Biochemical study on some adipocyto-kines in chronic renal failure: their relationship to endothelial dysfunction and inflammation

Chronic renal failure has been associated with impaired immunity and subclinical inflammation involving cytokines derived from adipose tissue - adipocytokines. Deteriorating renal function may increase overall inflammatory responses because of the decreased renal clearance of factors that are directly or indirectly involved in inflammation. Declining renal function may also affect the levels of additional inflammatory molecules such as C-reactive protein [CRP] and interleukin-6.The aim of the study was to assess visfatin and apelin in correlation with markers of endothelial cell injury and inflammation in 20 patients with CRF and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls.We assessed visfatin and apelin, markers of: coagulation: TAT [thrombin-antithrombin complexes]; fibrinolysis: tPA [tissue plasminogen activator] and PAI-1 [plasminogen activator inhibitor-1]; endothelial function/injury: 1CAM [intracellular adhesion molecule], VCAM [vascular cell adhesion molecule], CD40L and E-selectin and inflammation: hsCRP andIL-lbeta. Visfatin, apelin, TAT, ICAM, VCAM, CD40L, PAI-1, E-selectin, hsCRP, IL-lbeta and triglycerides were elevated while serum albumin and t-PA were decreased in CRF patients when compared with the control group.Significant positive correlations were found between visfatin on one hand and each of apelin, t-PA, PAI-1, E-selectin, ICAM, VCAM, hsCRP, LL-lbeta, CD40L and triglycerides on the other hand in patients with CRF.Also, Significant positive correlations were found between Apelin and each of EL-lbeta, E-selectin, ICAM, VCAM, creatinine and triglycerides in CRF

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism and relation ship with coronary artery disease

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase [MTHFR] is involved in the reduction of 5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. A 677 C/T single nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] localized in the MTHFR gene was associated with both thermo ability and reduced activity of the enzyme and is associated with increased homocysteine levels. The aim of this study was to establish the genetic frequency of MTHFR SNP and whether this MTHFR SNP may affect a homocysteine level and if it is considered as a risk factor for Coronary artery disease [CAD]. This study included 65 subjects [40 cases and 25 controls]. For all participants in this study total lipids profile, Apo Al, homoysteine, blood glucose, folic acid and genetic polymorphism of MTHFR were done. The percentage distribution of the different genotypes in the study population [all subjects] showed that the CC genotype was the most prevalent one followed by CT and then TT [45%, 35%, 20%] respectively. There was no significant association of T Allele in CAD group when compared to control group although plasma homocysteine level was higher in the CAD compared to the control. It seemed that the high levels of homocysteine in CAD are not only dependent on MTHFR activity but also on many factors such as age, sex, and other vitamins which were not measured in this study such as B12 and B6

Evaluation of autoimmune scoring system in autoantibodies seropostive and seronegative children with autoimmune hepatitis

The scoring system of autoimmune hepatitis that was defined by the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group [IAHG] in 1999 was applied on thirty seven children with autoimmune hepatitis [AIH] from the attendants of Pediatric Department of National Liver Institute [NLI], Menofiya University. Thirty three cases [89.2%] were seropositive to one or more of conventional autoimmune antibodies of AIH [antinuclear antibodies [ANA], smooth muscle antibodies [SMA], and antibodies to liver / kidney microsome type 1 [anti-LKM-1]] and 4 cases [10.8%] were seronegative. No statistically significant difference were found between the two groups as regards clinical presentations, the results of liver function tests, histopathological findings, hypergammopathy mean of scoring system before and after treatment as well as the mean of scoring system after response and / or relapse after treatment. These results point to the reliability of using the autoimmune scoring system to uncover cases of autoimmune hepatitis in patients seronegative for autoimmune markers in children