ABSTRACT
Background: Liver biopsy so far, is the mainstay of diagnosing hepatic fibrosis. Activated HSCs express certain mesenchymal markers, of which Smooth Muscle Actin is a well-known marker. This study aims to appreciate expression of Alpha Smooth Muscle Actin in hepatic stellate cells of CHC cases and to find out the frequency of alpha-SMA positive HSCs in perisinusoidal, periportal and pericentral regions of liver
Methods: Liver biopsies of sixty Chronic Hepatitis C cases were immmunostained using anti alpha-SMA antibody. To assess immunoexpression, semi quantitative scoring was done in three areas in each sample; pericentral, periportal and perisinusoidal area
Results: Immunoexpression of alpha-SMA was observed in all area with strongest staining on HSCs of perisinusoidal area
Conclusion: alpha-SMA can represent a useful marker for early hepatic stellate cells activation in our population and can help target patients requiring aggressive therapy
ABSTRACT
Seventeen and a half million deaths occur every year due to cardiovascular diseases across the world and one in three deaths in the world are caused by cardiovascular diseases such as, heart attack or heart failure according to WHO. Improved diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with the left ventricular dysfunction can help in preventing the major cause of death. This article review was the results of recent clinical studies relating to various heart diseases with the ventricular cardiac peptides such as B-type natriuretic peptide [BNP] and amino terminal B-type natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP] levels as potential markers of diastolic and systolic left ventricular dysfunction. Sources of Data/Study selection: Data from survey reports, descriptive, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies published between 1981-2011 on the topic were included. Data searches based on human and animal studies were included. Data Extraction: The data was extracted from online resources of World Heart Failure Society, Heart Failure Society of America, World Heart Federation, The MEDLINE, the internet [e-medicine, medscape resource centre]. Analysis of these ventricular peptides appears to be a potential approach for elucidation of the pathophysiology of the heart