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Biomedical subjects

K Behbehani

Publications and source records attributed to K Behbehani.

72 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Malaria in non-endemic Kuwait: resident status of patients with imported infections and the need for prophylaxis.

Kuwait is non-endemic for malaria but, with a large expatriate population, the number of imported infections has escalated from 87 in 1980 to 534 in 1984, an increase of over 613%. During a period of 1 year at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, where most of the cases were diagnosed each year, 16.7% of blood samples sent for microscopy were positive for malaria; 95.47% of these patients were hospitalized for an average of 4 days. In a 2-year period, only three (0.52%) Kuwaiti nationals imported the infection out of a total of 577 patients with malaria. About equal numbers of expatriate 'residents' and 'new arrivals' were responsible for the remainder, but over 80% of patients with Plasmodium falciparum were 'residents'. The proportion of residents among the patients is increasing and will be more pronounced with the downturn in the economy. To curtail the tide of imported malaria, the current data suggests the viability of an active campaign to offer chemoprophylaxis to travellers at risk who are essentially 'semi-immune visitors of a non-malarious area visiting a malarious area'. The benefits of simple prophylactic measures need to be emphasized. The disinfection of aircraft arriving from endemic zones should be mandatory.

Antimalarials↗
PubMed1980

Epidemiology of toxoplasmosis in Kuwait. I. Detection of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii and percentage distribution among the inhabitants.

Of 246 people living in Kuwait and selected at random, 95.5% gave a positive reaction to the indirect haemagglutination test for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii, of whom approximately 34% had medium to high titres (1:128 to 1:4096). There was no obvious difference between the proportion of females and males who had been infected. Approximately double the proportion of people in the age groups 20 to 31 and 32 to 43 years had medium to high titres compared with those in other age groups. Even between the former two groups, the percentage with the highest titres (1:512 to 1:4096) declined with age; none was found in the oldest group. When analysed in terms of nationalities, the pattern of results obtained with a small group of Bedouins, where most had medium to high titres, was the opposite of that found with urban Kuwaitis and people of other nationalities. It is suggested that the Bedouins may be particularly prone to the infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

The role of native domestic animals in the dissemination of Echinococcus infection among dogs in the state of Kuwait.

Infection with hydatid cysts of domestic animals slaughtered by private individuals and at the Government Central Slaughterhouse is recorded. Both fertile and non-fertile cysts were seen in the infected animals. The home slaughtered sheep seems to play an important role in the dissemination of the parasite and the life cycle of Echinococcus granulosus in the State of Kuwait is assumed to be sheep--dog--sheep.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

The epidemiology of Echinococcus infection in Kuwait.

Infection of dogs with E. granulosus is recorded for the first time in the State of Kuwait and observations on 204 dogs from different suburbs showed an infection rate of 23.039%. Cattle, sheep, goats and camels killed for public consumption in the period 6th April to 6th May, 1975, in a slaughter house were inspected and the rate of infection with E. granulosus cysts was recorded. The possible methods of transmission from animals and dogs to man is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A controller for automatic regulation of induced paralysis during surgery.

This paper presents a strategy for automatic control of induced paralysis using vecuronium bromide during surgery. The controller is self-tuning and adapts to inter-patient and intra-patient response variations while optimizing the output variance and infusion rate. In particular, the controller is capable of accommodating the variations of pure time delays in patient response. The performance of the controller is evaluated using an experimentally derived pharmacokinetic and nonlinear pharmacodynamic model of patient response. The results indicate that the controller provides robust regulation of the paralysis level with no output offset.

Algorithms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Insulin binding substances, autoimmunity and type I diabetes in Kuwaiti patients and their kindred.

Insulin autoantibodies (IAAs) are associated with type I diabetes mellitus (DM) and have been suggested as predictive markers of the disease. Using an ELISA assay, we have studied the prevalence of binding to human insulin in sera from an Arab type I DM population and compared it with the prevalence in the family members (FMs) of the probands, in type II DM patients from the same population, and in Arab control subjects. Significant levels of binding occurred in 11/16 (69%) of type I DM patients and in 21/34 (62%) of their FMs, but in only 5/31 (16%) of type II DM patients and in 1/25 (4%) of control subjects. Within families, there was homogeneity with regard to the level of insulin binding and the mean family levels correlated with those of the proband (r = 0.68, df = 7, p = 0.05). HLA-DR3 or -DR4 antigens occurred in 55/63 (87%) of type I DM patients and in 95/118 (81%) of their FMs. This was significantly higher (p less than 0.001) than in either type II DM patients (39/75, 52%) or in control subjects (34/93, 37%). ICAs were present in significantly more (25/43, 58%) of type I DM patients than their FMs (3/82, 3%) (p less than 0.001). They did not occur in either type II DM patients or in the control group. In conclusion, insulin binding occurred in sera from both type I diabetic patients and their kindred, and hence did not appear to be specifically associated with the development of clinical diabetes.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A longitudinal ultrastructural study of pancreatic cellular damage in murine streptozotocin diabetes.

Using islets obtained by collagenase digestion, we have carried out a longitudinal study of the ultrastructure of endocrine cells of the islets of Langerhans from C57BL/6 mice, during the development of diabetes induced by the multiple low-dose streptozotocin (mld STZ) technique, with and without co-treatment with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). Diabetes, as assessed by glycemia, occurred on different days in the various treatment groups following the initial STZ injection. It was observed on day 7 in 4/7 and 3/7 animals treated with mld STZ and with CFA plus mld STZ respectively, on day 14 in 3/6 animals treated with CFA plus sub mld STZ and on day 21 in 2/5 animals treated with sub mld STZ. Breakages in the basement membrane of the B-cell, and severe vacuolation, occurred in all STZ treated animals, despite normoglycemia in animals in the sub-mld group. Mononuclear cells (macrophages acutely and lymphocytes chronically) were observed in islets from animals with mld STZ irrespective of treatment with CFA, but were found adjacent to acinar cells only in those animals treated with CFA. Damage to acinar cells was observed exclusively in this group. In sub mld STZ treated animals, mononuclear cells were found only in those animals treated with CFA. These findings are discussed with reference to the etiopathology of the disease.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of three treatment regimens with liposomal amphotericin B (AmBisome) for visceral leishmaniasis in India: a randomized dose-finding study.

The efficacy and safety of 3 regimens of liposomal amphotericin B (AmBisome) in the treatment of Indian visceral leishmaniasis were compared in a prospective open randomized trial. Thirty parasitologically confirmed patients were randomly divided into 3 equal treatment groups; group 1 received AmBisome 2mg/kg on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10 (total dose 14 mg/kg); group 2 received AmBisome 2 mg/kg on days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10 (total dose 10 mg/kg); group 3 received the same dosage on 1, 5 and 10 (total dose 6 mg/kg). Clinical cure resulted in all patients by day 24. Haemoglobin, white blood cell count, body weight and serum albumin level improved on day 24 and became normal by day 180. No patient relapsed within 12 months of follow-up. Side effects were minimal. One patient in group 2 died after 2 months from an unrelated disease. Liposomal amphotericin B is a promising new drug which is highly efficacious in the treatment of Indian kala-azar and produces minimal toxicity.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Histocompatibility antigens (A, B, C, and DR) in Arabs with rheumatoid arthritis.

Eighty-five Arab patients in Kuwait with classical and definite rheumatoid arthritis were typed to examine the frequency of HLA-A, B, C, and DR antigens. The results showed a significant increase in the frequency of HLA-A10, B8, B21, and DR3 antigens when compared to an age- and sex-matched control population. HLA-DR3 was present in 34 per cent of the patients compared with 2 per cent of the controls (p less than 0.001). The association of RA in the Arab population with HLA-DR3 rather than HLA-DR4 or HLA-DR1 as reported in other ethnic groups emphasizes further the complexity of the genetics of RA.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cytologic diagnosis of bancroftian filariasis in a nonendemic area.

Parasitic infections are common in the developing countries, but the cytologic diagnosis of such infections is infrequent or rare. This paper presents four cases of filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti diagnosed by cytologic examination and discusses some unusual observations. The finding of microfilariae in pleural fluid in the absence of the classic symptoms and signs of tropical pulmonary eosinophilia is highlighted. In two patients, nocturnal microfilaremia could not be demonstrated despite Nuclepore filtration, thus suggesting the possible merits of cytology in the primary diagnosis of a filarial infection. Even the diethylcarbamazine provocative test failed to elicit a peripheral microfilaremia in one patient, further emphasizing the importance of cytology as a diagnostic method in amicrofilaremic infections. Attention is drawn to the need for a high index of suspicion on the part of the cytologist in the identification of parasitic organisms in material from high-risk groups to achieve an early diagnosis of such infections and the prompt institution of appropriate chemotherapy. This may obviate the more serious pathologic changes of advanced disease, especially the disfigurement of chronic and late filariasis.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An artificial neural network-based controller for the control of induced paralysis using vecuronium bromide.

This study presents an artificial neural network-based controller for regulating the level of induced paralysis during surgery using vecuronium bromide. The controller uses the myogram of a rapid muscle contractions (called twitch) to generate the appropriate infusion rate. The controller is self-adjusting and can accommodate inter- and intrapatient drug response variations. It also withstands changes in the pure time delay and nonlinear pharmacokinetic parameters of the response. Another feature of the controller is that it does not depend on a priori knowledge of the patient response model. Computer simulations using pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic models showed negligible steady-state error and maximum percent undershoot averaged to 6.24%. The average infusion rate for 90% paralysis was 1.22 (microg x kg(-1) x min[-1]).

Computer Simulation↗