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Nasser M Alorfi,1 Mansour M Alourfi,2,3 Ghfran Abdulrahman Bokhari,3 Abdullah Alkhattabi,3 Nihal Abdalla Ibrahim,4 Abdulmalik Mohammed Alsabban,5 Mohammad J Almatrafi,5 Yaser Abdulaziz Zakri,5 Abdullah Jasem Almahmoud,6 Khalid Mohammed A Al-ghamdi,6 Saeed Nasser Alsharif7 1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 2Internal Medicine Department, King Faisal Medical City for Southern Region, Abha, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Gastroenterology, East Jeddah Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 4College of Pharmacy, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates; 5Gastroenterology Section, Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 6Gastroenterology Section, Internal Medicine Department, King Fahad Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 7Gastroenterology Department, Armed Force Hospital of Southern Region, Khamis Mushait, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Nasser M Alorfi, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, Email Nmorfi@uqu.edu.saBackground: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are chronic inflammatory conditions affecting the gastrointestinal tract. To achieve and sustain remission, effective treatment strategies are necessary. Ustekinumab, a biologic agent targeting interleukin-12 and interleukin-23, has emerged as a significant therapeutic option for moderate to severe IBD.Aim: To gain insights into the utilization of Ustekinumab for IBD, we conducted a comprehensive review of the ClinicalTrials.gov registry.Methods: A comprehensive search of the ClinicalTrials.gov was conducted to find all clinical trials involving the use of Ustekinumab in IBD patients. As of December 30th, 2022, 69 clinical trials were identified that included IBD and Ustekinumab. The study list was saved, and those clinical trials that fitted the definition of targeted therapy were included in the review.Results: The results showed that Ustekinumab was associated with significant improvements in the clinical response and remission rates, in both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis patients. Additionally, the safety profile of Ustekinumab was generally favourable, with low rates of adverse events reported. In terms of study design, most of the relevant studies found in the database were interventional studies. The investigation focused on completed studies and found that there were a limited number of clinical trials with interventional measures.Conclusion: Ustekinumab appears to be a promising treatment option for patients with IBD, with the potential to provide significant clinical benefits and a favourable safety profile. Further research is warranted to confirm these findings and explore optimal dosing and treatment regimens.Keywords: ustekinumab, pharmacology, biologics, IBD, clinical trials, gastroenterology

Badriyah Shadid Alotaibi,1 Manal Buabeid,2,3 Nihal Abdalla Ibrahim,2,3 Zelal Jaber Kharaba,4 Munazza Ijaz,5 Sobia Noreen,6 Ghulam Murtaza7 1Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Medical and Bio-allied Health Sciences Research Centre, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates; 3Department of Clinical Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman, 346, United Arab Emirates; 4Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Al-Ain University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 5Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, the University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; 6Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan; 7Department of Pharmacy, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Lahore, 54000, PakistanCorrespondence: Ghulam Murtaza Tel +92 3215129950Fax +92 992-383441Email gmdogar356@gmail.comAbstract: The advent of nanotechnologies such as nanocarriers and nanotherapeutics has changed the treatment strategy and developed a more efficacious novel drug delivery system. Various drug delivery systems are focused on drug-targeting of brain cells. However, the manifestation of the brain barrier is the main hurdle for the effective delivery of chemotherapeutics, ultimately causing treatment failure of various drugs. To solve this problem, various nanocarrier-based drug delivery system has been developed for brain targeting. This review outlines nanocarrier-based composites for different brain diseases and highlights nanocarriers for drug targeting towards brain cells. It also summarizes the latest developments in nanocarrier-based delivery systems containing liposomal systems, dendrimers, polymeric micelles, polymeric nanocarriers, quantum dots (QDs), and gold nanoparticles. Besides, the optimal properties of nanocarriers and therapeutic implications for brain targeting have been extensively studied. Finally, the potential applications and research opportunities for nanocarriers in brain targeting are discussed.Keywords: brain targeting, nanocarriers, blood–brain barrier, nanotherapeutics, in-vivo

Alotaibi BS, Buabeid M, Ibrahim NA, et al. Int J Nanomedicine. 2021;16:7517–7533. The authors have advised Correspondence section on page 7517 should be: Correspondence: Ghulam Murtaza Tel +92 3215129950 Fax +92 992-383441Email gmdogar356@gmail.com Manal Buabeid Tel +97 1503602776 Email m.buabeid@ajman.ac.ae Read the original article

Susan Azizi,1 Mansor Bin Ahmad,1 Mohd Zobir Hussein,1 Nor Azowa Ibrahim,1 Farideh Namvar2,31Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, 2Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; 3Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, IranAbstract: A series of novel bionanocomposites were cast using different contents of zinc oxide-silver nanoparticles (ZnO-AgNPs) stabilized by cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) as multifunctional nanosized fillers in poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitosan (PVA/Cs) matrices. The morphological structure, mechanical properties, ultraviolet-visible absorption, and antimicrobial properties of the prepared films were investigated as a function of their CNC/ZnO-AgNP content and compared with PVA/chitosan/CNC bionanocomposite films. X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopic analyses showed that the CNC/ZnO-AgNPs were homogeneously dispersed in the PVA/Cs matrix and the crystallinity increased with increasing nanosized filler content. Compared with pure PVA/Cs, the tensile strength and modulus in the films increased from 0.055 to 0.205 GPa and from 0.395 to 1.20 GPa, respectively. Ultraviolet and visible light can be efficiently absorbed by incorporating ZnO-AgNPs into a PVA/Cs matrix, suggesting that these bionanocomposite films show good visibility and ultraviolet-shielding effects. The bionanocomposite films had excellent antimicrobial properties, killing both Gram-negative Salmonella choleraesuis and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. The enhanced physical properties achieved by incorporating CNC/ZnO-AgNPs could be beneficial in various applications.Keywords: multifunctional nanofiller, bionanocomposite, cellulose nanocrystals, antimicrobial properties, poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitosan blend

Muhammad Sani Usman,1 Mohamed Ezzat El Zowalaty,2,5 Kamyar Shameli,1,3 Norhazlin Zainuddin,1 Mohamed Salama,4 Nor Azowa Ibrahim1 1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, 2Laboratory of Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; 3Materials and Energy, Research Center, Karaj, Iran; 4Faculty of Pharmacy, UiTM, Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia; 5Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abstract: Copper nanoparticle synthesis has been gaining attention due to its availability. However, factors such as agglomeration and rapid oxidation have made it a difficult research area. In the present work, pure copper nanoparticles were prepared in the presence of a chitosan stabilizer through chemical means. The purity of the nanoparticles was authenticated using different characterization techniques, including ultraviolet visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The antibacterial as well as antifungal activity of the nanoparticles were investigated using several microorganisms of interest, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella choleraesuis, and Candida albicans. The effect of a chitosan medium on growth of the microorganism was studied, and this was found to influence growth rate. The size of the copper nanoparticles obtained was in the range of 2–350 nm, depending on the concentration of the chitosan stabilizer. Keywords: chitosan, copper nanoparticles, antimicrobial activity, chemical synthesis, aqueous medium

Majid Darroudi1,2, Mansor Bin Ahmad3, Reza Zamiri4, AK Zak5, Abdul Halim Abdullah1,3, Nor Azowa Ibrahim31Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Institute of Advanced Technology (ITMA), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; 2Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran; 3Department of Chemistry, 4Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; 5Low Dimensional Materials Research Center, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaAbstract: The application of “green” chemistry rules to nanoscience and nanotechnology is very important in the preparation of various nanomaterials. In this work, we successfully developed an eco-friendly chemistry method for preparing silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) in natural polymeric media. The colloidal Ag-NPs were synthesized in an aqueous solution using silver nitrate, gelatin, and glucose as a silver precursor, stabilizer, and reducing agent, respectively. The properties of synthesized colloidal Ag-NPs were studied at different reaction times. The ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectra were in excellent agreement with the obtained nanostructure studies performed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and their size distributions. The prepared samples were also characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The use of eco-friendly reagents, such as gelatin and glucose, provides green and economic attributes to this work.Keywords: silver nanoparticles, gelatin, green chemistry, time-dependent effect, ultraviolet-visible spectra

Kamyar Shameli1, Mansor Bin Ahmad1, Mohsen Zargar2, Wan Md Zin Wan Yunus1, Abdolhossein Rustaiyan3, Nor Azowa Ibrahim11Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 2Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Islamic Azad University, Qom Branch, Qom, Iran; 3Department of Chemistry, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, IranAbstract: Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were synthesized by the chemical reducing method in the external and interlamellar space of montmorillonite (MMT) as a solid support at room temperature. AgNO3 and NaBH4 were used as a silver precursor and reducing agent, respectively. The most favorable experimental conditions for synthesizing Ag NPs in the MMT are described in terms of the initial concentration of AgNO3. The interlamellar space limits changed little (d-spacing = 1.24–1.47 nm); therefore, Ag NPs formed on the MMT suspension with d-average = 4.19–8.53 nm diameter. The Ag/MMT nanocomposites (NCs), formed from AgNO3/MMT suspension, were characterizations with different instruments, for example UV-visible, PXRD, TEM, SEM, EDXRF, FT-IR, and ICP-OES analyzer. The antibacterial activity of different sizes of Ag NPs in MMT were investigated against Gram-positive, ie, Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and Gram-negative bacteria, ie, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, by the disk diffusion method using Mueller-Hinton agar (MHA). The smaller Ag NPs were found to have significantly higher antibacterial activity. These results showed that Ag NPs can be used as effective growth inhibitors in different biological systems, making them applicable to medical applications.Keywords: silver nanoparticles, nanoparticles, montmorillonite, antibacterial activity, Mueller-Hinton agar

Background: Escherichia coli (E. coli) are known to be a major cause of uropathogen among women globally. Urinary tract infection in pregnant women continues to pose clinical problems, which is a big burden for physicians. The emergence of antibiotic resistance to E. coli is inevitable and one of the critical health-associated problems. The present study aimed to determine the E. coli isolates, risk factors, and antibiotic resistance profile of the UTI among pregnant women. Methods: We conducted this cross-sectional study on pregnant women who attended maternity hospital in Zakho City, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. From October 2020 to January 2021, 196 subjects were recruited in the present experiment. Uropathogenic E. coli were detected from mid-stream urine of the participants. Subsequently, we performed antibiotic sensitivity test using microbiological standard tests. Through the use of designed questionnaires, the required data were collected, processed, and analysed via the Fisher’s exact test and Chi-square. Results: Out of a total of 196 subjects, 34 (17.34%) were culture positive for E. coli infection among pregnant women. A high rate of infection was detected in the age group of between 25-34 years (21.6%). Additionally, the highest rate of E. coli belonged to illiterate people (19.4%), followed by those with higher education (18.9%). The assessment of the risk factors associated with E. coli indicated that diabetes (P=0.028), a history of UTI infection (P=0.049), and the presence of symptoms during infection (P=0.001) were statistically significantly different. The antibiotics sensitivity profile in urine samples of pregnant women showed that E. coli were extremely sensitive to Nitrofurantoin (82.4%), Meropenem (79.4%), and around 67.6% for both Amikacin and Ciprofloxacin. Conclusion: The prevalence rate of E. coli infection is quite lower among pregnant women compared to that in non-pregnant ones. The major risk factors associated with E. coli during pregnancy were diabetes mellitus, a history of UTI, and the presence of symptoms during infection. E. coli isolated from urine samples seem to be different concerning antibiotic sensitivity pattern. During their regular follow-up, pregnant women should also be examined for major risk factors and antibiotic susceptibility.

Background: Toxoplasma gondii and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) can cause a range of diseases in pregnant women and may lead to adverse fetal outcomes. Therefore, the detection of these infections is necessary during pregnancy. Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma and Cytomegalovirus infections among the pregnant women with history of abortion in Zakho city, Iraq. Methods: Over a period of five years (2014-2018), blood samples were collected from 500 subjects aged 16-45 years old and tested to identify the presence of specific IgG and IgM to Toxoplasma and CMV infections by Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay (ELFA) method. Results: Of 500 pregnant women, 145 (29%) and 7 (1.8%) were seropositive for anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM, respectively. IgG seropositivityto T. gondii infection varied significantly between age groups (P=0.05). Additionally, the seroprevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies for CMV was 475 (95%) and 9 (1.8%), respectively. Estimation of age specific subgroups showed high CMV IgG seropositivity rates for all age groups with no significant difference between them. Altogether, 145 cases were verified seropositive for specific IgG antibody against both pathogens and only 2 cases were positive for specific IgM against both agents. Conclusion: Anti-Toxoplasma and CMV IgG and IgM antibodies positivity rates among pregnant women determined in the present study are quite similar as compared to other studies reported in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Though, infection with those pathogens is not a major cause of abortion; it is useful to screen women with recurrent abortion for such infections in order to avoid undesirable fetal outcomes and other serious complications.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and depression, are the most common psychopathological symptoms among army wives living in Kopassus (Indonesian army special force) dormitory, with the prevalence of 15-40%. Proper management with reality therapy for anxious and depressed army wives living in Kopassus dormitory is needed. OBJECTIVE: to determine the effect of reality therapy on anxiety and depression levels in army wives in Kopassus Group 2 dormitory. METHODS: This study was designed as a randomized control trial pretest and post-test two group design. Sampling was done by simple random technique. Thirty subjects were divided into two groups. Control group received regular interview, while experimental group received reality therapy. Respondents were asked to fill out The Lie Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory questionnaire (L-MMPI), biodata, the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale questionnaire (TMAS), and the Beck Depression Inventory questionnaire (BDI). The Wilcoxon Rank Test and Mann-Whitney were applied for data analysis, with the significance level of p

A supernumerary tooth is one that is supplementary to the normal dentition. It can be found anywhere at the dental arch. A mesiodens is a supernumerary tooth located between the two maxillary central incisors usually palatally or within the alveolar process. Less frequently, the mesiodens is in relation with the nasal floor and the nasopalatine canal walls. This paper presents a very rare case of an impacted inverted mesiodens located inside the nasopalatine canal and found incidentally with a cone-beam computed tomography examination.

One of the rare anatomical variations that can be of significant importance for the dentist is the bifid mandibular canal. Many complications can occur from this condition such as failure of anesthesia when performing inferior alveolar nerve block, difficulties during the surgical extraction of the third mandibular molar, and during implants placement. Therefore, good knowledge of this condition is essential. In this report, we describe the radiographic finding of a unilateral bifid mandibular canal.