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Background: An extensive quest for genetic variables impacting the susceptibility for T2DM and other cardiometabolic disorders has been sparked by the global growth in the frequency of those widespread ailments. In Egypt, no previous studies examined the relation between KLF14 rs972283 SNP and the risk of developing T2DM. This study aims to ascertain the genetic influences of KLF14 rs972283 on T2DM in Egypt. Subjects and methods: This study included 50 diabetic patients and 50 healthy subjects. Each individual underwent a clinical assessment and total body examination, laboratory investigations including liver enzymes, FBS, HbA1C, and lipid profile. The DNA Purification Kit was used to separate genomic DNA from the whole blood. Gene polymorphism was detected via the PCR-REFLP method. Results: There was no association between KLF14 (rs972283) gene polymorphism and T2DM among studied people. The distribution of KLF14 rs972283 genotypes in diabetic cases was 9 patients with GG genotype (18%) and 26 with GA (52%) while 15 patients (30%) had homozygous mutant genotype AA. However, in the control group, 7 healthy cases had the GG genotype (14%), 31 (62%) had the GA genotypes, and 12 (24%) had the AA genotype. Concerning the allele frequency, the A allele in the KLF14 rs972283 polymorphism was more frequent in both diabetic and control cases (56% and 55%; respectively), but without significant difference (P=0.887). Conclusion: The present study shows for the first time that rs972283 SNP of the KLF14 gene was not associated with T2DM susceptibility in the Egyptian population. However, this study detects an association between KLF14 rs972283 (GG genotype) and a higher risk for elevated TG and LDL levels in control cases. This could indicate that the presence of the GG genotype even in control cases could be used to predict cardiovascular disease.

Background: Liver inflammation is deliberated a risk factor for the ongoing liver damage including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatoma. CD14, an effectual mediator for the monocytes activation, has been postulated as a marker of liver inflammation and fibrosis. This study is constructed to detect the alterations in the CD14 serum levels in 40 NAFLD cases and 14 healthy controls along with to analyze the role of CD14 polymorphisms in the causation and severity of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). Liver enzymes, glycated hemoglobin, together with lipid profile were estimated in all included subjects. The diagnosis of NAFLD depends largely on ultrasonography. NAFLD fibrosis score and FIB-4 score were calculated. Serum CD14 was quantified by EnzymeLinked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and C14-159C/T SNP was genotyped via Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLP). Results: Serum CD14 was markedly higher in the diabetic subjects either lean or overweight/obese than the controls (P0.676 (P=1.000). Conclusion: The former observations advocate the potential role of CD14 in both the pathogenesis and progression of NAFLD. Yet, it didn't correlate with the NFS, consequently it couldn't forecast the severity of the disease. Furthermore, no association was distinguished linking CD14 C-(159) T polymorphism and the risk of NAFLD occurrence.

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), major constituent of green tea, possesses antioxidant, antiviral, and anticancer activities. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) play an important role in drug delivery due to their stability, ease of surface functionalization, and unique optical properties. This study aimed to investigate the influence of EGCG-capped AuNPs on tumor suppressor miRNAs (miR-34a and let-7a) and their targeted cell death mediators in HepG2 cells, compared with celastrol. EGCG-AuNPs were prepared and characterized. antioxidant activity was estimated by DPPH scavenging assay; cytotoxicity was assessed by MTT assay; let-7a and miR-34a expression was analyzed by qPCR; and miRNAs targets (c-Myc and caspase-3) were assessed by ELISA and immunocytofluorescence, respectively. The average size of EGCG-AuNPs was 35 nm, with a λmax of ~535 nm. EGCG-AuNPs exerted cytotoxicity on HepG2 cells stronger than that of EGCG alone. EGCG-AuNPs and EGCG presented half-maximal radical scavenging concentrations (SC50) of 539 µg/ml and 45 µg/ml, respectively. The expression levels of let-7a and miR-34a were significantly elevated in HepG2 cells after EGCG-AuNP treatment for 72 h. c-Myc protein expression was reduced, whereas caspase-3 expression was increased following treatment with EGCG-AuNPs. In conclusion, Au-NPs are effective carrier for EGCG, and EGCG-AuNPs are promising anti-cancer agent.

CD163, a surface hemoglobin-haptoglobin scavenger receptor, is expressed on macrophages and monocytes and up-regulated during macrophage activation. This study aimed to evaluate CD163 in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis patients as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in such patients.Serum samples were collected from 41 NAFLD patients and 14 healthy controls. All cases were subjected to clinical assessment, abdominal ultrasound examination, laboratory assessment including liver function and enzymes, kidney function, and lipid profile. Fib-4 and NAFLD fibrosis score were calculated for all patients. Also, serum levels of CD163 were detected by ELISA technique.The present study showed that BMI, NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS), uric acid, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were significantly elevated in the NAFLD cases compared with healthy controls (P 0.05). The serum level of sCD163 was considerably higher in NAFLD cases (9.97 ± 9.97 ng/ml) vs. healthy controls (1.87 ± 0.83 ng/ml) (p 0.001). Circulating level of sCD163 was significantly higher in the obese-diabetic subjects and diabetic non-obese patients as compared with the lean healthy subjects (11.15 ± 7.69 ng/ml) and 11.46 ± 13.83 ng/ml vs. 1.87 ± 0.83 ng/ml, P 0.05; respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of this marker was 85.4%, and 92.9 for distinguishing patients with NAFLD in obese and/or diabetic subjects from healthy controls.serum level of CD163 can be used as a diagnostic marker for individuals with NAFLD. However, it didn't correlate with NAFLD fibrosis score of those patients and thus couldn't predict the severity of disease.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant public health problem. The crucial role of interleukin (IL)-21 in HCV has been established. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association of serum IL-21 levels with the virological response to interferon (IFN)-based therapy in a group of Egyptian patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Clinical data were collected from 58 HCV-positive Egyptian patients treated with IFN/ribavirin therapy and 10 non-HCV-infected healthy subjects. Liver and renal function tests, complete blood count, viral markers, and pretreatment IL-21 levels were determined in all patients and healthy controls. Patients who achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) had higher pretreatment median serum IL-21 levels than those who did not. Thus, this study concluded that higher pretreatment serum IL-21 may be useful in predicting SVR in CHC patients.

We aimed to detect the validity of serum ATX as a diagnostic marker for liver fibrosis. Forty-eight males and 16 females were enrolled in the current study. Their ages ranged from 29-57 years with mean of 45.09, all were chronically HCV infected. Laboratory assessment was done for all subjects in form of complete blood picture; liver function test; lipid profile and serum detection of ATX. Patients were grouped according to the stage of fibrosis into group 1: fibrosis score 0, 1, 2, 3; group 2: fibrosis score: 4, 5, 6.The mean values of ATX in all studied patients with chronic HCV infection was 63.02 ± 36.29 while that of healthy controls was 65.31 ± 12.24 without any significant difference. Surprisingly, mean values of ATX were higher among patients with group 1 but it did not reach the significant level. In each group of them, the differences between mean values of ATX among different grades of liver fibrosis were insignificant. It was also noticed that the mean values of ATX were higher among men than in women .It was concluded that Autotoxin might not be used as a useful diagnostic marker for liver fibrosis in Egyptian chronic HCV patients.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the levels of cystatin C and beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) are altered during the second trimester in the plasma of women who subsequently develop preeclampsia. Study design We performed a case control study to compare the levels of cystatin C and B2M in women in whom preeclampsia ultimately developed ( n = 30) and in pregnant women who remained normotensive throughout gestation ( n = 60). The maternal plasma levels of cystatin C and B2M were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Blood samples were collected between 15 and 20 weeks’ gestation for fetal aneuploidy screening and frozen at −20 °C until assay after groups had been selected. Results The median concentrations of cystatin C and B2M were significantly higher in those who subsequently developed preeclampsia when compared to those of normal pregnancy (median 668.6 ng/ml and 418.3 μg/ml vs 413.7 ng/ml and 321.2 μg/ml, respectively). Conclusions In this study, the maternal plasma levels of cystatin C and B2M were significantly elevated in pregnant women who subsequently developed preeclampsia as compared with normotensive women. Alterations of these proteins antedate clinical symptoms and, thus, they may be useful for early identification of patients at the risk of developing preeclampsia.

UNLABELLED Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, options for treatment of breast cancers are complex and varied, there is a need for biological prognostic indicators that would, alone or in combination with others, be sufficient to predict disease recurrence and hence, the basis for supplemental treatment after local therapy. The aim of this study was to determine prognostic significance of serum Her2/neu, BCL2, CA 15-3 and CEA during the follow-up of the patients with breast cancer, also, to investigate the association between these biomarkers and clinicopathological parameters and patient outcomes in breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Eighty nine patients with breast cancer stage I and II are enrolled in our study. Their age ranged from 35-59 years. Patients underwent radical mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery with axillary lymph node dissection. After the surgical treatment they had supplementary therapy. The size of the tumor was 2 cm in 54 patients. Their histological type was invasive duct carcinoma, 49 patients had lymph node positive and 40 had negative lymph node. Nine patients had recurrence of the disease during the 18 months of follow up. BCL2, Her2/neu, CEA and CA15-3 in sera had been monitored by ELISA before and after operation, every 6 months and at the time of diagnosis of first recurrence for 18 months. RESULTS Preoperative serum levels of Her2/neu, BCL2, CA15-3 and CEA were significantly higher compared with the levels of the control group, these markers dropped significantly after operation. Univariate analysis of parameters associated with relapse showed that the clinicopathological factors (histologic grade, tumor stage and lymph nodes) and serum markers (HER2/neu, BCL2, CA15-3 and CEA) were significantly associated with recurrence of disease. Multivariate analysis of investigated parameters revealed that tumor stage, lymph nodes and serum tumor markers were significant variables predicting recurrence of tumor. CONCLUSION Serum Her2/neu, BCL2, CA15-3 and CEA in breast cancer patients were useful markers for predicting aggressive behavior of tumor and elevated serum levels are associated with breast cancer relapse. Our relatively small study population limits the predictive power of the panels presented here, but the benefits of a serum biomarker and multimarker approach are clearly illustrated and further studies utilizing larger clinical cohorts are well warranted.

The relationships between chronic liver diseases and trace heavy metal contents in blood are debatable and have not been understood clearly. The present study was designed to determine the interaction of IFN α-2b with some trace elements as (Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) in patients with chronic hepatitis C, and study the effect of this interaction on the response to therapy. This study was performed on 42 patients having positive HCV-Ab & HCV-RNA by PCR and treated with interferon and ribavirin. Besides, 20 healthy subjects served as control. ALT and trace elements were determined before and after treatment with IFN-α 2b. The results showed that the levels of Zinc and Manganese in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients’ were decreased compared to healthy group and this decrement became more after treatment. While the levels of Iron and Copper increased compared to healthy group and these increment became more after treatment. Serum ALT levels in the patients after treatment was statistically significant decrease (p