CXCLIO, CCL5 and CCL11 chemokines as predictors for interferon-induced thyroiditis in chronic hepatitis c patients submitted for

Background: Interferon alpha [IFN-q is widely used as a therapeutic agent for Hepatitis C [HCV] infections. Chemokines (including CXCLIO, CCL5 and CCLll] have been identified to play an important role in endocrine autoimmune diseases and particular attention has been raised by studies demonstrating CXC chemokines over expression in Hashimoto thyroiditis. Objective: Study serum levels of CXCLIO, CCL5, and CCLll chemokines as predictors for interfer on-induced thyroiditis in HCV patients submitted for antiviral therapy. Patients and Methods: Seventy two patients with HCV Infection selected from 100 patients submitted for INF-alpha and ribavirin therapy were recruited into; group 1 comprised 59 patients with negative anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies [ATPO], group 2 comprised 13 patients with positive ATPO, Twenty healthy adults were included as control Thyroid function, auto-antibodies and serum chemokines [CXCLIO, CCL5, and CCLll, assayed by a quantitative sandwich immunoassay] were performed before therapy, after 12 and 24 weeks of treatment. Results: In comparison to group 1, group 2 patients had significantly higher ANA [P=0.03S], ATPO, CXCLIO and CCL5 [all P= 0.000] and significantly lower TSH [P=0.30] before therapy; higher ATPO, CCL5 [all P= 0.001] and lower TSH [P= 0.034] after 12 weeks; higher ATPO and lower TSH [all P= 0.001] after 24 weeks of therapy. Thyroiditis occurred in 10.2 % of group 1 and 38.5 % of group 2 patients after 12 weeks of therapy without significant difference between the two groups. After 24 weeks of therapy, group 2 patients had significantly higher number of thyroiditis [53.8 %] than group 1 [11.9 %] [P=0.001]. Significant increase of CXCLIO was found in patients with thyroiditis [P<0.05] at the end of therapy. Conclusion: As HCV infection might contributes to the initiation of thyroid autoimmunity and interferon induced thyroiditis is a frequent complication of IFN-a therapy, HCV infected patients could be subjected to thyroid screening by utilizing some chemokines as CXCLIO, CCL5 in addition to ATPO for identification of those who are prone to thyroiditis during IFN-a therapy?

Transgenic canola plants over-expressing bacterial catalase exhibit enhanced resistance to Peronospora parasitica and Erysiphe polygoni

Transgenic canola [Brassica napus.L] plants expressing the bacterial catalase katE in the chloroplasts were obtained by the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. Resistance and susceptibility of the transgenic canola plants were evaluated against the airborne pathogenic fungi, Peronospora parasitica causing downy mildew and Erysiphe polygon causing powdery mildew under artificial infection in the greenhouse. The bioassays of the transgenic plants demonstrated that the growth of both fungi and the development of disease incidence were significantly inhibited in the leaves of the transgenic canola plants compared to controls. Chemical analyses of the transgenic plants revealed constitutive expression of the enzymes catalase, peroxidase and polyphenoloxidase as well as higher levels of free polyamines i. e. putrescine, spermidine and spermine compared with the control plants. Together, these data indicate an enhanced resistance of the transgenic canola plants expressing the bacterial catalase to the downy mildew and powdery mildew pathogens

Genetic diversity among sorghum bicolor genotypes using simple sequence repeats [SSRs] markers

The technique Simple Sequence Repeats [SSRs] was applied to quantify the genetic diversity among nine Sorghum bicolor genotypes of different origins cultivated in Egypt using nine Sorghum bicolor-derived simple sequence repeat [SSR] markers. The total number of alleles detected by SSR was 70 with an average of 7.3 alleles per primer. The results indicate that 58% of the SSR markers were polymorphic. Cultivar-specific SSR markers characterizing different genotypes were used to generate unique fingerprinting for each genotype. Nine unique positive and negative cultivar specific markers were detected. The unique specific markers characterized 4 out of 9 cultivars. The cluster analysis of SSR data showed a wide genetic background in the examined cultivars. Based on the data reported here, SSR markers appear to be particularly useful for the estimation of genetic similarity among the relatively poorly characterized genotypes of sorghum of different origins

Overexpression of glutaredoxin-2 from cyanobacterium synechocystis PCC 6803 in Escherichia coli conferring enhanced salt stress tolerance

Glutaredoxin [Grx], widely found in bacteria, plants, and mammalian cells, is an electron carrier for ribonucleotide reductase and a general glutathione-disulfide reductase of importance for redox regulation. Cyanobacterium Synechocystis strain PCC 6803 contains two genes [slr1562 and ssr2061] encoding two glutaredoxins [Grx1 and Grx2, respectively]. The amino acid sequences deduced from both proteins share high identity with those of Grxs from other organisms. In the present study, we found that the steady-state transcript levels of ssr2061 were increased in the wild-type of Cyanobacterium cells under oxidative stress conditions imposed by high salinity [NaCl], chilling or application of H[2]O[2], methylviologen or t-butyl hydroperoxide. Moreover, the protein Grx2 encoded by ssr2061 was successfully overexpressed as a soluble fraction in Escherichia coli JM109. The transformed Escherichia coli cells showed high tolerance to NaCl [over than 700 mM] mediating growth inhibition compared to cells transformed with the vector alone]

Serum levels of interleukin-10 and interleukin- 12 in chronic hepatitis C

Background and Objective: it is still unclear whether Thl /Th2 cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular injury of hepatitis C infection. We therefore examined serum levels of IL-10 and IL-12 in chronic liver disease patients, whereas IL-12 represents Thl cytokine and IL-10 represents Th2 cytokine

Methods: serum levels of LL-10 and IL-12 were measured in 54 patients including 30 with chronic hepatitis [CH] and 24 with liver cirrhosis [LC] in comparison with 20 normal individuals, by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Results: serum level of IL-10 was significantly higher in chronic hepatitis and LC than in controls [89.6 +/- 56.58 pg/ml ad 1 73.38 +/- 67.71 pg/ml Vs 36.35 +/- 16.04 pg/ml, respectively, P<0.001, each]. It was significantly higher in LC than in CH [p<0.001] Serum level of IL-12 was significantly higher in CH and LC than in controls [325.03 +/- 132.75 pg/ml. 349.01 +/- 204.32 pg/ml Vs 184.15 +/- 122.16, P<0.001 and P<0.01, respectively]

Conclusion: the results of the present study suggest that Th1 /Th2 type cytokines are changed in association with progression of chronic liver disease type related to HCV infection

Prevalence of infertility in rural areas of Kafr El-Sheikh-Egypt: a community-based study

The current study was carried out in Desok district-Kafr El Sheikh province, to measure the prevalence of primary and secondary infertility among rural women and to study some risk factors as well. The study included 1125 married women between 15-49 years. The results of the study showed that; 7.9% reported secondary infertility, 2.5% experienced primary infertility, the prevalence of primary infertility is higher among women under 30 years than older ages, and secondary infertility increases with advance in age. Both types of infertility were higher among women married under the age of 16 or above 30 years. There was an insignificant difference between fertile group and infertile groups regarding age at menarche. Irregular menses-was significantly higher among infertile groups compared to fertile group. Secondary infertility group had significant higher abortion and difficult labor than fertile group. There was an insignificant difference between the study groups regarding illiteracy rate. Chronic illnesses of women as well as husbands were significantly more reported among women with secondary infertility. In conclusion, the overall prevalence of infertility is 10.4%