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Microbial dysbiosis in oral cavity determines obesity status in adolescents
The prevalence of obesity is rapidly increasing among adolescents in Kuwait. The ecological and dynamic changes within the oral microbiota during this developmental stage remain elusive. This study aimed to investigate the impact of body mass index (BMI) on salivary microbiome diversity and composition in Kuwaiti adolescents by utilizing next-generation sequencing technologies. DNA was extracted from saliva samples of 62 Kuwaiti adolescents enrolled in the nationwide Kuwait Healthy Lifestyle Study, categorized as underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese based on their BMI percentiles. The 16 S metagenomic profiling was performed to identify the key oral lineages and genera associated with obesity through comprehensive analysis involving taxonomic composition, co-occurrence networks, and key metabolic profiles. Our study reveals an inverse relationship between oral bacterial diversity and obesity status in Kuwaiti adolescents. The obese and overweight groups showed comparatively low microbial taxa compared to those of normal weight. We identified three potential microbial biomarkers linked to obesity and overweight:
Prevotella melaninogenica
,
Veillonella dispar
, and
Veillonella parvula
. The abundance of
Neisseria subflava
and
Rothia mucilaginosa
in normal weight adolescents indicates their role in weight homeostasis. In- silico analysis of differentially expressed microbiota revealed increased activity of major metabolic enzymes such as glucose- 6- phosphate dehydrogenase, pyruvate oxidase, and glycogen phosphorylase, along with oxidative stress- related enzymes including superoxide reductase and glutathione peroxidase in obese and over-weight adolescents. Conversely, normal weight adolescents exhibited heightened activity of pyruvate synthase and tRNA- methyltransferase, which are linked to antioxidative pathways and balanced energy metabolism. Our study highlights taxonomic and functional shifts in the oral microbiota of Kuwaiti adolescents across varying BMI categories, signifying key microbial markers that could pave the way for future research focused on microbiome- targeted interventions in obesity management.
Journal Article
Salivary Microbiome Diversity in Kuwaiti Adolescents with Varied Body Mass Index—A Pilot Study
The potential role of the salivary microbiome in human diseases has increasingly been explored. The salivary microbiome has been characterized in several global populations, except the Arabian Gulf region. Hence, in this pilot study, we profiled the salivary microbiome of Kuwaiti adolescents with varied body mass indexes (BMI). The analyses of core microbiome composition showed Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Proteobacteria, Patescibacteria, Fusobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, and Campylobacterota as the common phylum found in the Kuwaiti adolescent population. We also illustrated a diverse microbial community among the sampled individuals grouped according to their BMI. Notably, the overweight group was found with a higher number of distinct taxa than other groups. As such, the core microbiome composition was found to be significantly different (p-value < 0.001) across different BMI groups. Overall, this pilot investigation outlined the microbial diversity and suggested that changes in salivary microbiome composition in people with obese or overweight BMI might reflect their susceptibility to oral diseases.
Journal Article
Population and Development of the Arab Gulf States
This thought-provoking study measures and critically examines the effects that an average population growth rate of 2.8% could have on the development of the Arab Gulf States. It questions the ability of Gulf governments to continue providing relatively high standards of education, health and employment under conditions of rapid population growth, an undiversified economic base, and a tribal political framework.  Within this context, population growth is identified as one important variable that hinders long-term development. The book will appeal to all those interested in the Middle East, demography, development and sociology.
Contents: Demographic Components of Gulf Populations: The non-nationals: transient migrants or adopted siblings?; The Gulf epidemiological transition; Explaining fertility, theoretically; Gulf fertility: trends, causes and expectations. Public Services and Employment in the Arab Gulf States: Public services in the Gulf states; The Gulf labour force. Towards 2025: The Alternative Scenarios: Alternative scenario projections: underlying assumptions; Towards 2025: public services provision; Towards 2025: human resources in the Gulf states; The need for population management; Bibliography; Index.
eBook
Mental Health Status of Healthcare Professionals and Students of Health Sciences Faculties in Kuwait during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health status of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and undergraduate students in the health sciences center (HSCUs). In addition, it explored the factors associated with the increased levels of mental health burden among the study population. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using two online-administered questionnaires: the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), which were distributed in parallel to HCPs and HSCUs in Kuwait. These instruments are validated assessment scales to assess mental health status: depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7). Statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS- version 25. Results: A total of 857 individuals (559 HCPs and 298 HSCUs) participated in this study. The prevalence of moderately severe depression or severe depression (PHQ-9 total score of ≥15) among respondents was 66.6%. The median (interquartile range, IQR) PHQ-9 score was significantly higher among HSCUs (20 11.5) compared to HCPs (17 8). The prevalence of severe anxiety (GAD-7 total score of ≥15) among respondents was 36.7%. There were no significant differences between the median (IQR) GAD-7 scores among the HCPs (14 7) and HSCUs (13 8). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that three variables were significantly and independently associated with severe depression among HCPs. The prevalence of severe depression was found to be greater among females compared to males. In addition, it was significantly lower among those who were aged ≥50 years, and those who reported that they were not in direct contact with COVID-19 patients. Among HSCUs, females showed greater depression than males. In contrast, those aged >29 years and who had no history of chronic disease showed lower depression compared to their counterparts in the 18–29 years age group and who had a chronic disease history. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant negative impact on the mental health of HCPs and HSCUs in Kuwait. This highlights the need for proactive efforts to support their mental health and well-being through educational campaigns and psychological support programs.
Journal Article
Burden, and trends of breast cancer along with attributable risk factors in Gulf Cooperation Council countries from 1990 to 2019 and its projections
Breast cancer (BC) is a growing global public health concern, affecting millions of women worldwide. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are no exception to this trend. Mortality rates in GCC nations are still high despite improvements in BC treatment. This article examines the changing picture of BC incidence, prevalence, and mortality in the GCC region from 1990 to 2019 and predictions up to 2030.
Using data from the Global Burden of Disease study, we analyzed BC incidence, prevalence, and mortality rates per 100,000 individuals across different age groups and countries.
The study reveals a significant rise in Age-Standardized Incidence Rates (ASIR) for breast cancer among females in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2019, with Oman experiencing the highest increase and Kuwait the highest decrease. Bahrain also saw a significant increase in male Age-standardized death rate (ASDR), despite all other countries experiencing a decrease. Also, the data demonstrated a statistically significant positive correlation between ASIR and Human Development Index (HDI), evident across all countries. Metabolic risk and tobacco use were identified as primary contributors. A ten-year BC prediction predicts a significant increase in female cases, with Saudi Arabia expected to experience the highest rise.
This study underscores the urgent need for improved BC awareness, early detection through screening programs, enhanced access to quality healthcare services, and the addressing of sociocultural barriers in the GCC countries.
Journal Article
Dysmenorrhea among high-school students and its associated factors in Kuwait
Background
Although dysmenorrhea is not a life-threatening condition, it can cause a substantial burden on individuals and communities. There is no data on the prevalence of dysmenorrhea in Kuwait. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of dysmenorrhea among female public high-school students in Kuwait and investigate factors associated with dysmenorrhea.
Methods
A cross-sectional study using multistage cluster sampling with probability proportional to size method was conducted on 763 twelfth grade female public high-school students (aged 16–21 years). We used face-to-face interview with a structured questionnaire to collect data on dysmenorrhea and presumed risk factors. Weight and height of the students were measured using appropriate weight and height scales in a standardized manner. The association between dysmenorrhea and potential risk factors was assessed using multiple logistic regression.
Results
The one-year prevalence of dysmenorrhea was found to be 85.6% (95%CI: 83.1–88.1%). Of the participants with dysmenorrhea, 26% visited a public or a private clinic for their pain and 4.1% were hospitalized for their menstrual pain. Furthermore, 58.2% of students with dysmenorrhea missed at least one school day and 13.9% missed at least one exam. Age of menarche (
p
-value = 0.005), regularity and flow of the menstrual period (p-value = 0.025, p-value = 0.009; respectively), and drinking coffee (p-value = 0.004) were significantly associated with dysmenorrhea in multivariable analysis.
Conclusion
Dysmenorrhea seems to be highly prevalent among female high-school students in Kuwait, resembling that of high-income countries. Because of the scale of the problem, utilizing school nurses to reassure and manage students with primary dysmenorrhea and referring suspected cases of secondary dysmenorrhea is recommended.
Journal Article
Unraveling a fine-scale high genetic heterogeneity and recent continental connections of an Arabian Peninsula population
Recent studies have showed the diverse genetic architecture of the highly consanguineous populations inhabiting the Arabian Peninsula. Consanguinity coupled with heterogeneity is complex and makes it difficult to understand the bases of population-specific genetic diseases in the region. Therefore, comprehensive genetic characterization of the populations at the finest scale is warranted. Here, we revisit the genetic structure of the Kuwait population by analyzing genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms data from 583 Kuwaiti individuals sorted into three subgroups. We envisage a diverse demographic genetic history among the three subgroups based on drift and allelic sharing with modern and ancient individuals. Furthermore, our comprehensive haplotype-based analyses disclose a high genetic heterogeneity among the Kuwaiti populations. We infer the major sources of ancestry within the newly defined groups; one with an obvious predominance of sub-Saharan/Western Africa mostly comprising Kuwait-B individuals, and other with West Eurasia including Kuwait-P and Kuwait-S individuals. Overall, our results recapitulate the historical population movements and reaffirm the genetic imprints of the legacy of continental trading in the region. Such deciphering of fine-scale population structure and their regional genetic heterogeneity would provide clues to the uncharted areas of disease-gene discovery and related associations in populations inhabiting the Arabian Peninsula.
Journal Article
Handling Complex Missing Data Using Random Forest Approach for an Air Quality Monitoring Dataset: A Case Study of Kuwait Environmental Data (2012 to 2018)
In environmental research, missing data are often a challenge for statistical modeling. This paper addressed some advanced techniques to deal with missing values in a data set measuring air quality using a multiple imputation (MI) approach. MCAR, MAR, and NMAR missing data techniques are applied to the data set. Five missing data levels are considered: 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%. The imputation method used in this paper is an iterative imputation method, missForest, which is related to the random forest approach. Air quality data sets were gathered from five monitoring stations in Kuwait, aggregated to a daily basis. Logarithm transformation was carried out for all pollutant data, in order to normalize their distributions and to minimize skewness. We found high levels of missing values for NO2 (18.4%), CO (18.5%), PM10 (57.4%), SO2 (19.0%), and O3 (18.2%) data. Climatological data (i.e., air temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, and wind speed) were used as control variables for better estimation. The results show that the MAR technique had the lowest RMSE and MAE. We conclude that MI using the missForest approach has a high level of accuracy in estimating missing values. MissForest had the lowest imputation error (RMSE and MAE) among the other imputation methods and, thus, can be considered to be appropriate for analyzing air quality data.
Journal Article
Anthropometric cut-points for discriminating diabetes and the metabolic syndrome among Arabs and Asians: the Kuwait Diabetes Epidemiology Program
This study aimed to determine anthropometric cut-points for screening diabetes and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Arab and South Asian ethnic groups in Kuwait and to compare the prevalence of the MetS based on the ethnic-specific waist circumference (WC) cut-point and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute WC criteria. The national population-based survey data set of diabetes and obesity in Kuwait adults aged 18–60 years was analysed. Age-adjusted logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were conducted to evaluate for 3589 individuals the utility of WC, waist:height ratio (WHtR) and BMI to discriminate both diabetes and ≥3 CVD risk factors. Areas under the ROC curve were similar for WC, WHtR and BMI. In Arab men, WC, WHtR and BMI cut-offs for diabetes were 106 cm, 0·55 and 28 kg/m2 and for ≥3 CVD risk factors, 97 cm, 0·55 and 28 kg/m2, respectively. In Arab women, cut-offs for diabetes were 107 cm, 0·65 and 33 kg/m2 and for ≥3 CVD risk factors, 93 cm, 0·60 and 30 kg/m2, respectively. WC cut-offs were higher for South Asian women than men. IDF-based WC cut-offs corresponded to a higher prevalence of the MetS across sex and ethnic groups, compared with Kuwait-specific cut-offs. Any of the assessed anthropometric indices can be used in screening of diabetes and ≥3 CVD risk factors in Kuwaiti Arab and Asian populations. ROC values were similar. The WC threshold for screening the MetS in Kuwaiti Arabs and South Asians is higher for women.
Journal Article