The use of urinary kidney injury molecule-1 and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin for diagnosis of hepato-renal syndrome in advanced cirrhotic patients.

BACKGROUND: Chronic liver disease is a common and important clinical problem.Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a life threatening complication. Serum creatinine (Cr) remains the only conventional indicator of renal function. However, the interpretation of serum Cr level can be confounded by malnutrition and reduced muscle mass often observed in patients with severe liver disease. Here, we present a cross-sectional study to explore the sensitivity and specificity of other markers as urinary KIM-1 and NGAL for cases of HRS. METHODS: Cross-sectional study was conducted on 88 patients who were admitted to Alexandria main university hospital. Enrolled patients were divided in two groups; group 1: patients with advanced liver cirrhosis (child B and C) who have normal kidney functions while group 2: patients who developed HRS. Stata© version 14.2 software package was used for analysis. RESULTS: Group 1 included 18 males and 26 females compared to 25 males and 19 females in group 2 (p = 0.135). Only the urinary KIM-1 showed a statistically significant difference between both groups in the multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for gender, serum bilirubin, serum albumin, INR, serum K, AST and ALT levels. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study aligns with prior research, as seen in the consistent findings regarding Urinary NGAL elevation in cirrhotic patients with AKI. Urinary KIM-1, independent of Urinary NGAL, may have a role in precisely distinguishing between advanced liver cirrhosis and HRS and merits further exploration.

Association of CCND1 (c.723G > A, rs9344) variant with elevated risk of breast carcinoma: a retrospective case-control study.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence rate of breast carcinoma (BC) among multiple ethnic populations required more explanations to understand the pathogenesis mechanisms for the development of this type of cancer. The principal purpose of this work is to validate the correlation of the CCND1 (c.723G > A; rs9344) variant with an increased risk of breast carcinoma. METHODS: This retrospective case-controlled study was designed appertaining to 200 women including 100 BC patients and 100 unrelated cancer-free controls. The amplification of genomic DNA was genotyped utilizing the PCR-RFLP technique. RESULTS: The frequencies of the CCND1 (c.723G > A; rs9344) variant revealed a significant association with increased risk of breast carcinoma under different genetic models including allelic (OR = 2.84, P-value < 0.001), recessive (OR = 4.83, P-value < 0.001), and dominant (OR = 3.19, P-value < 0.001) models. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings concluded that the genetic biomarker of the CCND1 (c.723G > A; rs9344) variant is correlated with an elevated risk of breast carcinoma among Egyptian women.

Characterization of three types of Schistosoma mansoni soluble egg antigen and determination of their immunodiagnostic potential by western blot immunoassay.

On the search of highly sensitive and specific antigenic components for use in serological tests, the serologic activities of the various protein fractions of three types of Schistosoma mansoni soluble egg antigen (SEA) were compared in an immunoblot analysis for their ability to detect schistosomiasis mansoni infections . Three types of soluble egg antigen (SEA) were prepared from three suspensions of Schistosoma mansoni eggs; namely living SEA (L-SEA), dead SEA (D-SEA) and mixed SEA (M-SEA). The three antigens were resolved by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A total of 80 Egyptian individuals were enrolled in the present study. After being screened by clinical examination, urine and stool analysis, sigmoidoscopy rectal snip examination, abdominal ultrasonography and indirect haemagglutination test (IHAT), the study population were grouped into an active intestinal schistosomiasis group (group I, n=20), a schistosomiasis seropositive group by IHA test (group II, n=20), a parasite control group including 10 patients with hydatidosis & 10 patients with fascioliasis (group III, n = 20) and a normal control group (group IV, n=20). Sera of all subjects were studied by immunoblotting for the presence of IgG antibodies against the various protein fractions of the three prepared types of SEA. Several protein bands from the 3 types of SEA reacted with the schistosomiasis patients' sera in a heterogenous manner. However, a 31-32 kilo daltons (kDa) protein fraction of L-SEA reacted with 80% (16/20) of group I sera, 40% (8/20) of group II sera, one hydatidosis serum, but no reaction occurred with normal sera. Also, in the active intestinal schistosomiasis group, the 31-32 kDa fraction of L-SEA was more recognized by patients with early active intestinal schistosomiasis without organomegaly (100%, 12/12) than in those with organomegaly (50%, 4/8) (P < 0.05). On the other hand, a 80-82 kDa band of M-SEA was recognized by 70% (14/20) of group 1, 30% (6/20) of group II & sera from 3 hydatidosis and 2 fascioliasis cases, but not by normal human sera. So, it can be concluded that the 31-32 kDa protein fraction of L-SEA is highly immunogenic, with the least cross reaction with other parasitic infections, and may be a useful serologic marker for diagnosing and differentiating between early and chronic schistosomiasis mansoni infection.