Prediction of cervical cancer precursor lesions by quantitative methylation specific PCR: A retrospective study.

Objective: This study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of FAM19A4 and hsa-mir-124-2 hypermethylation as a triage tool for women who are at risk of developing cervical cancer or high-grade cervical cancer precursor lesions by taking into consideration the cytology report, histology diagnosis, and human papillomavirus (HPV) status.

Methods: A total of 330 cervical ThinPrep samples were retrospectively collected and used for DNA isolation. HPV DNA was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and HPV genotypes were identified by Sanger-based sequencing.

Molecular epidemiology and genetic characterization of SARS-CoV-2 in Kuwait: A descriptive study.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been fatal to human health, affecting almost the entire world. Here we reported, for the first time, characterization of the genetic variants of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in Kuwait to understand their genetic diversity and monitor the accumulation of mutations over time. This study randomly enrolled 209 COVID-19 patients whose nasopharyngeal swabs were positive for SARS-CoV-2 between February 2020 and June 2021 using RT-PCR.

Immune Cells Profiles In The Peripheral Blood Of Patients With Moderate To Severe COVID-19 And Healthy Subjects With and Without Vaccination With The Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA Vaccine.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has caused a global crisis. Patients with COVID-19 present with a range of clinical manifestations, from no symptoms to severe illness. However, little is known about the profiles of immune cells required to protect against SARS-CoV-2.

Predictors of intensive care unit admission and mortality in SARS-CoV-2 infection: A cross sectional study at a tertiary care hospital.

Background: The transmissibility and associated morbidity and mortality of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2), have overwhelmed worldwide healthcare systems, resulting in an urgent need to understand this virus and its associated effects. The aim of our study was to identify patient symptoms, clinical characteristics, laboratory, and radiology findings that are associated with serious morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Jaber Al Ahmad Hospital, the designated COVID-19 center in Kuwait between August 1st, 2020 and January 31st, 2021.

CODEHOP-Mediated PCR Improves HIV-1 Genotyping and Detection of Variants by MinION Sequencing.

HIV-1 is genetically heterogeneous, having different subtypes and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs). HIV-1 genotyping is used to determine drug resistance profiles and is based on the use of a mixture of consensus and degenerate primers targeting the gene. However, the use of this type of primers is associated with either PCR bias or PCR failure.

Virologic failure after 48 weeks of raltegravir-based regimen in low HIV-1 incidence setting.

Background: With the advent of next generation integrase strand transfer inhibitors, the rates of virologic failure in treated subjects are expected to decrease. In this study, we analyzed the mutation patterns leading to virologic failure before and after starting integrase strand transfer inhibitor-based regimen as first-line or salvage therapy.

Methods: Between 2016 and 2019, blood samples were received from 258 patients with HIV-1 infection.

Prevalence of HPV Genotypes in Adult Male Patients with Cutaneous Warts: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Aim: This study was aimed at determining the distribution of type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) in men with cutaneous warts and correlating this with the clinical and morphological presentation of warts.

Methods: Cutaneous wart samples were obtained from 167 adult men presenting to a dermatology clinic. The tissues were fixed and screened for HPV DNA using real-time PCR.

Association of HPV genotypes with external anogenital warts: a cross sectional study.

Background: This study was undertaken to determine the distribution of type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) in external anogenital warts, and the correlation with clinical presentation of warts and demographic data of patients.

Methods: Genital warts specimens were obtained from 129 men and 27 women attending a dermatology clinic, who had been advised surgical excision. The tissues were fixed and screened for HPV DNA by using real-time PCR.

Effect of Human Coronavirus OC43 Structural and Accessory Proteins on the Transcriptional Activation of Antiviral Response Elements.

Objectives: The molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) infection are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the ability of HCoV-OC43 to antagonize the transcriptional activation of antiviral response elements.

Methods: HCoV-OC43 structural (membrane M and nucleocapsid N) and accessory proteins (ns2a and ns5a) were expressed individually in human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK-293) cells.

Varicella infection in the Middle East: Prevalence, complications, and vaccination.

Varicella (chickenpox) is the primary infection of varicella-zoster virus (VZV), it is a mild self-limiting infection, but it is also highly contagious and can cause severe complications among high-risk group of individuals. It is usually a childhood infection providing lifelong immunity, but adults without varicella history are also susceptible to infection. High-risk group of individuals is more likely to develop serious complications.

Analysis of genetic variability of respiratory syncytial virus groups A and B in Kuwait.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most frequently identified viral agent in infants, children, and elderly people with acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs). This study is the only one of its kind in Kuwait, and its purpose was to investigate the genetic variability of the G protein gene in RSV strains prevalent in Kuwait. Respiratory samples were collected from patients with ARTIs in various hospitals in Kuwait and subjected to reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) amplifying a fragment of the G gene of RSV.

PCR array profiling of antiviral genes in human embryonic kidney cells expressing human coronavirus OC43 structural and accessory proteins.

Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) is a respiratory virus that usually causes a common cold. However, it has the potential to cause severe infection in young children and immunocompromised adults. Both SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV were shown to express proteins with the potential to evade early innate immune responses.

Drug Resistance-Associated Mutations in Antiretroviral Treatment-Experienced Patients in Kuwait.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of nonpolymorphic resistance-associated mutations (RAM) in HIV-1 patients on first-line antiretroviral therapy in Kuwait.

Subjects And Methods: Total RNA was isolated from plasma samples of 42 patients who received a first-line nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based regimen. HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase genetic regions were then amplified by nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and directly sequenced.

Adenovirus types associated with severe respiratory diseases: A retrospective 4-year study in Kuwait.

Human adenovirus (HAdV) infection can result in a severe respiratory disease. The aim of this study was to identify HAdV types detected in patients hospitalized for severe respiratory illness. The study population consisted of 743 patients with severe respiratory disease admitted to four major hospitals in Kuwait between January 2013 and December 2016.

Resistance-Associated Mutations and Polymorphisms among Integrase Inhibitor-Naïve HIV-1 Patients in Kuwait.

Objectives: Resistance-associated mutations (RAMs) in the integrase of different HIV-1 subtypes were investigated in a cohort of patients never exposed to integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs).

Methods: The viral RNA was extracted from plasma samples of 53 INSTI-naïve patients, and the integrase genetic region was sequenced and analyzed for subtype assignment and drug resistance.

Results: The median viral load at sampling was 5.

Human Washington University Polyomavirus in Patients with Respiratory Tract Infection in Kuwait.

Objective: To determine Washington University (WU) polyomavirus strains circulating among hospitalized patients with respiratory tract infections (RTI) in Kuwait.

Materials And Methods: Samples from 459 hospitalized children and adult RTI patients were screened for respiratory viruses by polymerase chain reaction from April 2013 to April 2016. The VP2 gene from WU virus (WUV)-positive samples was sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analysis.

Molecular characterization of three enteroviral strains isolated in Kuwait from young children with serious conditions.

Introduction: Human enteroviruses are single stranded RNA viruses associated with many serious diseases such as encephalitis and myocarditis. They consist of up to 100 immunologically and genetically distinct types. Three enteroviral isolates, 2104, 3936 and 3988, were previously isolated from patients with neurological disorders or sepsis-like illness.

Evaluation of the xTAG Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel Assay for the Detection of Enteric Pathogens in Kuwait.

Objective: To evaluate the utility of the Luminex xTAG gastrointestinal pathogen panel (GPP) assay in the detection of enteric pathogens from diarrheal stool samples in Kuwait.

Materials And Methods: The Luminex xTAG GPP assay was used according to the manufacturer's instructions to evaluate single diarrheal stool samples from 109 hospitalized patients at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, Kuwait, from March 2014 to June 2015. The assay procedure involved nucleic acid extraction from stool samples, amplification of the target by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, hybridization of the amplified target by probe, detection of the target by the Luminex instrument and computerized data analysis.

Monocytes of Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Harbour Enterovirus RNA.

Background: Intracellular enterovirus (EV) RNA was detected in blood of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). The presence of EV RNA in subsets of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients, and the in vitro infection of these cells with an EV, was investigated.

Materials And Methods: Blood was collected from 42 patients with T1D, PBMCs were isolated and monocytes were purified.

Phylogenetic analysis of HIV-1 subtypes and drug resistance profile among treatment-naïve people in Kuwait.

Mutations associated with resistance to antiretroviral therapy are a major cause of failure to treatment, and surveillance for the emergence of HIV resistance became a component of all antiretroviral treatment programs. As transmission of resistant viruses to newly infected persons is possible, we aimed to determine the prevalence of primary mutations associated with antiretroviral resistance among treatment-naïve patients, with respect to HIV subtype. Viral RNA was extracted from plasma samples of 43 treatment-naïve patients.

Phylogenetic analysis of human metapneumovirus detected in hospitalized patients in Kuwait during the years 2009-2011.

Background: Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is an important cause of both upper and lower respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in all age groups. Children, elderly, and immunocompromised individuals are the most affected groups. HMPV infection accounts for 5% of hospitalized patients with respiratory tract infections in Kuwait.

Molecular characterization of BK and JC viruses circulating among potential kidney donors in Kuwait.

BK and JC polyomaviruses can be associated with nephropathy following renal transplantation. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, load, and genotypes of BK and JC viruses circulated in potential kidney donors in Kuwait. The detection of polyomavirus DNA was carried out in serum and urine samples of 165 potential kidney donors.

Different norovirus genotypes in patients with gastroenteritis in Kuwait.

Norovirus is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. The importance of this virus infection in Kuwait is not known. Eight out of 100 stool samples (8.