Monocyte chemotactic protein and response to pegylated interferon-alpha-2A treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C [CHC] genotype 4

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection varies across the world, with the highest number of infections reported in Egypt. Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 [MCP-1] is a potent chemokine, and its hepatic expression is up-regulated during chronic HCV infection. Fifty naive patients with chronic hepatitis C in National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute and 20 healthy volunteers as controls were enrolled in a prospective study designed with strict inclusion criteria to nullify the effect of confounding variables and further minimize selection bias. Fifty naïve patients were treated with PEG-IFN-a2b, at a dose of 180lg/kg subcutaneously every week plus ribavirin at a dose of 1000- 1200 mg/day, according to the patient's body weight, for 48 weeks. Quantification of HCV-RNA by real-time PCR and MCP-1 by ELISA were performed for every patient and controls. There was a statistically significant difference between patients and control group as regards the quantity of MCP-1 [P <0.05] [Mann-Whitney test] [P =0.004]. There was a significant difference between responders and nonresponses regarding MCP-1 [P < 0.05], responders showed a higher percentage of cases with initial MCP-1< 306 [P < 0.05]. We conclude the importance of the detection of MCP-1 expression at the start of therapy as a factor for assessing the likelihood of HCV genotype 4 patients to achieving a sustained virological response to treatment with IFN-a2 in combination with ribavirin

Role of soluble P-selectin among type 2 diabetic patients with and without coronary heart disease

Type 2 diabetes mellitus [T2DM] is associated with a marked increase in the risk of coronary heart disease. Platelets play a significant role in coronary artery disease [CAD]. P-selectin is a component of the platelet granule membrane that is expressed on the platelet surface membrane and shed into the plasma as sP-selection on platelet activation. The current study was performed to investigate the association of soluble P-selection with inflammatory marker high sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP], lipid profile and glycemic control among type 2 diabetic patients with and without coronary heart disease. This study included 31 diabetic patients with coronary artery disease [group I], 29 healthy subjects as control group [group II], and 28 diabetic patients without coronary artery disease [group III]. The age and sex of diabetic groups were matched with normal control group. Glucose, HbAlc, lipid profile, hsCRP and sP-selectin were measured. The levels of glucose, HbAlc, total cholesterol, triacylglycerol. LDL-c, hsCRP and sP-selectin level were significantly higher in the diabetic group with coronary artery disease than in the control group and the diabetic group without coronary artery disease. The level of HDL-c was significantly lower in the diabetic group with coronary artery disease than in the control group and the diabetic group without coronary artery disease. There was a significant positive correlation between level of sP-selectin and duration of CAD diabetic patients with coronary artery disease. Also there was a significant positive correlation between sP-selectin and duration of diabetes mellitus in both diabetic groups with and without coronary artery disease. ROC curve analysis for hsCRP and sP-selectin indicated that, sP-selectin had higher sensitivity and specificity than hsCRP in diabetic patient with coronary artery disease. In conclusion, measurement of soluble P-selectin seems more helpful marker of impending coronary artery insult in diabetic patients and had higher diagnostic value than hsCRP in diabetic patient with coronary artery disease

Hepatitis C virus infection and gene expression of hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian patients

Gene expression profiling of hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC] is promising for refining the diagnosis and prognosis as well as identifying potential therapeutic targets. Our study aimed to study the gene expression in 40 HCC patients infected with hepatitis C virus [HCV] using RT-PCR technique on surgical liver sample. Gene expression changes in HCV-positive group were compared with gene expression in HCV-negative group. Four genes were included in this study, AFP gene, CD10 gene, HGF gene and GRB2 gene. The expression of the four genes were slightly higher in HCV positive group than in HCV negative group, however, the difference between the two groups was non-significant. HGF gene was expressed in only 20% of HCC patients and GRB2 gene was expressed in 95% of HCC patients. AFP gene and CD10 gene were expressed in all patients. AFP gene, CD10 gene and GRB2 gene play an important role as diagnostic markers of HCC

Serum and CSF electrolytes, zinc and glucose concentration in febrile convulsions; are they useful biochemical markers in such cases?

This study was designed to assess serum and CSF concentrations of sodium, potassium, zinc and blood glucose in infants and children presented with febrile convulsions in comparison with age matched healthy controls. On the other hand, it aimed to investigate the correlation between serum and CSF concentrations of those variables in enrolled cases in a trial to delineate their usefulness as biochemical markers in such cases. Twenty-one cases with febrile convulsions [FC] were included in the current study as group I [cases] and ten age matched clinically healthy children were also enrolled as group II [controls]. Full history taking, thorough clinical examination, CBC and ESR estimation, assessment of serum Na, K, Zn and blood glucose concentrations were done for all subjects included in the current study. Lumbar puncture with complete CSF examination was carried out for all cases, excluding bacterial or viral meningitis or encephalitis and determining the CSF concentrations of the previously mentioned biochemical variables. In conclusion, it was recommended to assess Na and Zn levels in cases with febrile convulsions to detect any possible deficiency and to conduct future studies to investigate the effect of their supplementation, whenever deficient, on the course and recurrence of convulsions