Parents' knowledge regarding first-aid management of epistaxis in children in Taif, Saudi Arabia.

Objectives: Epistaxis among children is considered a scary issue for both the child and the parents. In Saudi Arabia, one third of children suffer from epistaxis. In our study, we aimed to assess the level of knowledge among parents regarding first-aid management of epistaxis in Taif city, Saudi Arabia. Method: We carried out a descriptive cross-sectional study among parents who visited Alhada Armed Forces Hospital and Prince Mansour Military Hospital between May 2022 and July 2022 in Taif, Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire with 17 questions was distributed among the participants. We excluded parents with children who were older than 18 years. Results: A total of 502 parents were included in the study. About two thirds (67.5%) of parents had a moderate level of knowledge and around one third (30.9%) showed a good level of knowledge regarding epistaxis first aid. Furthermore, higher knowledge scores were found among parents who had epistaxis previously (P = 0.026), who attended a course on first aid (P = 0.002), and who were aged more than 35 years (P = 0.017). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that most Saudi parents had a moderate level of knowledge regarding first-aid management of epistaxis. Additionally, several factors, such as the number of children, age, those attending first-aid courses, and experience treating others with epistaxis, were associated with the level of knowledge among parents. Further larger studies are required among Saudi parents to examine the knowledge, practice, and related factors regarding first-aid management of epistaxis.

Unravelling the interaction of glipizide with human serum albumin using various spectroscopic techniques and molecular dynamics studies.

Glipizide is known to stimulate insulin secretion by ß-cells of the pancreas. It is a second-generation sulfonylurea drug used in the management of type 2 diabetes. The shorter biological half-life makes it a suitable candidate to be designed as a controlled release formulation. Human serum albumin (HSA), a major plasma protein plays a crucial role in the transportation of drugs, hormones, fatty acids, and many other molecules and determines their physiological fate and biodistribution. In this study, the interaction of glipizide with HSA was investigated under physiological conditions using multi-spectroscopic techniques corroborated with molecular docking and dynamics approach. It was found that glipizide integrates to HSA with a binding constant in the order of 105 M-1. The mode of fluorescence quenching by glipizide is static in nature with one binding site. Glipizide preferentially interacts with sub-domain IIA of HSA and their complexion is thermodynamically favorable. This interaction results in the loss of α-helical content of HSA. The energy transfer efficiency from HSA to glipizide was found to be 26.72%. In silico molecular docking and simulation studies ratified in vitro findings and revealed that hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions are accountable for glipizide-HSA complex formation.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

The Epidemiology of Migraine Headache in Arab Countries: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Recurring migraine disorders are a common medical problem, standing among the top causes of disability and sufferings. This study aimed to evaluate epidemiological evidence to report updated estimates on prevalence, risk factors, and associated comorbidities of migraine headache in the Arab countries. Design and Setting. A systematic review was conducted at the College of Public Health and Health Informatics, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A systematic search in electronic databases, such as PubMed and Embase, as well as manual searches with cross-referencing was performed from 1990 up to 2019. Overall, 23 included papers were rated independently by two reviewers. Studies were eligible for inclusion only if they investigated migraine headache epidemiology in any Arab country and were published in English. RESULTS: Migraine prevalence among the general population ranged between 2.6% and 32%. The estimated prevalence of migraine headache among medical university students ranged between 12.2% and 27.9% and between 7.1% and 13.7% in schoolchildren (6 to 18 years). Females were found more likely to have migraine than males. The duration of migraine attacks became shorter with increasing age, while chronic (daily) migraine showed increasing prevalence with age. The most commonly reported comorbidities with migraine included anxiety, hypertension, irritable bowel syndrome, and depression. Most common headache-triggering factors included stress, fatigue, sleep disturbances, prolonged exposure to excessive sunlight or heat, and hunger. CONCLUSION: The prevalence and risk factors of migraine headache in Arab countries are comparable to reports from western countries. Longitudinal studies are still needed to investigate the prognosis and predictors of chronicity in the arab countries.

The Epidemiology of Celiac Disease in the General Population and High-Risk Groups in Arab Countries: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Celiac disease (CD) is possibly the most common autoimmune disorder, which may lead to dietary problems in the Arab region. This paper is aimed at exploring the epidemiology of the celiac disease in Arab countries, including its prevalence, associated risk factors, and clinical patterns. METHODS: An extensive search of the literature was conducted from electronic databases such as PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar. In total, 134 research papers were retrieved. We extracted studies published from January 1996 to December 2019. Our search was limited to studies published in English. Findings. The review included 35 studies with 22,340 participants from 12 countries and demonstrated a wide variation in the prevalence of CD. The highest prevalence among the general population (3.2%) was reported in Saudi Arabia, and the lowest (0.1%) was reported in Tunisia. Women demonstrated a higher prevalence of celiac disease relative to men. The peak age at diagnosis fell between 1 and 3 years and 9-10 years. Most studies focused on type 1 diabetes. Children with type 1 diabetes have a higher prevalence of CD (range from 5.5% to 20%), while the prevalence of CD in Down's syndrome patients was 1.1% and 10.7% in UAE and Saudi Arabia, respectively. Other autoimmune diseases associated with CD are thyroid disease and irritable bowel disease. The most widely recognized clinical presentation was an inability to flourish and poor weight gain, followed by short stature, abdominal pain, abdominal distension, bloating, and chronic diarrhea. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of the celiac disease in Arab countries varies with sex and age. However, we found that celiac disease presented similar clinical characteristics independent of the geographic region. Longitudinal population-based studies are needed to better identify the true burden and determinants of celiac disease.

Study on the interaction of antidiabetic drug Pioglitazone with calf thymus DNA using spectroscopic techniques.

Pioglitazone is an antidiabetic drug used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. Interaction of Pioglitazone with calf thymus DNA was investigated using multispectroscopic techniques and molecular docking study. Quenching and binding constant was calculated at 3 different temperatures. The binding constant of Pioglitazone with calf thymus DNA was calculated to be 6.49 × 103 M-1 at 293 K. The quenching mechanism was found to be a static process, and thermodynamic parameters revealed van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonds to be the major force working in Pioglitazone-DNA interaction. Pioglitazone follows the nonintercalative mode of binding and was involved in complex formation with DNA through minor groove binding and electrostatic interactions. Experiments like KI quenching studies, dye displacement assays, Circular Dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, DNA melting study, and viscosity measurements studies supported the nonintercalative mode of binding. This was further corroborated by molecular docking studies.