Introduction: Adipose tissue secretes various bioactive peptides/proteins, immune molecules and inflammatory mediators which are known as adipokines or adipocytokines. Adipokines play important roles in the maintenance of energy homeostasis, appetite, glucose and lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, angiogenesis, immunity and inflammation. Enormous number of studies from all over the world proved that adipocytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of diseases affecting nearly all body systems, which raises the question whether we can always blame adipocytokines as the triggering factor of every disease that may hit the body. Objective: Our review targeted the role played by adipocytokines in the pathogenesis of different diseases affecting different body systems including diabetes mellitus, kidney diseases, gynecological diseases, rheumatologic disorders, cancers, Alzheimer's, depression, muscle disorders, liver diseases, cardiovascular and lung diseases. Methodology: We cited more than 33 recent literature reviews that discussed the role played by adipocytokines in the pathogenesis of different diseases affecting different body systems. Conclusion: More evidence is being discovered to date about the role played by adipocytokines in more diseases and extra research is needed to explore hidden roles played by adipokine imbalance on disease pathogenesis.
Introduction: The growing number of students with Autism will set challenge to school teachers to become better prepared to take the necessary action to serve and to assist children with autism. Aim: The aim in this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of school teachers regarding Autism Spectrum Disorder in Badaya city of Al-Qassim region, kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to find out any differences in school teachers knowledge based on (gender, educational level, experience, contact with students with autism, type of school). Methods: a cross sectional study was conducted in Badaya City on school teachers from December 2017 until March 2018 to assess their knowledge about Autism spectrum disorder. Autism knowledge Questionnaire was completed by 248 school teachers participated in the research study, data was collected from answers of the 30 questions of the questionnaire for all participants, and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: total level of knowledge in our sample of school teachers was 48.7%, a statistical significant differences between school teachers’ knowledge based on type of school, contact with children with autism favoring public schools p value=0.00, and previous contact with students with autism p value=0.03 which have higher level of knowledge. Educational level, grade of teaching, experience, gender did not significantly affect teachers’ knowledge. Conclusion: School teachers had a weak level of knowledge about Autism Spectrum disorder. Previous contact with students with autism definitely raises level of knowledge.
This study aims to assess anakinra's safety and efficacy for treating severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Numerous electronic databases were searched and finally 15 studies with a total of 3,530 patients, 757 in the anakinra arm, 1,685 in the control arm were included. The pooled adjusted odds ratio (OR) for mortality in the treatment arm was 0.34 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.21 - 0.54, I 2 = 48%), indicating a significant association between anakinra and mortality. A significant association was found regarding mechanical ventilation requirements in anakinra group compared to the control group OR, 0.68 (95% CI, 0.49 - 0.95, I 2 = 50%). For the safety of anakinra, we evaluated thromboembolism risk and liver transaminases elevation. Thromboembolism risk was OR, 1.59 (95% CI, 0.65 - 3.91, I 2 = 0%) and elevation in liver transaminases with OR was 1.35 (95% CI, 0.61 - 3.03, I 2 = 76%). Both were not statistically significant over the control group. Anakinra is beneficial in lowering mortality in COVID-19 patients. However, these non-significant differences in the safety profile between the anakinra and control groups may have been the result of baseline characteristics of the intervention group, and further studies are essential in evaluating anakinra's safety profile.
Psoriasis (PS) is an incessant, fiery skin sickness characterized by erythematous plaques with thick silvery scales, white or red patches of the skin, which encompasses several immunological, biomolecular, genetic, and environmental factors that may lead to further development of metabolic syndrome (MS) and vice versa. Metabolic syndrome is composed of multiple components (high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, glucose intolerance, and dyslipidemia) of risk factors that arise primarily from insulin resistance, mostly mediated by inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) together with leptin and adiponectin, which are molecules also found in PS. The incidence, severity, and poor prognosis of the psoriatic diseases could be influenced by cardiometabolic diseases, which are controllable or preventable with intense lifestyle modification such as diet, exercise, and weight control. We performed a far-reaching writing search of different databases as part of this review; 47 investigations were regarded as important based on our search. Fasting, proper weight management, and special diet modifications seemed to have a positive impact on the management of PS. This review agrees with previous literature that nutritionists and specialists of preventive medicine should play a central role in the evaluation and management of psoriatic patients. We recommended that the management of this disease should focus on the environmental factors first instead of the genetic and immunologic pathways.
Among the autoimmune (AI) diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is known to mimic various disease processes and this can lead to under-diagnosis of macrophage activation syndrome (a dire complication). We aimed at performing a systematic review to identify trigger factors that could lead to the development of macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) in patients with SLE as well as identify factors that can affect mortality. We searched the following databases to extract relevant articles: PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane library, Pro-Quest, and Google Scholar. We used search terms including but not limited to hemophagocytic syndromes OR hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis OR macrophage activation syndrome OR HLH OR secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis AND systemic lupus erythematosus OR SLE. We screened the articles first by titles and abstracts and later by full text. After the application of our eligibility criteria, we identified eight studies to include in our final synthesis. The studies showed that lupus flare itself, as well as, time to onset and high systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) scores, were major risk factors that led to the development of MAS. In addition, infections followed by drugs, underlying malignancy, and pregnancy were other potential trigger factors identified. Studies also detected that MAS development led to high intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and in-hospital mortalities with C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, age, presence of infection, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, MAS throughout the hospital stay, and high liver function tests (LFTs) as signs of poor prognosis. Additionally, ferritin levels, LFTs, and triglyceride levels formed an important part of diagnostic criteria. However, our review was limited due to the absence of prospective studies and heterogeneity in the studies seen. More studies need to be done to identify various factors leading to hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in autoimmune diseases with validated criteria for MAS secondary to autoimmune diseases.
Efficacy and tolerance of pharmacological medications in chronic pain are limited. Therefore, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is regarded as a secure therapeutic option for pain relief, and it was proven to produce an analgesic effect. A wide variety of stimulation parameters can influence its long-lasting antalgic effect. Defining the best stimulation protocol can afford greater uniformity and consistency for considering rTMS as a promising effective tool. We aimed to systematically review and evaluate the current literature on transcranial magnetic stimulation for patients suffering from chronic pain, assess its efficacy, and estimate the best stimulation protocol. The Screened and tested electronic databases comprised PubMed, Ovid Medline, Cochrane database library, and Google scholar from the year 2000 till 2018. The keywords utilizing search terms "Transcranial magnetic stimulation", "chronic pain", "neuropathic pain" were used to study all possible randomized clinical trials about the impact of transcranial magnetic stimulation on long-lasting pain. All articles were judged for the possibility of prejudice using the Cochrane risk of bias tool for data extraction. Search engines produced seventy applicable results. Twelve randomized controlled clinical trials were included involving 350 patients with focal and generalized chronic pain. An existing proof showed a null response of low-frequency rTMS stimulation, rTMS delivered to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in chronic pain patients. However, a witnessed pain-killing response was documented when applying active high-frequency TMS on the motor cortex M1 area compared to sham. Pain relief was detected for a short time following the application of active high-frequency motor cortex stimulation in nine clinical trials, and the long-lasting analgesic effect was proved. No side effects were mentioned for the technique. Repetitive TMS can produce clinically meaningful relief from chronic pain, despite positive results, heterogeneity among all studies preclude firm conclusions regarding the optimal target stimulation site and parameters. Further studies are required to minimize bias, enhance performance, and define the best brain stimulation conditions and qualifications to maximize its potency.
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