Melatonin and zinc supplements with physical and mental activities subside neurodegeneration and hepatorenal injury induced by aluminum chloride in rats: Inclusion of GSK-3ß-Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an irreversible, progressive cognitive dysfunction. Inflammaging is the greatest common factor between AD and hepatorenal malfunction. This study aimed to use melatonin (MEL) and zinc sulfate (Zn) in addition to physical and mental activities (PMA) to ameliorate AlCl3-induced AD as well as investigate their impact on the associated hepatorenal impairment. METHODS: Seven groups of rats each received: saline (control group), AlCl3 (70 mg/kg, i.p.), PMA, either alone or with a combination of Mel (10 mg/kg, p.o) and/or Zn (16 mg/kg, p.o). Neurological deterioration was assessed after 5 weeks using behavioral tests, histopathological examination, and measurements of acetylcholinesterase (ACHE), brain monoamines, oxidative stress, and inflammatory markers, Amyloid precursor protein (APP), amyloid-ß (Aß), tau levels, and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Moreover, the GSK-3ß-Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway was assessed. Additionally, oxidative stress and inflammatory markers were determined in liver and kidney tissues with concurrent evaluation of hepatic and renal functions. RESULTS: The histopathological examination revealed a cerebral cortex and hippocampus deterioration in the AD group with a decline in spatial learning and memory, besides a significant increase in AD markers in the brain and disturbance in GSK-3ß-Wnt/ß-catenin signaling. The AD group showed hepatorenal injuries supported by elevated oxidative stress and inflammatory markers. However, adding Mel and Zn to PMA significantly attenuated the neurodegeneration and enhanced hepatic and renal functions by ameliorating oxidant and inflammatory markers. CONCLUSIONS: Combining Mel and Zn supplements with PMA defends against AlCl3-induced AD by modulating GSK-3ß-Wnt/ß-catenin signaling and palliates the associated hepatorenal dysfunction.

The influence of vitamin-C intake on blood glucose measurements in COVID-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is declared as pandemic by the World Health Orgnazation (WHO) on March 2020. One of the heavily utilized measures during this pandemic is vitamin C (aka ascorbic acid). Unfortunately, vitamin C has been associated with glucose measurement interference and thus this study highlights the elevated levels of blood glucose correlated with the presence of vitamin C interference. METHODOLOGY: Thirty samples were selected randomly and the blood glucose were measured prior and post the addition of spiked standard concentrations of vitamin C. The interference of vitamin C with glucose readings in COVID-19 pandemic were evaluated and observed employing the Auto Chemistry Analyzer machine. RESULTS: The addition of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) standards (spikes) into the isolated samples shows a correlated increment in the reading measures. Thereafter, the increments of Random Blood Sugar (RBS) readings after being spiked with the vitamin C standards shows a logarithmic correlation with good interesting R-squared (R2 = 0.9921). CONCLUSIONS: The authors find that the presence of vitamin C in blood actively and significantly alters the glucose level readings especially with the highly consumption of vitamin C during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evaluation of instruments to assess health literacy in Arabic language among Iraqis.

BACKGROUND: Low health literacy is associated with lack of medical information, less use of preventive measures, low medication adherence rates, high health care costs and high risk of hospitalization. OBJECTIVE: The aims were to compare the results of the three health literacy tests, to measure for the first time the health literacy level of Iraqis, to describe the use of standardized health literacy tests, to evaluate reliability and validity of the Arabic versions of these tests, and to investigate whether there is relationship between the participant characteristics and the health literacy level. METHODS: A convenience sample of 95 subjects was studied in five community pharmacies in Al-Najaf and Babylon governorates, Iraq. Three health literacy tests, the Single Item Literacy Screener (SILS), the New Vital Sign (NVS) and the Short version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA), were translated in the Arabic language and administered to the pharmacy customers. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant associations between age, gender, education and current education status and NVS score, but there were significant positive associations between the level of education and each one of SILS, New SILS, and S-TOFHLA scores. CONCLUSIONS: SILS has one subjective, possibly culturally biased question. Since Iraqis are generally not exposed to reading product labels, the NVS test might be not an accurate measure for them. S-TOFHLA was the most comprehensive test and gave equitable results. The Arabic version of S-TOFHLA can be used to measure health literacy in 22 Arabic speaking countries.