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• The population prevalence of infectious intestinal diseases was 4%. • Female participants were 2.4 times more likely to report infectious intestinal diseases than male participants. • Prevalence was highest at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. • Prevalence estimates were similar to those reported in China and lower than those reported in Europe and North America. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a rapidly developing high-income country that has experienced significant population growth, urbanization, and improvements in the standard of living since its formation in 1971. Published estimates on the prevalence of infectious intestinal diseases (IID) in the UAE are scarce and exclusively based on hospital data. The aim of this study was to provide the first prevalence estimates of IID in the UAE. A population-based cross-sectional study design using a telephone-based questionnaire was used to estimate the IID prevalence in the previous 4 weeks in a representative sample of the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) population from January to September 2017. Data were collected from 1254 participants (57.3% male; 25.2% <18 years). The prevalence of IID was 4.2% in the 4 weeks prior to the interview. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that being female (odds ratio (OR) 2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2–5.1) and having a middle-range monthly household income (approx. USD 4080–<6800: OR 5.42, 95% CI 1.15–25.48; approx. USD 6800–<9530: OR 7.13, 95% CI 1.47–34.57) were positively associated with IID. Age ≥6 years was negatively associated with IID (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.90–0.99). Forty-nine percent of participants with an IID sought medical care and 20.8% took over-the-counter medication. This study provides the first population-based prevalence estimates of IID in the UAE, which are similar to those reported in China (4%), but lower than those reported in Canada (10%), the Netherlands (7%), and the USA (6%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In vitro studies with human liver preparations suggest that the metabolism of hexobarbital involves CYP2CMP--the determinant of the S-mephenytoin 4'-hydroxylation polymorphism, but no in vivo evidence of interphenotypic differences exist. The pharmacokinetics and urinary excretion of hexobarbital and its metabolites were, therefore, investigated following oral administration of a differentially labelled pseudoracemate that allowed determination of the fate of the individual enantiomers. Studies were undertaken in 10 Caucasian and nine Chinese healthy subjects known to be either extensive (EM) or poor (PM), metabolizers of mephenytoin. No inter-racial differences were observed in any of the measured parameters within a given phenotype. However, pronounced stereoselectivity in disposition was noted in EMs with R-(-)-hexobarbital's oral clearance being five- to six-fold greater than that for the S-(+)-enantiomer. By contrast, the S-(+)-isomer was eliminated twice as fast as R-(-) hexobarbital in PMs and, in addition, the oral clearances of both enantiomers were significantly reduced compared with their values in EMs. Formation of 3'-hydroxy- and 3'-ketohexobarbital and 1,5-dimethylbarbituric acid were the major identified routes of metabolism for each enantiomer in both phenotypes. Furthermore, these pathways were found to co-segregate with the mephenytoin polymorphism and in EMs they were primarily responsible for the observed stereoselectivity in disposition. These findings, therefore, confirm the stereoselectivity in hexobarbital's disposition in humans and identify the major pathways of metabolism involved. Additionally, the results indicate that CYP2CMP is a major determinant of the in vivo metabolism of both of hexobarbital's enantiomers but especially that of the R-(-)-enantiomer.