Dunia Jawdat

• PhD
• Managing Director at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences

The HLA‐B*53:69 allele differs from HLA‐B*53:01:01:01 by two nucleotide changes in exon 3.

Today cord blood (CB) is a valuable source of hematopoietic stem cells to treat many hematological disorders. One of the limitations of CB utilization is the reduced number of nucleated cells including stem cells. Therefore, CB banks around the world have developed strategies in an attempt to improve donor selection and the quality of the CB invent...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that is the result of the body's own immune cells being auto-reactive to the myelin regions of the body as if these regions were foreign antigens. This demyelination process is damaging to the electrical conductivity of neurons. The current medicines are only capable of fighti...

Background Disease severity among patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 varies remarkably. Preliminary studies reported that the ABO blood group system confers differential viral susceptibility and disease severity caused by SARS-CoV-2. Thus, differences in ABO blood group phenotypes may partly explain the observed heterogeneity in COVID-19 severity pa...

Background Natural killer (NK) cells play an essential role against viruses. NK cells express killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) which regulate their activity and function. The polymorphisms in KIR haplotypes confer differential viral susceptibility and disease severity caused by infections. We investigated the association between KIR...

Healthcare settings at present are driven by quality initiatives aiming to improve services and patient care. Haematopoietic Stem Cells Transplantation (HSCT) is an evolving field influenced by advancement in technology and research, which is reflected in its complex modality and sophisticated procedures. Due to the necessary collaboration between...

Background Finding HLA matched donors for patients in need of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), stands a better chance in their own ethnic group. This information led many nations to establish unrelated stem cell donor registries. We started our Saudi Stem Cell Donor registry (SSCDR) in 2011. The calculated donor pool size was nearly...

Background: A medical identification tag (MIT) can provide vital information about a person’s existing medical conditions during the emergency situations. In this study, we aimed to explore the Saudi population’s awareness of MITs and their uses as well as factors affecting their knowledge of them. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in...

Acute lymphocytic leukemia is the most common leukemia in children. Many studies suggest the existence of two subsequent hits in order for the disease to occur. TEL-AML1 (ETV6-RUNX1) is considered an initial genetic hit that occurs prenatally and generates a pre-leukemia clone. In cord blood (CB) stem cell transplantation, donor cell leukemia (DCL)...

Objectives: In this study, we evaluated the inflammatory response in patients with severe acute respiratory infection due to the Middle East respiratory syndrome and non-Middle East respiratory syndrome and assessed the presence of distinct inflammatory subphenotypes using latent class analysis. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: A tertia...

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele and haplotype frequency distribution varies widely between different ethnicities and geographical areas. Matching for HLA alleles is essential for successful related and unrelated stem cell transplantation. Among the Saudi population, data on HLA alleles and haplotypes are limited. A cross-sectional study was pe...

The current COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has impacted many facets of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in both developed and developing countries. Realizing the challenges as a result of this pandemic affecting the daily practice of the HCT centers, and the recognition of the variability in practice worldwide, the Worldwide Netwo...

HLA‐DPB1*10:01:05 differs from HLA‐DPB1*10:01:01:01 by a single synonmous nucleotide substitution in exon 2, 38G>A.

HLA‐C*06:284 differs from HLA‐C*06:02:01:02 by two single nucleotide substitutions in codon 24 (Ser > Thr).

HLA‐DPB1*14:01:11differs from HLA‐DPB1*14:01:01:01 by a single synonymous nucleotide substitution in codon 52.

HLA‐B*50:66 differs from HLA‐B*50:01:01:01 by a single nucleotide substitution (C>A) in codon 153. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

HLA‐A*68:227 differs from HLA‐A*68:84 by two single nucleotide substitutions in codon 10 and 90. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

HLA‐DRB1*13:290 differs from HLA‐DRB1*13:02:01:01 by a single nucleotide substitution in codon 86 (Gly > Ala). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

HLA‐B*07:387 differs from HLA‐B*07:05:01:01 by a single nucleotide substitution in codon 91 (Glycine to Tryptophan). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

HLA‐DRB3*03:39 differs from HLA‐DRB3*03:01:01 by a single nucleotide substitution in codon 22 (Glutamic acid to Lysine). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

A catalog of common, intermediate and well‐documented (CIWD) HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐C, ‐DRB1, ‐DRB3, ‐DRB4, ‐DRB5, ‐DQB1 and –DPB1 alleles has been compiled from over 8 million individuals using data from 20 unrelated hematopoietic stem cell volunteer donor registries. Individuals are divided into seven geographic/ancestral/ethnic groups and data are summariz...

The objective of this study was to evaluate leptin, ghrelin, and leptin/ghrelin ratio in critically ill patients and association of leptin/ghrelin ratio with outcomes. This is a sub-study of the PermiT trial (ISRCTN68144998). A subset of 72 patients who were expected to stay >14 days in the Intensive care unit were enrolled. Blood samples were coll...

Purpose: This study examined the effect of permissive underfeeding compared to target feeding and intensive insulin therapy (IIT) compared to conventional insulin therapy (CIT) on the inflammatory mediators monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1), and tissue factor (TF) in critically ill pati...

We analyzed HLA allele and haplotype frequencies from donors from the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia. A cross‐sectional study was performed on 2405 bone marrow donors from the Eastern region. HLA typing was carried out by sequencing. The most common HLA allele groups were HLA‐A*02:01:01G (11.08%), A*01:01:01G (10.40%), HLA‐B*52:01:01G (8.79%), B*18...

Placental mesenchymal stem cells from maternal decidua basalis tissue (DBMSCs) are promising cells for tissue repair because of their multilineage differentiation and ability to protect endothelial cells from injury. Here, we examined DBMSC interaction with macrophages and whether this interaction could modulate the characteristics and functions of...

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the clinical and nutritional correlates of high free fatty acids (FFAs) level in critically ill patients and the association with outcomes, and to study the effect of short-term caloric restriction (permissive underfeeding) on FFAs level during critical illness. Patients/Method: In this pre-...

Background Mesenchymal stem cells derived from the chorionic villi of human placentae (pMSCs) produce a unique array of mediators that regulate the essential cellular functions of their target cells. These properties make pMSCs attractive candidates for cell-based therapy. Here, we examined the effects of culturing human natural killer (NK) cells w...

Background During critical illness in humans, the effects of caloric restriction on the inflammatory response are not well understood. The aim of this study is to examine the associations of caloric restriction, inflammatory response profiles and outcomes in critically ill patients. Methods This is a sub-study of the PermiT trial (Permissive Under...

Serial measurements for different cytokines in patients randomized to permissive underfeeding and standard feeding groups. The differences between groups, with time and between groups with time (group*time) were tested by repeated measures mixed linear models. Box plots are displayed with medians and quartiles 1 and 3. The error bars refer to10th a...

Flow diagram for patients enrolled in the study. (DOCX)

Retained principal components accounting for 79% of the observed variance in the 29 cytokines measured at day 1. (DOCX)

Loading coefficients of the 29 cytokines on the retained six principal components. (DOCX)

Data set. Excel sheet with data related to the baseline characteristic Table 1, nutritional data Table 2, outcome data Table 3 and data related to the Fig 1. (XLSX)

The effect of short-term caloric restriction on gene expression in critically ill patients has not been studied. In this sub-study of the PermiT trial (Permissive Underfeeding or Standard Enteral Feeding in Critically Ill Adults Trial- ISRCTN68144998), we examined gene expression patterns in peripheral white blood cells (buffy coat) associated with...

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the patterns of oxidative stress in critically ill patients and the association with caloric intake and outcomes. Methods: In this pre-planned sub-study of the PermiT (Permissive Underfeeding versus Target Enteral Feeding in Adult Critically Ill Patients Trial- ISRCTN68144998), we included pat...

Background In the last decade, cord blood (CB) has proven to be a valuable source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation to treat many hematological disorders. Since then, many CB banks have been established worldwide. Our aim was to estimate the level of public awareness of CB banking in Saudi Arabia. Study Design and Methods A self-admi...

Table 1: subjective knowledge analysis by gender. Table 2: objective knowledge about cord blood banking by gender. Table 3: objective knowledge about cord blood banking by gender.

The ABO and rhesus (Rh) blood group antigens are the most frequently studied genetic markers in a large group of people. Blood type frequencies vary in different racial/ethnic groups. Our objective was to investigate the distribution of the ABO and rhesus (Rh) blood groups by molecular typing method in a population of Saudi stem cell donors. Our da...

Aim Recombinant points are frequent in the human genome, where parts of homologous chromosomes are exchanged resulting in recombinant chromosomes. In the literature, several recombinant points have been reported in the HLA region. One of the previously reported common haplotype is HLA-A∗02, C∗06, B∗50, DRB1∗07, DQB1∗02¹. Saudi families are known to...

CCR5 is a chemokine receptor that also was found to be used by HIV as a co-receptor for entering target cells. A 32 bp deletion was described in certain people that rendered CCR5 non-functional. The mutant allele CCR5-Δ32 has been shown to prevent HIV infection. In addition, stem cell transplantation with the CCR5-Δ32 homozygous genotype can lead t...

Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes of the innate immune system able to kill different targets such as cancer cells and virally infected cells without prior activation making then attractive candidates for cancer immunotherapy. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) has become a source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation but as we gain a bett...

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an alternative source of hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells to treat many malignant and nonmalignant disorders. This pioneering finding started with several in vitro studies that led to the first hematopoietic cell transplantation in which UCB was used instead of bone marrow. Since then the idea to preserve UCB fo...

Organ transplantation is recognized worldwide as an effective treatment for organ failure. However, due to the increase in the number of patients requiring a transplant, a shortage of suitable organs for transplantation has become a global problem. Human organ trade is an illegal practice of buying or selling organs and is universally sentenced. Th...

Background: Cord blood (CB) stem cells have been used worldwide in transplant medicine to treat various diseases. The efficacy of stem cells in umbilical CB (UCB) can be predicted by the number of total nucleated cells (TNCs). To optimize the clinical use of stem cells in our population, this study addresses several variables affecting the TNC cou...

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapies for the treatment of diseases associated with inflammation and oxidative stress employ primarily bone marrow MSCs (BMMSCs) and other MSC types such as MSC from the chorionic villi of human term placentae (pMSCs). These MSCs are not derived from microenvironments associated with inflammation and oxidative stress...

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapies for the treatment of diseases associated with inflammation and oxidative stress employ primarily bone marrow MSCs (BMMSCs) and other MSC types such as MSC from the chorionic villi of human term placentae (pMSCs). These MSCs are not derived from microenvironments associated with inflammation and oxidative stress...

Three new HLA-C alleles were identified by sequence-based typing method (SBT) in donors for the Saudi Bone Marrow Donor Registry (SBMDR). HLA-C*14:02:13 differs from HLA-C*14:02:01 by a silent G to A substitution at nucleotide position 400 in exon 2, where lysine at position 66 remains unchanged. HLA-C*15:72 differs from HLA-C*15:22 by a nonsynonym...

Abstract Translation of stem cell research from bench to bedside opens up exciting new therapeutic options for patients. Although stem cell research has progressed rapidly, its clinical applications have not kept pace. We report on the establishment of a stem cell research and regenerative medicine program at King Abdullah International Medical Res...

Sensitized patients remain a challenge for successful transplant. Virtual crossmatch is used to determine the presence or absence of donor-specific antibodies. A 60-year-old woman with a negative screening for panel-reactive antibodies (PRA) received an A*11, A*68 type kidney with a negative anti-human globulin/complement-dependent cytotoxicity (AH...

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells derived from the chorionic villi of human term placenta (pMSCs) have drawn considerable interest because of their multipotent differentiation potential and their immunomodulatory capacity. These properties are the foundation for their clinical application in the fields of stem cell transplantation and regenerativ...

Three new HLA-C alleles were identified by sequence-based typing method (SBT) in 1100 participants in the Saudi Bone Marrow Donor Registry (SBMDR). HLA-C ∗ 14:02:13 differs from HLA-C ∗ 14:02:01G by a silent G to A substitution at nucleotide position 400 in exon 2, where lysine at position 66 remains unchanged. HLA-C ∗ 15:72 differs from HLA-C ∗ 15...

We describe here 3 novel alleles HLA-DQB1 ∗ 05:48, HLA-DQB1 ∗ 06:126, and HLA- HLA-DQB1 ∗ 06:123. These were identified by sequence-based typing in 3 participants in the Saudi Stem Cell Registry. HLA-DQB1 ∗ 05:48 differs from HLA-DQB1 ∗ 05:01:01G by a non-synonymous T to C substitution at nucleotide position 1693 in exon 2, resulting in an amino ac...

In this report, we present two novel HLA-A alleles: HLA-A ∗ 02:433 and HLA-A ∗ 02:434. These alleles were identified by sequence-based typing method (SBT), in two donors for the Saudi Bone Marrow Donor Registry (SBMDR). Allele A ∗ 02:433 is identical to A ∗ 02:05:01G except for a G to A substitution at nucleotide position 449 in exon 2. This substi...

Two new HLA-DRB1 alleles were identified by sequence-based typing method (SBT) in 1100 participants in the Saudi Stem Cell Donor Registry. HLA-DRB1 ∗ 11:150 differs from HLA-DRB1 ∗ 11:01:01G by a single C to A substitution at nucleotide position 5580 in exon 2, resulting in an amino acid change from alanine to glutamic acid at position 74. HLA-DRB1...

Background: HLA matching in kidney transplantation is a major factor in long-term survival of the graft. In Saudi Arabia, most deceased donors are non-Saudi, making it difficult to achieve minimal HLA mismatches between donor and recipient. Objective: To analyze HLA types of 200 deceased donors and compare them with the Saudi population's HLA ty...

In this report, we present two novel HLA-A alleles: HLA-A*02:433 and HLA-A*02:434. These alleles were identified by sequence-based typing method (SBT), in two donors for the Saudi Bone Marrow Donor Registry (SBMDR). Allele A*02:433 is identical to A*02:05:01G except for a G to A substitution at nucleotide position 449 in exon 2. This substitution r...

Two new HLA- DRB1 alleles were identified by sequence-based typing method (SBT) in 1100 participants in the Saudi Stem Cell Donor Registry. HLA-DRB1*11:150 differs from HLA-DRB1*11:01:01G by a single C to A substitution at nucleotide position 5580 in exon 2, resulting in an amino acid change from alanine to glutamic acid at position 74. HLA-DRB1*14...

Background Public cord blood banks (CBBs) store cord blood unit (CBU) donations for anyone in need. However, strict regulations need to be followed to build up high-quality bank products that can be used worldwide. We established a public CBB at a tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia. Here, we investigated the reasons behind rejecting or not collectin...

BACKGROUND: Public cord blood banks (CBBs) store cord blood unit (CBU) donations for anyone in need. However, strict regulations need to be followed to build up high-quality bank products that can be used worldwide. We established a public CBB at a tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia. Here, we investigated the reasons behind rejecting or not collect...

The HLA-B50 serologic family is very frequent in people of Arabic origin. In Saudi Arabia, HLA-B50 is the most frequent HLA-B allele. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of HLA-B50 alleles in healthy Saudi individuals. A total of 162 healthy Saudi individuals were selected based on low-resolution HLA typing. DNA samples were t...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have a therapeutic potential in tissue repair because of capacity for multipotent differentiation and their ability to modulate the immune response. In this study, we examined the ability of human placental MSCs (pMSCs) to modify the differentiation of human monocytes into macrophages and assessed the influence of pMSC...

Puberty is the gradual transition period between childhood and adulthood. Many factors may contribute to the onset of puberty. The objective of the study was to determine the age of onset of secondary pubertal characteristics among Saudi Arabian girls. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a cluster sample design. Seven hundred and twenty-fiv...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by humoral autoimmunity. The etiology of SLE is thought to be multifactorial including environmental, hormonal, and genetic factors. The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) has extensively been associated with the susceptibility to SLE; however, the association is heterogene...

Aim HLA matching in kidney transplantation is a major factor in long term survival of the graft. In Saudi Arabia, the majority of deceased donors (DD) are non-Saudi, making it difficult to achieve minimal HLA mismatches between the donor and the recipient. The aim of this study was to analyze HLA types of 200 DD and compare it with that of the Saud...

Aim We have recently established a cord blood bank at KAIMRCaiming to use these units for stem cell transplantation at our center and worldwide. Our aim was to investigate the frequency of HLA alleles in cord blood units collected at KAIMRC and to compare them with the HLA frequency from normal healthy Saudis. Methods Blood was collected from cord...

Background: Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are used extensively in transplantation but their use is associated with many problems including low abundance in BM, low overall number, decreased differentiation potential with age and the invasive isolation procedures needed to obtain BM. We report a novel method of isolating plac...

The typing for HLA-C in transplantation was rather neglected in the past. However, several recent studies have emphasized its role in transplantation and its association with the outcome. Serological typing of HLA-C could identify only a limited number of HLA-C antigens, resulting in a number of HLA-C blanks. This was mainly due to the low expressi...

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is an increasingly encountered chronic illness in Saudi Arabia. It is known to have an immune-mediated pathogenesis, which results in the loss of insulin-secreting beta-cells responsible for maintaining normal blood glucose levels. The three main autoantibodies identified to play a role in the pathogenesis are islet...

DSA IN THE ABSENCE OF POSITIVE FLOW CROSS-MATCH CAN PREDICT REJECTION PROCESS IN THE TRANSPLANTED KIDNEY: A CASE REPORT

Monoclonal gammopathies reflect conditions of plasma B-cell disorders. Our objective was to identify the prevalence and types of these gammopathies in our population. A 10year retrospective study was conducted. Serum and/or urine protein electrophoresis were performed on 6624 samples. Positive bands were further tested by immunofixation (IFE). Homo...

In response to bacterial stimuli, multiple dendritic cell (DC) populations accumulate within the draining lymph node, thus enhancing opportunities for effective T cell-DC interaction. DC subpopulations, such as plasmacytoid, CD8(+), and CD11b(+) subsets, have distinct roles in determining the nature of the immune response. The mechanisms whereby in...

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) remains the fundamental procedure to treat many diseases. Its success depends greatly on the degree of HLA matching between donor and recipient. Although the number of successful HCT procedures carried out worldwide increases every year, many patients remain unable to receive this treatment because of the di...

Peptidoglycan (PGN) from Gram-positive bacteria, activates multiple immune effector cells. PGN-induced lymph node (LN) hypertrophy and dendritic cell mobilization in vivo were investigated following PGN injection into the skin. Both LN activation and the migration of Langerhans cells (LCs) to draining LNs were dependent on the presence of mast cell...

Langerhans cells and mast cells are both resident in large numbers in the skin and act as sentinel cells in host defense. The ability of mast cells to induce Langerhans cell migration from the skin to the draining lymph node in vivo was examined. Genetically mast cell-deficient (W/Wv) mice and control mice were sensitized with IgE Ab in the ear pin...

Mast cells have been most extensively studied in their traditional role as an early effector cell of allergic disease. However, in the majority of individuals, it might be the role of this cell as a sentinel in host defense that is most important. Mast cells have been repeatedly demonstrated to play a critical role in defense against bacterial infe...