Background and Objectives Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases; it is a debilitating and hard to live with. Diabetes-related distress (DRD) refers to the emotional and behavioral changes caused by diabetes. Our study aims to assess the prevalence of DRD among type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients using Diabetes Distress Scale-17 items (DDS-17) and its relation to complications and treatment modalities. Methods A cross-sectional study of adult T2D patients with follow-up visits at the Diabetes and Endocrinology Center in Taif, Saudi Arabia, between January and July 2017. We excluded patients with other forms of diabetes, untreated hypothyroidism, and psychiatric illness. The total score of DDS-17 was calculated by summing the 17 items' results and then dividing the total by 17. If the total score was >2, then it was considered as clinically significant results (moderate distress), but if it is ≥3, then it is classified as a high distress. Results A total of 509 T2D patients with a mean age of 58 ± 14 years were included. The majority of participants were male, married, not college educated, and reported a sedentary lifestyle. We found 25% of the screened T2D patients have moderate to high DRD. Regarding the DRD components, emotional distress was the most prevalent followed by physician-related distress. HabA1c was significantly higher in those with high combined distress and high emotional distress compared to those with mild/moderate distress (p = 0.015 and 0.030, resp.). Conclusion Our study shows that DRD is a medically relevant issue that clinicians need to address. Despite observing a low prevalence of DRD compared to other studies, we found significant correlations between DRD scores and HabA1c, triglyceride levels, BMI, T2D duration, and interval between visits.

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Background Chronic ethanol consumption is a major cause of liver disease worldwide. Oxidative stress is a known consequence of ethanol metabolism and is thought to contribute significantly to alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Therefore, elucidating pathways leading to sustained oxidative stress and downstream redox imbalances may reveal how ethanol consumption leads to ALD. Recent studies suggest that ethanol metabolism impacts mitochondrial antioxidant processes through a number of proteomic alterations, including hyperacetylation of key antioxidant proteins. Methods In order to elucidate mechanisms of ethanol-induced hepatic oxidative stress, we investigate a role for protein hyperacetylation in modulating mitochondrial superoxide dismutase (SOD2) structure and function in a 6-week Lieber-DeCarli murine model of ethanol consumption. Our experimental approach includes immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry, activity assays, mass spectrometry, and in silico modeling. Results We found that ethanol metabolism significantly increased the acetylation of SOD2 at two functionally relevant lysine sites, K68 and K122, resulting in a 40% decrease in enzyme activity while overall SOD2 abundance was unchanged. In vitro studies also reveal which lysine residues are more susceptible to acetylation. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrates that SOD2 hyperacetylation occurs near zone 3 within the liver, which is the main ethanol-metabolizing region of the liver. Conclusion Overall, the findings presented in this study support a role for ethanol-induced lysine acetylation as an adverse post-translational modification within the mitochondria that directly impacts SOD2 charge-state and activity. Lastly, the data presented here indicate that protein hyperacetylation may be a major factor contributing to an imbalance in hepatic redox homeostasis due to chronic ethanol metabolism.

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BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B infection is a universal health problem. Worldwide, 5% of health-care-related injections continued unsafe. Dentist considers being at high-risk group for cross infection. Therefore, their knowledge and practice towards Hepatitis B virus (HBV) positive patients should be at an optimal level. AIM: The current study is aimed to evaluate and comparison of the knowledge, attitude and practice of Saudi dental students and interns towards HBV infection. METHODS: A self-explanatory questionnaire comprising of 16 questions was designed to assess and compare students’ knowledge, attitude and risk perception regarding hepatitis B infection among dental students across Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: The response rate was 91.6% the overall knowledge of the participants was poor. The attitude was fair, with the female show a significant difference in attitude and practice (P-value < 0.05). The overall practice was good, 78.1% was vaccinated against HBV, and 73.2% stated that they regularly use personal protection equipment. The higher levels show a good attitude and practice compared with the lower levels; the difference was significant (P value < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The overall knowledge was below average, continuous health education courses are mandatory.

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