abstract

The present study aimed to assess the knowledge of diabetic patients regarding diabetes-related systemic and oral

complications and to evaluate their attitudes toward maintaining good oral health and their oral hygiene practices,

including regular dental visits. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Gharyan Educational Hospital, Gharyan,

Libya, between November 2025 and January 2026. A total of 134 diabetic patients attending scheduled outpatient

clinics were enrolled. The study found that 60.5% of participants were aware that diabetes increases the risk of

oral disease, with a high awareness of xerostomia (91%). However, knowledge of specific complications was lower;

only 46.2% identified dental caries and 42.6% identified oral fungal infections as related risks. Regarding systemic

health, patients showed higher awareness of diabetic foot and eye complications than of nerve or kidney

complications. While 73.9% of participants reported brushing their teeth, only 41.8% did so twice daily.

Furthermore, 44.8% visited the dentist less than once a year, and 41% could not remember their last visit. The

primary sources of information were diabetologists (52.9%) and various media (50%), with 98.5% of participants

expressing a desire for more education on this topic. Diabetic patients in Gharyan demonstrated a moderate level

of knowledge regarding diabetes-related oral health. While attitudes toward oral hygiene are generally positive,

there are significant gaps in knowledge regarding specific oral complications. The findings suggest an urgent need

to integrate oral health education into routine diabetic care and to strengthen collaboration between physicians and

dentists to improve overall patient outcomes.

Keywords. Diabetes mellitus, Oral Health, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Libya.

While most pregnant women in Gharyan city demonstrated adequate oral health knowledge, gaps persist in

preventive practices, particularly regarding fluoride use and dental visits. Education level and dental visits

during pregnancy were significant determinants of knowledge. These findings highlight the need for targeted

oral health education programs and increased access to dental services for pregnant women to improve oral

health outcomes for both mothers and their infants.

ABSTRACT

Background and aims. Paracetamol (AAP) is the most common drug used as an analgesic and antipyretic. It can induce oxidative stress which can cause cell death. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of paracetamol on the submandibular salivary gland (SMG)of Albino rats. Methods. Twelve adult male albino rats were used, divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group received orally 350mg/kg (paracetamol) once daily for 4 weeks and control groups received 2ml physiologic saline, and methyl cellos once orally daily during whole experimental period. Results. Histological examination of the experimental group showed that acinar cells demonstrated pyknotic and deeply stained nuclei with many cytoplasmic vacuolations. The ducts showed some signs of degeneration with loss of their normal cellular outlines. However, showed degenerative changes. Apoptotic changes expressed by anti-active caspase 3 were more obvious in acinar cells than in ductal cells. Statistical results showed a significant (P<0.05) statistical difference between the two groups. Conclusion. Long use of paracetamol leads to a degenerative and apoptotic change in acinar and ductal cells (SMG).

Penicillin is a drug commonly used as an antibiotic agent. It is among the earliest discoveries made. It is a natural compound released to the environment by fungi (Penicillium notatum). Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 (Davies and Davies, 2010).

 Penicillin is found in various diverse forms and mostly obtained from Penicillium. The basic structures of penicillin and its derivatives are generally very similar and closely related. Penicillin and its derivatives generally have the similar basic ring β-lactam structure, which is formed by valine and cysteine amino acids through an intermediate tripeptide. The tripeptide third amino acid is substituted by an acyl group and this acyl group has specific functions and properties on penicillin and its derivatives

Penicillin G is one of the most used penicillin against microbes and it is not stable in gastric hydrochloric acid (Barker CI,2017). Oral intake of penicillin G is destroyed by stomach gastric acid before its absorbed in the blood and before it acts at the microbial infection site. Hence its route of administration is intra-muscular injection

penicillin is the most effective drug on Gram-positive bacteria. It is also known not to be effective on Gram-negative bacteria and fungi., penicillin act on the bacterial cell wall by breaking it down. Hence this leads to the death of the bacteria.Penicillin is a drug commonly used as an antibiotic agent. It is among the earliest discoveries made. It is a natural compound released to the environment by fungi (Penicillium notatum). Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 (Davies and Davies, 2010).

 Penicillin is found in various diverse forms and mostly obtained from Penicillium. The basic structures of penicillin and its derivatives are generally very similar and closely related. Penicillin and its derivatives generally have the similar basic ring β-lactam structure, which is formed by valine and cysteine amino acids through an intermediate tripeptide. The tripeptide third amino acid is substituted by an acyl group and this acyl group has specific functions and properties on penicillin and its derivatives

Penicillin G is one of the most used penicillin against microbes and it is not stable in gastric hydrochloric acid (Barker CI,2017). Oral intake of penicillin G is destroyed by stomach gastric acid before its absorbed in the blood and before it acts at the microbial infection site. Hence its route of administration is intra-muscular injection

penicillin is the most effective drug on Gram-positive bacteria. It is also known not to be effective on Gram-negative bacteria and fungi., penicillin act on the bacterial cell wall by breaking it down. Hence this leads to the death of the bacteria.

The most common antibiotics prescribed by dentists for dental infections in Gharyan city and neighbour regions

The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a multi-protein complex that injects bacterial effector proteins into target cells. It is composed of a cell membrane complex anchored to a contractile bacteriophage tail-like apparatus consisting of a sharpened tube that is ejected by the contraction of a sheath against a baseplate. We present structural and biochemical studies on TssA subunits from two different T6SSs that reveal radically different quaternary structures in comparison to the dodecameric E. coli TssA that arise from differences in their C-terminal sequences. Despite this, the different TssAs retain equivalent interactions with other components of the complex and position their highly conserved N-terminal ImpA_N domain at the same radius from the centre of the sheath as a result of their distinct domain architectures, which includes additional spacer domains and highly mobile interdomain linkers. Together, these variations allow these distinct TssAs to perform a similar function in the complex.

TssA is a core component of the type VI secretion system, and phylogenetic analysis of TssA subunits from different species has suggested that these proteins fall into three distinct clades. Whilst representatives of two clades, TssA1 and TssA2, have been the subjects of investigation, no members of the third clade (TssA3) have been studied. Constructs of TssA from Burkholderia cenocepacia, a representative of clade 3, were expressed, purified and subjected to crystallization trials. Data were collected from crystals of constructs of the N-terminal and C-terminal domains. Analysis of the data from the crystals of these constructs and preliminary structure determination indicates that the C-terminal domain forms an assembly of 32 subunits in D16 symmetry, whereas the N-terminal domain is not involved in subunit assocation.

The effect of the duration of cigarette smoking on liver function

Study was to identify DNA repair gene (HexB) from S. pneumoniae in

the public databases, and using available programs to analyse and

compare the sequences between different strains. In this study, we

observe interesting polymorphisms in the sequences of HexB enzyme.

The amino acid sequences of HexB were identified from 16 strains

and differ by 1% from R6 HexB. At nucleotide level of HexB the

region 801-1000 may represent mosaic gene, as it differ by 10%. This

result suggests that the HexB proteins are highly conserved which

may indicates that these proteins perform a common essential role in repair process