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Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent malignancy worldwide. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms were linked to different cancers. This study was carried out to assess the possible relation between VDR gene polymorphism and the occurrence of HCC in chronic hepatitis C patients. This study included 102 subjects classified into three groups. Group A included 34 healthy subjects as control. Group B included 34 chronic hepatitis C patients with HCC. Group C included 34 chronic hepatitis C patients without HCC. Estimation of Apa-1 VDR gene polymorphism was performed by restriction fragment length polymorphism-Polymerase chain reaction (RFLP-PCR). Results In HCC group, C allele was more frequent than A allele (80.88% and 19.12%), respectively. In chronic hepatitis group, C allele was more frequent than A allele (64.71% and 35.29%), respectively. In control group, A allele was more frequent than C allele (73.53% and 26.47%), respectively. Genotype CC + CA was dominant in HCC group (91.18%) and chronic hepatitis group (79.41%). In the control group, the dominant genotype was AA (58.82%). Moreover, there was a significant relation between Apa-1 VDR genotype CC and tumor size. Conclusions There is an association between VDR Apa-1 polymorphism and the occurrence of HCC in chronic hepatitis C patients.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of anti-HEV in Egypt is among the highest of any country in the world. The outcomes of pregnancy in infected women need to be delineated. AIM: to screen pregnant females for hepatitis E IgG and to assess the effect of HEV IgG on the pregnancy outcome. METHODS: 142 consecutive pregnant women were subjected: full history- taking, thorough clinical examination, abdominal ultrasonography and IgG antibody to HEV using ELISA kits. HEV avidity index was estimated for anti-HEV positive cases. RESULTS: There was a significant elevation of HEV IgG antibody prevalence in the serum of pregnant women, especially in the countryside, in age group more than 30 years and in the third trimester of pregnancy. There was a possible association between HEV IgG antibody and liver fatty infiltration and neonatal jaundice. There was a significant inverse correlation between HEV IgG avidity index and age. No clinical correlation noticed between HEV IgG avidity index and history of previ-ous abortion, the number of pregnancy, CBC, liver enzymes, INR or serum creatinine. There was no statistically significant association between HEV IgG avidity indices and outcome of gestation. CONCLUSION: HEV IgG is prevalent in serum of pregnant women but with benign course of both the pregnant lady and her outcome.

Background: A considerable amount of evidence showed how metabolic factors may influence the natural history of patients with chronic hepatitis C and affect the outcome of antiviral therapies. Aim: To evaluate the clinical significance of visceral adiposity index (VAI) as a new predictor of early and sustained virological response (SVR) in hepatitis C patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 50 hepatitis C virus infected patients under treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin and who had a baseline serum lipid profile were included in this prospective study. Results of lipoprotein profiles and clinical data, including body mass index and waist circumference, were compared between patients with a sustained virological response and non-SVR or a non-virological response (NVR) and virological responses other than NVR (non-NVR). In addition, significant predictive factors independently associated with virological response to peg-IFNα-2b plus RBV were determined by statistical analysis. Results: End of treatment complete response was seen in 56% (n=28) and whereas 26% (n=13) were breakthroughers. SVR was seen in 40% (n=20) patients giving 60% failure response. The basal VAI was low in SVR (mean + SD = 1.27 + 0.7) in comparison to the failure group (1.7 + 0.8) and tend to be not markedly elevated at the 48 week when compared with the failure group (1.6 + 56 and 2.22 + 0.71, respectively). Conclusion: Pre-treatment and on-treatment VAI can predict response to treatment and SVR that can help in individualizing treatment and patient selection and optimize treatment outcomes.

Urban Slums represent a chronic problem to Egypt. According to official statistics, there are 1,221 urban slum inhabited by 17 million people in Egypt. These urban slums suffer from deterioration in infrastructure; this includes lack of access to proper sanitation, inadequate water distribution networks and congested street networks. These issues in infrastructure systems are reflected on the social aspect and the quality of life in these areas with problems such as high crime rates, health problems and spread of epidemics.

Background aims The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) on tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo and to elucidate the apoptotic and anti-proliferative mechanisms of MSCs on a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) murine model. Methods The growth-inhibitory effect of MSCs on the Hepa 1–6 cell line was tested by means of methyl thiazolyl diphenyl-tetrazolium assay. Eighty female mice were randomized into four groups: group 1 consisted of 20 mice that received MSCs only by intrahepatic injection; group 2 consisted of 20 HCC mice induced by inoculation of Hepa 1–6 cells into livers without MSC treatment; group 3 consisted of 20 mice that received MSCs after induction of liver cancer; group 4 consisted of 20 mice that received MSCs after induction of liver cancer on top of induced biliary cirrhosis. Results MSCs exhibited a growth-inhibitory effect on Hepa 1–6 murine cell line in vitro . Concerning in vivo study, decreases of serum alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase and albumin levels after MSC transplantation in groups 2 and 3 were found. Gene expression of α-fetoprotein was significantly downregulated after MSC injection in the HCC groups. We found that gene expression of caspase 3, P21 and P53 was significantly upregulated, whereas gene expression of Bcl-2 and survivin was downregulated in the HCC groups after MSC injection. Liver specimens of the HCC groups confirmed the presence of dysplasia. The histopathological picture was improved after administration of MSCs to groups 2 and 3. Conclusions MSCs upregulated genes that help apoptosis and downregulated genes that reduce apoptosis. Therefore, MSCs could inhibit cell division of HCC and potentiate their death.

Web crippling is a common failure mode in cold formed sections. Interaction between bending and web crippling reduces the load carrying capacity and may control the design. In this research, numerical study on web crippling and interaction between bending and web crippling are performed considering the material and geometric nonlinearities. The study is performed on channel sections subjected to web crippling under interior one flange (IOF) loading conditions. Finite element models are verified against experimental tests, and then extended to predict the web crippling strength of the studied channel sections. FE is used to investigate the interaction between bending and web crippling in C-sections. FE results are employed to investigate the effect of different parameters on sections resistance. It was found that, the strengths predicted by design codes are generally inadequate for channels with a practical web slenderness range. Therefore, modifications were proposed to improve the strength predicted by codes.

Background and study aims Patients with liver cirrhosis are recommended to undergo an evaluation of oesophageal varices to assess their risk of bleeding. Predicting the presence of oesophageal varices through non-invasive means may reduce the number of unnecessary endoscopies. This study was designed to develop a predictive model for varices in patients with Child-Pugh A liver cirrhosis. Patients and methods Retrospective analysis was performed on 70 patients with compensated cirrhosis. Clinical and laboratory parameters Child-Pugh class and platelet count were assessed. Ultrasonographic characteristics of splenic axis and portal vein diameter were noted. The data were assessed by univariate analysis and a multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results We found the prevalence of oesophageal varices in patients with child A liver cirrhosis to be 64.3%. Platelet count, splenic axis, portal vein diameter, platelet count/splenic axis ratio, portal vein congestive index, and renal resistive index were found to be significantly associated with the presence of oesophageal varices on univariate analysis. A platelet count of 100,000, platelet count/splenic axis ratio Conclusion Our data suggest that a new score system composed of some laboratory and ultrasonographic parameters may predict the presence of varices in patients with Child-Pugh A cirrhosis, and that the score system may help physicians to identify patients who would most likely benefit from screenings for oesophageal varices.