The superior efficacy of chloroquine over buparvaquone in reducing the chronic cerebral Toxoplasma gondii cysts load and improving the ultrastructural pathology in an immunocompromised murine model.

Toxoplasma gondii, the etiologic agent of toxoplasmosis, infects about 30 - 50% of the world population. The currently available anti-Toxoplasma agents have serious limitations. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of two antimalarials; buparvaquone (BPQ) and chloroquine (CQ), on immunocompromised mice with chronic cerebral toxoplasmosis, using spiramycin as a reference drug. The assessed parameters included the estimation of mortality rates (MR) among mice of the different study groups, in addition to the examination of the ultrastructural changes in the brain tissues by transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that only CQ treatment could decrease the MR significantly with zero deaths, while both spiramycin and BPQ caused an insignificant reduction of MR compared to the infected non-treated group. All the used drugs decreased the number of mature ruptured cysts significantly compared to the infected non-treated group, while only CQ increased the number of atrophic and necrotic cysts significantly. Furthermore, both spiramycin and BPQ improved the microvasculopathy and neurodegeneration accompanying the infection with different degrees of reactive astrocytosis and neuronal damage with the best results regarding the repair of the microvascular damage with less active glial cells, and normal neurons in the CQ-treated group. In conclusion, this study sheds light on CQ and its excellent impact on treating chronic cerebral toxoplasmosis in an immunocompromised mouse model.

The superior efficacy of chloroquine over buparvaquone in reducing the chronic cerebral Toxoplasma gondii cysts load and improving the ultrastructural pathology in an immunocompromised murine model

@#Toxoplasma gondii, the etiologic agent of toxoplasmosis, infects about 30 – 50% of the world population. The currently available anti-Toxoplasma agents have serious limitations. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of two antimalarials; buparvaquone (BPQ) and chloroquine (CQ), on immunocompromised mice with chronic cerebral toxoplasmosis, using spiramycin as a reference drug. The assessed parameters included the estimation of mortality rates (MR) among mice of the different study groups, in addition to the examination of the ultrastructural changes in the brain tissues by transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that only CQ treatment could decrease the MR significantly with zero deaths, while both spiramycin and BPQ caused an insignificant reduction of MR compared to the infected non-treated group. All the used drugs decreased the number of mature ruptured cysts significantly compared to the infected non-treated group, while only CQ increased the number of atrophic and necrotic cysts significantly. Furthermore, both spiramycin and BPQ improved the microvasculopathy and neurodegeneration accompanying the infection with different degrees of reactive astrocytosis and neuronal damage with the best results regarding the repair of the microvascular damage with less active glial cells, and normal neurons in the CQ-treated group. In conclusion, this study sheds light on CQ and its excellent impact on treating chronic cerebral toxoplasmosis in an immunocompromised mouse model.

Early Diagnosis of Tuberculosis Using Deep Learning Approach for IOT Based Healthcare Applications.

In the modern world, Tuberculosis (TB) is regarded as a serious health issue with a high rate of mortality. TB can be cured completely by early diagnosis. For achieving this, one tool utilized is CXR (Chest X-rays) which is used to screen active TB. An enhanced deep learning (DL) model is implemented for automatic Tuberculosis detection. This work undergoes the phases like preprocessing, segmentation, feature extraction, and optimized classification. Initially, the CXR image is preprocessed and segmented using AFCM (Adaptive Fuzzy C means) clustering. Then, feature extraction and several features are extracted. Finally, these features are given to the DL classifier Deep Belief Network (DBN). To improve the classification accuracy and to optimize the DBN, a metaheuristic optimization Adaptive Monarch butterfly optimization (AMBO) algorithm is used. Here, the Deep Belief Network with Adaptive Monarch butterfly optimization (DBN-AMBO) is used for enhancing the accuracy, reducing the error function, and optimizing weighting parameters. The overall implementation is carried out on the Python platform. The overall performance evaluations of the DBN-AMBO were carried out on MC and SC datasets and compared over the other approaches on the basis of certain metrics.

Possible mechanistic insights into iron homeostasis role of the action of 4-aminoquinolines (chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine) on COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

OBJECTIVE: With the recent direction in drug repurposing, many approved drugs have been evaluated to assess their effect on the coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19). Driving this path, chloroquine (CQ) has been used in the treatment of malaria and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in immunomodulatory and anti-thrombotic action, playing a leading role in initial management of the viral infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Literature search was done using Google Scholar, PubMed and Scopus database using keywords "chloroquine" "SARS-CoV-2" "COVID-19" "mechanism of action" and articles of interest were selected providing evidence of the possible role of CQ in viral infection. RESULTS: In a bid to understand how and if CQ and HCQ would exert their anti-viral property, mechanistic exegesis was done to review various proposed mechanisms of action. This revealed the inhibition of viral attachment and entry, inhibition of enveloped glycoprotein, inhibition of the development and proliferation of new viral particles as the way they perform their action. There is an interplay between iron metabolism and homeostasis with COVID-19 infection and viral reproduction. CONCLUSIONS: This study aims to show the functional role of CQ and HCQ, as well as to provide possible mechanistic insight on the role of iron on viral infection, iron starvation and its downstream cellular pathways involving hepcidin and proinflammatory cytokines. The overall aim of providing possible mode of action of CQ and HCQ in the management of COVID-19 infection is exhibited via its anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic activities.

Diarrhea burden due to natural infection with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in a birth cohort in a rural Egyptian community.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is commonly associated with diarrhea in Egyptian children. Children less than 3 years old in Abu Homos, Egypt, had approximately five diarrheal episodes per child every year, and at least one of these episodes was due to ETEC. The epidemiology of ETEC diarrhea among children living in a rural Egyptian community was further evaluated in this study. Between January 2004 and April 2007, 348 neonates were enrolled and followed for 2 years. Children were visited twice weekly, and a stool sample was obtained every 2 weeks regardless of symptomatology. A stool sample was obtained whenever a child had diarrhea. From the routine stool culture, five E. coli-like colonies were selected and screened for heat-labile and heat-stable toxins by GM1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and further typed for colonization factor antigens by dot blot assay. Incidence of ETEC infection was estimated among children with diarrhea (symptomatic) and without diarrhea (asymptomatic). Incidence of diarrhea and ETEC-associated diarrhea was 7.8 and 1.48 per child-year, respectively. High risk of repeated ETEC diarrhea was associated with being over 6 months of age, warm season, male gender, and crowded sleeping conditions. Exclusive breast-feeding was protective for repeated ETEC infection. ETEC-associated diarrhea remains common among children living in the Nile Delta. The protective role of breast-feeding demonstrates the importance of promoting exclusive breast-feeding during, at least, the first 6 months of life.

Therapeutic implications of the circadian clock on skin function.

The human circadian clock ensures that biochemical and physiological processes occur at the optimal time of day. In addition to a central pacemaker in the body, recent evidence suggests that peripheral mammalian tissues also possess autonomous circadian oscillators, which are regulated by genes linked to distinct tissue-specific functions. The skin is situated in a position naturally exposed to diurnal environmental changes. The skin's chronobiological functioning influences skin aging, cell repair and development of skin cancers, as well as optimal timing of drug delivery to the skin. An understanding of circadian skin-related functions and the impact of their disruption allow clinicians to improve therapeutic decision-making and maximize the effectiveness of prescribed treatments.

[Sleeve gastrectomy as a revision procedure for failed gastric banding]. / Schlauchmagenbildung als Revisionseingriff nach Magenbandversagen.

The number of bariatric surgical procedures is still increasing in Germany and also worldwide. According to the German quality assurance study of surgical treatment of obesity, the laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) was the most common bariatric operation with a total of 678 cases between 2004 and 2006 in Germany. In the meantime a high rate of LAGB treatment failures has been reported, so that a high rate of revisional bariatric operations is required. But still the question is open which bariatric procedure can be recommended. The aim of this study is to report the results and follow-up of conversion of failed LAGB to laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). Between 8/2008 and 4/2012 39 patients (31♀/8♂) with a mean age of 43.7 ± 7.8 (26-61) years and a BMI of 47.1 ± 9.1 (30.4 to 67.4) kg/m² had revisional surgery for converting a failed LAGB to LSG. The indications for conversion were dysphagia (38.5 %), weight regain (33.3 %), band slippage (17.9 %), band erosion (5.1 %), band defect (2.6 %) as well as band sepsis (2.6 %). 19 procedures were performed as a one-stage operation and 20 procedures as a two-stage operation. The average operating time was 129 ± 49 (50-312) min. The complication rate was 7.7 %. There were one proximal leak, one gastric sleeve stenosis and one pronounced wound infection. The percent excess weight loss was 23 %, 39 %, 51 %, 52 %, 60 % and 46 % after 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months follow- up, respectively. Converting a failed LAGB into a LSG is a revision procedure with low complication rate and promising results, which can be performed as a two-stage as well as a one-stage procedure.

Luminescent S-doped carbon dots: an emergent architecture for multimodal applications.

A facile route has been developed to synthesise and isolate sulphur doped fluorescent carbon dots for the first time. Such carbogenic quantum dots exhibit a wide band gap of 4.43 eV with a high open circuit voltage (VOC) of 617 mV along with a fill factor (FF) as high as 37%, using phenyl-C60-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the electron transporting layer. Besides the wide band gap, which is useful in the fabrication of solar cells, sulphur modified carbon dots also exhibit a high fluorescence quantum yield of 11.8% without any additional surface passivation, producing a unique fluorescent probe for further applications. In addition, the particles have a strong tendency to interact with the surface of gold nanoparticles and produce a thin fluorescent layer over their surfaces. Moreover, as they are completely biocompatible in nature, the highly fluorescent S-doped carbon dots have a strong potential for use in bioimaging applications. Interestingly, owing to the presence of oxygen and sulphur functionality, the highly negatively charged particles can easily bind with positively charged DNA-PEI complexes, simply by mixing them, and after interaction with DNA, bright blue fluorescence has been observed under an excitation wavelength of 405 nm .

Detection of bacterial blight resistance genes in basmati rice landraces.

Aromatic basmati rice is vulnerable to bacterial blight disease. Genes conferring resistance to bacterial blight have been identified in coarse rice; however, their incorporation into basmati varieties compromises the prized basmati aroma. We identified bacterial blight resistance genes Xa4, xa5, Xa7, and xa13 in 52 basmati landraces and five basmati cultivars using PCR markers. The Xa7 gene was found to be the most prevalent among the cultivars and landraces. The cultivars Basmati-385 and Basmati-2000 also contained the Xa4 gene; however, xa5 and xa13 were confined to landraces only. Ten landraces were found to have multiple resistance genes. Landraces Basmati-106, Basmati-189 and Basmati-208 contained Xa4 and Xa7 genes. Whereas, landraces Basmati-122, Basmati-427, Basmati-433 were observed to have xa5 and Xa7 genes. Landraces Basmati-48, Basmati-51A, Basmati-334, and Basmati-370A possessed Xa7 and xa13 genes. The use of landraces containing recessive genes xa5 and xa13 as donor parents in hybridization with cultivars Basmati-385 and Basmati-2000, which contain the genes Xa4 and Xa7, will expedite efforts to develop bacterial blight-resistant basmati rice cultivars through marker assisted selection, based on a pyramiding approach, without compromising aroma and grain quality.

Phenotypic and genotypic analysis of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in samples obtained from Egyptian children presenting to referral hospitals.

Hospital surveillance was established in the Nile River Delta to increase the understanding of the epidemiology of diarrheal disease among Egyptian children. Between September 2000 and August 2003, samples obtained from children less than 5 years of age who had diarrhea and who were seeking hospital care were cultured for enteric bacteria. Colonies from each culture with a morphology typical of that of Escherichia coli were tested for the heat-labile (LT) and heat-stable (ST) toxins by a GM-1-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and colonization factor (CF) antigens by an immunodot blot assay. Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) isolates were recovered from 320/1,540 (20.7%) children, and ETEC isolates expressing a known CF were identified in 151/320 (47%) samples. ST CFA/I, ST CS6, ST CS14, and LT and ST CS5 plus CS6 represented 75% of the CFs expressed by ETEC isolates expressing a detectable CF. Year-to-year variability in the proportion of ETEC isolates that expressed a detectable CF was observed (e.g., the proportion that expressed CFA/I ranged from 10% in year 1 to 21% in year 3); however, the relative proportions of ETEC isolates expressing a CF were similar over the reporting period. The proportion of CF-positive ETEC isolates was higher among isolates that expressed ST. ETEC isolates expressing CS6 were isolated significantly less often (P < 0.001) than isolates expressing CFA/I in children less than 1 year of age. Macrorestriction profiling of CFA/I-expressing ETEC isolates by using the restriction enzyme XbaI and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis demonstrated a wide genetic diversity among the isolates that did not directly correlate with the virulence of the pathogen. The genome plasticity demonstrated in the ETEC isolates collected in this work suggests an additional challenge to the development of a globally effective vaccine for ETEC.

Accuracy of Arabic versions of three asthma symptoms questionnaires against the clinical diagnosis of asthma.

Validation studies of asthma symptom questionnaires against provocation tests of bronchial hyperresponsiveness have shown comparable performances of written and video taped questionnaires. This study aimed to determine the test characteristics of Arabic versions of two written and one video taped questionnaires when compared to the clinical diagnosis of asthma made by two respiratory physicians. The written International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire had higher sensitivities and greater accuracy than the other two questionnaires. Comparisons between corresponding questions and scenes in the ISAAC questionnaires in general revealed no significant differences in performance. The ISAAC written questionnaire had test characteristics consistent with its potential use as a screening instrument for asthma in this population of children.

Detection of fecal and serum antibodies against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli toxins and colonization factors in deployed U.S. military personnel during Operation Bright Star 2001--Egypt.

Infection caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) poses a significant health problem in children and adults residing in endemic developing countries. Acute and convalescent paired stool and serum samples were obtained from 27 U.S. military personnel with ETEC-induced diarrhea during a military exercise in Egypt. In general, the concentration of total fecal and circulatory anti-LT IgA was significantly increased in convalescent specimens than in the paired acute ones in almost 65 % of the cases. The pattern of specific antibody responses in fecal and serum samples from cases with ETEC expressing the antigens coil surface 1 (CS1), CS2, CS3 and CS6 were, on the other hand, not conclusive due to the small numbers of the study cases. Further research is still required to understand the immunologic responses during the natural course of disease. The data obtained, nevertheless, may help current research efforts on the development of vaccines for humans against ETEC infection.

The prevalence and determinants of health care-seeking behavior for fecal incontinence in multiparous United Arab Emirates females.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to determine the prevalence and sociodemographics of fecal incontinence in United Arab Emirates females. METHODS: A representative sample of multiparous United Arab Emirates females aged 20 years or older (N = 450) were randomly selected from the community (n = 225) and health care centers (n = 225). Patients were interviewed about inappropriate stool loss in the past year using a structured and pretested questionnaire. RESULTS: Fifty-one participants (11.3 percent) admitted fecal incontinence; 26 (5.8 percent) were incontinent to liquid stool and 25 (5.5 percent) to solid stool. Thirty-eight patients (8.4 percent) had double (urinary and fecal) incontinence. Sixty-five patients (14.4 percent) were incontinent to flatus only but not to stools. The association between having fecal incontinence and chronic constipation was significant (P < 0.0001), but there was no significant association with other known risk factors such as age, parity, and previous instrumental delivery, episiotomy, perineal tears, or anorectal operations. Only 21 incontinent patients (41 percent) had sought medical advice. Patients did not seek medical advice because they were embarrassed to consult their physician (64.7 percent), they preferred to discuss the difficulty with friends, assuming that fecal incontinence would resolve spontaneously (47.1 percent) or was normal (31.3 percent), and they chose self-treatment as a result of low expectations for medical care (23.5 percent). Sufferers were bothered by the inability to pray (92.2 percent) and to have sexual intercourse (43.1 percent). Perceived causes of fecal incontinence were paralysis (90.2 percent), old age (80.4 percent), childbirth (23.5 percent), or menopause (19.6 percent). CONCLUSIONS: Fecal incontinence is common yet underreported by multiparous United Arab Emirates females because of cultural attitudes and inadequate public knowledge.

Knowledge and practice of contraception in United Arab Emirates women.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the knowledge and practice of contraception among United Arab Emirates (UAE) women. METHOD: Four hundred and fifty UAE women at risk of pregnancy were randomly selected from the community and primary health care centres and interviewed about knowledge and practice of contraception using a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Four hundred women (89%) gave consent to participate in the study. One hundred and sixty-six participants (41.5%) were using contraception. All used natural methods backed with other methods. There were significant associations between using contraception and each of age, high level of education and low family income (p < 0.0001 for the three variables). Religious beliefs and low expectation of success of birth control were the reasons given for non-use. Eighty-five percent of subjects did not accept sterilisation without medical indications, nor using contraception before the first pregnancy. Of the women, 42.5% believed that contraceptive methods should not be used after the age of 40, and 78% were unaware that they could be used for treatment of gynaecological diseases. Disturbed bleeding patterns occurred in 48.7% of users, and these were most bothered by the inability to pray (100%) and to have sexual intercourse (97.5%). CONCLUSION: Contraception is not commonly used by UAE women because of sociocultural traditions, religious beliefs and poor knowledge.

Water deprivation reveals early neuromyopathy in diabetic mice.

The effects of water deprivation on peripheral nerve and muscle function were investigated in flexor digitorum superficialis muscle of control and diabetic mice. Twenty mice (30 g average body weight) were injected once with streptozotocin solution (200 mg/kg) to induce experimental diabetes and another 20 mice of similar body weight served as controls. Two weeks later, comparative analyses of in situ muscle isometric contractile characteristics were performed by direct muscle stimulation and indirect nerve stimulation (at 1, 5 and 30 Hz) in urethane-anesthetized (2 mg/g, i.p.) control and diabetic mice. One day prior to the experiments, 10 control and 10 diabetic mice were deprived of water. The study contained four groups: hydrated (H) control, dehydrated (DH) control, H diabetic and DH diabetic. There were no significant differences in synaptic delay or twitch tension between H control and DH control. Comparing H control and H diabetic groups, no differences were noticed in synaptic delay or twitch tension; except at 30 Hz where twitch tension was reduced in H diabetic mice. Significant differences were observed when comparing DH control and DH diabetic mice. DH diabetic showed a significant increase in synaptic delay (from 7.4 to 9.3 ms) and a significant decrease in twitch tension evoked either by indirect nerve or by direct muscle stimulation (from 4.4 g to 1.9 g and from 4.4 g to 2.3 g, respectively). These results revealed that water deprivation enhances diabetes effects at the neuromuscular junction and at the muscle leading to further complication of neuromyopathy.

Effect of Psidium guajava leaves on some aspects of the central nervous system in mice.

The present work examines the effects of hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Psidium guajava leaves (20,100,500 and 1250 mg/kg) on the central nervous system in mice. The three extracts exhibited mostly dose-dependent antinociceptive effects in chemical and thermal tests of analgesia. The extracts also produced dose-dependent prolongation of pentobarbitone-induced sleeping time. However, they had variable and mostly non-significant effects on locomotor coordination, locomotor activity or exploration. In the pharmacological tests used, the ethyl acetate extract seemed to be the most active, followed by the hexane and then the methanol extracts.

Measurement-specific quality-of-life satisfaction during the menopause in an Arabian Gulf country.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to use an instrument, the menopause-specific quality-of-life satisfaction questionnaire for the postmenopausal period, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive study was used to generate menopause symptoms experienced by Arabian Gulf women. Measurement-specific quality-of-life satisfaction questionnaires were used and face-to-face interviews were performed. SETTING: The study was based in primary health-care clinics in Al Ain City, Sharjah and Dubai Emirates, UAE. SUBJECTS: A multistage sampling design was used, and a representative sample of 450 UAE females aged 45 years and above were included during January-April 1999. RESULTS: Of the 450 women living in both urban and rural areas, 390 women agreed to participate (86.7%) and responded to the study. The mean age and standard deviation (SD) of the subjects was 56.5 +/- 6.6 years, and the median age of natural menopause in the present study was 48 years (mean +/- SD 48.4 +/- 3.8). The rate of consanguinous marriages in the sample was found to be 47.2%. The most common disease was found to be diabetes mellitus (10.3%), followed by osteoarthritis (7.7%), hypertension (7.2%) and asthma (6.2%), but the majority of subjects (68.7%) had no specific disease. Out of 29 possible symptoms, the mean number of symptoms was 7.57 (range 0-24). The most frequent symptom was 'aches in the back of the neck or head' at 46.4% followed by 'aches in the muscles/joints' at 34.6%. The least reported symptom was 'facial hair' at 15.9%. Increasing education resulted in more symptoms reported, and increasing parity resulted in fewer symptoms reported. In the present study, it was found that employed women experienced more symptoms and disorders. Of the total sample, 28.5% of the subjects reported no symptoms. In the four domains, 69% reported physical symptoms, 58.7% reported psychosocial symptoms, 40% reported vasomotor symptoms and 37.9% reported sexual symptoms. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient indicated that there is highly statistically significant concordance between the four domains (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The present study showed that menopause-related symptoms in UAE women are fewer and of less severity than in Western women. The postmenopausal women, despite a continued decline in estrogen levels, reported few symptoms as part of a normal life stage, suggesting that they were able to cope with stress.

Parasite-specific antibody profile in human fascioliasis: application for immunodiagnosis of infection.

The antibody isotype response to an adult Fasciola worm antigen preparation (FWAP) was examined in sera from 60 Egyptians with parasitologically confirmed fascioliasis by an ELISA. The FWAP-specific IgG1 and IgG4 antibodies were found in 97-100% of the patients. The ratio of the mean absorbance values between infected patients and healthy controls was 9.7 and 29.7 for IgG1 and IgG4 antibodies, respectively. The IgM, IgA, IgG2, and IgG3 antibodies were less dominant. In contrast to IgG1 antibodies, which were often detected in sera from patients infected with Schistosoma, Echinococcus granulosus, Ascaris lumbricoides, Ancylostoma duodenale, or Hymenolepis nana, FWAP-specific IgG4 antibodies were detected exclusively in the sera of patients with fascioliasis. The data thus support the conclusion that an IgG4/ELISA with crude FWAP as antigen may be used for sensitive and accurate immunodiagnosis of human fascioliasis.

Factor VII deficiency detected in pregnancy: a case report.

Factor VII deficiency is a rare hereditary coagulation disorder with an incidence estimated at 1 in 500,000 individuals. In this report, we describe the 13th case in pregnancy. The diagnosis of severe factor VII deficiency (factor VII level <5%) was established at 10 weeks' gestation after initial laboratory testing showed a markedly prolonged prothrombin time and a normal activated partial thromboplastin time. There was a history of two preterm deliveries, but there was no evidence of previous bleeding manifestations. Antenatal progress of the index pregnancy was unremarkable. Prophylactic treatment with fresh frozen plasma was started at the onset of labor and the patient had a vaginal delivery of a live girl at 36 weeks' gestation. There was no postpartum hemorrhage and mother and newborn were discharged in good condition. The patient's postpartum level of factor VII remained undetectable. Two aspects are outlined: the absence of any significant increase in factor VII clotting activity during this pregnancy and the need to give replacement therapy at labor in patients with severe factor VII deficiency to decrease the risk of postpartum hemorrhage.

The prevalence and determinants of health care-seeking behavior for urinary incontinence in United Arab Emirates women.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and sociodemographics of urinary incontinence (UI) in women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Women at risk, such as multiparous and climacteric women, were selected from the community (n = 200) and health-care centers (n = 200) and interviewed about inappropriate urine loss in the past 12 months, using a structured and pretested questionnaire. Of these, 81 (20.3%) admitted UI; only 25 of these (30.9%) had sought medical advice. The reasons were embarrassment (38.2%), choice of self-treatment because of low expectations from medical care (38.2%), and preferring to discuss the matter with friends, assuming that UI is normal (23.3%). Sufferers were troubled by their inability to pray (90%) and to have sexual intercourse (33.3%). Perceived causes of UI were paralysis (45%), childbirth (35.4%) and old age or menopause (33.7%). UI is common yet underreported by UAE women because of cultural attitudes and inadequate public knowledge.