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Antimicrobial potential of Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis (Siebold ex Hoola van Nooten) Swingle and Limonia acidissima L. fruits and leaves extracts CMF, CML, LAF and LAL, respectively were evaluated. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis for lipoidal matters revealed a high percentage of non-oxygenated compounds. Phytol was the major in LAL. Palmitic and linoleic acid were the major in CML and LAL, respectively. Rutin and P-hydroxy benzoic acid were the main compounds identified by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of the plants extract were determined by the well diffusion method. Antimicrobial investigation for different successive fractions of active methanol extracts of CML, LAL, LAF and CMF showed the highest activity (CML), whereas the petroleum ether (CML PE) and MeOH (CML) fractions exhibit a significant antifungal activity against Candida albicans minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) 12 and 15 µg/mL, respectively. The antifungal activity prevailed by C. medica leaves may be attributed to its polyphenolics (rutin, chlorogenic and rosmarinic acid) in addition to phenylated hydrocarbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Giardia is a diarrheagenic eukaryotic parasite that consists of at least eight morphologically identical but genetically distinct genotypes. Human giardiasis is caused mainly by A and B assemblages. Aim and objectives: The study aimed to compare the performance of gdh polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and tpi assemblage-specific primers in genotyping of G. intestinalis. Materials and Methods: Stool samples of 315 children were microscopically screened for G. intestinalis. Positive samples were genotyped using tpi assemblage-specific primers and gdh semi-nested PCR-RFLP techniques. Results: The prevalence of Giardia was 18.1%. The detected genotypes using tpi and gdh approaches were assemblage A (15.8% vs. 12.7%) and assemblage B (36.8% vs. 74.5%) as single infections and mixed assemblages A and B (47.4% vs. 12.7%). The two approaches showed a moderate agreement (kappa index = 0.413, P < 0.001). PCR-RFLP of gdh gene revealed that sub-assemblages BIII and BIV were equally detected (30.9% each). The remaining samples were equally divided between sub-assemblage AII, mixed BIII and BIV, and mixed AII and BIII (12.7% each). A significant association was detected between the retrieved sub-assemblages and the presence of symptoms. Conclusions: Although both approaches confirmed the predominance of assemblage B, the use of assemblage-specific primers is more effective in elucidating the true picture of mixed assemblage infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The current study investigated the possible role of the cell cycle regulator, cyclin-dependent kinases regulatory subunit-2; the angiogenic factor, platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor; and the cell adhesive molecule, neural cadherin, as prognostic factors in schistosomal and non-schistosomal-associated urothelial carcinomas. We also investigated the possible correlation between cyclin-dependent kinases regulatory subunit-2, platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor, neural cadherin, tumor grade, and stage. Methods: The study included 40 patients with primary bladder cancer (25 nonschistosomal-associated and 15 schistosomal-associated) who had no prior anticancer treatment. Tumor specimens were collected at the time of the transurethral resection. The vivid portions of the resected tumors were subjected to routine pathological examinations to determine stage, grade, and schistosomal infestation. Control bladder tissues (5 cases) were obtained by cystoscopic biopsies from patients who underwent transurethral resection of the prostate. Platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor and neural cadherin protein expressions were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. RNA was extracted, reverse transcribed, and amplified by PCR using cyclin-dependent kinases regulatory subunit-2 specific primers. Relative expression was detected by a comparison of the expression in normal and tumor samples relative to GAPDH (housekeeping) gene expression. Results:We detected a positive correlation between neural cadherin and plateletderived endothelial cell growth factor proteins in schistosomal-associated and non-schistosomal-associated bladder cancer. Significant overexpression of relative cyclin-dependent kinases regulatory subunit-2 gene, neural cadherin, and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor proteins were detected in invasive stages and higher grades of bladder cancer. Differential expressions of neural cadherin and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor proteins, tumor recurrence, and tumor progression were detected between schistosomal-associated and non-schistosomal-associated bladder cancer. Conclusion: Cyclin-dependent kinases regulatory subunit-2, neural cadherin, and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor may be used as biomarkers for predicting bladder cancer outcome and aid in selecting patients for more aggressive treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the clinical relevance of p27 and mdm2 gene expression in transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), urine samples were collected from 30 TCC patients (preoperatively), 10 patients with nonmalignant urological diseases and 10 controls. Total RNA was extracted from urine sediments and RT-PCR was performed. Absence of p27 mRNA and mdm2 acquisition was specific for grade III TCC. Recurrences significantly increased with schistosomal infection and larger tumor size. Overall survival significantly shortened with larger tumor size, tumor multiplicity, and solid tumor growth pattern. In multivariate analysis, the tumor growth pattern was significant prognostic factor (p=0.036) for disease-free and overall survival while, high grade (exactly significant) and solid tumor growth pattern (p=0.023) were significant prognostic factors for the p27-/mdm2+ genetic pattern in TCC. We conclude that efficient management of TCC would be enhanced using p27 or mdm2 mRNAs as molecular grading markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is still uncertainty about angiogenesis as a prognostic factor in breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of microvascular density (MVD) in breast carcinoma and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule- 1 (sVCAM-1), leptin, estradiol and total testosterone as angiogenic markers. Efficacy of shark care drug was assessed by patient's overall survival. In this study there were 30 premenopausal breast cancer patients (group II) and 15 controls (group I). Group II was subgrouped into 15 patients receiving chemotherapy alone (IIA) and 15 patients receiving chemotherapy + shark care drug (IIB). After modified radical mastectomy, microvessels were counted by staining tissues for factor VIII. For surrogate markers, enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay or radioimmunoassay kits were used. A high MVD was found only in areas of carcinoma. MVD and sVCAM-1 correlated significantly with each other and with lymph node involvement. After the follow up, all subgroup IIB patients were alive compared to 66.6% of subgroup IIA patients (p=0.02). A high MVD may be a poor prognostic marker of breast carcinoma and a target for antiangiogenic therapy. sVCAM-1 is useful for diagnosis and for monitoring response to therapy. Chemotherapy + shark care drug seem to ameliorate the outcome of these patients. [Turk J Cancer 2008;38(3):123-134] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]