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Despite the availability of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and screening facilities at various health centers in Saudi Arabia, the annual death rate due to cervical cancer is high. Therefore, knowledge and awareness are essential for self-care and educating others, particularly among healthcare students. The present descriptive, cross-sectional study explored female pharmacy students' knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to cervical cancer. A total of 140 students participated in the survey. The survey was conducted for the period between April 2022 to September 2023. We observed a good knowledge score and positive attitudes among 8.5% and 93.5% of participants, respectively. A total of 10% of the study participants reported good practice scores. Most participants had never been screened for cervical cancer (94.3%). Among the non-screened subjects, feeling healthy and lacking information were the participants' significant reasons for not screening for cervical cancer. A positive history of cancer related to smoking significantly impacted the knowledge score (p = 0.050). The current study reveals that healthcare awareness programs for cervical cancer and HPV vaccination are necessary at the level of educational institutions to improve public health.
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INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of secondary failure to oral hypoglycemic agents among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients ranges from 30 to 60%. The alternative approaches to overcome this issue are either switching to triple oral hypoglycemic agents (OHA) or intensifying the regimen by adding insulin. OBJECTIVE: To compare the glycemic control achieved with biphasic insulin plus metformin and triple OHA in T2DM patients who were not adequately controlled with two OHA regimen. METHODS: A qualitative prospective study was conducted at Asir diabetes center, Abha, KSA. Poorly controlled T2DM patients with two OHA for at least 1 year with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) >7.0% were included. Subjects were divided into group I (a third OHA was added to the existing two OHA regimen) and group II (switched over to Biphasic insulin and metformin). At baseline and 3-month intervals, level of HbA1C, Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG), Postprandial Plasma Glucose (PPG), Blood Pressure (BP), lipid profile and hypoglycemic episodes were obtained and evaluated for one year. RESULTS: 41.1% of patients were in group I and 58.9% were in group II. At the end of the study, there was a significant reduction in HbA1c in group II subjects comparing to group I (8.18 ± 1.32 vs 8.79 ± 1.81, p = 0.0238). FPG and PPG were improved also in group II. The mean body weight increased from baseline in group II is +4.48 kg and decreased from baseline in group I (-0.46 kg). 11.3% from group I and 23.7% from group II reported hypoglycaemic incidences. CONCLUSION: Biphasic insulin and metformin regimen could be an appropriate therapeutic option for achieving good glycemic control compared with triple OHA in patients with two OHA failure.
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OBJECTIVE To determine the pharmacokinetics of cefovecin sodium after SC administration of a single dose to African lions (Panthera leo). ANIMALS 3 adult (9 to 10 years old; 1 male and 2 females) and 3 juvenile (2 years old; 1 male and 2 females) African lions. PROCEDURES A crossover study was conducted. A single dose of cefovecin was administered SC at 4 mg/kg (half dose) and 8 mg/kg (full dose) to African lions. Blood samples were collected daily for 14 days after cefovecin injection. Plasma drug concentrations were determined by use of high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. RESULTS Cefovecin had first-order elimination kinetics for doses of 4 and 8 mg/kg. Mean ± SD maximum plasma concentration was 9.73 ± 1.01 µg/mL and 18.35 ± 0.94 µg/mL after doses of 4 and 8 mg/kg, respectively. Time to maximum plasma concentration was approximately 4 hours for both doses. Mean elimination half-life was approximately 111 and 115 hours after doses of 4 and 8 mg/kg, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Cefovecin was detected in lion plasma for 336 hours after administration at both 4 and 8 mg/kg at concentrations greater than the reported minimum inhibitory concentration (0.06 µg/mL) for common bacterial organisms in domestic cats. These results indicated that cefovecin administered at 4 mg/kg SC reached therapeutic concentrations for an extended period in African lions.
