Assessment of transforming growth factor -beta [TGF-beta] and auto antibodies in human fascioliasis

Seventy individuals were included in this study, sixty of them suffering from fascioliasis: thirty with acute and the other thirty with chronic fascioliasis. Ten individuals were taken as a control group. All patients and controls were subjected to clinical, stool, urine and blood examination, abdominal ultrasonography and estimation of TGF-beta and non-organ specific autoantibodies in their serum. The presenting symptoms were abdominal pain [93.3% and 30%], fever [100% and 10%], urticaria [40% and 16.7%] and diarrhoea [53.3% and 3.3%] in acute and chronic stages of fascioliasis respectively. Among the acute and chronic cases of fascioliasis, the following signs wcre presented: hepatomegaly [100% and 66.7%], splenomegaly [63.3% and 16.7%], pallor [80% and 43.3%], fever [100% and 10%] and jaundice [0% and 16.7%]. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed hepatomegaly and splenomegaly in patients with acute fascioliasis while in chronic patients there were common bile duct dilatation, intrahepatic biliary radical dilatation and echogenic shadows in biliary system in 16.7%, 16.7% and 23.3% respectively. During the acute stage a significant increase was observed in TGF-beta level comparing to the chronic and normal control groups. The present study also found that the percent positivity of auto-antibodies increased with the chronicity of the disease; anti-nuclear antibodies [0% and 60%], anti-deoxyribonucleic acid [0% and 20%], anti-smooth muscles [3.3% and 70%] and anti-mitochondrial [6.6% and 26.6%] in acute and chronic stages respectively. It can be concluded that TGF-beta elevation and absence of antinuclear and anti deoxyribonucleic acid antibodies in patients with acute infection can be used as diagnostic markers and monitor for early infection

EParasite density and morbidity in relation to serum levels of thrombomodulin and E-selectin in the acute phase of plasmodium vivax malaria

Standardized questionnaires, clinical examination and parasitological diagnosis were performed on 40 patients in the acute phase of vivax malaria from the out patient clinics, El Abbassia Fevers Hospital. Serum levels of Thrombomadulin [TM], E-selectin and creatinine were determined in inrolled patients and also in 20 healthy controls. The results, based on multivariable analysis, showed that the clinical diagnosis of malaria including history of fever, rigors, headache, myalgia and palpable spleen was strongly associated with the presence and density of P. vivax malaria even in patients with parasite densities less than l000/micro l of blood and significantly increased the odds of the clinical diagnosis. Results revealed also that the patient's mean +/- SD serum levels of TM and E-selectin were 12.8 +/- 3.67 and 125 +/- 61.4 [u/micro l] respectively, significantly greater than in the controls [TM, P<0.001, E-selectin, P<0.001]. However, no significant differences were identified between patients and controls for serum creatinine values. On the other hand, there was a high significant correlation between levels of parasitemia and serum levels of TM and E-selectin