Volume 4, Issue 1 (2021)

Ahmad Aljada, Ph.D - Professor of Biochemistry Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine College of Medicine, Alfaisal University Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

It is a great honor and pleasure for me to be involved as a guest editor of this issue of the BAU Journal - Health and Well-Being. This is an exciting time for this field. Healthy lives and well-being promotion for all ages is a key indicator of sustainable development and growth and is an investment in the future. Today, COVID 19 pandemic has resulted in major disruptions of business, education, and transportation, and have interrupted virtually every aspect of daily life. Several health challenges have been overlooked and some health problems and conditions have seen an increase as in mental health problems. None of these issues are simple to address and would require interprofessional collaboration in research, education, and clinical practice.

In this issue of BAU Journal - Health and Well-Being, two studies reported the discovery of the dual anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of pyrazolopyridine derivatives, DZ-BAU2021-14 developed in BAU Labs. DZ-BAU2021-14 anti-inflammatory (owing to lower levels of estimated binding energies with COX2 receptor) and anti-proliferative (owing to its CDK2 inhibition) properties could be a very promising candidate to be developed as a new drug for colon cancer. Inflammation is a critical component of tumor progression as sustained cell proliferation in an inflammatory microenvironment rich in growth factors, activated stroma, and DNA-damage-promoting agents, potentiates and/or promotes progression to full malignant phenotype. Thus, the dual anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative properties of DZ-BAU2021-14 represents a strong effort for a promising strategy for colon cancer prevention and treatment.

Providing the prevalence and distribution of common infections is pivotal to providing infection control guidance to help prevent the transmission. A study reported in this issue the frequency and distribution of extended spectrum β–lactamase (ESBLE)-producing Enterobacteriaceae among Lebanese patients with UTI in Bekaa region. The ESBL- producing pathogens corresponded to 31% of the total positive UTIs. In another in-vitro comparative study, the effect of different irrigation regimens on Enterococcus faecalis elimination from infected root canals was reported. The study concluded that maximum removal of E. faecalis strains was achieved by activating 2.625% sodium hypochlorite with the diode laser.

This issue of BAU Journal - Health and Well-Being includes several studies pertaining to health profession education. A descriptive cross-sectional study assessing nurses’ knowledge and care practices for infection prevention in neutropenic patients in the five hospitals of Bekaa, Lebanon, is reported. The study indicates that nurses have a good level of infection control practices despite a moderate level of knowledge about neutropenia which is one of the serious complications to chemotherapy that increases the risk of infection and even mortality. Similarly, the impact of emerging technology on nurses caring behavior during blood pressure monitoring for adult patients at general Kuwaiti hospitals is described. The study concluded that nurses are able to provide more humanistic caring behavior when blood pressure is monitored manually compared to electronically. A multicenter cross-sectional study examining the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards antibiotic use among Lebanese health professions students is included in this issue. The results indicate an alarming misuse and overuse of antibiotics. Similar study regarding the misuse of antibiotics in livestock production in Bekaa rural area demonstrated the need for intervention awareness programs specifically targeting specific segments in rural regions to effectively direct the public to the rational use of antibiotics.

Many thanks for the guest editor invitation by BAU Journal - Health and Well-Being and I hope you would enjoy the reading of the variety of published articles in this journal.