Introduction: Smoking is a major avoidable cardiovascular risk factor and is a cause of premature death worldwide. Objectives: To study the prevalence, pattern, and awareness of health hazards of smoking among Libyan diabetic male patients in Tripoli Medical Center, Tripoli, Libya. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional, clinic-based study using a predesigned questionnaire, the participants were interviewed by the author. The interview covered personal data, and questions about their smoking status, and their awareness of smoking hazards. Results: The overall prevalence of current smoking was 26.4% and past smoking 40.3%. The mean age was 50.8 ± 14.4 years (range 18–75 years). The mean age at which smoking started was 18.6 ± 5.3 years; all current smokers were cigarette smokers. Main reason for quitting smoking was related to health issues while social and religious considerations were the main reasons for never smoking. Conclusions: The prevalence of smoking among Libyan diabetic patients was high; this calls for incorporating smoking cessation services within the diabetes care clinics
Hawa Juma El‑Shareif(12-2019)

Flavonoids have been shown to have antioxidant factors and effective against hepatotoxicity. This in vivo study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of flavonoids rich extracts in a model of chemicalinduced liver cell injury. Materials and Methods: Flavonoids were extracted from leaves and flowers of Arbutus pavarii using Microwave assisted extraction method. Different concentrations of extracted flavonoids (200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000mg/kg bw) were evaluated up to two weeks on mice model. The hepatoprotective effects of the extracts were examined using mice pretreated orally with 200 and 400 mg/kg bw of flavonoids extracted from leaves and flowers as well as their combination (200 mg/kg; 1:1) for 28 days. At day 28, the mice were received orally a single dose of 1ml/kg CCl4 in corn oil. Forty-eight hours after Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) treatment, the animals were sacrificed and their liver and blood samples were collected for determination of biochemical parameters (Alkaline phosphatase (ALT), Aspartate-aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine-aminotransferase (ALP)), histopathological investigation and antioxidant status. Results: Treatment of the mice with a daily dose of flavonoids extracts up to 5 g/kg bw did not cause mortality and did not show hepatotoxicity. Pretreatment with extracts decreased the increased serum levels of ALT, AST, and ALP, decreased lipid peroxidation and maintained the levels of glutathione and antioxidant enzymes status in the CCl4 treated mice, especially in the group treated with combined extracts. The hepato-protcitve effects were confirmed by histopathological examinations. Conclusion: The results shown by the extracted flavonoids need further investigation.
Rabia Alghazeer, Sana Elgahmasi, Abdul Hakim Elnfati, Mohamed Elhensheri, Mohamed A. Al-Griw, Nuri Awayn, Mariuma El- Nami(3-2018)

GLUT4 translocation in response to insulin involves the PI3K/Akt pathway and IR mediated phosphorylation of CAP (SORBS1), and formation of the CAP:Cbl. These pathways act in a coordinated manner to regulate glucose, lipid and protein metabolism. In previous studies, T228A polymorphism of SORBS1 gene has been shown to be a protective factor for obesity, type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), polycystic ovary (PCOs), and lacunars infarction. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between this polymorphism and T2DM, gestational diabetes (GDM), and obesity. Methods: Genotyping was achieved by PCR-RELP in 227 individuals chosen randomly from the out patient’s clinics of Al-Jala maternity hospital of Tripoli and Gharian hospital, including: 63 T2DM patients, 59 GDM patients, 57 obese, 47 healthy control individuals from Libyan pregnant women population (North-West Region). Results: The results revealed that this polymorphism has no association with T2DM, GDM, and obesity in comparison with the control sample. Conclusion: T228A polymorphism of SORBS1 gene is not associated with the pathological conditions studied. arabic 15 English 98
Abdulla Bashein(1-2013)