Assessment of Il-8 and TNF-alpha in serum and BAL of patients with COPD and lung cancer

There is an increasing evidence for the role of cytokines, especially interlukin-8 [IL-8] and tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-alpha] in the pathogenesis of many chest diseases especially chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] and to some extent lung cancer. Tins study was conducted on three groups comprising 70 smoker subjects; 25 patients [21 males and 4 female] with mild to moderate degree of COPD, 25 patients [21 males and 4 females] with lung cancer and 20 asymptomatic control subject [17 males and 3 females], All subjects were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, radiological assessment, pulmonary function testing, tissue diagnosis of lung cancer, blood sampling and bronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage [BAL] for assessment of TNF-alpha and IL-8 levels both in scrum and BAL fluid using the enzyme linked immunosorbant assay [ELISA] method. There was a highly significant [P < 0.05] elevation in both serum and BAL levels of IL-8 in COPD and lung cancer patients compared to the healthy control subjects but the difference between the COPD and lung cancer patients was insignificant [P > 0.05], Also, there was a highly significant elevation in both serum and BAL levels of TNF-alpha in COPD and lung cancer patients compared to the control group and the serum as well as the BAL levels of TNF-alpha were significantly higher in lung cancer patients compared to the COPD ones. The BAL levels of IL-8 and TNF-alpha were always significantly higher than the serum levels of the same cytokine in the same group of patients or control subjects. This study concludes that IL-8 and TNF-a levels are increased both in BAL and serum of COPD and lung cancer patients and their assessment may add to the understanding of the ongoing pathogenic inflammatory processes occurring in the smoker's airways till the development of COPD or lung cancer

Evaluation of oral fluorescein angiography

The present work was made as a projection to a number of fundus pathologies: Papilledema, cystoid macular edema, diabetic retinopathy, macular hole and retinal vein occlusion as well as normal controls. The high incidence of minor adverse reactions and the very low incidence of serious life-threatening reactions to the intravenous injection of the dye, together with difficulty in performing the procedure among children and those with significant fear from injections were the motive to evaluate the oral use of the dye and to assess its role for the diagnosis of different fundus pathologies. The results indicated that a dose of 25 mg/kg body weight produces good quality angiograms in most of the cases, and that the best pictures are obtained by photographing the fundus at 30 and 60 minutes after the dye had been taken. Based on the results, it was recommended the use of oral fluorescein angiography, when early high intensity angiograms are not required, on the ground of efficiency, convenience and safety

Angioid streaks

In this study we have been concerned with illustrating and correlating the different ophthalmoscopic and angiographic presentations of the angioid streaks and the associated fundus lesions, demonstrating the value of fundus fluorescein angiography in detecting the ophthalmoscopically unrecognized cases. In four cases a diagnosis of associated systemic diseases have been established. The successful role of prophylactic photocoagulation treatment in cases of angioid streaks with neovascularization has been confirmed