Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among Healthcare Workers Following COVID-19 Pandemic in Jazan Region, KSA

Background: COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic by the World Health Organization in 2020. Many pieces of research have been published on the virus’s pattern and transmission routes, and a few studies have been published on its psychological repercussions for the general public and health care workers in particular. We aimed in this study to figure out the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of health care workers in the Jazan region and compare it to non-health care workers. Results: There were 221 participants in this study conducted in the Jazan region KSA, during the first part of 2022. 117 participants were non-HCWs (Health Care Workers) and 104 participants were HCWs. 31.7% of HCWs had high score of PTSD symptoms which may suppress their immunity, PTSD was a clinical concern in 12.5%, 6.7% had probable PTSD, and 49% had no PTSD. The average PTSD score in HCWs was 26.14. In contrast, the great majority of non-HCWs (69.2%) had no PTSD;PTSD was a clinical concern in 16.2%, 11.1% had a score indicating PTSD had the potential for immunosuppression, and 3.4% had probable PTSD. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect just those who were infected with the virus, nor was it restricted to the mental health of those afflicted;rather, the influence expanded until it reached the general public and, in particular, those who had contact with patients, such as health care workers. As a result, mental health investigation, follow-up, and therapy are required to preserve the mental health of health care workers as well as the general population.

Potential mechanisms of hepatitis B virus induced liver injury

Chronic active hepatitis(CAH) is acknowledged as an imperative risk factor for the development of liver injury and hepatocellular carcinoma.The histological end points of CAH are chronic inflammation,fibrosis and cirrhosis which are coupled with increased DNA synthesis in cirrhotic vs healthy normal livers.The potential mechanism involved in CAH includes a combination of processes leading to liver cell necrosis,inflammation and cytokine production and liver scaring(fibrosis).The severity of liver damage is regulated by Hepatitis B virus genotypes and viral components.The viral and cellular factors that contribute to liver injury are discussed in this article.Liver injury caused by the viral infection affects many cellular processes such as cell signaling,apoptosis,transcription,DNA repair which in turn induce radical effects on cell survival,growth,transformation and maintenance.The consequence of such perturbations is resulted in the alteration of bile secretion,gluconeogenesis,glycolysis,detoxification and metabolism of carbohydrates,proteins,fat and balance of nutrients.The identification and elucidation of the molecular pathways perturbed by the viral proteins are important in order to design effective strategy to minimize and/or restore the hepatocytes injury.

Hepatitis B virus,HBx mutants and their role in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is one of the leading causes of death induced by cancer in the modern world and majority of the cases are related to chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection.HBV-encoded X protein(HBx)is known to play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of viral induced HCC.HBx is a multifunctional protein of17 kDa which modulates several cellular processes by direct or indirect interaction with a repertoire of host factors resulting in HCC.HBX might interfere with several cellular processes such as oxidative stress,DNA repair,signal transduction,transcription,protein degradation,cell cycle progression and apoptosis.A number of reports have indicated that HBx is one of the most common viral ORFs that is often integrated into the host genome and its sequence variants play a crucial role in HCC.By mutational or deletion analysis it was shown that carboxy terminal of HBx has a likely role in protein-protein interactions,transcriptional transactivation,DNA repair,cell,signaling and pathogenesis of HCC.The accumulated evidence thus far suggests that it is difficult to understand the mechanistic nature of HBx associated HCC,and HBx mediated transcriptional transactivation and signaling pathways may be a major determinant.This article addresses the role of HBx in the development of HCC with particular emphasis on HBx mutants and their putative targets.

Role of mycorrhiza to reduce heavy metal stress

Plants have a system of antioxidant enzymes, which helps to alleviate the effects of various types of stresses. Heavy metals like Cadmium and lead are tolerable for plants to certain extent. The antioxidant enzymes do not function properly at higher concentrations of Cadmium, lead and some other heavy metals. The activities of antioxidant enzymes are reduced due to reactive oxygen species produced as a result of heavy metal stress. The catalase activity was directly inhibited by O2- (Kono and Fridovich, 1982). These ROS are O2-, H2O2, and -OH which can react with many other biomolecules. Several metallic ions are produced by radical displacement reactions. These metallic ions inhibit the activity of antioxidant enzymes. Hence, enzymic antioxidant defense system of plants is affected and adversely inhibits plant growth and productivity. Mycorrhizal fungi are important in phytostabilization of toxic heavy metals. Plants having mycorrhizal association accumulate metallic pollutants by storing these heavy metals in Vesicles as well as in fungal hyphae in their roots, hence these metallic pollutants are immobilized and do not inhibit the growth and uptake of phosphorus and some other micronutrients. Mycorrhizal fungi also release various organic acids which increase the solubilisation of insoluble phosphate compounds present in soil. The unavailable forms of phosphorus are converted into available forms as a result of organic acids produced by fungi. AM fungi release glomalins that are certain metal sorble glycoproteins which increase the immobilization of toxic metals. Another protein is metallothionine released by certain AM fungi, which also reduces the heavy metal toxicity in soil. Mycorrhizal fungi also induce resistance in plants against pathogens, drought and salinity stress. Investigation on heavy metal stress resistant genes in mycorrhizal plants can be very helpful for phytoremediation. This review focuses on the use of AM fungi for phytoremediation.

Bacteriophages in <i>Escherichia coli</i>antimicrobial resistance

The continuous battle between humans and the multitude of pathogenic microorganisms in the environment has sought relief in the form of antimicrobials. But the counter attack by pathogenic organisms in the form of multidrug resistance, acquired by various mechanisms such as transformation, transposition, conjugation and transduction is a major reason for concern. Bacteriophages have contributed in a significant way to dissemination of genes encoding antimicrobial resistance, heavy metal resistance and virulence factors through the phenomenon of transduction. This review aims at compiling information about the different mechanisms by which bacteriophages aid in transferring genes involved in antimicrobial resistance to Escherischia coli in various environments.

Rare Primary Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma of a Male Breast

Background: Breast lymphomas are typical extranodal types of lymphoma, also known as Extranodal-lymphoma (ENL), which occur extremely infrequently, aggregating into a very small proportion of malignant breast tumors. The rarity of breast lymphomas is attributed to the scant lymphoid tissue content of the chest wall. Aims of Study: This case report is aimed at providing an up-to-date review of the literature on breast lymphomas for clinicians to, therefore, consider the possibility of this disease entity while treating a breast mass. Case Presentation: A case was reported of a 52-year man with chief mammary non-Hodgkin breast ENL when fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was not leading to a firm conclusion or result. Following an incisional biopsy, he was found to have a primary breast lymphoma. Later, the patient was diagnosed with the diffuse large B-cell type of lymphoma also known as non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL). He had a complete reduction and disappearances of all the signs and symptoms of the disease after a course of neoadjuvant chemotherapy: Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine and Prednisolone (CHOP). CONCLUSION: Based on the above case presentation, it is vital for health care professionals and oncologists to recognize the disease by assessing the breast mass accurately with more entities so that proper diagnosis via core biopsy (incisional biopsy) can eliminate the PBL before further treatment is required.