Analysis of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) mutations in patients from Western Saudi Arabia with chronic disease.

Introduction: Extensive research has provided a link between HBV variants and the clinical complications of liver diseases. This study was performed to further investigate the relationship between HBV variants in preS, S and BCP/PC regions and disease progression in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) cases in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Methodology: 182 CHB patients were recruited for this study.

Evidence for a role of hemozoin in metabolism and gametocytogenesis.

Hemozoin is generally considered a waste deposit that is formed for the sole purpose of detoxification of free heme that results from the digestion of hemoglobin by parasites. However, several observations of parasite multiplication, both in vertebrate and invertebrate hosts are suggestive of a wider, but overlooked, metabolic role for this product. The presence of clinical peripheral blood samples of with high parasitemia containing only hemozoin-deficient (non-pigmented) asexual forms has been repeatedly confirmed.

Prevalence and molecular characterization of hepatitis D virus in Saudi Arabia: A single-center study.

Background/aims: Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a defective RNA virus that is dependent on hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) for transmission and replication. HDV significance arises from the possibility of poor prognosis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In Saudi Arabia, HDV prevalence varied from 8 to 32% before the HBV vaccination program and ranged from 0 to 14.

Seroepidemiology of Asymptomatic Dengue Virus Infection in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Background: Although virologically confirmed dengue fever has been recognized in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, since 1994, causing yearly outbreaks, no proper seroepidemiologic studies on dengue virus have been conducted in this region. Such studies can define the extent of infection by this virus and estimate the proportion that may result in disease. The aim of this study was to measure the seroprevalence of past dengue virus infection in healthy Saudi nationals from different areas in the city of Jeddah and to investigate demographic and environmental factors that may increase exposure to infection.

Detection of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus genome in an air sample originating from a camel barn owned by an infected patient.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a novel betacoronavirus that has been circulating in the Arabian Peninsula since 2012 and causing severe respiratory infections in humans. While bats were suggested to be involved in human MERS-CoV infections, a direct link between bats and MERS-CoV is uncertain. On the other hand, serological and virological data suggest dromedary camels as the potential animal reservoirs of MERS-CoV.

Genotype and antiretroviral drug resistance of human immunodeficiency virus-1 in Saudi Arabia.

Objective: To analyze antiretroviral drug resistance and determine the genotype of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 in Saudi patients by sequencing an amplified region of the viral pol gene.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed data from plasma samples submitted for genotypic drug sensitivity monitoring. Samples were analyzed at the Special Infectious Agent Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center of King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from August 2004 to June 2009.