Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Volume 2013 Issue 1

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder, characterized by dysfunctional cellular immunity including the presence of activated platelet specific autoreactive T cells that recognize and respond to autologous platelet antigens. Autoreactive T cells drive the generation of platelet reactive autoantibodies by B cells as well as T-cytotoxic cell-mediated lysis of platelets. Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is a mediator of Read More

Fusarium culmorum is a major fungal pathogen of wheat, causing foot and root rot (FRR) and fusarium head blight (FHB). Yield losses are reported as the grain becomes contaminated by mycotoxins. Among the most bioactive compounds are trichothecenes, sesquiterpene epoxides which are able to inhibit eukaryotic protein synthesis and may cause toxicoses on humans or animals consuming contaminated food or feed. Trich Read More

Background: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region harbors significant proportions of stunting and wasting coupled to surging rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Recent evidence identified nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life as a common denominator not only for optimal growth and development but also for curbing the risk of NCDs later in life. Collaboration between Qatar and Lebanon was initiat Read More

Development of a Web-based Hybrid Registry for Acute Stroke in Qatar Leopold J. Streletz1,2, Saadat I. Kamran1,2, Mohammad Shahzad1, Reggie Cruze1, Naveed Akhtar1,2, Ahmed Elsotouhy2, Ahmed Khattab3, Damian Jenkinson3, 1Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar, 2Hamad General Hospital and Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar, 3Bournemouth University, Dorset, United Kingdom. Stroke is a worldwide medic Read More

Background: MPNs are clonal haemopoietic disorders that are characterized by excessive proliferation of one or more of blood lineages. MPNs include PV, ET and PMF which are associated by the presence of JAK2 V617F mutation in about 90% of PV and 50% of ET and PMF. The molecular workup of JAK2 & related gene mutations were included in WHO 2008 as one major criterion for the diagnosis of Ph- MPNs. Aim: To gene Read More

Bipolar Affective Disorders are disorders of mood regulation that affect 1-5% of the population worldwide. The severe mood swings that are the hallmark of this disorder can interfere with the patient's personal life and career and often result in marked distress for the patient and family. While the etiology of the disorder remains somewhat elusive, genetic factors are known to be major contributors. Research in patients o Read More

OBJECTIVE : Taenia solium neurocysticercosis (NCC) is the most common parasitic infection of the brain and is a leading cause of epilepsy in the developing world, especially Latin America,India,Africa,and China .It is increasingly being reported in patients suffering from epilepsy . However, its true prevalence and association with adult-onset seizures is largely unknown in the Middle East particularly in Qatar. Our study will demo Read More

Metastasis to the peritoneum and lymph node is associated with poor survival in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). To better understand EOC metastasis, we carried out exome sequencing, RNA sequencing and copy number variation (CNV) studies on ovary, peritoneum and lymph node tumors from three patients. To analyze single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from exome and RNA sequencing data, we use the Read More

Ashraf Al-Amoudi1,2 and Achilleas Frangakis3 1Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (caesar), Department of Molecular Sensory Systems, Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2, 53175 Bonn, Germany, 2German Center of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2, 53175 Bonn, Germany European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany 3Goethe Universität - Institut für Biop Read More

Objective: To determine the frequencies of abnormal pregnancy outcomes in a cohort of patients in Qatar and to identify clinical and laboratory factors predicting adverse fetal and maternal outcomes with systemic lupus erythematosus in multinational population in Qatar. Study design: Data of 69 pregnancies of 37 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients from January 2005 to July 2012 in hmc analyzed retrospectively. Lu Read More

AIMS Asymptomatic cardiac disease is present in a large proportion of individuals with generalised cardiovascular disease (CVD). Rural areas in Australia have a lack of health care services with the facilities to undertake a comprehensive community screening project. This study aimed to assess a nurse-led health screening initiative to determine the prevalence and incidence of asymptomatic heart disease using a custom Read More

Objectives: Underlying coronary artery disease (CAD) is an established risk factor for the development of Atrial Fibrillation (AF). How underlying CAD affects symptoms and outcome of patients presenting with AF remains unknown. The aim of the current study was to evaluate how patients with established CAD as evidenced by a history of old myocardial infarction (OMI) differ in symptoms and outcome when hospitalized with AF Read More

بعد ان قمنا بتفسير جديد لطيف التوحد وعمل طريقة جديدة لعلاج طيف التوحد الغير جيني وهي العلاج عن طريق برمجة العقل والمشروحة في البحث الأول وهي باختصار وهي فرضية أن عقل الطفل عندما يولد يكون عقله محمل ببرنامج مكتسب من الجينات وضعه الخالق سبحانه وتعالى نصه انتبه الى ما هو مكرر انتبه الى المثيرات البصرية والسمعية ولكي يعمل هذا البرنامج يجب التفاعل مع الطفل لتحفيز عقل الطفل وخلاياه العصبية في حالة أن الطفل تم إهماله في الشهور الأولى أو أن الدماغ لم يحفز فيصبح اقل نشاطا في ال Read More

Grape leaves are widely consumed in Palestine, and many Mediterranean countries. This food item is considered as a delicacy in many cultures, and most consumers consider it as also a healthy food. Accordingly, we started two years ago a study to assess the nutritional quality of leaves collected from two grape varieties, namely Shami and Baituni, which were collected from two regions, namely Dahria (considered as an Read More

Developmental disabilities (DDs) are a diverse group of physical and mental impairments. Subjects with DDs almost suffer long lasting deficiencies in normal developmental milestones. Etiologies of DDs might look different in communities with high rate of consanguineous marriages, which increase the likelihood of hereditary monogenetic disorders, particularly the autosomal recessive (AR) ones. This study focuses on rare h Read More

Three patients from two related and consanguineous sibships of Pakistani ethnic origin are affected by a recognizable pattern of multiple congenital anomalies. The clinical picture includes increased inner canthal distance, hypoplastic upper lid with ptosis, blepharophemosis, maxillary hypoplasia, facial asymmetry, cleft lip/palate, high arched palate, irregular dentition, low set ears and low posterior hairline, mild scoliosis and decre Read More

Background: Features of diabetic retinopathy (DR) include leukocyte adhesion, hyperpermeability and retinal neovascularization (RNV). Our previous studies demonstrated that reactive oxygen species (ROS) derived from the NADPH oxidase activity play crucial role in the pathogenesis of retinal vascular injury during DR. Recently we also demonstrated that upregulation of 12/15 lipoxygenase (12/15-LOX) and its lipid metab Read More

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Knee surgeries for total knee replacement or Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) repair involve the use of intraoperative computer-assisted navigation techniques for guiding surgical tools during the procedure. In clinical practice, a digital map of the knee is created for navigation from images acquired preoperatively. High hard-tissue contrast makes CT the preferred imaging modality. Read More

The application of DNA-based methods for inferring ethnicity to investigate criminal cases has been well documented in recent literature. Based on self claimed ethnicity, numerous human diseases and the efficacy of therapeutic drugs have been linked to ethnic backgrounds. These racially-related diseases and drug responders included, but not limited to, cardiovascular disorders, sickle cell anemia, breast cancer, prostate c Read More

Background and objective The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is home to the world's largest producer of opioids, as well as to major drug trade routes. Over 80% of the global supply of heroin is produced in Afghanistan, and over 75% of this is trafficked through Iran and Pakistan. The increased availability and purity of inexpensive heroin in MENA appears to have led to a subsequent rise in injecting drug use. The object Read More

Background and Introduction—Foodborne illness has been identified as one of the major hindrances to the advancement of health around the world and bacterial pathogens play a major role in this impediment. Although most of the infections are self-limited, different estimates of the cost of illnesses around the world indicate costly episodes with the numbers ranging from $1,600 to $3,000. The global risk of the foodborne Read More

Background: A Canadian study recommends General Practitioners (GP) to use evidence based Clinical Guidelines (CG) when dealing with co-morbid cardiovascular diseases, in particular for the diagnosis and preliminary management of co-morbid Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) and Atrial Fibrillation (AF). Although paper-based Canadian CG exist for the management of CHF and AF, the challenge for physicians is to simultaneously appl Read More

hospital infection due surface contamination becomes very important field of study in recent years. Such contamination can provide a good environment for different microorganisms (i.e. bacteria, viruses, and fungi) to grow and transmit infectious diseases when they come into contact with human body . Recent studies show that surface contamination is accounted for 100,000 deaths in United States alone. Antibacterial Read More

Adoptive cell transfer therapy (ACT) holds a highly promising treatment for metastatic melanoma patients. ACT involves the ex vivo expansion of autologous antitumor reactive tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and their reinfusion into lymphodepleted patients, accompanied by IL-2 administration. ACT demonstrates objective clinical responsiveness in 40-50% patients, including 10-21% complete responses. However, Read More

Background: Early and rapid onset of obesity in the Qatari population, consequent to expansion primarily of abdominal adipose tissue, is closely associated with inflammation and insulin resistance. Recent interest has focused on microRNA (miRNA), both as biomarkers and mediators, of disease and therefore potentially therapeutic targets. MiRNAs are stable, non-coding species involved in the post-transcriptional regulati Read More