Background Despite the availability of prevention guidelines and recommendations on infection control, many dental practices lack the minimum requirements for infection control. Objective This study aimed to assess the level of awareness, perception, and attitude regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and infection control among Jordanian dentists. Methods The study population consisted of dentists who worked in private clinics, hospitals, and health centers in Jordan. An online questionnaire was sent to a sample of Jordanian dentists in March 2020. The questionnaire was comprised of a series of questions about dentists’ demographic characteristics; their awareness of the incubation period, the symptoms of the disease, mode of transmission of COVID-19 and infection control measures for preventing COVID-19; and their attitude toward treating patients with COVID-19. Results This study included a total of 368 dentists aged 22-73 years (mean 32.9 years, SD 10.6 years). A total of 112 (30.4%) dentists had completed a master or residency program in dentistry, 195 (53.0%) had received training in infection control in dentistry, and 28 (7.6%) had attended training or lectures regarding COVID-19. A total of 133 (36.1%) dentists reported that the incubation period is 1-14 days. The majority of dentists were aware of COVID-19 symptoms and ways of identifying patients at risk of having COVID-19, were able to correctly report known modes of transmission, and were aware of measures for preventing COVID-19 transmission in dental clinics. A total of 275 (74.7%) believed that it was necessary to ask patients to sit far from each other, wear masks while in the waiting room, and wash hands before getting in the dental chair to decrease disease transmission. Conclusions Jordanian dentists were aware of COVID-19 symptoms, mode of transmission, and infection controls and measures in dental clinics. However, dentists had limited comprehension of the extra precautionary measures that protect the dental staff and other patients from COVID-19. National and international guidelines should be sent by the regional and national dental associations to all registered dentists during a crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, to make sure that dentists are well informed and aware of best practices and recommended disease management approaches.

An increasing amount of data supports an inverse association between statin use and cancer risk. The findings for prostate cancer, particularly advanced disease, are the most promising of all cancers studied. Use of these agents seems to also be associated with improved prostate-cancer-specific survival, particularly in men undergoing radiotherapy, suggesting usefulness of statins in secondary and tertiary prevention. Some study results might be influenced by increased PSA screening and health-conscious behaviour in statin users but these factors are unlikely to completely account for observed beneficial effects. The epidemiological evidence is supported by preclinical studies that show that statins directly inhibit prostate cancer development and progression in cell-based and animal-based models. The antineoplastic effect of statins might arise from a number of cholesterol-mediated and non-cholesterol-mediated mechanisms that affect pathways essential for cancer formation and progression. Understanding these mechanisms is instrumental in drug discovery research for the development of future prostate cancer therapeutics, as well as in designing clinical trials to test a role for statins in prostate cancer prevention. Currently, sufficient data are lacking to support the use of statins for the primary prevention of prostate cancer and further research is clearly warranted. Secondary and tertiary prevention trials in men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer might soon be performed.

In this study, we used a bioinformatic approach to identify genes whose expression is dysregulated in human prostate cancers. One of the most dramatically downregulated genes identified encodes CYP27A1, an enzyme involved in regulating cellular cholesterol homeostasis. Importantly, lower CYP27A1 transcript levels were associated with shorter disease-free survival and higher tumor grade. Loss of CYP27A1 in prostate cancer was confirmed at the protein level by immunostaining for CYP27A1 in annotated tissue microarrays. Restoration of CYP27A1 expression in cells where its gene was silenced attenuated their growth in vitro and in tumor xenografts. Studies performed in vitro revealed that treatment of prostate cancer cells with 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC), an enzymatic product of CYP27A1, reduced cellular cholesterol content in prostate cancer cell lines by inhibiting the activation of sterol regulatory-element binding protein 2 (SREBP2) and downregulating low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) expression. Our findings suggest that CYP27A1 is a critical cellular cholesterol sensor in prostate cells and that dysregulation of the CYP27A1/27HC axis contributes significantly to prostate cancer pathogenesis.

No abstract

Diabetes is a major public health problem worldwide. Depression is a serious mental condition that decreases mental and physical functioning and reduces the quality of life. Several lines of evidence suggest a bidirectional relationship between diabetes and depression: diabetes patients are twice as likely to experience depression than nondiabetic individuals. In contrast, depression increases the risk of diabetes and interferes with its daily self-management. Diabetes patients with depression have poor glycemic control, reduced quality of life, and an increased risk of diabetes complications, consequently having an increased mortality rate. Conflicting evidence exists on the potential role of factors that may account for or modulate the relationship between diabetes and depression. Therefore, this review aims to highlight the most notable body of literature that dissects the various facets of the bidirectional relationship between diabetes and depression. A focused discussion of the proposed mechanisms underlying this relationship is also provided. We systematically reviewed the relevant literature in the PubMed database, using the keywords “Diabetes AND Depression”. After exclusion of duplicate and irrelevant material, literature eligible for inclusion in this review was based on meta-analysis studies, clinical trials with large sample sizes (n≥1,000), randomized clinical trials, and comprehensive national and cross-country clinical studies. The evidence we present in this review supports the pressing need for long, outcome-oriented, randomized clinical trials to determine whether the identification and treatment of patients with these comorbid conditions will improve their medical outcomes and quality of life.