Further observations on hydrogen peroxide antisepsis and COVID-19 cases among healthcare workers and inpatients.

Background: The use of prophylactic antisepsis to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been suggested. This study investigated hydrogen peroxide antisepsis (HPA) at two hospitals in Ghana.

Methods: Cases of COVID-19 among healthcare workers (HCWs) using hydrogen peroxide (HP-HCWs) or not using hydrogen peroxide (NHP-HCWs), vaccinated or unvaccinated, were recorded at Shai-Osudoku Hospital (SODH), Dodowa, and Mount Olives Hospital (MOH), Techiman, between May 2020 and December 2021.

Markers of Inflammation and Lineage on Exfoliated Colonic Cells In Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Objectives: The diagnosis (endoscopy, and biopsy) and continued clinical management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), remain highly invasive, expensive, and inconvenient for the pediatric patient. The objective of this study was to see if colonocytes obtained from stools of subjects with IBD and normal controls would demonstrate higher levels of inflammatory markers (Cox 2 in CD45+ and CD45- cells) and if the inflammatory process and treatment effects would be reflected in an altered cytokine expression in the subjects compared to controls.

Setting: Outpatient hospital based pediatric gastroenterology clinic.

Quasispecies of genotype 4 of hepatitis C virus genomes in Saudi patients managed with interferon alfa and ribavirin therapy.

Background And Objectives: Many patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection do not respond to antiviral treatment, possibly due to viral quasispecies. We aimed to investigate whether the quasispecies population could be used as a predictor of response to therapy in our patients.

Methods: The quasispecies of HCV genotype 4 (HCV-4) were studied in 25 naïve Saudi patients at zero, three, and six months following interferon alfa and ribavirin combination therapy.

Social and behavioral determinants of consistent condom use among female commercial sex workers in Ghana.

This study investigated the social and behavioral predictors of consistent condom use among female commercial sex workers (FCSWs) in Ghana. Four hundred fifty street commercial sex workers were interviewed in Accra, Kumasi and Techiman. The level of condom education was very low (14%); however consistent condom use (all the time) with clients was relatively high (49.

Genotyping of hepatitis C virus isolates from Saudi patients by analysis of sequences from PCR-amplified core region of the virus genome.

We investigated the genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among Saudi patients with chronic hepatitis C. Serum specimens from 119 native Saudi Arabian patients with chronic hepatitis C, as documented by serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for HCV RNA, were used. Genotyping was performed by reverse transcription-PCR, using specific primers at the core region of HCV genome, and DNA sequencing of the resultant amplicons.

Human papilloma virus-16/18 cervical infection among women attending a family medical clinic in Riyadh.

Background: Prevalence information is lacking on human papillomavirus types 16 and 18 (HPV-16/18) infection in cervical tissues of women residing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In addition, there are no observations on progression to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN).

Subjects And Methods: Pap smear and HPV-16/18 DNA detection by PCR followed by Southern blotting was performed on 120 subjects (Saudi and other Arab nationals) during routine gynecological examination.

Molecular epidemiology and genotyping of TT virus isolated from Saudi blood donors and hepatitis patients.

Background: In Saudi Arabia, the epidemiology and clinical significance of Torque Teno virus (TTV) infection alone and in patients with hepatitis virus infections have not been determined in a single study. In this paper, we molecularly investigated the rate and genotypes of TTV infection among Saudi Arabian blood donors and patients with viral hepatitis. The effect of TTV coinfection on viral hepatitis was also examined.

Exfoliated colonic epithelial cells: surrogate targets for evaluation of bioactive food components in cancer prevention.

There is significant evidence supporting the hypotheses that lifestyle, diet, and bioactive components in foods are important modifiers of cancer risk. However, our ability to assess host response noninvasively is limited. To overcome this, we have developed a technology to isolate several million viable exfoliated somatic colonic cells from a small sample of stool (0.

Typing of human cytomegalovirus clinical isolates from Saudi patients by PCR-RFLP.

Background: Information on strain types of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) isolates from Saudi Arabian patients is lacking.

Materials And Methods: 80 clinical isolates of HCMV from Saudi Arabian patients were analyzed by PCR amplification of three regions (DNA polymerase, glycoprotein B, and glycoprotein H) of the virus genome. The resultant amplicons (2.

Peginterferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin compared with interferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin for initial treatment of chronic hepatitis C in Saudi patients commonly infected with genotype 4.

Aim: Comparing the efficacy of peginterferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin with interferon alpha -2b plus ribavirin in Saudi patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) commonly infected with genotype 4.

Methods: A total of 96 patients with chronic HCV infection were randomly assigned to two treatment groups. Forty-eight patients received once weekly 100 microg of peginterferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin given orally 800 mg/day (peginterferon group).

A comparative study on the application of 3 molecular methods in epidemiological typing of bacterial isolates using MRSA as a prototype.

Objective: To evaluate and compare 3 widely used molecular techniques, namely, restriction endonuclease analysis of plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (REAP), randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for their suitability and usefulness in the typing and fingerprinting of bacterial isolates.

Methods: Twenty-four epidemiologically unrelated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates were used to evaluate the molecular typing methods (REAP, RAPD and PFGE). The study was conducted at the Research and Diagnostic Laboratories of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center from January 2002 through January 2003.

Gene therapy of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma with a single-chain interleukin-12 fusion protein.

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is the most aggressive type of thyroid malignancy with a mean survival time of less than 8 months. No effective therapeutic approach is currently available, making the development of novel treatments necessary. Interleukin (IL)-12 is a proinflammatory heterodimeric cytokine with strong antitumor activity.

Hand contamination with hepatitis C virus in staff looking after hepatitis C-positive hemodialysis patients.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of hepatitis in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Routes other than blood transfusion play a role in the spread of HCV in HD patients. Molecular studies of HCV implicate nosocomial transmission of the virus in HD units.

GB virus C/hepatitis G virus infection in Saudi Arabian blood donors and patients with cryptogenic hepatitis.

Viral hepatitis is a common infection in the developing countries. Aside from Hepatitis A-E viruses, a novel hepatitis virus termed GBV-C, or HGV, was recently described. We have studied the prevalence of this virus among Saudi Arabian healthy blood donors (n = 200) and patients with cryptogenic (non-A-E) hepatitis (n=71).

Plasmid profile and antibiotic resistance in coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from polluted water.

Four different species of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) were isolated from polluted waters in Fez, Morocco and found to be Staphylococcus simulans, Staph. lenticus, Staph. hyicus and Staph.

Hepatitis C virus detection and genotyping in liver tissues and sera of Saudi patients using PCR and a line probe assay.

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The alpha chemokine, interleukin 8, inhibits the antiviral action of interferon alpha.

Interferon (IFN) exhibits a potent antiviral activity in vitro and plays a major role in the early defense against viruses. Like IFN, the proinflammatory chemokine, interleukin (IL)-8, is induced by viruses and appears in circulation during viral infections. In an in vitro cytopathic effect assay for IFN, we found that IL-8 can inhibit IFN-alpha activity in a dose-dependent manner.

Serological diagnosis of hepatitis C virus in patients with liver disease in Saudi Arabia. Evaluation of antibody determination by recombinant immunoblot assays in relation to RNA detection by polymerase chain reaction.

Sera from 164 Saudi Arabian patients with non-A, non-B hepatitis liver disease were examined for antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) by second- and third-generation recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA-2 and RIBA-3) and for HCV RNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). By using RIBA-2, 92 (56.1%) were reactive, 64 (39%) were nonreactive, and 8 (4.

Genetic homogeneity among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains from Saudi Arabia.

Ninety-four strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were collected from patients nursed in several hospitals in Saudi Arabia, before they were referred to King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre for tertiary care. The hospitals were from geographically diverse regions and as such the entirety of Saudi Arabia was covered. All strains were genetically typed by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis using three different primers and a representative subset of the strains was analyzed with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) as well.

Hepatitis C virus infection in hemodialysis patients: comparison of two new hepatitis C antibody assays with a second-generation assay.

The performance of two new hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) assays (a third-generation immunoglobulin (Ig)G recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA 3.0) and hepatitis C virus core IgM (HCV IgM) in the prediction of hepatitis C viremia in hemodialysis patients was compared with that of a second-generation IgG recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA 2.0).

New insights into hepatitis C virus infection of hemodialysis patients: the implications.

The authors compared the diagnostic performance of a second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) (RIBA HCV 2.0 SIA) and the recently introduced third-generation RIBA (RIBA HCV 3.0 SIA) with that of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 55 patients on chronic hemodialysis.

Isolation and HPLC of N-epsilon-lithocholyl lysine as its fluorescamine and dimethylaminoazobenzene isothiocyanate derivatives.

N-epsilon-lithocholyl lysine (NELL) is a component of tissue-bound lithocholic acid (TBL). The isolation of NELL from native protein sources was simulated by hydrolysis of lithocholyl-bovine serum albumin (BSA) (synthesized by coupling lithocholyl-N-hydroxysuccinimide to fatty acid-free BSA) by digestion with a mixture of 6N HCl-propionic acid at 70 C for 3 h under partial vacuum. NELL was isolated on a reversed phase Sep-Pak C18 column and converted to either a fluorophor with fluorescamine or to a chromophor with dimethylaminoazobenzene isothiocyanate for subsequent HPLC using appropriate fluorescence or UV/visible absorption detectors.

Processing of envelope polypeptides of herpes simplex virus type 1. Demonstration of variation in different cell lines by high-performance liquid chromatography and radioimmunoprecipitation.

[35S]Methionine-labelled envelope polypeptides of herpes simplex virus type 1, strain F, propagated in mammalian cell culture of various origins, were separated by ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography on a TSK DEAE-3SW column. Analysis of the fractions by radioimmunoprecipitation followed by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the immunoprecipitates showed similarities as well as distinct differences in the number, migration patterns and molecular mass of the synthesized polypeptides, depending on the host cell. The results show that this method can be used to demonstrate species-specific or organ-specific differences in the processing of virus-specified polypeptides synthesized in host cells.