Level of Awareness about Air Pollution among Decision-makers in Jordan: Unveiling Important COPD Etiology

Purpose: The complete awareness of policymakers about air pollution can play a significant role in dealing with this environmental threat. This study aimed to examine the awareness and perception among the policymakers regarding air pollution in Jordan. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Jordan. The participants included in this study were governmental and non-governmental officials from different sectors. An interview and questionnaire were used to examine the extent of knowledge of these decision-makers regarding air pollution types, sources, and threats. Results: Most participants acknowledged that air pollution in Jordan was a huge problem. Most participants (90%) were familiar with the term air pollution, and regularly read about different contaminants that cause air pollution. However, most of the participants had a low level of knowledge about air contaminant types in Jordan. The least known pollutants were PM2.5 (Particulate Matter 2.5 microns in width) and PM10 (Particulate Matter 10 microns in width). Only 7.5% of the participants knew about PM2.5, while 12.5% knew about PM10. Conclusion: Policymakers have the full authority to initiate and implement policies that intend to limit air pollution. Their complete awareness of air pollution can result in conducting certain protocols to approve new policies and legislations that can improve the air quality in Jordan. Unfortunately, no previous studies were conducted to analyze policymakers’ knowledge regarding air pollution in Jordan, and this study’s results hoped to reflect the importance of air pollutants and their greater significance on public health. (AU)

The Effect of Omega-3 Supplements on The Serum Levels Of ACE/ACE2 Ratio As A Potential Key in Cardiovascular Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial in Participants with Vitamin D Deficiency

Objective: The aim of this randomized controlled clinical trial was to determine the effect of the omega-3 fatty acid supplementations 300 mg per day for 8 weeks on the serum levels of ACE/ACE2 ratio in Jordanian participants with vitamin D deficiency (VDD). Methods: The physical and clinical characteristic of individuals in both intervention and control randomized controlled clinical trial were measured and analyzed. The comparisons between the two groups and the changes in each group before and after taking omega-3 doses were studied through independent t test and paired t test, respectively. Possible factors that have a role in the changes were determined by multivariate stepwise regression. Follow-up period lasted 10 weeks. Results: The sample consisted of 82 participants with VDD and a mean age of 37.85 ± 9.85 years. Omega-3 Supplements resulted in a significant decrease in serum ACE levels, ACE/ACE2 ratio and serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD). While the change in serum ACE2 levels and serum triglycerides levels were insignificant. Also, a significant increase in serum LDL levels were observed. Conclusion: It is possible that taking high doses of omega-3 fatty acid supplementations have positive effects on the heart and circulatory system and could protect from COVID-19 or decrease disease severity, in connection with a decrease in the ACE/ACE 2 ratio. On the other hand, omega-3 supplement may have negative effect on cardiovascular system due to the significant increase in serum LDL levels. (AU)

Evaluating the clinical application of the immune cells’ ratios and inflammatory markers in the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease

Objective: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs) are chronic inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Developing methods for effective screening and diagnosis is extremely needed. Accordingly, this study aims to evaluate the potential of immune cells ratios in the diagnosis of IBD. Methods: This case-control study includes data from Jordan University Hospital (JUH) medical records for IBD patients with age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Results: This study included 46 participants, of which 56.52% had IBD, 54.35% were males, with insignificant differences in sex, age, and body mass index (BMI) between IBD patients and controls (p>0.05). In the CD group, the variables with the highest sensitivity and specificity (HSS) were neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) (75%, 80%) and platelet-to-lymphocytes (PLR) (75%, 90%), in UC group; mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) (80%, 80%). In CD group, the combinations giving the HSS were PLR+NLR (76%, 90.9%), C-reactive protein (CRP)+PLR (76%, 90.9%), and CRP+NLR (73.07%, 90%). In UC group, the combinations giving the HSS were erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)+PLR (76.9%, 100%), PLR+MCH (74.07%, 100%), PLR+CRP (71.42%, 100%), and PLR+NLR (71.42%, 100%). Regression analysis identified five different combinations of significance in the diagnosis of CD and UC. Higher Youden’s index was used and defined the most beneficial clinical combinations as NLR+PLR and CRP+PLR for CD, whereas ESR+PLR for UC. Conclusion: Implications to our study include the clinical application of immune cell ratios, inflammatory markers, and their different combinations along with patients’ history and physical examination findings for easier, faster, and more cost-effective diagnosis of IBDs. (AU)

Co-infection of COVID-19 patients with atypical bacteria: A study based in Jordan

Objective: The aim of this work was to know the prevalence of Chlamydophila pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in Jordan. Also, to assess a TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay in detecting these two bacteria. Methods: This is a retrospective study performed over the last five months of the 2021. All nasopharyngeal specimens from COVID-19 patients were tested for C. pneumonia, and M. pneumoniae. The C. pneumoniae Pst-1 gene and M. pneumoniae P1 cytadhesin protein gene were the targets. Results: In this study, 14 out of 175 individuals with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (8.0%) were co‐infected with C. pneumoniae or M. pneumoniae. Co‐infection with SARS‐CoV‐2 and C. pneumoniae was reported in 5 (2.9%) patients, while 9 (5.1%) patients had M. pneumoniae and SARS‐CoV‐2 co-infection. The mean (± std) of the correlation coefficient of the calibration curve for real-time PCR analysis was –0.993 (± 0.001) for C. pneumoniae and –0.994 (± 0.003) for M. pneumoniae. The mean amplification efficiencies of C. pneumoniae and M. Pneumoniae were 187.62% and 136.86%, respectively. Conclusion: In this first study based in Jordan, patients infected with COVID-19 have a low rate of atypical bacterial co-infection. However, clinicians should suspect co-infections with both common and uncommon bacteria in COVID-19 patients. Large prospective investigations are needed to give additional insight on the true prevalence of these co-infections and their impact on the clinical course of COVID-19 patients. (AU)