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Habib SS, Alhalabi HB, Alharbi KS, Alghamdi OS, Alghamdi AI, Ajarem MA, Alqarni MA. Knowledge attitude and practices of university students to Vitamin D and Vitamin D supplements during times of low sun exposure and post lockdown. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2021; 25:7297-7305. [PMID: 34919229 DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202112_27423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in Saudi Arabia. Inability to get sun exposure greatly influences Vitamin D levels. Getting enough Vitamin D during childhood and young adulthood can prevent possible future diseases. We aim to estimate the level of knowledge of Saudi University students about Vitamin D and Vitamin D supplements, to correlate it with their attitudes and practices to sun exposure and Vitamin D supplements and to compare between males and females. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is an epidemiological cross-sectional KAP study conducted at King Saud University in Riyadh. A stratified random sampling technique was used where students were randomly selected from 3 colleges and stratified to males and females. N= 767 students completed the online survey used to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the students. RESULTS We found that the level of knowledge of university students was moderate to low (mean equivalent to 40%) whereas females had better knowledge. Also, their practices are not sufficient to maintain healthy Vitamin D levels as only 8.2% stay in the sun for more than an hour during weekdays. Only 10.2% of students take regular Vitamin D supplements, where females are the more likely users. 99.1% of students stay indoors during work. CONCLUSIONS The knowledge about Vitamin D is low among university students but slightly higher in females and medical students. Almost all participants work indoors and most of them wear a mask whenever going out. Few students take regular Vitamin D supplements. Females agreed more they have Vitamin D deficiency and take supplements more than males.
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Affiliation(s)
- S S Habib
- Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
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Abdel-Bakky MS, Helal GK, El-Sayed EM, Alhowail AH, Mansour AM, Alharbi KS, Amin E, Allam S, Salama SA, Saad AS. Silencing of tissue factor by antisense deoxyoligonucleotide mitigates thioacetamide-induced liver injury. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 2020; 393:1887-1898. [PMID: 32430618 DOI: 10.1007/s00210-020-01896-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Retinoid receptors (RRs), RAR-α and RXR-α, work as transcription factors that regulate cell growth, differentiation, survival, and death. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) store retinoid and release its RRs as lipid droplets upon their activation. PURPOSE We test the hypothesis that loss of retinoid receptors RAR-α and RXR-α from HSCs is dependent on tissue factor (TF) during thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver injury. METHODS Liver toxicity markers, TF, fibrin, cleaved caspase-3, and cyclin D1 as well as histopathology were investigated. RESULTS Increased TF, fibrin, cleaved caspase-3, and cyclin D1 protein expression is seen in zone of central vein after TAA injection compared with vehicle-treated mice. A strong downregulation of RAR-α and RXR-α is seen in TAA-induced liver injury. In addition, histopathological obliteration and pericentral expression of cleaved caspase 3 and cyclin D1 are observed after TAA injection compared with the normal vehicle-treated mice. No changes have been seen in TAA/TF-sense (SC) in whole parameters compared with TAA-treated animals. TAA/TF-antisense (AS)-treated mice show normal expression of all parameters and normal histopathological features when compared with the control mice. In conclusion, this study declares that the strong downregulation of RAR-α and RXR-α may cause liver injury and particularly activation of HSCs in TAA-induced toxicity. TF-AS treatment not only downregulates TF protein expression but also alleviates loss of liver RAR-α and RXR-α and suppresses the activated apoptosis signals in TAA-induced liver toxicity. Finally, TF and RAR-α/RXR-α are important regulatory molecules in TAA induced acute liver injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- M S Abdel-Bakky
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11751, Egypt. .,Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah, 51452, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
| | - G K Helal
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11751, Egypt.,Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Heliopolis University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - E M El-Sayed
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11751, Egypt
| | - A H Alhowail
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah, 51452, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - A M Mansour
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11751, Egypt
| | - K S Alharbi
- Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakakah, 72341, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Elham Amin
- Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, 62514, Egypt.,Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah, 52471, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - S Allam
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafralsheikh University, Kafralsheikh, Egypt
| | - S A Salama
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11751, Egypt.,Division of Biochemistry, Department of Pharmacology and GTMR Unit, College of Clinical Pharmacy, Taif University, Taif, 21974, Saudi Arabia
| | - A S Saad
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt
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