Background: Thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) is a cytosolic enzyme that catalyses the S-methylation of 6-mercaptopurine and azathioprine. Low activity phenotypes are correlated with polymorphism in the TPMT gene. Patients with low or undetectable TMPT activity could develop severe myelosuppression when they are treated with standard doses of thiopurine drugs. Since ethnic differences in the TPMT gene polymorphism have been demonstrated worldwide, assessing it in the Libyan population is worthwhile. Methods: We investigated TPMT gene polymorphism in a total of 246 Libyan healthy adult blood donors from three different Libyan regions (Tripoli, Yefren, and Tawargha) and 50 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). We used polymerase chain reaction restriction length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and allele-specific PCR-based assays to analyse the TPMT gene for the variants* 2 c. 238 G> C,* 3A (c. 460 G> A and c. 719 A> G),* 3B (c. 460 G> A), and* 3C (c. 719 A> G). Results: Our results show that the TPMT variants associated with low enzymatic activity were detected in 3.25%(8 in 246) of adult Libyan individuals and the frequency of total mutant alleles was 1.63%. Heterozygous genotypes were TPMT* 3A in three subjects (0.61%) and TPMT* 3C in five subjects (1.02%). No TPMT* 2 and TPMT* 3B allelic variants and no homozygous or compound heterozygous mutant alleles were detected. The normal allele (wild-type) was found in 98.4% of the adult individuals studied. No mutant alleles were detected among the 50 children who had ALL. arabic 10 English 74
Hamza Ben Zeglam, Abdulla Bashein, (1-2015)

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen causing various nosocomial infections. The aim of this study was to characterize the molecular support of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii clinical isolates recovered from four hospitals in Tripoli, Libya. Bacterial isolates were identified and antibiotic susceptibility testing was per-formed using automated system. Carbapenem resistance determinants were studied phenotypically using two dif-ferent techniques: E-test; chromogenic culture media. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was used to determine the presence of bla OXA23 and blaOXA51 genes among isolates. A total of 119 isolates were characterized, overall the resistance prevalence was extremely high for aminoglycosides (79-96.6%), fluoroquinolones (94-96%), cephalosporins (96.6-100%) and carbapenemes (93.2-100%), all isolates were susceptible to colistin. In addition, 97.5% of isolates were identified as multidrug resistance (MDR). Varying degree of phenotypic detection of car-bapenemes was determined; highest levels of carbapenemes were detected using chromogenic media (76.5%) com-pared with E-test (45.4 %). The carbapenem resistance-encoding genes detected were blaOXA23 (84%) and blaOXA51 (73.1%); the highest occurrence of blaOXA23 was demonstrated in Tripoli’s Central Hospital (5/5; 100%) then in Tripoli Medical Center (44/51; 86.27%). The co-occurrence of these genes was demonstrated in (75/119; 63%) showing dissemination of carbapenemes resistance MDR A. baumannii in hospitals. This study shows that the high prevalence of OXA-23 contribute to antibiotic resistance in … arabic 14 English 113
Nada Elgrew, Abdulla Bashein(1-2016)

Despite the relative abundance of sunny weather, surprisingly, there is increasing evidence that vitamin D deficiency is extremely prevalent in females of reproductive age in Middle East countries. There is also increasing interest in the non-classical roles of vitamin in health and disease including its relation to incidence of gestational diabetes, its impact on glycaemic control in diabetes mellitus, and its association with some complications of pregnancy like preeclampsia. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency in pregnant diabetic patients in west Libya and analyse potential links to socioeconomic and cultural factors. This is a cross sectional observational study. Random plasma was collected form expected mothers attending the Antenatal Diabetes Clinic at Tripoli’s Main Maternity Hospital. Demographics and socioeconomic and cultural factors were recorded at the same time. Samples were analysed for vitamin D level and biochemical screening panel. Vitamin D level was obtained from 160 patients (mean age 35 years). Over all 95 % of the study population had vitamin D levels below normal (defined as vitamin D level of < 20 ng/mL). Results were subcategorised into severe deficiency ( 30 ng/ml, only 1.3%, 2 patients). All patients were taking daily vitamin D Supplements at a dose of 400 IU as per hospital policy. Vitamin D deficiency is extremely prevalent in pregnant diabetic patients in Libya. There is no clear association with socioeconomic risk factors like employment, type of accommodation or geographic distribution. However, most of the study population had life style characterized by minimal exposure to direct sun arabic 11 English 70
G Murad, A Bashein(1-2019)