Non-Carcinogenic Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals and Fluoride in Some Water Wells in the Al-Baha Region,Saudi Arabia

On a global scale, pathogenic contamination of drinking water poses the most significant health risk to humans. However, significant risks to human health may also result from exposure to nonpathogenic, toxic contaminants that are often ubiquitous in waters. The purpose of this study is to determine the levels of heavy metal and fluoride contaminants in water wells used in the Al-Baha region, Saudi Arabia, to evaluate if the levels of metals will have non-carcinogenic effects. Samples were collected from private wells in the area and were analyzed for chemical contamination using approved methods of collection and analysis. Chromium, manganese, zinc, iron, and fluoride were detected in all samples, and were selected for toxicological evaluation. Exposure through ingestion and dermal contact were the scenarios proposed in this study. Chronic daily intakes (CDIs) were estimated for both routes and then compared with health guideline values. The non-cancer risk estimations show that manganese, chromium, and zinc individually have oral Hazard Quotient (HQ) values less than a value of one. Iron and fluoride were found to have oral HQ values greater than 1 in some samples. Also, on considering the additive effect of the contaminants we found that some samples have Hazard Index (HI) values greater than 1, which indicates that there is a concern for chronic non-cancer adverse health effects in case of oral and dermal routes of exposure to water from these wells.     

Parkinson’s Disease in Saudi Patients: A Genetic Study

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the major causes of parkinsonism syndrome. Its characteristic motor symptoms are attributable to dopaminergic neurons loss in the midbrain. Genetic advances have highlighted underlying molecular mechanisms and provided clues to potential therapies. However, most of the studies focusing on the genetic component of PD have been performed on American, European and Asian populations, whereas Arab populations (excluding North African Arabs), particularly Saudis remain to be explored. Here we investigated the genetic causes of PD in Saudis by recruiting 98 PD-cases (sporadic and familial) and screening them for potential pathogenic mutations in PD-established genes; SNCA, PARKIN, PINK1, PARK7/DJ1, LRRK2 and other PD-associated genes using direct sequencing. To our surprise, the screening revealed only three pathogenic point mutations; two in PINK1 and one in PARKIN. In addition to mutational analysis, CNV and cDNA analysis was performed on a subset of patients. Exon/intron dosage alterations in PARKIN were detected and confirmed in 2 cases. Our study suggests that mutations in the ORF of the screened genes are not a common cause of PD in Saudi population; however, these findings by no means exclude the possibility that other genetic events such as gene expression/dosage alteration may be more common nor does it eliminate the possibility of the involvement of novel genes.     

Occurrence and distribution of tomato seed-borne mycoflora in Saudi Arabia and its correlation with the climatic variables

One hundred samples of tomato seeds were collected in 2011 and 2012 from tomato-cultivated fields in Saudi Arabia and screened for their seed-borne mycoflora. A total of 30 genera and 57 species of fungi were recovered from the collected seed samples using agar plate and deep-freezing blotter methods. The two methods differed as regards the frequency of recovered seed-borne fungi. Seven fungi among those recovered from tomato seeds, which are known as plant pathogens, were tested for their pathogenicity and transmission on tomato seedlings. The recovery rate of these pathogens gradually decreased from root up to the upper stem, and did not reach to the stem apex. The distribution of tomato seed-borne fungi was also investigated throughout Saudi Arabia. In this concern, Al-Madena governorate recorded the highest incidence of fungal flora associated with tomato seeds. The impact of meteorological variables on the distribution of tomato seed-borne mycoflora was explored using the ordination technique (canonical correspondence analysis). Among all climatic factors, relative humidity was the most influential variable in this regard. Our findings may provide a valuable contribution to our understanding of future global disease change and may be used also to predict disease occurrence and fungal transfer to new uninfected areas.     

Seed Priming with Sodium Nitroprusside and H2O2 Confers Better Yield in Wheat Under Salinity: Water Relations,Antioxidative Defense Mechanism and Ion Homeostasis

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - To mitigate the deleterious effects of abiotic stresses signaling molecules play a significant role. The present study was aimed to assess the responses of two...     

Novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) and Other Coronaviruses: A Genome-wide Comparative Annotation and Analysis

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - Novel strain of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) causes mild to severe respiratory illness. The early symptoms may be fever, dry...     

Comparative analysis of cytokines and growth factors in the conditioned media of stem cells from the pulp of deciduous,young, and old permanent tooth

ObjectivesTo compare and analyze the secretome profile of stem cells obtained from the deciduous tooth (SHEDs), young (yDPSCs), and old permanent tooth (oDPSCs).MethodsAll the stem cells were assessed for mesenchymal stem cell markers. The stem cells were differentiated into osteoblasts and chondrocytes using lineage-specific differentiation media. Conditioned media was collected from growing stem cells, and a cytometric bead array was performed to estimate secreted cytokines and growth factor levels by flow cytometry. Gene expresseion levels were assessed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.ResultsAge did not affect the mesenchymal characteristics of dental stem cells from various age groups. The secretomes of SHEDs and young yDPSCs exhibit more growth factors and lesser pro-inflammatory cytokines than oDPSCs. Osteo and chondrogenic differentiation potential were higher in SHEDs and young yDPSCs than in the oDPSCs. TLR1, TLR2, TLR3 show decreased expression levels with age and TLR5, TLR6 show increased expression with age.ConclusionThe superior regenerative potential of SHEDs and yDPSCs may be due to the higher growth factors and lower pro-inflammatory cytokine profile.     

Association between self-care management practices and glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Saud Arabia: A cross –sectional study

ObjectiveIn this cross-sectional study, we aimed to determine the association of self-care management practices and glycemic control of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Saudi Arabia.MethodsA total of 352 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients from two public tertiary hospitals in Saudi Arabia participated in this study. All T2DM patients were recruited and interviewed by a researcher between January to April 2018 from the outpatient diabetes clinics. All respondents answered a four-part questionnaire which includes demographics data, Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ). Linear Regression was performed to assess the significance of predictors and compute the coefficient of determination.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 51.89 ± 10.94. Of the 352 participants, 52% were obese (BMI: ≥30 kgm²) and 77% of the participants had glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) over 7%. The analysis showed that subscale of Glucose management was the strongest predictor of Hba1c levels of participants’ followed by physical activity. Gender and marital status emerged as significant predictors for their self-care management practices. Female patients had more self-care management practices than male patients (B 0.20; 95CI 0.10– 0.96 (p = 0.015).ConclusionThis study provides an evidence on the self-care management of T2DM patients in Saudi Arabia. The high self-care management found in the study highlights that the patients are aware of the severity of and possible complications associated with T2DM.