ABSTRACT
Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection still has a relatively high incidence and prevalence worldwide. In the post-vaccination era in developing countries, perinatal vertical transmission remains the most common mode of transmission. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission requires screening for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) in pregnant women to identify which newborns that must be immunized. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HBV infection among pregnant mothers who were attending outpatient clinic of the Obstetric Department, and Social and Preventive Medicine Center at Cairo University Hospital Campus, for routine antenatal care. Methods: A cross sectional study included 2,000 pregnant women. A rapid screening test for HBV “One Step HBsAg Rapid Test” was done for all women and all HBsAg-positive cases were confirmed by ELISA for HBsAg. A structured questionnaire for risk factors for HBV acquisition was filled for every pregnant mother positive for HBsAg and a control group of HBsAg negative mothers. Results: Out of 2,000 pregnant women, 35 (1.75%) were positive by the rapid test, out of whom 32/35 cases (91.43) were confirmed to be positive by the confirmatory test representing 1.6% of the study population. Family history of HBV, previous intravenous (IV) injections, medical clinic attendance, hospital admission, and surgeries were the risk factors for acquiring HBV infection (P-value=0.001, 0.003, 0.002, 0.000, and 0.011, respectively). Conclusion: HBV infection is prevalent among pregnant mothers attending our outpatient services. Therefore we recommend screening for HBV in all Egyptian pregnant mothers to prevent neonatal infection by immunoprophylaxis.
ABSTRACT
Vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF] and its receptors may play an important role in the pathophysiology of hematopoietic malignancies and the progression of leukemia. The present work aimed to study the expression of VEGF and its receptors namely FLT-1 [VEGFR-1] and KDR/FLK-1 [VEGFR-2] on the transcriptional level in fresh leukemic blast cells isolated from newly diagnosed AML and ALL patients by RT-PCR. The present study demonstrated that acute leukemia whether myeloblastic or lymphoblastic express VEGF and to less extent express its receptors namely FLT-1 and KDR. This may result in the generation of autocrine loop that may support leukemic cell survival and proliferation. On the contrary, to the lack of expression in normal bone marrow samples, VEGF, FLT-1 and KDR were expressed in considerable percentage of the studied AML and ALL patients. There was no significant relationship between the expression of VEGF or its receptors and patients' clinical or laboratory findings. Expression of VEGF and/or KDR receptors was associated with unfavorable treatment outcome and they were associated with risk of treatment failure. This data show that VEGF, FLT-1 and KDR may have clinical relevance and raise the possibility of using angiogenesis inhibitors as a novel therapeutic strategy in acute leukemia. By developing treatment strategies that target both the stromal and tumor compartments, drug resistance may be overcome, and the effect on therapeutic outcome enhanced