The adipose tissue is not only an inert storage depot for lipids, but also it secretes a variety of bioactive molecules, known as adipokines, which affect whole-body homeostasis. Adiponectin is the most abundant of these adipocytokines and is known to have a regulatory effect on the metabolism of glucose and lipid. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the serum levels of adiponectin and to establish a correlation between adiponectin serum levels and the degree of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic patients. Eighty participants were enrolled in this study; 61 type 2 diabetic patients and 19 apparently healthy subjects. Serum level of adiponectin was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for each participant. Data collection sheet was filled with all required information for each participant. Adiponectin level in the diabetic patients (5.05 ± 2.61 μg/ml) was lower than in non-diabetic healthy controls (5.71 ± 2.35 μg/ml). When the results were compared according to gender, diabetic females showed significantly higher adiponectin levels (5.76 ± 2.64 μg/ml) than diabetic males (4.366 ± 2.43 μg/ml, P = 0.035). In addition, female diabetic patients with abdominal obesity (waist circumference (WC) ⩾ 88 cm) had lower adiponectin levels (5.58 ± 2.58 μg/ml) than diabetic females without abdominal obesity (6.96 ± 3.12 μg/ml). The correlation analysis indicated that adiponectin had a significant positive correlation with age (r = -0.450, P < 0.001). In conclusion, female diabetic patients had a statistically significant higher adiponectin level than male diabetic patients which could indicate a gender effect. Adiponectin levels were inversely related to insulin resistance; as patients with abdominal obesity had lower serum levels of adiponectin.

Background:The ABCG1 lipid transporter is regulated via protein ubiquitination. Results: We identify two E3 ligases that regulate the protein stability and activity of ABCG1 and ABCG4. Conclusion: The ligases, HUWE1 and NEDD4-1, are involved in the regulation of cholesterol export from cells. Significance: Understanding the fine tuning of cholesterol homeostasis will help to understand how dysregulation can cause disease.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging contagious infectious disease. It is pandemic and has affected more than 21 million people and resulted in more than 750,000 deaths worldwide (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries; 14/08/20). Our research group initiated a study to ascertain the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of Jordanians toward COVID-19 prior to any initial case report in Jordan. This project was underway when the first Jordanian case was reported. We extended our study to identify how case reporting would alter public KAP towards COVID-19. This cross-sectional study randomly selected and recruited 2104 Jordanian adults. A four-section questionnaire was devised to address the sociodemographic characteristics of the subjects and their KAP toward COVID-19. The mean knowledge score for the study population was 15.9 ± 2.2 (out of the 20 knowledge questions), with 60.9% of the participants having good knowledge about COVID-19. Participants' practices to prevent transmission of COVID-19 were adequate in more than 60% of participants. Most participants had positive attitudes regarding their role in preventing COVID-19 and many of the participants' attitudes and practices changed to more appropriate ones after reporting the first case of COVID-19 in Jordan. The percentage of participants who trust the government in confronting COVID-19 increased significantly (p value < 0.001). However, one alarming and unexpected finding was that the prevention practice score of participants working in the medical field was similar to those from the general population. This may necessitate stricter training and guidelines for this group who will be in the frontline in combating the disease. Impact of this study: The data generated from this study shows that when cases of disease were reported, the public's attitudes and practices improved in many aspects, and that confidence in the government to contain the disease was boosted. We believe that this study is important in allowing other, international governments to develop an understanding of public KAP during pandemic disease outbreaks.

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is observed in the principal PGB-indicated conditions which share the alteration in IL-6, TNF-α, IL-2 and IL-1β cytokines level. Yet, reports on PGB immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects are a few and focused mainly on in vitro assays, local inflammatory changes within the nervous system, and attenuation of the secretion of only IL-1β and TNF-α cytokines 18-20. In addition, PGB effects on cytokines secretion in immune cells, such as isolated splenocytes and peritoneal macrophages (PMs), and its effect on lymphoid organs, were not examined before. Therefore, there is a need to perform a simultaneous assessment of the effect of PGB on the secretion of the cytokines that were commonly elevated in the aforementioned PGB-indicated conditions (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-2) and to expand the investigation to its effect on lymphoid organs and cytokine secretion in immune cells. As peripheral inflammation and elevated systemic cytokines levels were demonstrated in the above-mentioned PGB-indicated conditions, we investigated in this study the effect of PGB on murine models of peripheral inflammation. In this study, we used for the first time, LPS and ConA-induced murine models of inflammation to examine the effect of PGB on peripheral proinflammatory cytokine secretion (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-2) in vitro and in vivo in BALB/c mice. LPS-model of inflammation has been employed before to study neuroinflammatory conditions, seizure and anxiety disorders in mice 21-25 , while ConA was used to investigate T-cell function in patients with fibromyalgia 26. Additionally, in this study, the effect of PGB on mitogen-induced inflammatory changes in the spleen, as a lymphoid organ, was also examined for the first time. Regarding in vitro investigation, the lack of reports that examined the effect of PGB on the secretion of cytokines in immune cells prompted us to investigate such effects of PGB on basal and mitogen-induced proinflammatory cytokines secretion in splenocytes and peritoneal macrophages (PMs).

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ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of a 10-week lockdown on children with asthma aged 4–17 years in terms of presentations to the emergency department (ED), frequency of admissions, compliance with medications and changes in pulmonary function testing results.Design and settingA questionnaire-based cross-sectional study using Google Forms to collect parents’ and caregivers’ responses after they consented to participation.ResultsA total of 374 parents/caregivers were contacted and 297 (79%) responded. The majority of the children were male (188 or 63%) and 49.8% were aged 7–12 years. More than half of the participants (194 or 65%) reported improved compliance with medications and spacer use. There was a significant reduction in the number of presentations to the ED from 137 to 80 and admissions to hospital from 56 to 24 during the 10-week lockdown period compared with the same time period in the previous year (p≤0.0001). Around 25% of the participants used telemedicine by phone and social media applications for communication with their treating physician and 59 (80%) described it as easy and smooth.ConclusionThe national lockdown in Jordan due to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a fall in emergency presentations and hospital admissions for acute asthma exacerbations. Parental responses indicate that fears focused around COVID-19 were associated with enhanced compliance with use preventer medications during the lockdown.

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