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Objectives: Despite the recent findings of the rising incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Arab countries, there are limited data on the characteristics of IBD patients and the disease course in the Arab world. This systematic review aimed to investigate the incidence and epidemiology of IBD in the Arab world. Material and Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review that utilized a comprehensive search of PubMed, Cochrane Central, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, and Web of Science from their inception till August 2020. We included cross-sectional, prospective, and retrospective studies that examined the prevalence and/or epidemiological characteristics of IBD in Arab countries. Results: A total of 16 studies that examined IBD in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Lebanon, and Oman were included. Generally, the included studies covered the period from the early 1990s to the late 2010s. A total of 1,627 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and 1,588 Crohn’s disease (CD) patients were included in this systematic review. The mean age at diagnosis ranged from 24.13 to 43.6 years in adult cases and from 4.5 to 16 years in pediatric cases. In most of the included studies, the majority of patients were male. The quantitative analysis revealed a pooled incidence rate of 2.33 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2–3.4) per 100,000 persons per year for UC in the Arab world. Likewise, the pooled incidence rate for CD in the Arab world was 1.46 (95% CI 1.03–1.89) per 100,000 persons per year. Conclusion: There is a growing incidence of IBD in the Arab world, while IBD patients from Arab countries may present with some different characteristics, compared to their counterparts in Europe.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype (G) knowledge is essential for determining type, duration and rate of response to antiviral therapy, possible route of HCV transmission, and future vaccine development. Our aim was to study HCV genotypes and to provide precise data on genotype distribution in both genders and different age groups amongst Saudi patients. DESIGN AND SETTING: Genotype data from molecular laboratories at four different tertiary care hospitals in Riyadh from January 2006 until December 2010 were collected and analyzed. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Consecutive data on genotype, sex and age was collected from 1013 Saudi patients. Genotyping was done by selective hybridization of amplicons to HCV genotype-specific oligonucleotides. RESULTS: We found G1 in 262 patients (25.9%), G2 in 44 (4.4 %), G3 in 29 (2.9 %), G4 in 608 (60%), and 3 patients (0.3%) each of G5 and G6. In addition, 64 (6.3%) patients had mixed genotypes, mostly G4 and G1. On subtyping in 191 G1 patients, 67 (35.1%) were G1a, and 124 (64.9 %) G1b. Age distribution showed that 18 (1.7%) were 0–20 years, 173 (17.1 %) 21–40 years, 521 (51.4%) 41–60 years and 301(29.7%) >60 years. There was no significant difference in frequency of G1, G3 and G4 among the two genders. CONCLUSION: G1 and G4 are the predominant genotypes in Saudi patients infected with HCV (85.9%), with a similar distribution among the two sexes and no significant changes in genotype distribution over the past decade.