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Background: Sepsis is leading cause of newborn death and morbidity. As a result, biomarkers that can either detect early sepsis or predict its fate are essential. Objectives: to investigate the clinical value of miR-223 on neonatal sepsis diagnosis and prediction of prognosis. Methods: Ninety neonates were included in this case-control study divided into three equal groups of matched age and sex. The sepsis group consisted of 30 neonates with neonatal sepsis confirmed with positive blood cultures. The systemic inflammatory response syndrome group (SIRS group) consisted of 30 neonates with clinical manifestations of sepsis but with negative blood culture and the third group of 30 apparently healthy neonates. The relative serum expression level of miRNA-223 was detected by qRT-PCR. Results: The relative serum expression of miRNA-223 was significantly lower in sepsis and SIRS groups than the control group (p< 0.001), in late onset sepsis rather than early onset sepsis (P <0.027). and in non-survived sepsis patients than survived ones (P < 0.001). Serum miR-223 expression could discriminate between neonatal sepsis and SIRS with 100% sensitivity, 85.3% specificity and 87% accuracy. It also could distinguish survived from nonsurvived neonates in sepsis group, with 90% sensitivity, 78.3 % specificity. Conclusion: Serum expression of miR-223 may be a promising predictor for sepsis diagnosis and outcome prediction among the high-risk neonates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Programmed cell death protein-1 (PDCD1) is considered a key factor in immune regulation and is expressed mainly on activated T cells. The current study aimed to assess the clinical value of soluble PDCD1/PD1 as a marker for diagnosing type-1 autoimmune hepatitis in children. Sixty children with chronic hepatitis as patients' groups further divided into autoimmune hepatitis group and other chronic liver disease group and 20 healthy children as a control group were enrolled in this study. All children have been studied for clinical profile, biochemical, histological features and serum level of soluble programmed cell death protein-1 by ELISA. There was a significant increase regarding soluble PDCD1/PD1 in the autoimmune hepatitis group than the chronic liver disease group, with the lowest level in the control group. Soluble PDCD1/PD1 level increased with higher fibrosis stage and higher Child Pugh score, also higher in relapsed patients than patients with complete remission in AIH groups. There was a positive correlation between soluble PDCD1/PD1 and PT, IgG, fibrosis stage, HAI, ALT, AST, simplified and revised score system, PELD and MELD among the AIH group. The best cutoff value of PDCD1/PD1 in the prediction of autoimmune hepatitis was 1.73 ng/ml with AUC:0.895 that has a sensitivity of 80%, specificity of 78%. sPDCD1/PD1 level represents a possible promising biomarker of AIH patients who will represent an incomplete response for regular treatment. This finding can be considered as the first step to prove the pivotal role of soluble PDCD1/PD1 in the diagnosis of AIH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of serum cytokeratin-18 (CK-18) in children with chronic liver diseases (CLD) and correlate its serum level with liver histology and other liver biomarkers.Methods: This study included two groups, the first group included children with CLD and the second group included healthy matched age and gender subjects as a control group, complete history and clinical examination, and serum CK-18 was measured using the sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique.Results: Serum concentrations of CK-18 were significantly elevated in CLD patients with mean ± standard deviation (1070.63 ± 699.2 ng/mL) compared to healthy controls mean ± standard deviation (203.95 ± 83.57 ng/mL). CK-18 levels were associated with a change in hepatocyte and portal tract (P = 0.005) as it was elevated with cirrhosis and fibrosis stage (P = 0.02) as it was elevated with moderate and severe fibrosis than mild fibrosis, also it showed a gradual increase in accordance with child Pugh score. There was a positive correlation between CK-18 levels and Total IgG, paediatric end-stage liver disease score and model for end-stage liver disease scores, the best cutoff point of CK-18 was 624 ng/mL, with sensitivity 93.06%, specificity 62.5% and diagnostic accuracy 90.0% for detection of fibrosis.Conclusion: CK-18 could be used as a non-invasive diagnostic marker in children with CLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]