Basic fibroblast growth factor: a novel tumor marker for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

This study was conducted on 22 patients with HCC, 11 patients with liver cirrhosis [LC], 12 patients with chronic hepatitis [CH] and 20 healthy controls aiming to assess the diagnostic performance of basic fibroblast growth factor [bFGF] as a novel tumor marker of hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC] versus alpha-fetoprotein as a conventional serum tumor marker. The study measured bFGF by ELISA technique, alpha-fetoprotein [AFP] by a chemiluminescent immunometric assay and type III procollagen [IIIP], which represented a marker of liver fibrosis, by a radioimmunoassay technique. The results indicated that patients with HCC had significantly higher serum bFGF levels [13.6 +/- 11.5 pg/ml] than those in the normal subjects [2.2 +/- 0.8 pg/ml] as well as in patients with CH [4.2 +/- 3.3 pg/ml] and LC [8.4 +/- 6.5 pg/ml]. The serum levels of bFGF increased gradually with the progression of chronic liver disease being highest in patients with HCC. None of the liver function test findings or levels of IIIP correlated with the levels of bFGF

Cross linked telopelatide of type-1 collagen in adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis in correlation with disease activity

The aim of this study was to measure the serum level of cross-linked carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type-I collagen [ICTP] as a bone resorption marker in adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Moreover, the correlation between ICTP levels and the disease activity was assessed. Blood samples were collected from patients with active RA, inactive RA and healthy subjects matched for age and sex. The results showed that serum ICTP in ug/L was statistically significantly higher in case of active RA and inactive RA when compared with the healthy control subjects. Furthermore, serum ICTP was significantly higher in cases with active RA versus inactive RA. In conclusion, serum ICTP might serve as an indicator of rheumatoid disease activity. However, serum ICTP was not influenced by steroid administration in these patients

Hyperhomocysteinemia and the risk of cardiovascular disease in hemodialysis patients and renal transplant receipients

The aim of this work was to study serum total homocysteine [tHcy] in dialysis dependent end stage renal disease [ESRD] patients as well as in renal transplant recipients [RTR] in relation to the established cardiovascular disease [CVD] risk factors. The study included 20 ESRD patients on hemodialysis [HD, group I], 20 RTR [group II] as well as 15 healthy age and sex matched controls. In HD patients, the mean fasting tHcy was significantly higher than that of the controls and hyperhomocysteinemia occurred in 90% of the patients. In RTR, mean tHcy level was significantly lower than in HD patients, yet still significantly higher than the controls and hyperhomocysteinemia occurred in 60% of the patients. None of the studied CVD risk factors [blood lipids, smoking, and hypertension] was significantly correlated to tHcy. In RTR, tHcy was not correlated to blood cyclosporine trough level. It was concluded that hyperhomocysteinemia was a common characteristic of HD patients and a frequent finding in RTR. The results indicated that hyperhomocysteinemia was associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular disease in both patient groups as an independent risk factor