Immunohistochemistry in toxocaral granulomas

Clean laboratory bred albino mice were used. Three mice of these were used for testing the infectivity of eggs. Twenty four mice were sacrificed at 3 weeks and 3 months, 12 each time. Immunohistochemical study which is a combination of immunological and pathological changes was performed to determine the differential population of inflammatory cells in the reaction produced to T. canis infection in early and late stages

Silent cerebral infarcts in children with sickle cell anemia

Children with sickle cell anemia [SCA] are at high risk for neurologically overt cerebral infarcts associated with stroke and neurologically silent cerebral infarcts [SCI] correlated with neuropsychometric deficit. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of SCI among patients with SCA and to detect the risk factors for its occurrence and to evaluate the effect of SCI on neurocognitive functions. We studied 20 patients with SCA clinically and laboratory, then MR1 brain to detect cerebral infarctions was performed to all patients and neuropsychological evaluation using Wechseler Intelligence Scale-far children, 3[rd]. [WISC-III] was done to all patients. We found that the incidence of SCI was 15% among our patients with SCA and the most common clinical event predicting SCI was seizures as it occured in 2 out of 3 patients with SCI, also decreased hemoglobin concentration and increased leucocytic count were a risk factors for developing SCI. We also found that patients with SCA and SCI had significantly lower full scale intelligence quotient [IQ] than patients with normal MRI although the latter patients also have lower IQ than the normative data supplied by the test. So we concluded that all patients with SCA must undergo careful clinical, radiological and neuropsychological evaluation for early detection of SCI and congnitive impairment in these patients

Can measurement of serum lipoprotein [a] and apolipoprotein-B be of prognostic value in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with myocardial infarction and peripheral vascular disease?

Current clinical guidelines require that five indices [total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and the total/HDL cholesterol ratio] be measured or calculated to assess the lipid-related risk of vascular disease. Recently, quantification of plasma Lp[a] and Apo-B was proposed as recent clinical markers that will allow better prediction of coronary and peripheral arterial disease. This study prospectively examined whether high levels of Lp[a] and Apo-B have a significant risk and prognostic value in type 2 diabetic patients with myocardial infarction and peripheral vascular disease. The patients included in the study were selected properly from outpatient clinics of Vascular Surgery Unit as well as Internal Medicine Department [Cardiovascular Unit], Mansoura University. The patients were divided into 4 groups: Group I [n=15]: Type 2 DM with no CAD and no PVD. Group II [n=15]: Type 2 DM with history of myocardial infarction and No PVD. Group Ill [n=15]: Type 2 DM with no history of myocardial infarction but have symptomatic PVD. Group IV [n=15]: Type 2 DM with history of myocardial infarction and have PVD. Patients with acute illness or taking Niacin, Estrogen replacement or antibiotics were excluded. All patients were subjected to thorough history taking, cardiovascular and peripheral vascular system evaluation including BMI, ABI, ECG, Doppler US echocardiogram as well as peripheral vascular angiography. Laboratory evaluation of our patients included assessment of diabetic state, HbA1c, standard lipid profile parameters as well as evaluation of Lp[a] and Apo-B. Serum level of Lp[a] and Apo-B showed highly statistically significant results when comparing group I with any group of type 2 diabetic patients complicated with either MI or PVD [P<0.001]. However, serum apo-B level was highly significant in those complicated with PVD [P<0.001], while serum Lp[a] was statistically higher in those having myocardial infarction [P=0.03]. Our study revealed that elevation of serum level of both Lp[a] and Apo-B were significantly correlated with occurrence of myocardial infarction and different grades of peripheral vascular insufficiency in type 2 diabetic individuals. However, increased serum level of Lp[a] showed higher significant prediction for occurrence of MI while, elevation of serum level of Apo-B predict more the occurrence of PVD among our patients. Evaluation of serum Lp[a] and Apo-B levels should be considered a new risk factor and is of prognostic value for occurrence of vascular complications in type 2 diabetic patients. More population-based prospective studies are needed to answer the question definitively of whether Lp[a] and Apo-B levels are more predictive of CAD and PVD in type 2 diabetic individuals than the traditional lipid parameters

Differential expression of E-cadherin in ductal and lobular breast carcinomas and its biologic and diagnostic value

E-cadherin is a calcium dependent epithelial cell adhesion molecule. Loss of E-cadherin function has been associated with aggressive behavior in various malignancies. In this study, we analyzed the pattern of E-cadherin expression in 25 invasive carcinomas [15 ductal and 10 lobular] and 14 in slat carcinomas [10 ductal and 4 lobular] to determine its role in the morphogenesis of breast carcinoma. E-cadherin was Semiquantitatively evaluated on paraffin-embedded tumor tissue by immunohistochemistry. Our results proved a highly significant correlation of E-cadherin membrane expression with the histologic phenotype of the tumor. While preserved [strong] to reduced membrane expression was seen in all invasive and in situ ductal carcinomas as in normal mammary epithelium, 90% [9/10] of invasive lobular carcinoma [ILC] and 75% [3/4] of lobular carcinoma in situ [LCIS] cases showed complete loss of E-cadherin expression. The only E-cadherin positive ILC case was diagnosed histologically as pleomorphic variant and was associated with solid ductal carcinoma in situ [DCIS] component. This tumor most probably represents an example of invasive ductal carcinoma [IDC]. Reduced E-cadherin expression increased significantly from DCIS [20%] to IDC [66.7%]. A highly significant difference between E-cadherin expression in IDC and ILC [P = 0.0001] and a significant difference between DCIS and LCIS [P = 0.004] were found. So we concluded that in tumors with histologically equivocal features, immunohistochemical detection of E-cadherin expression can be a useful diagnostic tool for differentiation of the ductal and lobular carcinomas of the breast