Dimethoate (DM) is an organophosphorus (OP) pesticide with wide use in the pest control. Its persistence in crops and soils could possibly cause adverse health consequences in humans as well as other non-target species. Since molecular studies confirming potential genotoxicity of DM have not been previously reported, the acute in vivo toxicological impact was evaluated in Wistar rats. Significant micronuclei induction and metaphase chromosome abnormalities in bone marrow cells exposed to three different DM doses (20, 40 and 60 mg/kg-bw) at multiple treatment durations (24, 48 and 72 h) indicated positive dose response relationship, confirming its genotoxic and cytotoxic potential. Significant mitotic index decrease was seen in dosed animals compared to vehicle control. The study used peripheral blood comet assay, indicating DM-mediated damage to DNA at all exposure levels in a time responsive manner. These assays were found to be an effective, precise, and fast technique with applied value in biomonitoring studies. Cell cycle and apoptosis along with mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in flow cytometric analyses confirmed DM exposure decreased MMP, affected the cell cycle, and inflicted DNA damage, which led to cellular apoptosis of leukocytes culminating into immunotoxic effects. The in silico experiments consequently augmented that DM showed acceptable binding energy value for Cyclin A2, suggesting that it could inhibit the cell cycle progression by inhibiting cyclin A2.

Introduction: The emergence of the new Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a major impact on global health system. This cross-sectional study was designed to appraise the knowledge and attitude of healthcare workers towards COVID-19 and find out their understanding about clinical aspects of the infection. Methodology: A total number of 1023 of healthcare workers responded to an online questionnaire and provided their data between February and March, 2020 in Jeddah city, Western province, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was distributed to physicians, nurses, pharmacists, technical staff and administrative staff working in clinical settings. Results: Results revealed that mean scores for knowledge and attitude were 20.793 ± 2.436 and 4.744 ± 0.297 respectively. More than 88% of participants displayed positive knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19. Knowledge data showed that social media and the workplace, were the main sources of information for the majority of respondents. Approximately 99.12% of respondents were aware of the viral pandemic, and the causative agent. Statistically significant association was found when compared the demographic characteristics with the mean knowledge while no statistical significance was observed when compared demographic characteristics with the mean attitude score except with marital status. Conclusion: This study showed that healthcare workers had sufficient knowledge and positive attitude towards COVID-19. However, hospital staff should be periodically given sufficient training to effectively cope with such outbreaks in the future.

Background. The coronavirus disease‐19 (COVID‐19) pandemic caused a major impact on blood donation process and supply globally. A lockdown management procedure was launched nationally in Saudi Arabia to manage this global health crisis. The main aim of this study was to determine the effect of COVID‐19 lockdown on blood donation services and supply in different regions of Saudi Arabia. Study Design and Methods. A retrospective cross‐sectional study was conducted in the blood bank centers of 5 major cities including Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Hail, and Jizan in Saudi Arabia. Demographic and blood characteristics were retrieved from the first 6 months of 2019 (January–June) and compared to the same period of 2020. Results. Our findings showed variation in the characteristics of blood donation and supply among the centers surveyed, as some of these centers were adversely affected, while others showed an increase in the availability of blood products during the pandemic. For example, Jeddah’s center was significantly affected by COVID‐19 lockdown whereas Hail’s center showed a significant increase in the analyzed characteristics of blood donation services in 2020 compared to 2019. Overall, there was no major difference among the surveyed centers between 2020 and 2019, and this might be due to the effective management of blood supply and transfusion. Discussion. Although blood supply and transfusion practice was slightly affected at various degree among the surveyed centers, the whole process did not show a significant effect on the overall outcome. This is in fact due to the proper preparedness, management of blood requirements and supplies, and efficient response of the surveyed centers in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, many associated factors have been investigated to clarify the susceptibility and severity among the affected individuals. Biological markers can play an important role in identification of individual susceptibility to such pandemic. Growing evidence suggest the influence of different blood group systems on susceptibility to COVID-19 virus, with a particular blood type conferring selection advantage. Objectives: The study aimed to determine the association of ABO, Rhesus (D) and P1 blood groups with COVID-19 susceptibility in Taif city, Western Saudi Arabia. Methods: ABO, D and P1 blood antigens were determined in 104 blood samples of COVID-19 patients versus 100 control samples using either automated immunohematology analyser or test tube method. Statistical differences between patients and control samples were calculated based on p-value where results of ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. Results: O+ve blood group constituted the predominant type among the studied samples. Determination of P1 antigen showed significant association where Anti-P1 was positive in 76.9% of patients compared to 61.0% of controls with a P value of 0.01 conferring the susceptibility of P1+ve patients to COVID-19. Conclusion: Although our study showed no significant association between ABO and D, and susceptibility to COVID-19, there was a significant association between P1+ve and COVID-19. P1+ve participants were 2.131 times more associated with the risk of COVID-19 infection than those with Anti P1-ve. Thus, P1 antigen can be used as a biological marker for identification of individuals susceptibility to COVID-19. It is strongly advised that such individuals should consider extra protective measures.Further studies on other contributing factors should also be considered for more scientific clarity. Keywords: ABO Blood group; Rh(D); P1 antigen, COVID-19.