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Background: The proportion of smokers in Jordan is one of the largest in the world and ranks number one the Middle East and second worldwide.Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the behavior, quit attempts and attitudes among pharmacy students in the pharmacy college at Isra University –Jordan Methods: Participants answereda structuredquestionnaire and were randomlyselected from students who smoke who were enrolled at the faculty of pharmacy at Isra University during the academic year of 2017-2018. Students were eligible to participate if they smoked regular cigarettes, or hookah or other types of smoke devices.Results: Most participants smoke cigarettes (n=82, 71.9%) over hookah. Thirty-seven students (32.5%) of the age group 20-25 have started smoking less than 5 years ago. A total of 72 students (63%) are highly addicted consuming at least one pack of 20 cigarettes or more per day. Moststudents (87.7%) spend between 50-100 JOD (~$70-141USD) monthly on smoking. Furthermore, 80 students (70.2%) have tried to quit before. Conclusions: The current study showed a positive attitude toward establishing designated smoking zones. Smokers also stated their eagerness to quit smoking. There is an urgent need to have more awareness campaigns and smoking cessation clinics or counselors on college campuses
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Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is currently the third most common cancer type in males and the second most occurring in females. The role of microRNA (miRNA) in the development of colorectal cancer is notfully elucidated. Therefore, understanding the mechanistic interaction between miRNA and their target oncogenes may hold great importance as a possible target for interventional anticancer therapy Aims:To identify miRNAs that are part of the regulating pathway of Monocarboxylate Transporter-4 (MCT4) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) oncogenes.Study Design:We used publicly available prediction tools (e.g. TargetScan, MicroCosm, PicTar, and DIANA-microT-CDS) to identify the possible miRNA that target the two oncogenes. Methodology:We used the GeneMania database to visualize the network and verify gene names and remove ambiguity and duplications. Furthermore, we used miRTarBase database to identify experimentally validated targets which we used to further confirm miRNA-oncogene relationships. Finally, we utilized miR-Mfold web-tool to further visualize the circular structures and the simulated miR-1 and miR-206 targeting arrangements.Results:We found two putative miRNA (miR-1 and miR-206) that may downregulate MCT4 coded by SLC16A3gene and VEGF which is coded by VEGF gene. We found relationships between the validated target genes of miR-1 and miR-206 through GeneMania which we extracted from the literature. And we elucidated the proposed structure of these two miRNAs through miR-Mfold web-tool.Conclusion: Our results elucidated a novel regulation pathway in CRC cells and may suggest a potential therapeutic approach for CRC therapy. MiR-1 and miR-206 may help cells go to apoptosis and inhibit the angiogenesis of colorectal cancer cells by down-regulation of MCT4 and VEGF proteins in tumor tissues.