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)

Factor V Leiden G1691A (FVL) and Factor II prothrombin G20210A (PGM) mutations are the leading causes of thrombophilia. In this study, we have investigated the prevalence of the FVL G1691A and PGM G20210A single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among Libyan deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and myocardial infarction (MI) patients. SNP genotyping was performed using high-resolution melt analysis (HRM) and DNA sequencing. Biochemical parameters conducted on 112 males and 93 females showed no significant difference in means between the control group and the deep vein thrombosis and myocardial infarction groups. For Factor V Leiden, 40 samples were genotyped. Of the 40 samples, 6 (15.0%) of them were heterozygous and no one was homozygous. As for Factor II SNP, 59 samples were genotyped and only 2 (3.3%) were heterozygous. All the heterozygous samples showed 100% concordance between the HRM-PCR and DNA sequence analysis. Our study showed, for the first time, that both the FVL and PGM mutations are present among Libyan DVT and MI patients and that the FVL mutation is significantly associated with DVT but not with MI. However, our results do not support the association of PGM G20210A mutation with DVT or MI. arabic 18 English 117
Abdulghani Msalati, Abdulla Bashein, Murad Ghrew, Khaled Sedaa, Abushawashi Ali, Ahmed Zaid, (1-2021)

Background and Aims: Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is an autosomal recessive disorder, characterized by increased intestinal absorption of iron. Excessive amount of iron accumulates in the liver, pancreas, and heart, etc., and eventually leading to organ failure due to iron toxicity and death if untreated. The most common causes of HH are the C282Y and H63D mutations in HFE gene. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of H63D and C282Y alleles among the Libyan population in Tripoli region and to compare the results with other published data. Materials and Methods: This study included 300 randomly selected unrelated Libyan male blood donors, aged between 18 and 50 years. In‑house hydrolysis probe real‑time polymerase chain reaction and high‑resolution melting analysis protocols were developed and employed as screening tools for H63D and C282Y genotyping, respectively, and direct DNA sequencing was used to confirm the results. Results: Seven subjects (2.33%) were detected as homozygous H63D mutation and 72 (24%) were detected as heterozygous, and only one subject was detected as a heterozygous C282Y mutant (0.33%) and no homozygous C282Y mutation was detected. Conclusion: In Libyans residing in Tripoli region, the allele frequency of C282Y was very rare and allele frequency of H63D was common arabic 17 English 89
Laila Mohamed Elghawi, Abdulla Bashein(7-2021)