Objective: In Libya, no pertussis booster doses are administered to children after 18 months of age. In light of evidence of waning of vaccine-induced immunity to pertussis, this study aimed to evaluate the waning of immunity in vaccinated school-entry age children, as measured by susceptibility to infection at population level. For this purpose, IgG and IgA levels were measured as markers of recent (infection in the last 6 months) and non-recent infections (infection in the last 12 months). Material and Methods: This was a cross sectional study undertaken in Tripoli, in February 2015. Children of school-entry age (> 5 to ≤ 7 years) were recruited on convenience basis at vaccination centers. Sera were tested for antibodies to pertussis. Results: Samples from791 children (421 males and 370 females, mean age 6.50 were tested). All of the participants had received 4 doses of Whole cell pertussis containing vaccine in the first 2 years of life. The prevalence of recent and non-recent pertussis infection were 4.8% and 2.5%, respectively. The proportion of children with undetectable level of IgG was 76.1%. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed significant circulation of Bordetella pertussis among vaccinated children by school-entry age. The circulation of B. pertussis in this population may be an indirect sign of waned immunity, which is simply corroborated by the absence of detectable antibodies in 76.1% of the children. arabic 14 English 76
Suleiman Abusrewil, Abdulla Bashein(1-2019)

Background: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is one of the most common inborn errors of amino acids metabolism. It is an autosomal recessive disease that is caused by mutations in phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene. In the North Africa and Eastern Mediterranean region, E280K missense mutation and c.1055del.G frameshift mutation in PAH gene are one of the most common pathogenic mutations seen in PKU patients. Materials and Methods: In this study, we developed molecular protocols for rapid screening of the PKU patients for these two mutations. These protocols are based on hydrolysis probe real-time polymerase chain reaction technique using allele-specific probes labeled with 6-carboxyfluorescein (FAM) for wild-type (WT) and hexachloro-6-carboxyfluorescein (HEX) for mutant genotypes and Black Hole Quencher 1 as a quencher and high-resolution melting analysis using EvaGreen saturating dye. Results: There was complete accordance between the developed protocols in differentiating genotypes and they proved to be rapid, sensitive, and efficient for the detection and differentiation between WT, mutant, and heterozygous genotypes of the E280K and c.1055del.G mutations. Conclusions: These protocols allow easy molecular screening of the mutations studied among the families of affected people, especially for premarital screening. arabic 27 English 170
Abdulla Bashein(1-2017)

Fungi are a huge source of unexplored bioactive compounds. Owing to their biological activities, several fungi have shown commercial application in the health industry. Tuber aestivum Vittad. is one such edible fungi with an immense scope for practical biological applications. In the present study, the anti-angiogenic activity of petroleum ether and ethanol extracts of T. aestivum was investigated using the chick chorioallantoic membrane assay and compared to the positive controls silibinin and lenalidomide. Both the extracts showed a dose-dependent anti-angiogenic response. The extracts were also assessed for their anti-inflammatory potential by lipoxygenase-inhibition assay. The IC50 values for LOX inhibition assay, computed by the Boltzmann plot, were 368.5, 147.3 and 40.2 μg/mL, for the petroleum ether extract, ethanol extract, and the positive control ascorbic acid, respectively. The ethanol extract of T. aestivum showed superior anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory activity than the petroleum ether extract. Compositional investigation of the extracts by GC–MS revealed the presence of various bioactive compounds. The compounds were correlated to their anti-angiogenic and antiinflammatory activity based on a meticulous literature search. arabic 25 English 145
Sandesh J. Marathe, Abdulla Bashein, (1-2020)