This study highlights the level of microbial contamination of waterpipe components in selected area of Saudi Arabia and the resistance of selected bacteria to different antibiotics was determined. A series of biochemical tests, microscopic examination, and screening on Vitek 2 compact (bioMérieux Inc., USA) system were done to characterize the bacterial isolates. Out of 132 samples investigated...

About the Community Anchorage is a combined city-county government that covers Alaska's largest and most important metropolitan area. The combined municipality covers almost 2,000 square miles and has a population of over 280,000. Some 220,000 people live in the " Anchorage Bowl " – the urban area on the Anchorage peninsula that is cut off from the rest of the municipality by geography, militar...

The rarity of atherosclerotic vascular disease and a mild bruising tendency in Greenland Eskimos has been linked to their ingestion of omega 3 fatty acids contained in foods obtained from the sea. Previous studies have shown that feeding salmon oil to normal volunteers resulted in reductions of plasma cholesterol and triglycerides. We wished to learn whether salmon oil feeding would result in t...

The TF cell line, derived from a top predatory, carnivorous marine teleost, the turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), is known to have a limited conversion of C18 to C20 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). To illuminate the underlying processes, we studied the conversions of stearidonic acid, 18:4(n-3), and its elongation product, 20:4(n-3), in TF cells and also in a cell line, AS, derived from Atlant...

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been shown to have significant effects on hepatic lipogenic gene expression. The S14 gene has been used as a model to examine the effects of PUFAs on hepatic lipogenic gene expression. In vivo studies showed that feeding rats a high carbohydrate diet containing menhaden oil rapidly (within hours) and significantly (> or = 50%) attenuates hepatic S14 gene...

A chronic graft-versus-host reaction (GVH) induced in nonautoimmune mice causes a syndrome that closely resembles SLE. In this model, donor T cells react against incompatible host Ia structures and generate excessive help, which activates a subpopulation of self-reactive B cells. We have studied whether these self-reactive B cells are activated by direct interaction with alloreactive T cells or...

The incidences of chronic hepatitis B (CHB), Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated cirrhosis and HBV-associated carcinoma are high and increasing. This study was designed to evaluate serum lipid metabolite changes that are associated with the progression from CHB to HBV-associated cirrhosis and ultimately to HBV-associated HCC. A targeted metabolomic assay was performed in fasting sera from 136 CH...

Studies using dietary supplementation of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic fatty acids (FA) in horses report inconsistent anti-inflammatory results but consistently report an increase in plasma arachidonic acid (C20:4), the major substrate of cyclooxygenase (COX) II inflammatory pathway. Conjugated linoleic acid has shown anti-inflammatory effects in laboratory and food animal species, but e...