Maternal separation influences hepatic drug-metabolizing CYP450 gene expression without pathological changes in adult mice.

OBJECTIVES: The principal motive of this study is to explore the influence maternal separation (MS) exhibits on the mRNA expression of major drug metabolizing-cyp450s in parallel with the assessment of pathological changes that can be induced by MS in the livers of experimental mice. METHODS: Eighteen Balb/c mouse pups, comprising of both males and females, were separated from their mothers after birth. Following a six-week period during when the pups became adults, the mice were sacrificed and their livers were isolated for analysis of weight, pathohistological alterations, and the mRNA expression of drug metabolizing cyp450 genes: cyp1a1, cyp3a11, cyp2d9, and cyp2c29. RESULTS: The study demonstrated that MS markedly downregulated (p<0.05) the mRNA expression of all tested drug-metabolizing cyp450s in livers of female and male mice. Furthermore, the mRNA levels of major drug-metabolizing cyp450s were notably lower (p<0.05) in livers of female MS mice as compared with male MS mice. It was found that values of the total body weight and liver weight of MS mice did not vary significantly (p>0.05) from those of the control groups. Additionally, histological examination revealed that the hepatic tissue of MS mice was normal, similar to that of the control mice. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, MS downregulates the gene expression of major hepatic drug-metabolizing cyp450s without inducing pathological alterations in the livers of mice. These findings provide an explanation for the heterogeneity in pharmacokinetics and drug response of patients with early life stress.

Medicine and Pharmacy Students' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice regarding Artificial Intelligence Programs: Jordan and West Bank of Palestine.

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) programs generate responses to input text, showcasing their innovative capabilities in education and demonstrating various potential benefits, particularly in the field of medical education. The current knowledge of health profession students about AI programs has still not been assessed in Jordan and the West Bank of Palestine (WBP). Aim: This study aimed to assess students' awareness and practice of AI programs in medicine and pharmacy in Jordan and the WBP. Methods: This study was in the form of an observational, cross-sectional survey. A questionnaire was electronically distributed among students of medicine and pharmacy at An-Najah National University (WBP), Al-Isra University (Jordan), and Al-Balqa Applied University (Jordan). The questionnaire consisted of three main categories: sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, practice of AI programs, and perceptions of AI programs, including ChatGPT. Results: A total of 321 students responded to the distributed questionnaire, and 261 participants (81.3%) stated that they had heard about AI programs. In addition, 135 participants had used AI programs before (42.1%), while less than half the participants used them in their university studies (44.2%): for drug information (44.5%), homework (38.9%), and writing research articles (39.3%). There was significantly (48.3%, P<0.005) more conviction in the use of AI programs for writing research articles among pharmacy students from Palestine compared to Jordan. Lastly, there was significantly more (53.8%, P<0.05) AI program use among medicine students than pharmacy students. Conclusion: While most medicine and pharmacy students had heard about AI programs, only a small proportion of the participants had used them in their medical study. In addition, attitudes and practice related to AI programs in their education differs between medicine and pharmacy students and between WBP and Jordan.