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BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is becoming a major global health concern, especially in developing nations. The high prevalence of obesity and related diabetes cases are attributed to rapid economic progress, physical inactivity, the consumption of high-calorie foods, and changing lifestyles. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the roles of pro-inflammatory chemokines CCL1, 2, 4, and 5 in T2DM with varying levels of obesity in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In total, 170 confirmed T2DM subjects and a normal control group were enrolled. Demographic data, serum levels of CCL-1, 2, 4, and 5, and biochemical indices were assessed in the subjects and control groups by standard procedures. RESULTS: T2DM subjects were divided into four groups: A (normal body weight), B (overweight), C (obese), and D (highly obese). We observed that male and female control subjects had similar mean serum concentrations of pro-inflammatory chemokines CCL-1, 2, 4, and 5. T2DM subjects in all the four groups showed significantly higher levels of all the four chemokines compared to the controls, regardless of gender. In T2DM subjects with obesity and severe obesity, the rise was most significant. There was a progressive rise in the concentrations of CCL-1, 2, and 4 in T2DM subjects with increasing BMI. Serum CCL5 levels increased significantly in all T2DM subject groups. The increase in CCL5 was more predominant in normal-weight people, compared to overweight and obese T2DM subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Male and female control subjects had similar serum levels of pro-inflammatory chemokines CCL-1, 2, 4, and 5. The progressive rise in blood concentrations of three pro-inflammatory chemokines CCL-1, 2, and 4 in T2DM subjects with increasing BMI supports the idea that dyslipidemia and obesity contribute to chronic inflammation and insulin resistance. Serum CCL5 levels increased significantly in all T2DM subject groups. The selective and more pronounced increase in CCL5 in the T2DM group with normal BMI, compared to subjects with varying degrees of obesity, was rather surprising. Further research is needed to determine if CCL5 underexpression in overweight and obese T2DM subjects is due to some unexplained counterbalancing processes.

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Species belonging to the genus Bacillus produce many advantageous extracellular enzymes that have tremendous applications on a commercial scale for the textile, detergent, feed, food, and beverage industries. This study aimed to isolate potent thermo-tolerant amylolytic and cellulolytic bacterium from the local environment. Using the Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology, we further optimized the amylase and cellulase activity. The isolate was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing as Bacillus subtilis QY4. This study utilized potato peel waste (PPW) as the biomaterial, which is excessively being dumped in an open environment. Nutritional status of the dried PPW was determined by proximate analysis. All experimental runs were carried out in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks containing acid treated PPW as a substrate by the thermos-tolerant Bacillus subtilis QY4 incubated at 37 °C for 72 h of submerged fermentation. Results revealed that the dilute H2SO4 assisted autoclaved treatment favored more amylase production (0.601 IU/mL/min) compared to the acid treatment whereas high cellulase production (1.269 IU/mL/min) was observed in the dilute acid treatment and was found to be very effective compared to the acid assisted autoclaved treatment. The p-value, F-value, and coefficient of determination proved the significance of the model. These results suggest that PPW could be sustainably used to produce enzymes, which offer tremendous applications in various industrial arrays, particularly in biofuel production.

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Chest X-ray (CXR) imaging is widely employed by radiologists to diagnose thoracic diseases. Recently, many deep learning techniques have been proposed as computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) tools to assist radiologists in minimizing the risk of incorrect diagnosis. From an application perspective, these models have exhibited two major challenges: (1) They require large volumes of annotated data at the training stage and (2) They lack explainable factors to justify their outcomes at the prediction stage. In the present study, we developed a class activation mapping (CAM)-based ensemble model, called Ensemble-CAM, to address both of these challenges via weakly supervised learning by employing explainable AI (XAI) functions. Ensemble-CAM utilizes class labels to predict the location of disease in association with interpretable features. The proposed work leverages ensemble and transfer learning with class activation functions to achieve three objectives: (1) minimizing the dependency on strongly annotated data when locating thoracic diseases, (2) enhancing confidence in predicted outcomes by visualizing their interpretable features, and (3) optimizing cumulative performance via fusion functions. Ensemble-CAM was trained on three CXR image datasets and evaluated through qualitative and quantitative measures via heatmaps and Jaccard indices. The results reflect the enhanced performance and reliability in comparison to existing standalone and ensembled models.

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A consensus meeting of national experts from all major national hepatobiliary centres in the country was held on May 26, 2023, at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute & Research Centre (PKLI & RC) after initial consultations with the experts. The Pakistan Society for the Study of Liver Diseases (PSSLD) and PKLI & RC jointly organised this meeting. This effort was based on a comprehensive literature review to establish national practice guidelines for hilar cholangiocarcinoma (hCCA). The consensus was that hCCA is a complex disease and requires a multidisciplinary team approach to best manage these patients. This coordinated effort can minimise delays and give patients a chance for curative treatment and effective palliation. The diagnostic and staging workup includes high-quality computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography. Brush cytology or biopsy utilizing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography is a mainstay for diagnosis. However, histopathologic confirmation is not always required before resection. Endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle aspiration of regional lymph nodes and positron emission tomography scan are valuable adjuncts for staging. The only curative treatment is the surgical resection of the biliary tree based on the Bismuth-Corlette classification. Selected patients with unresectable hCCA can be considered for liver transplantation. Adjuvant chemotherapy should be offered to patients with a high risk of recurrence. The use of preoperative biliary drainage and the need for portal vein embolisation should be based on local multidisciplinary discussions. Patients with acute cholangitis can be drained with endoscopic or percutaneous biliary drainage. Palliative chemotherapy with cisplatin and gemcitabine has shown improved survival in patients with irresectable and recurrent hCCA.

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Potato peel waste (PPW) was utilized as a bio-template for the production of valuable compounds such as reducing sugars (RS), total sugar (TS) and total phenolic compounds (TPC). Two methods of alkali treatments, i.e., chemical (NaOH) and thermochemical (NaOH assisted with autoclaving) processes, were employed for the deconstruction of PPW. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to study the effects of alkali concentration (0.6-1.0 w/v), substrate concentration (5-15 g) and time (4-8 h) on the extraction of RS, TS and TP from PPW. The application of alkali plus steam treatment in Box-Behnken design (BBD) with three levels yielded the optimum releases of RS, TS and TP as 7.163, 28.971 and 4.064 mg/mL, respectively, corresponding to 10% substrate loading, in 0.6% NaOH for 8 h. However, the alkali treatment reported optimum extractions of RS, TS and TP as 4.061, 17.432 and 2.993 mg/mL, respectively. The thermochemical pretreatment was proven a beneficial process as it led to higher productions of TP. FTIR and SEM were used to analyze the deterioration levels of the substrate. The present work was used to explore the sustainable management of PPW, which is a highly neglected substrate bioresource but is excessively dumped in open environment, raising environmental concerns. The cost-effective methods for the breakdown of PPW starch into fermentable sugars might be utilized to extract valuable compounds.

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Apis mellifera is an important pollinator that has a prominent impact on crops' ecological balance. Beekeeping provides us with more valuable products like honey, pollen, propolis, beeswax, and royal jelly. The ongoing era demands more scientific and environment-friendly strategies to improve the beekeeping sector internationally. Nowadays, the use of synbiotics (a combination of probiotics and prebiotics) has been declared as the need of the hour. However, little bit studies have been carried out in this regard. To improve the beekeeping sector in Pakistan, a study was designed to exploration of probiotic and organic acids on bee tissue ileum (small intestine). 108 Colony forming units (C.F.Us) of Bacillus clausii and Lactobacillus brevis were provided with and without mixing in 1.96% acetic acid, 2.91% acetic acid, and 2.99% lactic acid to caged worker bees under controlled laboratory conditions. The provision did not affect the intestine harmfully. The mean intestinal lumen diameters (µm2) were 133.33 ± 8.82, 63.33 ± 3.33, 186.67 ± 72.19, 250.00 ± 28.87, 166.67 ± 17.64, 193.33 ± 46.31, and 140.00 ± 61.10 in experiments (1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 respectively) compared to control's 113.33 ± 38.44. Worker bees with better digestion conditions prove honeybee's health and efficiency.

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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of probiotic supplementation on extensor digitorum longus (EDL) regeneration after grafting in mice. METHODS: EDL muscles were ortho-transplanted in mice. The experimental group was given 1 ×  108 colony-forming units/g body weight of Lactobacillus rhamnosus daily after EDL muscle transplantation surgeries. EDL muscle transplants were recovered after 3, 5, 7, and 14 d post-transplantation from the control as well as the experimental animals and processed for histologic analysis. RESULTS: At day 3 post-transplantation, the inflammatory cells had infiltrated into the grafted EDL muscles and the central section of the grafted tissue contained necrotic fibers. At day 5 post-transplantation, the concentration of inflammatory cells increased further and degenerative muscle fibers were being replaced with centrally nucleated muscle cells. The average cross-sectional area non-grafted EDL and grafted muscle in the probiotic supplemented mice at day 7 increased to 48% and 23% (P = 0.002), respectively, compared with the respective values in the control animals. Whereas in non-grafted and grafted EDL muscle it could approach 8% and 36% (P = 0.008), respectively at 14 d compared with the corresponding values of the control EDL muscle transplants. The number of muscle fibers in the non-grafted and grafted probiotic-supplemented groups increased to12% and 20% (P = 0.045) at day 7 compared with the control EDL muscle. In non-grafted and grafted EDL muscle, the number of regenerated muscle fibers increased to 73% and 64% (P = 0.110) at day 14 compared with control EDL grafted muscle. CONCLUSION: Results of the present study regarding better regeneration of skeletal muscle fibers in the probiotic-supplemented mice than the control grafts warrant further molecular-level investigation to understand the underlying mechanism mediating the process of skeletal muscle fiber regeneration. Probiotics possibly modulate the process of muscle fiber regeneration by adjusting the composition of gut microbiota.

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Background: Attentional bias plays an important role in sustaining various types of drug addiction. No prior studies examined methamphetamine (MA)-associated psychosis (MAP) relationships between ERP time course and performance on an addiction Stroop task in MA abusers. The aim of the present study was to determine whether MA abusers with (MAP+) or without (MAP-) psychosis exhibit alterations of the ERP during the addiction Stroop task. Methods: Thirty-one healthy controls (CTRL), 14 MAP-, and 24 MAP+ participants were recruited and completed the addiction Stroop task during EEG recording using 32 electrodes. Group variations were compared on measures of behavioral task performance and event-related potentials (ERP) of performance monitoring (N200, P300, N450). The Barratt impulsiveness scores were analyzed to investigate correlations with ERP changes. Results: MA-related word stimulus elicited a more negative N200 amplitude over left-anterior electrodes in MAP- abusers; furthermore, a positive association between the N200 amplitude and Barratt attentional scores and non-planning scores was observed, while no such differences were found in MAP+ abusers. There were no significant differences in reaction time (RT) and error rate between each group. Conclusion: This is the first study to examine psychosis relationships between ERP time course and performance on an addiction Stroop task in MA abusers with or without psychosis. These findings support the association between attentional bias measured by the MA addiction Stroop task and N200 component as well as indicate the possibility of using this cognitive task in combination with ERP technology to detect psychosis factors among abstinent MA abusers.

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In the present study, we aimed to synthesize (Ag)1-x(GNPs)x nanocomposites in variable ratios (25% GNPs-Ag, 50% GNPs-Ag, and 75% GNPs-Ag) via an ex situ approach to investigate the incremental effects of GNPs (graphene nanoparticles) on AgNPs (silver nanoparticles). The prepared nanocomposites were successfully characterized using different microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopic analysis. For the evaluation of morphological aspects, shape, and percentage elemental composition, SEM and EDX analyses were employed. The bioactivities of the synthesized nanocomposites were briefly investigated. The antifungal activity of (Ag)1-x(GNPs)x nanocomposites was reported to be 25% for AgNPs and 66.25% using 50% GNPs-Ag against Alternaria alternata. The synthesized nanocomposites were further evaluated for cytotoxic potential against U87 cancer cell lines with improved results (for pure AgNPs IC50: ~150 µg/mL, for 50% GNPs-Ag IC50: ~12.5 µg/mL). The photocatalytic properties of the nanocomposites were determined against the toxic dye Congo red, and the percentage degradation was recorded as 38.35% for AgNPs and 98.7% for 50% GNPs-Ag. Hence, from the results, it is concluded that silver nanoparticles with carbon derivatives (graphene) have strong anticancer and antifungal properties. Dye degradation strongly confirmed the photocatalytic potential of Ag-graphene nanocomposites in the removal of toxicity present in organic water pollutants.

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BACKGROUND: Huntington's disease is a rare neurodegenerative illness of the central nervous system that is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. Mutant huntingtin protein is produced as a result of enlargement of CAG repeat in the N-terminal of the polyglutamine tract. AIM OF THE STUDY: Herein, we aim to investigate the mutations and their effects on the HTT gene and its genetic variants. Additionally, the protein-protein interaction of HTT with other proteins and receptor-ligand interaction with the three-dimensional structure of huntingtin protein were identified. METHODS: A comprehensive analysis of the HTT interactome and protein-ligand interaction has been carried out to provide a global picture of structure-function analysis of huntingtin protein. Mutations were analyzed and mutation verification tools were used to check the effect of mutation on protein function. RESULTS: The results showed, mutations in a single gene are not only responsible for causing a particular disease but may also cause other hereditary disorders as well. Moreover, the modification at the nucleotide level also cause the change in the specific amino acid which may disrupt the function of HTT and its interacting proteins contributing in disease pathogenesis. Furthermore, the interaction between MECP2 and BDNF lowers the rate of transcriptional activity. Molecular docking further confirmed the strong interaction between MECP2 and BDNF with highest affinity. Amino acid residues of the HTT protein, involved in the interaction with tetrabenazine were N912, Y890, G2385, and V2320. These findings proved, tetrabenazine as one of the potential therapeutic agent for treatment of Huntington's disease. CONCLUSION: These results give further insights into the genetics of Huntington's disease for a better understanding of disease models which will be beneficial for the future therapeutic studies.

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Introduction A pulmonary embolism (PE) occurs when an embolus that has traveled through the venous system from another part of the body obstructs an artery in the lungs. Chest pain, especially while breathing in, coughing up blood, and shortness of breath are all possible signs of PE. There could also be signs of a blood clot in the leg, like a painful, swollen, red, and warm leg. As a high-risk group, particularly during childbearing age, the aim of this study is to evaluate the general awareness of females regarding PE and identify areas of knowledge deficit and factors contributing to their awareness level. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive survey of Saudi women in general over the age of 18 was carried out. Participants were asked to respond to a structured questionnaire that was used to gather data. The questionnaire was formulated in Google Forms with an Arabic translation of the form and the link generated and was sent to each participant for completion. In total, 827 respondents filled out the survey with accurate and complete information. Results The study comprised 827 female volunteers, with a mean age of 33.2 ± 9.4 years, ranging in age from 15 to 60. Additionally, 52.8% of the female sample had graduated from college, compared to about 4% who were illiterate. In general, 40.2% of the girls knew everything there was to know about PE. Conclusions According to the study's findings, the public female population knew less about PE overall - that is, about risk factors, symptoms, and preventive measures. As more knowledge about the dangers, causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of PE becomes available, it is imperative that healthcare professionals translate and actively distribute this information to the public, particularly to women.

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Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide. The most prevalent condition in women when aberrant cells develop out of control is breast cancer. Breast cancer detection and classification are exceedingly difficult tasks. As a result, several computational techniques, including k-nearest neighbor (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), multilayer perceptron (MLP), decision tree (DT), and genetic algorithms, have been applied in the current computing world for the diagnosis and classification of breast cancer. However, each method has its own limitations to how accurately it can be utilized. A novel convolutional neural network (CNN) model based on the Visual Geometry Group network (VGGNet) was also suggested in this study. The 16 layers in the current VGGNet-16 model lead to overfitting on the training and test data. We, thus, propose the VGGNet-12 model for breast cancer classification. The VGGNet-16 model has the problem of overfitting the breast cancer classification dataset. Based on the overfitting issues in the existing model, this research reduced the number of different layers in the VGGNet-16 model to solve the overfitting problem in this model. Because various models of the VGGNet, such as VGGNet-13 and VGGNet-19, were developed, this study proposed a new version of the VGGNet model, that is, the VGGNet-12 model. The performance of this model is checked using the breast cancer dataset, as compared to the CNN and LeNet models. From the simulation result, it can be seen that the proposed VGGNet-12 model enhances the simulation result as compared to the model used in this study. Overall, the experimental findings indicate that the suggested VGGNet-12 model did well in classifying breast cancer in terms of several characteristics.

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Economic burden of private supplementary tutoring is increasing around the world. Demand for private supplementary tutoring, contributing factors, and their effects are investigated in the study. For this purpose, data were collected through questionnaire, and multistage non-probability technique was used. Hurder model was used to find the factors affecting demand for private supplementary tutoring at the higher secondary level. Linear regression model was used to find the economic burden of family and factors affecting the demand for private tutoring. The findings showed that several factors have a significant effect on the demand for private supplementary tutoring, and some of them significantly impact on the economic burden. The study recommends regulating the market of shadow education because of differentiated tuition fee in different tuition centers to cut down the burden of private tutoring for households.

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Objectives: Around the world, accidents and injuries are the leading causes of death among children. Because mothers and family members commonly administer first aid at home and at preschools, it's critical to learn what parents and the public think about children's mishaps. Our objective was to assess parents' knowledge and attitude toward pediatric first aid in the Aseer region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Aseer region of Saudi Arabia to assess the parents' level of knowledge and attitude about pediatric first aid and trauma with an electronic- and paper-based multiple-choice self-administered questionnaire covering different medical emergencies. The Arabic and English versions of the questionnaire were made from the information obtained from the first aid educational content of the Saudi Ministry of Health. Results: When the participants were asked about their knowledge of pediatric first aid, arranged in descending order from most answers, 37% (n = 135) answered it was good, 30% (n = 111) answered that it was very good, 20% (n = 74) answered that it was not enough, and 13% (n = 47) answered that it was excellent. Results of the multiple linear regression analysis showed the knowledge score to be significantly higher among participants who had higher education levels (t = 2.039, p < 0.001), who had received first aid training before (t = 2.786, p = 0.0001), those who were already healthcare providers (t = 4.336, p < 0.001), those who were from rural districts (t = 2.5, p = 0.355), and younger personnel (t = 0.821, p = 0.345) The difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Although this study shows that the level of first aid knowledge among personnel who care for children was low, it also shows that they are interested in obtaining proper training.

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Microbial pathogens and bulk amounts of industrial toxic wastes in water are an alarming situation to humans and a continuous threat to aquatic life. In this study, multifunctional silver and graphene nanocomposites (Ag)1-x(GNPs)x [25% (x = 0.25), 50% (x = 0.50) and 75% (x = 0.75) of GNPs] were synthesized via ex situ approach. Further, the synthesized nanocomposites were explored for their physicochemical characteristics, such as vibrational modes (Raman spectroscopic analysis), optical properties (UV visible spectroscopic analysis), antibacterial and photocatalytic applications. We investigated the antimicrobial activity of silver and graphene nanocomposites (Ag-GNPs), and the results showed that Ag-GNPs nanocomposites exhibit remarkably improved antimicrobial activity (28.78% (E. coli), 31.34% (S. aureus) and 30.31% (P. aeruginosa) growth inhibition, which might be due to increase in surface area of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)). Furthermore, we investigated the photocatalytic activity of silver (AgNPs) and graphene (GNPs) nanocomposites in varying ratios. Interestingly, the Ag-GNPs nanocomposites show improved photocatalytic activity (78.55% degradation) as compared to AgNPs (54.35%), which can be an effective candidate for removing the toxicity of dyes. Hence, it is emphatically concluded that Ag-GNPs hold very active behavior towards the decolorization of dyes and could be a potential candidate for the treatment of wastewater and possible pathogenic control over microbes. In the future, we also recommend different other in vitro biological and environmental applications of silver and graphene nanocomposites.

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Modern bee keeping demands more scientific and environment compatible methodologies to improve honeybee's health and efficiency. The current study was designed to explore the hidden potential of probiotics (Lactobacillus rhamnosus) and organic acids (lactic acid and acetic acid) on bee's growth especially hypopharyngeal gland (HPG). Large sized HPG has the ability to produce more royal jelly than smaller ones. For the purpose, the experimentation was carried out in 7 different treatment groups in which probiotics and organic acids were provided in different proportions. Significant increase in acinal surface area of bees in all the experimental groups was observed. Control bees which were fed with pollens and sugar syrup only for two weeks depicted the mean ± SE value of 0.011 ± 0.001 for acinal surface area. Similarly, worker bees of the experimental group 3 [pollens +50% (w/v) sucrose in 1.96% acetic acid], group 4 [pollens + L. rhamnosus in 50% (w/v) sucrose in distilled water], group 5 [pollens + L. rhamnosus in 50% (w/v) sucrose in 2.99% lactic acid], group 6 [pollens + L. rhamnosus in 50% (w/v) sucrose in 2.91% acetic acid] and group 7 [pollens + L. rhamnosus in 50% (w/v) sucrose in 1.96% acetic acid] showed mean ± SE values of 0.019 ± 0.001, 0.017 ± 0.001, 0.013 ± 0.001, 0.016 ± 0.001 and 0.014 ± 0.001 mm2, respectively. The use of acidifying agents and probiotics resulted in enhanced growth of HPG of Apis mellifera workers. Our findings of the present study will be helpful to obtain higher royal jelly yields.

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BACKGROUND: Sedentary lifestyles, urbanization and improvements in socio-economic status have had serious effects on the burden of diabetes across the world. Diabetes is one of the 10 leading causes of death globally, and individuals with diabetes have a 2-3-fold increased risk of all-cause mortality. Adipose tissue is increasingly understood as a highly active endocrine gland that secretes many biologically active substances, including adipocytokines. However, the exact and discrete pathophysiological links between obesity and T2DM are not yet fully elucidated. METHODS: In the current study, we present the association of five diverse adipocytokines, adiponectin, leptin, resistin, visfatin and chemerin, with T2DM in 87 patients (46 males and 41 females) with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 85 healthy controls (44 males and 41 females) from the Asir region of Saudi Arabia. The patients were divided into four groups: normal BMI, overweight, obese and severely obese. The baseline biochemical characteristics, including HbA1c and anthropometric lipid indices, such as BMI and waist-hip ratio, were determined by standard procedures, whereas the selected adipokine levels were assayed by ELISA. RESULTS: The results showed significantly decreased levels of adiponectin in the T2DM patients compared to the control group, and the decrease was more pronounced in obese and severely obese T2DM patients. Serum leptin levels were significantly higher in the females compared to the males in the controls as well as all the four groups of T2DM patients. In the male T2DM patients, a progressive increase was observed in the leptin levels as the BMI increased, although these only reached significantly altered levels in the obese and severely obese patients. The serum leptin levels were significantly higher in the severely obese female patients compared to the controls, patients with normal BMI, and overweight patients. The leptin/adiponectin ratio was significantly higher in the obese and severely obese patients compared to the controls, patients with normal BMI, and overweight patients in both genders. The serum resistin levels did not show any significant differences between the males and females in thr controls or in the T2DM groups, irrespective of the BMI status of the T2DM patients. The visfatin levels did not reveal any significant gender-based differences, but significantly higher levels of visfatin were observed in the T2DM patients, irrespective of their level of obesity, although the higher values were observed in the obese and highly obese patients. Similarly, the serum chemerin levels in the controls, as well as in T2DM patients, did not show any significant gender-based differences. However, in the T2DM patients, the chemerin levels showed a progressive increase, with the increase in BMI reaching highly significant levels in the obese and severely obese patients, respectively. CONCLUSION: In summary, it is concluded that significantly altered concentrations of four adipokines, adiponectin, leptin, visfatin and chemerin, were found in the T2DM patient group compared to the controls, with more pronounced alterations observed in the obese and highly obese patients. Thus, it can be surmised that these four adipokines play a profound role in the onset, progression and associated complications of T2DM. In view of the relatively small sample size in our study, future prospective studies are needed on a large sample size to explore the in-depth relationship between adipokines and T2DM.

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Diabetes mellitus constitutes a big challenge to the global health care system due to its socioeconomic impacts and very serious complications. The incidence and the prevalence rate are increased in the Gulf region including the KSA. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is caused by diverse risk factors including obesity, unhealthy dietary habits, physical inactivity, smoking and genetic factors. The molecular genetic studies have helped in the detection of many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) with different diseases including cancers, cardiovascular diseases and T2DM. The glyoxalase 1 (GLO1) is a detoxifying enzyme and catalyzes the elimination of the cytotoxic product methylglyoxal (MG) by converting it to D-lactate, which is not toxic to tissues. MG accumulation is associated with the pathogenesis of different diseases including T2DM. In this study, we have investigated the association of the glyoxalase 1 SNPs (rs2736654) rs4746 C>A and rs1130534 T>A with T2DM using the amplification refractory mutation system PCR. We also measured the concentration of MG by ELISA in T2DM patients and matched heathy controls. Results show that the CA genotype of the GLO rs4647 A>C was associated with T2DM with OR = 2.57, p-value 0.0008 and the C allele was also associated with increased risk to T2DM with OR = 2.24, p-value = 0.0001. It was also observed that AT genotype of the rs1130534 was associated with decreased susceptibility to T2DM with OR = 0.3, p-value = 0.02. The A allele of rs1130534 was also associated with reduced risk to T2DM with PR = 0.27 = 0.006. In addition, our ELISA results demonstrate significantly increased MG concentrations in serum of the T2DM patients. We conclude that the GLO1 SNP may be associated with decreased enzyme activity and a resultant susceptibility to T2DM. Further well-designed studies in different and large patient populations are recommended to verify these findings.

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Stripe rust caused by Puccnina striiformis (Pst) is an economically important disease attacking wheat all over the world. Identifying and deploying new genes for Pst resistance is an economical and long-term strategy for controlling Pst. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and functional haplotypes were used to identify loci associated with stripe rust resistance in synthetic-derived (SYN-DER) wheats in four environments. In total, 92 quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) distributed over 65 different loci were associated with resistance to Pst at seedling and adult plant stages. Nine additional loci were discovered by the linkage disequilibrium-based haplotype-GWAS approach. The durable rust-resistant gene Lr34/Yr18 provided resistance in all four environments, and against all the five Pst races used in this study. The analysis identified several SYN-DER accessions that carried major genes: either Yr24/Yr26 or Yr32. New loci were also identified on chr2B, chr5B, and chr7D, and 14 QTNs and three haplotypes identified on the D-genome possibly carry new alleles of the known genes contributed by the Ae. tauschii founders. We also evaluated eleven different models for genomic prediction of Pst resistance, and a prediction accuracy up to 0.85 was achieved for an adult plant resistance, however, genomic prediction for seedling resistance remained very low. A meta-analysis based on a large number of existing GWAS would enhance the identification of new genes and loci for stripe rust resistance in wheat. The genetic framework elucidated here for stripe rust resistance in SYN-DER identified the novel loci for resistance to Pst assembled in adapted genetic backgrounds.