Effect of calcium carbonate nanoparticles on alkaline protease production from Streptomyces spororaveus

Aims@#This study aims to detect the effect of nano-sized calcium carbonate as an ingredient in growth medium on the production of alkaline protease by Streptomyces spororaveus. The proportional relationship between highly production of alkaline protease and calcium carbonate nanoparticles emphasizes the unique and super properties of nanotechnology that applied in all field. @*Methodology and results@#The high production of protease from S. spororaveus accompanied with presence of calcium carbonate nanoparticles as one of growth medium's constituents. Both qualitative and quantitative tests for proteolytic activity proved this fact. Agar-well diffusion method revealed that, the proteolytic activity with calcium carbonate nanoparticles (45 mm) is higher than that with calcium carbonate (30 mm). Calcium carbonate nanoparticles led to 150 μg/mL of protease, while calcium carbonate led to 65 μg/mL only. The crude protease was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation and gel filtration column chromatography using Sephadex G-100. The purified protease was separated by SDS-PAGE as a single band at 30 kDa. The highest proteolytic activity was obtained at pH 8.5 and 45 °C as optimum environmental conditions. The purified protease has inhibited the growth of Candida albicans ATCC-10231 and Aspergillus brasiliensis ATCC-16404 at 8 mm and 10 mm of inhibition zone respectively. @*Conclusion, significance and impact of study@#Calcium carbonate nanoparticles in the composition of starch nitrate broth is good stimulus for highly proteolytic activity of S. spororaveus. Shake-flask fermentation method proved that, the concerned protease is an alkaline and thermostable up to 70 °C. However, the best pH and temperature values are 8.5 and 45 °C, respectively. This study can be applied to manufacture a modified starch nitrate broth medium for highly production of proteases from Streptomyces bacteria.

Cardiac parameters and interleukin-6 differences between adolescents with hepatitis B infection versus those complicated with hepatocelluar carcinoma

Background and study aim: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major risk factor of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in all age groups. There is a need to differentiate between them in the adolescence age by laboratory and physical examination for assessment of different outcomes of both diseases.Subjects and Methods: Cross sectional study that included Session [UserIDID] adolescents with HBV, another Session [UserIDID] with HCC with age ranging from 12 and up to 17 years. They were selected from those admitted to Tropical Medicine Department, Menofia University and Tropical Medicine Department, Zagazig University. All patient underwent laboratory assessment of interleukin6 (IL6) and were further examined at the Cardiology Unit in Pediatric department of Ain Shams University hospitals for complete echo-cardiographic and anthropometric evaluation.Results: Twenty four patients have HCC were examined with mean age (14.15± 3.01) years and another Session [UserIDID] are having HBV (14.64±3.13) years. Differences were found between both groups as regards IL6 as mean values were (13.29 pg/ml) in HBV and (77.63 pg/ml) in HCC group while no differences were detected as regards cardiac and anthropometric evaluations.Conclusion: IL6 seems to be a useful marker to compare between HBV and HCC in adolescent patients instead of depending on clinical cardiac evaluation or growth parameters that showed no differences

Long-term Outcomes of Augmentation Cystoplasty in a Pediatric Population With Refractory Bladder Dysfunction: A 12-Year Follow-up Experience at Single Center / 대한배뇨장애요실금학회지

PURPOSE: Augmentation cystoplasty (AC) is a surgical procedure used in adults and children with refractory bladder dysfunction, including a small bladder capacity and inadequate bladder compliance, and in whom conservative and medical treatment has failed. This study was aimed to determine the long-term outcomes of AC in children. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 42 patients (31 males; mean age, 14.2±6.2 years) who underwent AC for neurogenic and nonneurogenic bladder dysfunction, with a median 12.0±1.5 years of follow-up. All patients underwent AC using the ileum with or without continent reconstruction. Pre-AC, concurrent, and post-AC procedures and complications were analyzed. Patients who underwent ureterocystoplasty, were lost to follow-up, or had less than 10 years of follow-up were excluded. The primary outcomes were the complication and continence rates, the post-AC linear rate of height and weight gain, and renal function. The Student t-test was used to evaluate between-group differences and the paired t-test was used to evaluate longitudinal changes in measured variables. RESULTS: Renal function was stable or improved in 32 of 42 patients (76.2%), with a post-AC continence rate of 88.1%. Thirty patients (71.4%) required 72 procedures post-AC. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean percentile of height (P=0. 212) or weight (P=0.142) of patients in the pre- and post-AC periods. No cases of bladder perforation or malignancy were detected. CONCLUSIONS: We consider AC to be a safe and effective procedure that does not negatively affect future physical growth, while achieving a good rate of stable renal function. Patients need long-term follow-up to address long-term complications.

Cardiometabolic protective effects of some medicinal plants in diabetic albino rats

Background and aim of the study: DM represents an important independent risk factor for the development of and mortality from coronary heart disease [CHD], increasing the risk by 2 to 4 times. According to WHO data, more than 75% of patients with DM die due to vascular accidents. This study investigated the effects of some plants used in Saudi Arabia and some other Arab countries as antidiabetic agents and explores its metabolic effects

Material and Methods: One hundred fifty adult male Albino Rats were divided into six experimental groups each consist of twenty five rats. The first group was considered as a control group. The rest of groups were affected by induction of experimental diabetes by subcutaneous injection of Alloxan. The second group consisted of diabetic rats without any treatment. The third group was treated by the aqueous extract of mixture contains Foenugreek, Nigella sativa and Termis seeds. The fourth group was treated with the aqueous extract of Nigella sativa seeds [100 mg / kg of body weight], while the fifth group was treated with the aqueous extract of Foenugreek seeds [100 mg / kg of body weight]. The sixth one was treated with the aqueous extract of Termis seeds [100 mg/kg body weight]. After four weeks of treatment, different biochemical parameters were performed including estimation of blood sugar level and serum insulin level. Pancreatic and liver samples were obtained and processed for microscopic and quantitative evaluation after staining the prepared sections with both Heamatoxylin and Eosin as well as special stain for demonstration of the different pancreatic cells in the Islet of the Langerhans

Results: The usage of the mixture or each plant alone corrected the glucose level and insulin level. Microscopically there was definite decrease in the number and diameter of beta pancreatic cells in the diabetic group while the other pancreatic cells were not affected [alpha and delta cells]. The use of medicinal plants in the different groups of this study greatly improved such cellular changes and the level of blood sugar level was corrected. Also, improve dyslipidemia present in diabetic rats. The results showed that the activity of the mixture was better when compared with Nigella, Foenugreek or Termis seeds alone

Conclusions: The water extract of the mixture is the most powerful in amelioration hyperglycemia and most of all damage effects of Alloxan on hematological parameters and lipid profile. Also, it can control most of the metabolic risk factors of CAD in diabetic rats. So it is advised to use the plant mixture as an antidiabetic agent rather than the use of each plant separately. Repeating such study with the use of variable doses may be helpful in better evaluation for the required dose

Possible involvement of epstein-barr virus [EBV] in pathogenesis and prognosis of female breast infiltrating duct carcinoma: clinicopathological, immunohistochemical and molecular study

Background: Recent studies have raised the possibility that EBV may be involved in the pathogenesis of breast carcinoma. Many studies have shown that membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase [MT1-MMP] has an important role in matrix metalloproteinase type2 [MMP-2] activation in cell membranes but only few reports about its clinical value are valid. In this study, we investigated the relationship between MT1-MMP protein expression and MMP2 activity as well as EBV infection

Materials and Methods: 34 cases of infiltrating duct carcinoma were collected. MT1-MMP protein expression was detected by Western Blot, MMP2 by Zymographic analysis and EBV DNA was determined by PCR. Also, latent membrane protein type 1 [LMP1] of EBV, estrogen receptor [ER], and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [Her-2] were measured immunohistochemically

Results: The results revealed that EBV-DNA was found in 12 cases [35.3%] while only 6 control samples [17.6%] were positive for viral DNA. The latent EBV protein LMP-1 was detected in 6 cases and in 2 cases of control samples. MT1-MMP expression was found in 79.4%, while it was 26.4% in the normal surrounding tissues [p-value <0.001]. There was a significant association between MT1-MMP expression and MMP-2 activity [p-value = 0.007] in the tumor tissue. Also, ER was observed in 13 /34[38.2%] cases, while Her-2 overexpression was detected in 19 /34 [55.9%] cases

Conclusion: This study suggests an association between EBV and infiltrating duct carcinoma of female breast regarding tumor development and aggressiveness. Also, MT1-MMP can be used as a prognostic factor predicts the possibility of breast cancer invasion and metastasis

Assessment of the proliferative marker Ki-67 and P53 protein expression in HBV- and HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma cases in Egypt

Background: Chronic HBV and HCV infections are the major risk factors for the development of HCC through a multistep pathway that involves viral and non-viral dependent pathophysiological steps. Hepatic expression of the nuclear proliferative marker ki-67 and the p53 oncoprotein were found to be associated with poor outcome. So, the present study was done to evaluate the changes in expression of Ki-67 and p53 oncoprotein, and to determine p53 gene mutation in HBV/HCV-related HCC Egyptian patients

Materials and Methods: Eight HBV-and 22 HCV-positive HCC cases have been examined for the presence of p53 mutation by immunohistochemistry [IHC] and single-strand conformation polymorphism [SSCP] followed by direct DNA sequencing. HCV were genotyped by LiPA-II

Results: Our results have shown that the proliferative marker ki-67 LI and p53 were highly expressed and significantly related to tumor grade in the Egyptian HCC cases [p<0.05]. Also, p53 mutation was found in 16 HCC cases by IHC and in 14 HCC cases by SSCP, only 11 patients showed p53 mutation by sequencing. The highest mutation rate was scored for exon 7 [7 mutations] at codon 249; 4 out of 8 [50%] of HBV-related HCC cases and 3 out of 22 [13.6%] of HCV-related HCC cases, followed by exon 5 [3 mutations] at codons 133, 146, 176 in HCV-related HCC cases, then exon 8 at codon 275 in HCV-related HCC cases. The concordance between the IHC and sequencing analysis was 69%

Conclusion: the present study demonstrates the association between the proliferative marker ki-67 and p53 expression with the tumor grade of Egyptian HBV/HCV-related HCC cases. Our results also support the hypothesis that p53 mutations are rather a late event in the carcinogenesis. Also, they suggest that the final steps of hepatocarcinogenesis are common and independent of the aetiology of the viral infection

ccLack of evidence for the role of BK and JC polyoma viruses in non-hodgkin's lymphoma

Background: Human polyomaviruses JCV and BKV can cause several clinical manifestations in immunocompromised hosts, including progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy [PML] and hemorrhagic cystitis. The association of these viruses with clinical tumors and their possible roles in the etiology of nonhodgkin's lymphoma are not clear. So, the purpose of this study was to screen for the presence of JCV, and BKV DNA sequences in NHL, where immunocompromised individuals are known to be at risk of development of virus-mediated neoplasm

Materials and Methods: Fresh tumor samples from 66 Egyptian patients with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and 34 control groups were examined by polymerase chain reaction [PCR] for detection of JCV DNA and BKV DNA sequences

Results: Our results have shown that JCV DNA sequences were found in the tumor tissues of 40/66 [60%] NHL patients compared to 14/34 [41.1%] of the control group, whereas BKV DNA sequences were found in 23/66 [34.8%] of NHL patients compared to 7/34 [20.5%] of the control group. There was no statistically significant difference between the presence of virus in cases and controls [p > 0.05]. For overall survival [OS] on univariate analysis, negative JCV DNA patients had not a different time to survive compared with positive JCV DNA patients [Log Rank test = 1.62; p = 0.20]. Also, Presence of JCV DNA sequences in NHL patients did not affect the response of those patients to chemotherapy [Log Rank test = 0.74; p = 0.40]. The same findings were found with BKV infection where BKV had not any effect on the survival [Log Rank test=015; p = 0.70] and the response of those patients [Log rank test = 0.39; p = 0.53]

Conclusion: The present study has shown that presence of both BKV DNA and JCV DNA sequences in NHL patients had not any effect on overall survival [OS] or the response to chemotherapy in those patients

Effect of paracentesis on portal venous hemodynamics, cardiopulmonary functions and arterial blood volume in cirrhotic patients

Abdominal paracentesis is an old medical procedure for treatment of tense ascites. Paracentesis induced circulatory dysfunction [PICD] is a complication that can be prevented with the administration of intravenous albumin. The aim of this work is to assess the effects of a single large volume paracentesis [LVP] on portal venous hemodynamics and cardiopulmonary functions in cirrhotic patients with tense ascites. Also, to compare between dextran-70 and albumin as a replacement therapy. Thirty adult patients from either sex with cirrhosis and intractable ascites were randomly allocated into one of three groups subjected to LVP, group I: include 10 patients received human albumin infusion 20%, group II: include 10 patients received dextran -70 infusions and group III: include 10 patients with no replacement therapy. Patients had undergone blood urea blood urea nitrogen [BUN], liver function tests. serum electrolytes [Na+ and K+], ascetic fluid analysis, arterial blood gases [ABG], duplex ultra-sonographic examination of the portal [PV] and splenic veins [SV] with calculation of their velocity and congestive index [CI], standard pulmonary functions tests and echocardiographic estimation of right and Left atrial areas and cardiac output [COP]. Effective arterial blood volume was assessed by measuring plasma renin activity [PRA] and aldosterone concentrations [PAC]. All measurements were done at baseline, 48 hours [hrs.] and on the six day after LVP. All patients reported improvement of their clinical manifestation. Urine output increased in all groups with significant difference between group I and groups II and III at 48 hrs and between group I and III at 6th day. Heart rate slightly increased 48 hrs and then decreased on the 6th day with no significant difference between studied groups while the mean arterial blood pressure slightly decreased in dl groups with only significant difference between pre-tape and 48 hrs and 6th day results in-group III. The mean right and left AA and COP significantly increased in the all groups Right AA was lower in-group III at 48 hrs compared to other two groups. There was significant difference between pre-tape and 48 hrs results of left AA in-group III. At 48 hrs left AA was significantly lower in group III compared to other two groups and in group II compared to group I. On the 6th day, left AA was significantly lower in group III compared to other two groups. The mean FEVI and FVC increased in all groups, while the mean FEVI/FVC showed no significant change. The mean PaO2 increased significantly in all groups. Oxygen saturation increased significantly in all groups at 48 hrs then decreased on the 6th day but still above pre-tape results with significant difference between 48 hrs and 6th day values. PaCO2 decreased significantly in all groups. There was a significant increase in mean PV and SV velocity 48 hrs after LVP with non-significant reduction of their congestion index. BUN significantly increased in group III compared to groups I and II. Serum sodium markedly decreased in group III compared to groups I and II with significant difference between pre-tape, 48 hrs and 6th day results of group III. PRA and PAC non significantly increased in all groups before LVP, in group I, PRA showed no significant changes after LVP, while PAC initially increased after LVP then significantly decreased on the 6th day. In-group II, PRA and PAC significantly increased after LVP with significant difference between pre-tape, 48 hrs and 6th day results of PAC. In-group III there was significant increase in PRA and PAC. As regard PRA, there was significant difference between groups I and II and group III, also between group III and group II at 48 hrs while on the 6th day there was significant difference between groups I and II and group III. As regard, PAC there was significant difference between group I and groups II and III on the 6th day. There was non-significant increased incidence of hyponatremia, hyperkalemia and incidence of PICD in group III. So, we can conclude that LVP with concomitant infusion with appropriate plasma volume expander is quite safe, palliative, and cost effective in patients with advanced cirrhosis and has a fewer complications in comparison to conventional diuretic therapy. LVP has an immediate beneficial effect on arteria blood oxygenation, cardiac functions, provides rapid improvement of lung volumes and improve portal venous dynamics. The low cost, the good tolerance and the safety of the plasma expander, dextran justify its therapeutic usage as useful alternative to human albumin in the management of intractable ascites especially small volume [<5 liter]. Also therapeutic paracentesis without replacement is effective as with albumin or dextran infusion on the outcome of cardiopulmonary functions and portal venous dynamics