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Charu Sharma,1 Abubaker Suliman,2 Sania Mazin AL Hamad,3 Javed Yasin,1 Mohamed Abuzakouk,4 Juma AlKaabi,1 Elhadi Husein Aburawi3 1Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, 15551, United Arab Emirates; 2Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, 15551, United Arab Emirates; 3Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, 15551, United Arab Emirates; 4Department of Immunology & Allergy, Cleveland Clinic, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesCorrespondence: Elhadi Husein Aburawi, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, 15551, United Arab Emirates, Email e.aburawi@uaeu.ac.aeObjective: The United Arab Emirates (UAE), with its characteristic local population, geography, and history, presents several risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in obese individuals. Obesity and its associated complications, including diabetes, atherogenic dyslipidemia, and CVDs leading to significant health risks. In the present study, “Youths” defined as young people between 18 and 22 years. We assessed dyslipidemia, inflammation, and oxidative stress biomarker levels and their association with endothelial dysfunction (ED) in both overweight/obese and normal weight youths of UAE.Methods: There were 160 youths with overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) patients and healthy age- and sex-matched normal weight (BMI ≤ 24.9 kg/m2) as controls participated in this study. The anthropometric data and blood samples were collected to assess the biomarkers for dyslipidemia, inflammation, oxidative stress, ED from all the youths.Results: The overall mean age and male-to-female ratio were 20± 1.5years and 1.0:1.2, respectively. There was statistically significant difference in HDL-C (p< 0.001), triglycerides (TG) (p< 0.001), ApoA (p=0.002), ApoB/ApoA ratio (p=0.009) between the overweight/obese and normal weight youths. Among, inflammatory markers: hs-CRP, IL-6, TNF-α also showed significant p< 0.001 and oxidative stress markers: DNA/RNA Damage, catalase and nitric oxide (NO) showed significant p< 0.001 between groups. Spearman correlation of ED markers with lipid profile markers showed Vitamin C levels positively correlated with HDL-C (p< 0.001) and negatively correlated with glucose (p< 0.001). ICAM-1showed significant negative correlation with HDL-C (p< 0.01) and ApoA (p< 0.001) but positive correlation with TG (p< 0.01) and HbA1c (p< 0.001) among groups. Spearman correlation of ED markers with inflammatory/oxidative stress biomarkers showed Vitamin C levels negatively correlated with ferritin (p < 0.001), NO (p < 0.001), GGT (p < 0.001), and ALT (p < 0.001) levels. The ICAM-1showed significant positive correlation with hs-CRP (p < 0.01), IL-6 (p < 0.001), TNF-α (p < 0.01), GGT (p < 0.05), and ALT (p < 0.05) in both groups.Conclusion: This study revealed a strong link between the biomarkers of dyslipidemia, inflammation, and oxidative stress with ED in overweight/obese patients. This study might be used to predict future cardiovascular events in this population.Keywords: dyslipidemia, inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, obesity, youth

Charu Sharma,1 Abubaker Suliman,2 Sania Mazin AL Hamad,3 Javed Yasin,1 Mohamed Abuzakouk,4 Juma AlKaabi,1 Elhadi Husein Aburawi3 1Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, 15551, United Arab Emirates; 2Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, 15551, United Arab Emirates; 3Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, 15551, United Arab Emirates; 4Department of Immunology & Allergy, Cleveland Clinic, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesCorrespondence: Elhadi Husein Aburawi, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, 15551, United Arab Emirates, Email e.aburawi@uaeu.ac.ae

Objectives: Few studies have investigated pharyngeal colonisation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study aims to identify the pharyngeal organisms present in a cohort of medical students with and without symptomatic pharyngitis., Methods: This study was conducted between September 2016 and June 2018 at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al-Ain. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from preclinical and clinical medical students attending the college during the study period. The specimens were tested for 16 viral and nine bacterial pathogens using a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay., Results: A total of 352 nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 287 students; of these, 22 (7.7%) had pharyngitis symptoms. Overall, the most common isolates were human rhinovirus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae , with no significant differences in terms of gender, year of study or stage of study. The prevalence of S. pyogenes in asymptomatic and symptomatic students was 1.1% and 0%, respectively. A Centor score of ≥2 was not associated with S. pyogenes -positive samples. Six pathogens were isolated from symptomatic students including H. influenzae . Fusobacterium necrophorum was not detected in any of the samples., Conclusion: The diagnosis and management of pharyngitis should be tailored to common pathogens in the region. This study found that S. pyogenes and F. necrophorum were not detected among students with symptoms of pharyngitis; moreover, Centor scores of ≥2 were not associated with the presence of S. pyogenes . This cut-off score therefore should not be employed as an empirical measure to initiate penicillin therapy in this population., Competing Interests: CONFLICT OF INTEREST The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© Copyright 2020, Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal, All Rights Reserved.)

Objectives: Autoimmune diseases are known to occur in people with Down's syndrome (DS), especially celiac disease, type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), and hypothyroidism. Since there are common genetic risk factors involved in the occurrence of these autoimmune disorders, the risks would differ in different populations. We sought to determine the prevalence of type 1 DM, celiac disease, and hypothyroidism in Emirati patients with DS in Abu Dhabi, UAE., Methods: Ninety-two patients with DS were investigated for the presence of anti-thyroid antibodies, antithyroglobulin, and anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies for hypothyroidism, anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies for type 1 DM, and anti-tissue transglutaminase immunoglobulin A antibodies for celiac disease., Results: Karyotyping was performed on 89 patients. Eighty-seven had non-disjunction of chromosome 21 (97.8%), one was a mosaic, and one had translocation. Of the patients studied, 19.6% had hypothyroidism, 4.3% had type 1 DM, and 1.1% had celiac disease. Out of the 92 patients studied, 66 (71.7%) did not have any autoimmune disease, 25 (27.2%) had one autoimmune disease, and one (1.1%) had two autoimmune diseases., Conclusions: Celiac disease was the least prevalent autoimmune disease in patients with DS patients, while type 1 DM and hypothyroidism were both significantly associated with DS.

This study reports on the inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) detected by our national newborn screening between 2011 and 2014. One hundred fourteen patients (55 UAE citizens and 59 residents) were diagnosed during this period. The program was most comprehensive (tested 29 IEM) and universally applied in 2013, giving an incidence of 1 in 1,787 citizens. This relatively high prevalence resulted from the frequent consanguineous marriages (81.5%) among affected families. The following eight disorders accounted for 80% of the entities: biotinidase deficiency (14 of 55), phenylketonuria (11 of 55), 3-methylcrotonyl glycinuria (9 of 55), medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (4 of 55), argininosuccinic aciduria, glutaric aciduria type 1, glutaric aciduria type 2, and methylmalonyl-CoA mutase deficiency (2 of 55 each). Mutation analysis was performed in 48 (87%) of the 55 patients, and 33 distinct mutations were identified. Twenty-nine (88%) mutations were clinically significant and, thus, could be included in our premarital screening. Most mutations were homozygous, except for the biotinidase deficiency. The BTD mutations c.1207T>G (found in citizens) and c.424C>A (found in Somalians) were associated with undetectable biotinidase activity. Thus, the high prevalence of IEM in our region is amenable to newborn and premarital screening, which is expected to halt most of these diseases.