RESUMEN
This research investigates the synthesis and characterization of hydrogel and cryogel microspheres that are doped with green synthesised silver nanoparticles (CS-AgNPs). Also, the study assesses the antibacterial activity of hydrogel and cryogel microspheres by comparing them with commercial antibiotics. The porous structure of CS and the adequate dispersion of AgNPs were confirmed by SEM and EDX techniques, respectively. The disk diffusion method and the optical density measurement (OD600) confirm the outstanding antimicrobial activity of CS-AgNPs hydrogel and cryogel microspheres in comparison to antibiotics for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The CS-AgNPs microspheres demonstrate promising antimicrobial and biocompatible agents for medical field applications.
Asunto(s)
Antiinfecciosos , Quitosano , Nanopartículas del Metal , Antibacterianos/química , Criogeles , Quitosano/química , Plata/química , Bacterias Gramnegativas , Nanopartículas del Metal/química , Microesferas , Bacterias Grampositivas , Antiinfecciosos/farmacologíaRESUMEN
This study intended to measure the expression of complement regulatory proteins CD55 and CD59 on RBCs membrane in patients with ß-thalassemia (ß- thal) major in addition to investigate if splenectomy affects their expression pattern. This was a case-control study, participants were allocated in three groups. The study group 1 consisted of ß-thal patients who underwent splenectomy. The study group 2 consisted of ß-thal patients without splenectomy. Group 3 consisted of apparently healthy volunteers as a control group. A significant decrease in CD55 expression in patients' group 1 (46.35±14.61) and group 2 (56.90±9.28) in comparison with group 3 (86.20±9.62) was observed. The percentage of CD55 expression was significantly lower in group 1 patients than group 2 (P=0.01). However, there was no difference in the percentage of CD59 marker expression between any of the patient's groups and the control group. In conclusion, CD55 under-expression on RBCs of ß- thal patients may be considered one of the factors that cause hemolysis in those patients and this complement mediated hemolysis may be one of the underlying causes of organ damage. Additional deficiency of this receptor occurs with splenectomy.
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Antígenos CD55/metabolismo , Antígenos CD59/metabolismo , Eritrocitos/metabolismo , Esplenectomía , Talasemia beta/sangre , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Hemólisis , HumanosRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The main aim of this study is to evaluate the micronuclei scoring as a biomarker for early detection and screening of genotoxic effect of cigarette smoking in the peripheral blood T- lymphocytes. METHODS: A total number of eligible 148 individuals have participated in the study; 78 Current smokers and 70 never smokers. Cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay was performed for all the participants in the peripheral blood T-lymphocytes. Assessment of the smoking status of the participants was conducted through the detailed smoking history, Fagerström test for nicotine dependence (FTND) scoring, and determination of the urinary cotinine creatinine ratio (CCR). RESULT: A significantly higher frequency of micronuclei in the binucleated T-lymphocytes(BMNi) was identified in the smokers group as compared to the nonsmokers; OR=4.9, 95% CI=1.9-12.5), P-value=0.006. Both of the pack years and the smoking duration of the smokers could significantly predict the BMNi scoring; P-value=0.001, 0.002 respectively. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate the association between BMNi and cigarette smoking, suggesting that BMNi Scoring can be a useful biomarker for early detection and screening of the genotoxic effect of cigarette smoking as a primary preventive measure for various smoking induced cancers.
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Biomarcadores/metabolismo , Núcleo Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Fumar Cigarrillos/efectos adversos , Mutágenos/efectos adversos , Nicotiana/efectos adversos , Fumar/efectos adversos , Adulto , Biomarcadores/orina , Cotinina/orina , Estudios Transversales , Daño del ADN/efectos de los fármacos , Detección Precoz del Cáncer/métodos , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Pruebas de Micronúcleos/métodos , FumadoresRESUMEN
The aim of this study was to investigate association of protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22 (PTPN22) rs2476601 and signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) rs7574865 polymorphisms with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility and to assess potential association with the status of rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies, serum neopterin, and disease activity. RF, anti-CCP antibodies, and neopterin were assayed in serum of 100 unrelated RA patients and 114 controls. STAT4 rs7574865 G/T and PTPN22 rs2476601 C/T polymorphisms were genotyped by the TaqMan allelic discrimination method. The frequency of STAT4 variant allele was significantly higher in RA patients than in controls (p = 0.01), while the variant allele of PTPN22 was identified in only two RA patients, in a heterozygous form and in none of control subjects. The frequency of STAT4 variant allele carrier genotypes (GT+TT) was significantly higher among RA patients than in controls (43.7 vs. 10.5%, p = 0.02) and associated with RA under additive and dominant models. The frequency of RF and anti-CCP positivity was significantly higher among RA patients carrying T allele genotypes compared to patients carrying wild genotype (P = 0.02 and 0.04, respectively). No significant associations between STAT4 variant and serum neopterin or disease activity parameters were identified. Our study confirmed the association of STAT4 rs7574865 polymorphism with RA and was the first to indicate an association with RF and anti-CCP antibodies positivity. We also found PTPN22 rs2476601 has no role in susceptibility to RA in Egyptian patients.
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Artritis Reumatoide/sangre , Artritis Reumatoide/genética , Autoanticuerpos/sangre , Proteína Tirosina Fosfatasa no Receptora Tipo 22/genética , Factor de Transcripción STAT4/genética , Adulto , Alelos , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Egipto , Femenino , Frecuencia de los Genes , Predisposición Genética a la Enfermedad , Humanos , Modelos Logísticos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Polimorfismo de Nucleótido Simple , Factor Reumatoide/sangre , Índice de Severidad de la EnfermedadRESUMEN
Neopterin has been measured in many autoimmune diseases and was reported as a marker of cellular immunity activation in rheumatoid asthritis (RA). The aim of this work was to assess serum neopterin as a marker of disease activity in treated RA patients. We measured serum level of neopterin in 120 treated RA patients and 100 age- and sex-matched controls by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, and disease activity score was calculated in all patients by DAS28-CRP score. Significantly higher levels of neopterin were observed in RA patients (11.46 ± 3.56 nmol/L) compared to healthy controls (4.74 ± 1.98 nmol/L), P < 0.0001. Significantly higher neopterin levels were observed among male RA patients [median (IQR), 13.44 (12.65-16.21)] than female RA patients [median (IQR), 11.86 (7.91-13.44)], P <0.0001. No significant correlations between neopterin and age, age of disease onset, disease duration, or any of the disease activity parameters were found. Moreover, no significant difference regarding neopterin levels in different disease activity phases was identified. Our results indicated that neopterin is a marker of RA but not a marker of disease activity in treated RA patients.
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Artritis Reumatoide/sangre , Artritis Reumatoide/fisiopatología , Neopterin/sangre , Adulto , Biomarcadores/sangre , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Progresión de la Enfermedad , Egipto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Índice de Severidad de la Enfermedad , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Lipoprotein-related mechanisms have been associated with damage to the cardiovascular system in diabetic patients. Apolipoprotein E gene which affects the clearance of lipoproteins and consequently the lipid profile in our body is one of the most studied candidate genes and recently has been reported to be associated with T2DM and CAD. In this work, we studied the association of apoE gene polymorphism with T2DM and CVD and its effect on plasma lipids profile. METHODS: Our study was conducted on 284 subjects categorized into 100 patients with T2DM, 100 patients with T2DM complicated with CVD and 84 normal control subjects. ApoE gene polymorphism was genotyped by real-time PCR using TaqMan(®) SNP Genotyping Assay. RESULTS: ApoE E3/E3 genotype was the most common in our subjects. The frequencies of E3/E4 genotype and ε4 allele were increased in both T2DM patients and CVD patients as compared with controls, but were significant only in CVD patients (p = 0.004 and 0.007, respectively). Diabetic patients who carried E3/E4 genotype were at 2.4-fold increased risk to develop CVD (95 % CI 1.14-5.19, P = 0.02) and the ε4 allele associated with 2.23-fold higher CVD risk (95 % CI 1.09-4.59, P = 0.02). After adjustment for other established risk factors, E3/E4 genotype was an independent risk factor for CVD (OR = 2.3, p = 0.009) but not for T2DM (OR = 1.7, p = 0.28), while ε4 allele was an independent risk factor for both T2DM (OR = 2.2, p = 0.04) and CVD (OR = 3.0, p = 0.018) with 5.9-fold increased risk to develop CVD in T2DM patients (p = 0.019). E3/E4 genotype associated with significantly higher levels of TC and non HDL-C in all groups and with significantly higher levels of LDL-C in both T2DM and CVD patients. CONCLUSIONS: ApoE gene polymorphisms associate with CVD and affect the lipid profile. The ε4 allele is an independent risk factor for both T2DM and CVD. Further genetic studies to add information beyond the traditional cardiovascular risk factors in T2DM and to identify risk genotypes will help in early prediction and identification of at risk patients.
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Apolipoproteína E3/genética , Apolipoproteína E4/genética , Enfermedades Cardiovasculares/genética , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/genética , Polimorfismo de Nucleótido Simple , Adulto , Biomarcadores/sangre , Enfermedades Cardiovasculares/sangre , Enfermedades Cardiovasculares/diagnóstico , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Distribución de Chi-Cuadrado , HDL-Colesterol/sangre , LDL-Colesterol/sangre , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/sangre , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/complicaciones , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/diagnóstico , Femenino , Frecuencia de los Genes , Estudios de Asociación Genética , Predisposición Genética a la Enfermedad , Humanos , Modelos Logísticos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Análisis Multivariante , Oportunidad Relativa , Fenotipo , Reacción en Cadena en Tiempo Real de la Polimerasa , Factores de RiesgoRESUMEN
World Health Organization (WHO) control policy for tuberculosis (TB) includes Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine at birth, case detection, and treatment of cases with directly observed therapy short-course (DOTS). This policy has been applied through the Ministry of Health and Population in Egypt for more than 30years. The controversies about the efficacy of the BCG vaccination against TB in adults initiate some suggestions for its discontinuation from compulsory vaccinations in countries with low incidence of TB. The present work aimed to study the trend of applying the WHO control policy for TB in Egypt among the Egyptian population throughout the last 20years (1992-2011). The documented database of the country, bibliographic review on MEDLINE, published studies and reports, WHO and EMRO databases that covered the period from 1992 to 2011 were used in this study. The incidence rate of all forms of TB (pulmonary and extrapulmonary) dropped by 50% from 34 cases to 17 cases per 100,000 population, as well as the prevalence rate declined by 60.6% from 71 cases per 100,000 population throughout the last 20years. Case detection and treatment success rates have increased throughout the studied period while it flat-lined over the past 6years which may need attention. The results of this study introduce an evidence-based recommendation for continuation of the WHO TB control policy in Egypt towards elimination of the disease.