Prevalence and associated factors of cigarette smoking among medical students at King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh of Saudi Arabia

To determine the prevalence of smoking among medical students at the medical college at King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh, and assess the association between smoking and socio-demographical factors, smoking contacts, reasons for smoking and attempts to quit. Cross-sectional survey in which anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was used to survey the cigarette smoking habits of the first-and second-year medical students in the Faculty of Medicine, King Fahad Medical City in June 2009. Overall 39.8% of the investigated students [153] had smoked before, and 17.6% were current smokers. The mean age of initiating smoking was 15.8 +/- 3.3]. There were significantly more males than females. The most important reasons for smoking were leisure, imitation of other people and a means of relieving psychological pressure. Reasons for not smoking were mostly health and religion-based. Smokers tended to have friends who smoked. Cigarettes smoking is highly prevalent among medical students in the Faculty of Medicine, King Fahad Medical City. Contact with smokers particularly friends are the major risk factors for the initiation of the habit. Health and religious considerations are important motives for not smoking, quitting or attempting to quit. These findings can be of help in designing future intervention strategies

Effect of diclofenac alone or in combination with alpha-tocopherol on the oxidative activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in healthy and osteoarthritic individuals

To investigate the effects of diclofenac alone or when combined with alpha-tocopherol on the oxidative activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes [PMNs] in healthy and osteoarthritic [OA] patients. The study was carried out at the College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, over the period 1999 to 2000. Twelve healthy controls and 12 osteoarthritic patients were recruited to the study. Twelve healthy controls and osteoarthritic patients were given diclofenac 50 mg thrice daily orally, initially for 5 days then alpha-tocopherol at 200 mg thrice daily orally, was added for another 5 days. Blood samples were drawn before the start of the study [pre-treatment] and at 5 days following treatment with diclofenac alone and 10 days following treatment with diclofenac and alpha-tocopherol. Chemiluminescence [CL] response was measured for whole blood and isolated polymorphonuclear leukocytes [PMNs] on all samples. Diclofenac enhanced CL response of whole blood and of PMNs of healthy controls when stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate [PMA] and opsonized zymosan [OPZ]. Co-treatment with alpha-tocopherol resulted in no appreciable change in the CL response of whole blood when stimulated with PMA or OPZ but a further significant enhancement of CL response of isolated PMNs when these cells were stimulated by either PMA or OPZ. In osteoarthritic patients, diclofenac alone and when combined with alpha-tocopherol showed no significant change in CL response of whole blood. The CL response of PMNs from OA patients was decreased by diclofenac alone. However, this inhibitory effect was not observed when alpha-tocopherol was used together with diclofenac. The effect of diclofenac alone or in combination with alpha-tocopherol did not produce a consistent effect on the CL response of whole blood or isolated PMNs of healthy or osteoarthritic patients

Interaction of allopurinol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema

To find out the effect of combining allopurinol with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. The study was carried out at the College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, over the period 1999 to 2000. Male wistar rats were randomly divided into 12-16 rats in each group. Edema was induced by subplantar injection of 0.1 ml of carrageenan [10 mg/ml] and the resulting edema volume was measured by plethysmograph, 3 hours after the injections. Saline of 0.9% [0.1 ml/100 g] was administered to the first group serving as control. The second and third groups received variable concentration of allopurinol [12.5, 25, 50 mg/kg] and tenoxicam [0.0625, 0.125, 0.25 mg/kg] 30 minutes before carrageenan injection. The fourth group received a combination of tenoxicam and allopurinol. Similar procedures were carried out with respect to diclofenac at 1.25, 2.5, 5.0 mg/kg and indomethacin at 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 mg/kg. The activities of the drugs were expressed as percentage inhibition of edema. Pre-treatment of the rats with the 4 drugs individually resulted in dose-dependent reduction of volume of paw edema. The combination of allopurinol and diclofenac acted synergistically to reduce edema. A similar synergistic action was obtained when allopurinol was combined with indomethacin. By contrast, tenoxicam-allopurinol combination resulted in antagonistic action and produced an effect on edema, which was less than their individual inhibitory action. Combining allopurinol with either diclofenac or indomethacin produced synergistic inhibitory action on rat's paw edema. However, tenoxicam, when combined with allopurinol, produced antagonism

Inhibition of chemiluminescence of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes by cerastes snake venom

Cerastes cerastes venom, added in vitro, to human polymorphonuclear leukocytes [PMNs] caused a marked inhibitory effect on the luminol-dependent Chemiluminescence induced by phorbol myristate acetate [PMA] or opsonized zymosan on these cells. The inhibitory effect produced by the venom was both dose- and time-dependent when PMA was used to stimulate the oxidative burst in PMNs. Incubation of the isolated PMNs with the highest concentration of the venom used [100/ig/ml], however, did not result in any significant disruption of the membranes of these cells. The effect of the venom on the isolated PMNs was also reversible following washing of the venom-treated cells with phosphate buffered saline [PBS]. The venom did not affect Chemiluminescence produced when luminol was excited by the oxidative metabolite, hydrogen peroxide, in a cell-free medium. These results suggest that some of the toxicity of the venom may be mediated by an action on the phagocytic immune system