Ahmed M Ashour has completed his MS degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science University and started his PhD studies at Strathclyde University School of Medicine. Currently, he is a Faculty member at Umm Al Qura University, Saudi Arabia.

Diabetes is a major health problem in Saudi Arabia (KSA) with prevalence of 30%, which is within the highest reported figures in the world. Cigarette smoking is considered as a modifiable risk factor and has significant roles in the developing type II Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Studies showed that the risk of developing diabetes is 30–40% higher for active smokers than non-smokers. The cause of mortality and morbidity is increased in smokers with diabetes. Limited research has been done on smoking among patients with type II DM in Saudi Arabia and there is also scarcity of evidence on smoking cessation therapies for patients with type II DM. Therefore, it is essential to assess smoking rates amongst diabetic patients in the KSA. Our hypothesis is to investigate the effectiveness of transdermal patch (Nicotine Replacement Therapy or NRT) combined with/without telephone counseling sessions (behavioral intervention) in Saudi for type II diabetic smokers. The current regular smokers of 10 cigarettes or more on a daily basis and other inclusion criteria will be invited to take part in randomized open-blind controlled clinical trial for smoking cessation amongst patients with type II DM. From other countries’ previous studies, we expect a high continuous abstinence rate in the transdermal patch/telephone consoling group as compared to the medication alone. In addition, this project would be the first of its kind in the KSA to provide an answer to unresolved question on the best pharmaceutical interventions for smoking cessation amongst patients with diabetes.

Benedicta U Iwuagwu is currently a second year PhD student in the School of Pharmacy & Life Sciences and obtained her Post-graduate degree in Research Methods at Robert Gordon University

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease associated with micro-vascular complications including diabetic retinopathy (DR). Chronic high glucose concentration is known to increase the incidence and severity of DR, however, the sequence of molecular events is complex and the precise mechanisms involved are still debated. This study presents a 3D porcine retinal model designed to examine the early molecular deregulation of retinal tissue. Porcine retinal tissue was extracted from individual ocular globes (n≥6) donated by a local abattoir within 2 hours post-mortem. Retina were cultured in DMEM within an agarose (0.5%) + collagen (0.5 mg/ml) co-gel and maintained in a humidified atmosphere with 95% air and 5% CO2 at 37°C. Retinal tissue fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF) and processed for paraffin embedding and sectioning. Tissue sections (10 μm) were stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) was carried out with anti-HIF1α (1:800), anti-GFAP (1:100), and anti-CD31 (1:100). In addition, retinal tissues were harvested at different time points 0/4/24 hours and RNA was extracted using TRIzol reagent to identify the feasibility of using the model for these of gene expression. Use of H&E enabled visualization of the retinal structure and IHC demonstrated the expression of specific proteins. In contrast, RNA electrophoresis indicated that there was partial degradation of the RNA which would exclude this approach from meaningful further analysis. Further refinement of the model may be possible to improve RNA quality. Thus the 3D retinal model has the potential for studying early deregulations in DR.

Chih-Cheng Lu has completed his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering at Engineering Department of Cambridge University, UK. He has served as an R&D Manager in Semiconductor Industrial Sectors from 2003 to 2005. He is currently a Professor at Institute of Mechatronic Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan, and the Supervisor of Advanced Microsystems and Devices Laboratory. His research interests includes MEMS, CMOS-MEMS smart sensors/actuators, bio-medical and magnetic microsensors, gene/drug delivery and multidisciplinary applications for IOT. He has authored and co-authored more than 70 journals and international conference papers in these areas since 2007 and has been a peer-reviewer for several internationally prominent journals.

The current monitoring procedure of blood glucose for diabetes patients is typically invasive and thus cause pain. In this respect, we propose a novel biosensor configuration enabling recurrent and relatively painless blood glucose detection required for critical and chronic health care. This new concept mainly derives from the fact that in recent years dental implantation have become a mature clinical procedure without any pain in teeth and bone marrow. Hence, within a certified implant fixture, we designed the intra-oral amperometric biosensor for more convenient glucose monitoring. In the abstract, proper methods of drug polymerization and glucose oxidase (GOD) degradation are first investigated to assess the life time of the biosensor. Second the calibration process of the biosensor is carried out to evaluate its sensitivity and stability via C-V voltammogram. Extensive works are completed for interface circuits and miniature GOD-coated electrodes that can measure glucose concentrations up to 400 mg/dl. Besides a prototype module integrating the amperometric biosensor with a low-power bluetooth 4.0 communication chip to transmit the measured data is also successfully developed and tested. Also, additional functionalisation experiments implement the use of graphene-combined GOD electrodes to enhance the biosensor’s sensitivity and selectivity. In summary, with constant improvements on such devices, the proposed innovational technical platform is able to bring about more regular and relatively painless blood glucose detection procedures for enormous diabetic or chronic patients worldwide, and more potential medi-care applications.

Gulizar Issa Ameen has completed her MSc in 2008 from Duhok University in Kurdistan region of Iraq. She is a PhD. student at the University of Liverpool, Faculty of Life Science, Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology. She is Lecturer in Duhok University. She published 4 papers.

Cbl (Casitas B-lineage Lymphoma) is a multiadaptor protein with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity that regulates signaling of receptors with tyrosine kinase activity such as insulin receptor c-Cbl null mice was reported to be more insulin sensitive than control littermates and be resistant to the deleterious effects of a high fat diet. In this study, we sought to determine the differences in the adipokine profile in WAT contribute to the greater insulin sensitivity. C57BL/6 (c-Cbl+/+) and c-Cbl-/- knockout mice were fed either a regular or a high fat diet (HFD) for six weeks. Insulin and glucose tolerance tests and adipokine expression were determined. In vivo glucose and insulin sensitivity was improved in c-Cbl-/- compared to c-Cbl+/+ mice. RBP4 levels was increased in WAT of c-Cbl-/- animals vs. c-Cbl+/+. However, neither a HFD nor fasting altered RBP4 expression in WAT was found. Liver showed lower RBP4 levels in the HFD c-Cbl-/- female compared to c-Cbl+/+. Both adiponectin and leptin were decreased in c-Cbl-/-. In vitro activation of extracellular kinases (ERK) pathway was elevated in the c-Cbl-/- even in the absence of insulin. This finding was confirmed in the 3T3L1 adipocyte cell line depleted of c-Cbl, which also showed enhanced RBP4 expression. Expression of RBP4 in the c-Cbl-/- mice in WAT with marked gender dimorphism was altered. Leptin and adiponectin levels were unchanged in the steady state but regulated by fasting and HFD. An increased signaling through the ERK pathway may be responsible for the increased adipokine expression in the null mice.

Prabhakar Bhatta is currently a PhD student in the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences at Robert Gordon University. He has completed an MSc in Medical Molecular Genetics from University of Aberdeen, an MSc in Bio-business and Medical Sciences from University of Aberdeen, an MSc with specialization in Genetics from Tribhuvan University, Nepal and Post-graduate certificate in Research Methods from Robert Gordon University.

Genetic factors play a vital role in the etiology and progression of Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM). In this study, we presented the data on Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) within the intronic region of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator-1α (PPARGC1A) gene. Moreover, SNPs in its coding region have been associated with the risk of T2DM in some populations. PPARGC1A is a co-activator which has been associated with the transcriptional control of various genes involved in gluconeogenesis, thermogenesis, and glucose homeostasis. Restriction fragment length polymorphism was carried out using primers which are designed to span the polymorphic region followed by restriction with Tsp451. A total of 183 DNA samples from individuals with T2DM (Warren 2 Repository), and 167 humans who were randomly selected as control samples were genotyped. And it was found that the minor allele frequencies of the single nucleotide polymorphism in the type 2 diabetes group and the control group were 0.061 and 0.051 respectively; however, no significant association was found between the minor allele (G) and risk of type 2 diabetes ([Chi-squared] χ2 = 0.331, p = 0.84). The genotype frequencies of common homozygotes (CC), heterozygotes (CG) in T2DM and control samples were 0.882, 0.115 and 0.901, 0.097 respectively and the rare homozygote (GG) was not found in any of the subjects studied. In conclusion, the minor allele (G) of rs57829442 single nucleotide polymorphism is not associated with the risk of T2DM.

Love Sharma is a Senior Research Fellow (PhD scholar) at CSIR-IIIM, Jammu. Currently, he is on short term research project (Under Newton-Bhabha Scheme) at School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. His area of research includes the metabolic syndrome, therapeutic interventions for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease including in-vitro and in-vivo model development

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is frequently associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Trigoneline (TE), a plant alkaloid known for its anti-oxidant and normoglycameic properties, was analyzed for its anti-steatotic effects. AML-12 hepatocytes and sodium palmitate (SP) were employed as an in-vitro model. AML-12 cells were pretreated with 25 μM and 50 μM doses of TE 4 hours before, exposure to 0.25 mM of SP for 24 hours. Key events related to lipo-toxicity and lipid droplet accumulation (via Nile red staining) were analyzed. In-vivo, C57BL/6J male mice (n=6), were divided into four groups as follows: 1) Standard chow (SC); 2) high fructose and high cholesterol diet (HF-HC), 3) HF+HC & TE (50 mg/kg, thrice a week) 4) SC & TE (50 mg/kg, thrice a week).The mice were provided respective diets and TE treatment for 16 weeks. TE treatment in AML-12 cells, prevented SP induced cell death, [34% (SP 0.25mM + TE 0 μM), 21% (SP 0.25mM+TE 25 μM/50 μM)], further evidenced by changes in protein levels (Bcl-2, Bax, cl-PARP and MMP-1). TE reduced SP promoted lipid droplet accumulation and reduced the expression of perillipin analyzed via immunocytochemistry. TE prevented up-regulation of PPAR-γ, SREBP1c, m-TOR, p-mTOR, p-AKT, induced by SP. In-vivo, Group 2 mice were significantly over-weight (45±2.4 g), as compared to Group 3 mice (33±2.1 g, p<0.01). The level of glucose (355±47.3 mg/dl), insulin (5.3±0.3 ng/ml), triglycerides (146±19.5 mg/dl), and cholesterol (351±51 mg/dl) were significantly high in Group 2 mice as compared to all other groups. Group 1 and Group 4 were not statistically different in any of the measured values. Hence, our results indicate that TE potentially prevents lipid droplet accumulation and lipotoxicity in liver cells, and it may be suitable as a therapeutic agent to combat NAFLD.