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Biomedical subjects

M Arif

Publications and source records attributed to M Arif.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

High prevalence of and risk factors for hepatitis C in haemodialysis patients in Saudi Arabia: a need for new dialysis strategies.

Non-A, non-B is a major form of hepatitis in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been recently identified as the leading cause of non-A, non-B hepatitis in HD. A variable prevalence of hepatitis in HD has appeared in the literature, ranging between 1% and 29% in the Western world, and between 30% and 54% in Saudi Arabia, but all these reports used first-generation ELISA. Using second-generation enzyme immunoassay, we conducted a multi-centre study involving 22 HD centres all over Saudi Arabia in order to establish the prevalence and risk factors for HCV in HD patients in Saudi Arabia. A total of 1147 patients were studied, with a mean age of 43.4 +/- 15.3 years. Five hundred and eighty were males and 567 were females. The overall prevalence rate of positive anti-HCV was 68%, with a range from as low as 14.5%, to 94.7%. To our knowledge, this is the highest value reported among dialysis patients world-wide. A positive correlation was found between anti-HCV positivity and male sex (P = 0.005), longer duration on dialysis (P = 0.002) and blood transfusion (P = 0.003). However, interestingly 62.6% of the patients who had not had blood transfusion had anti-HCV antibodies. HCV antibodies were also found more frequently in Egyptians, Pakistanis and Yemenis than in Saudis. A comparison between those centres with low prevalence of positive HCV and those with high prevalence regarding risk factors was carried out, and it was found that the major difference between them was the adherence of the staff to universal infection precautions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Survival and Plant Growth Promotion of Detergent-Adapted Pseudomonas fluorescens ANP15 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 7NSK2.

Four detergents were tested as selective C sources for the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa 7NSK2 and Pseudomonas fluorescens ANP15. CO-720 (Igepal CO-720) or DOS (dioctyl sulfosuccinate), applied at 0.2% to the soil, increased the number of detergent-adapted, inoculated strains by almost 1.5 log units after 25 days, accounting for virtually the entire increase in total bacteria. The same dose of Tween 80 or N-laurylsarcosine, on the other hand, increased the indigenous populations by almost 2.5 log units, with only minor increases in the number of detergent-adapted inoculated strains. When CO-720 or DOS was initially supplied, the number of detergent-adapted 7NSK2 organisms was about 2 log units higher after 3 months of incubation than for the detergent-unadapted strain. This better survival resulted in a significantly higher root colonization of maize in a pot experiment with soil inoculation, with a significantly (P <= 0.05) higher shoot dry weight (18 to 33%). In a first field experiment with rhizosphere inoculation of 1-month-old maize plants, no effects on the height of two maize cultivars could be observed 1 month after inoculation. In a second field experiment, leaf and stem dry weights of yellow mustard and grass dry weight were increased in the treatments with seed and soil inoculation of the detergent-adapted 7NSK2 in combination with CO-720 application by, respectively, 7 to 8%, 19 to 23%, and 20 to 31%, although only the increases in grass dry weight were statistically significant at P <= 0.1. To some extent, 7NSK2 and DOS application also positively affected the mineral content of yellow mustard.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Independent clones of trisomy 12 and retinoblastoma gene deletion in Japanese B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia, detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Trisomy 12 and a deletion of chromosome 13 are the most common chromosome abnormalities in patients with B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). We determined the frequencies of these abnormalities in Japanese B-CLL patients by FISH in interphase nuclei. Specimens from 42 patients were analyzed using both DNA probes specific to the centromeric region of chromosome 12 and the retinoblastoma (RB) gene. Among 42 patients, eight had trisomy 12 and 12 had the RB gene deletion. We found aberrations of trisomy 12 and the RB gene deletion in a totally different group of patients. This suggested that the trisomy 12 and the RB gene deletion occur in different clones and the presence of which in the same patient may be rare. Furthermore, the frequency of trisomy 12 (19%) found in Japanese B-CLL was lower than that in Western countries (30-35%). On the contrary, the frequency of the RB gene deletion (28.6%) was almost the same as in European B-CLL (30-35%). These results will be helpful in understanding the leukemogenesis of B-CLL.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Epidemiology of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in Saudi Arabia.

A newly developed assay for antibody to hepatitis E virus (anti-HEV) was used to study the rate of exposure to HEV infection in two Saudi areas: Riyadh (Central Province-788 people) and Gizan (Southern Province-630 people). These two regions were chosen for the study because the Riyadh area is an urban area and Gizan is considered rural, based on sewage disposal and water sanitation systems in each area. In both areas, HEV is endemic and acquisition of infection to the virus starts early in life and increases with age. In both areas, males are also at higher risk of acquiring the infection than females and this is probably because of social habits rather than genetic factors. The observation of higher anti-HEV prevalence in Gizan (14.9%) than in Riyadh (8.4%) (P < 0.0002) confirms earlier observations that the level of exposure to HEV is related to the hygienic conditions in the community and that improvement in sanitation is an effective measure in lowering the spread of infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Seroepidemiology of hepatitis B virus infection in Saudi Arabian children: a baseline survey for mass vaccination against hepatitis B.

Saudi Arabia is considered to be an area of endemic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. By adult age, 7% persons have hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and about 70% have one or more HBV markers. In order to provide a baseline for the integration of hepatitis B vaccine into the extended programme of immunisation (EPI), a population-based survey of HBV markers was made among Saudi children. The overall prevalence of HBsAg was 6.7%, with at least one HBV marker being positive in 19.7% persons tested. Two peaks of HBV prevalence were observed in the 7- and 10-year-old children respectively. The prevalence of HBsAg was steady in all age groups with identifiable but insignificant peaks in children aged 4 and 7 years respectively. Despite the apparent homogeneity of the Saudi population, the prevalence rates of HBV varied among the regions and were higher in urban dwellers. There was no significant difference in the HBsAg prevalence for the sexes (7.3% for males and 6.0% for females). Socioeconomic factors and family size did not significantly influence the prevalence of HBV among children. Of 307 HBsAg-positive children, 55 (17.9%) were positive for HBeAg. The early acquisition of HBV in the Saudi population is confirmed. The most effective strategy for HBV control, therefore, is by mass vaccination of all Saudi infants. An extension of the immunisation programme so as to include all pre-school children should further reduce the reservoir of HBV in Saudi Arabia. A repetition of a similar survey after 5 and 10 years should be made in order to measure this reduction.

Child↗
PubMed1992

In vitro antibacterial studies of some newly synthesized phenacyl-thiosemicarbazones.

Four different phenacyl-thiosemicarbazone compounds were studied for their antibacterial activity against seventeen different species/strains. Of the four compounds under study, O-methoxy- phenacyl-thiosemicarbazone was found to be highly active against almost all the cultures under study. The other compounds were also found to possess antibacterial spectrum, but in very high concentrations for some of the cultures.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

Prevalence and significance of antibodies to hepatitis C virus among Saudi haemodialysis patients.

Seventy-four patients who were maintained on chronic haemodialysis in King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia were tested using the recently available ELISA to determine the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) in a haemodialysis unit. The prevalence rate of anti-HCV antibodies of 41.9% in the haemodialysis patients was significantly higher than the rate of 3.9% detected in 488 asymptomatic blood donors who were similarly tested. In the haemodialysis patients, anti-HCV positivity was related to previous blood transfusion (greater than 5 units of blood) and to the duration of haemodialysis (greater than 4 years); but was unrelated to sex, age, positive HBV markers or to past or current elevation of serum ALT. The results indicate a relatively higher prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies in our patients compared to rates of 1-20% reported from Europe and the U.S.A. An effective control strategy for HCV infection in this high risk group is urgently indicated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Paralytic poliomyelitis outbreak in Gizan, Saudi Arabia.

An outbreak of paralytic poliomyelitis occurred in the Southern region of Saudi Arabia between April and August of 1989. Poliovirus type 1 (wild type) was isolated from the stool of 4 out of 11 patients and 10 out of the 11 patients had a high neutralizing antibody to the isolated virus (greater than or equal to 256). The results were confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta. The fact that the outbreak occurred despite a high level of immunization coverage and that all our cases had already been immunized with sabin oral polio vaccine (OPV) is probably an indication of the unsatisfactory performance of OPV in tropical and subtropical countries. Other implication of this outbreak are also discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Hepatitis C virus antibodies in high-risk Saudi groups.

The recombinant-based enzyme immunoassay developed by Ortho Diagnostic System for the detection of antibodies of hepatis C virus (HCV) was used to determine the extent of exposure to HCV in healthy Saudi subjects (500 males; 260 females) without liver disease and with no history of percutaneous exposure to blood and in Saudis who are considered at high risk for contracting the disease: hemophiliacs (28), thalassemics (78), hemodialysis patients with renal failure (65) and patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STD) (220). The results show that HCV is endemic in the Saudi population with an overall frequency of 5.3% in healthy Saudi adults which is at least 5 times higher than what has been reported from Western Europe and the United States. Seropositivity rate in the high-risk groups ranges from 15.9% in patients with STD to 78.6% in hemophiliacs. These data underscore the urgent need for routine anti-HCV screening of blood donations in order to reduce the frequency of postransfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis and its sequelae in the Saudi population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus among Saudi Arabian children: a community-based study.

In a population-based survey, 39 (0.90%) of 4,496 Saudi Arabian children (ages 1 to 10) were positive for antibody to hepatitis C virus. No significant difference was seen between the prevalence rate in males (0.9%) and females (0.8%) or between urban (0.7%) and rural dwellers (1.0%). A significant variation of rates (0% to 5.7%) was seen from one region to another. The Gizan population, noted for hyperendemic hepatitis B virus infection, had the highest prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus despite its cultural and socioeconomic similarities to other regions. In some regions of Saudi Arabia the prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus among children was 0% despite endemic rates for both hepatitis B virus and hepatitis A virus infections. An inverse relationship between age and antibody to hepatitis C virus positivity was noted, suggesting an early acquisition of infection in the population studied. Although the overall prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus in Saudi children appears low, endemic foci exist where transmission of infection appears to occur early in childhood. The significance of this characteristic for the incidence of chronic sequelae of hepatitis C virus infection needs further evaluation.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1990

Aetiology of icteric hepatitis and fulminant hepatic failure in children and the possible predisposition to hepatic failure by sickle cell disease.

The aetiological agents of acute icteric hepatitis and fulminant hepatic failure were investigated in 47 children less than 12 years of age presenting at our hospital during the period January to December 1987. Hepatitis A virus was the aetiological agent in 72%, hepatitis B virus in 11%, cytomegalovirus in 2% and non A non B in 15%. These results confirm the endemicity of these viruses in the Saudi population and that they can be contracted in early life and could lead to severe hepatitis. Three of the patients who had hepatitis A virus infection developed fulminant hepatic failure and two of them died. Two of the patients who developed fulminant hepatic failure were also suffering from sickle cell disease. This raises the question of a possible predisposition to hepatic failure in sickle cell disease upon infection with hepatitis A virus.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1990

Chlamydia trachomatis as a cause of abortion.

The possible role of C. trachomatis as a causative agent of abortion in humans was investigated using the tissue culture method for the isolation of chlamydia. Two cases of spontaneous abortion and another seven of recurrent abortion due to C. trachomatis were positively identified. Among those with recurrent abortion were four patients with history of second trimester abortion.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗