The hydrodynamic spherical particle sizes exhibited 33.29 ± 5.08 nm for modified Cs-DNS NPs. Irrespective of insulin entrapment, zeta potential measurements revealed positively charged Cs-DNS NPs (+ 35 ± 3.5 mV). The entrapment performance (EP%) was evaluated in vitro, and insulin release patterns at various pH levels. The EP% for Cs-DNS NPs was 99.3 ± 1.6. Cs- DNS NPs retained a considerable amount of insulin (92 %) in an acidic medium, and significant quantities were released at increasing pH values over time. In vivo investigations, the diabetic rats which taken insulin-incorporated NPs had lower serum glucose levels (SGL) after 3 h to (39.4 ± 0.6 %) for Cs- DNS NPs. For insulin-incorporated Cs- DNS NPs, the bioavailability (BA%) and pharmacological availability (PA%) were 17.5 ± 0.31 % and 8.6 ± 0.8 %, respectively. The assertion above highlights the significance and effectiveness of modified chitosan in promoting insulin delivery, decreasing SGL levels, and guaranteeing safety.

Saudi Arabia Household Awareness and Knowledge of Food Safety.

Food safety is a critical problem that impacts everyone worldwide. Many countries around the world are becoming increasingly reliant on the availability and safety of their food supply. Despite growing public consciousness about food-related dangers, the growth in food poisoning cases implies that individuals continue to make food consumption, food storage, and food preparation decisions that are less than optimal from a health and safety standpoint. The aim of this study was to assess Saudi Arabia's households' knowledge and practices of food safety. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess knowledge of food safety and practices among a group of households in Saudi Arabia. An online questionnaire using social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp), and emails communications were distributed. A total of 309 adults (age range 18-59 years) participated in the study. In general, there were no differences between regions regarding the knowledge of food safety. Additionally, most of the participants had good practices of food safety. The findings of our study show that the gender, age, and educational level are factors that have an impact on the knowledge of food safety among respondents. Regarding food safety practices, in general, the results show that the participants had good practices. Therefore, organizations should focus on educational programs, training, holding workshops and activities in public places such as malls, schools, and home visit to improve and increases food safety knowledge and practices.

Assessment of Dietary Habits and Physical Activity Changes during the Full COVID-19 Curfew Period and Its Effect on Weight among Adults in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic in March 2020. Global efforts have been made to prevent the disease from spreading through political decisions and personal behaviors, all of which rely on public awareness. The aim of our study was to examine the effect of dietary habits on weight and physical activity (PA) during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. An online questionnaire was distributed using social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp) and email communication. A total of 472 adults (age range, 18-59 years), over half of the study population (68.0%) being females, 55.5% being between 19 and 29 years old, 15.0%-between 30 and 39 years old, and 11.2%-older than 50 years old, participated in the study. Our results indicated that the overall body weight was slightly increased among the 50+ age group (47.2%, p > 0.05), but it highly increased among the 30-39-years-old age group (32.4%, p > 0.05) as compared to before the pandemic lockdown period. Therefore, our results show that a significant difference (p < 0.05) was found for all the assessments: weight status, physical activity patterns, hours spent on screen time, homemade meals, and changes in dietary habits before and during the full COVID-19 curfew period. This study demonstrated that changes in eating habits were commonly reported among the participants who represented the full COVID-19 curfew period and that changes in eating habits and decreased physical activity led to weight gain.