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This article discusses a study conducted in Egypt that examines the patterns of glomerular injury in elderly patients. The study found that focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) was the most prevalent type of glomerulonephritis in the biopsies taken from geriatric patients. Other types of glomerular injury observed included membranous glomerulonephritis, diabetic glomerulosclerosis, diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis, and diffuse glomerulosclerosis. The article emphasizes the importance of accurate diagnosis through renal biopsy in elderly patients with kidney disease. The findings of this study, along with other studies conducted in different countries, highlight the prevalence and types of glomerular diseases in elderly populations. The authors stress the significance of renal biopsy in older patients to obtain accurate diagnoses and guide appropriate treatment. This information may be useful for researchers and healthcare professionals studying renal diseases in elderly patients, particularly in the Egyptian context. [Extracted from the article]

Background Three years ago, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was the most threatening issue that the world was forced to fight. The interrelationship between COVID-19 and autoimmunity is complex and bidirectional. There was world concern about the severity of COVID infection in rheumatic patients; however, other studies have found no difference between them and the general population. Objectives To study the clinical character of rheumatic disease patients (RDP) with COVID and the outcome and compare this outcome with the nonrheumatic patients. Patients and methods This investigation was conducted retrospectively; all patients were recruited from quarantine hospitals. This study included 100 randomly selected COVID-19 patients with RDP and 200 COVID-19 patients with comorbidities other than rheumatological disease. Results The RDP presented with fever in 75%, and more than 60% developed cough and dyspnea. One-third of the patients developed anosmia and 25% lost the taste sensation; 72% of the studied RDP were admitted to Ain Shams University’s quarantine hospitals. Mean of the patients’ hospital stay of RDP was 15.4±6.7; 38% of those were admitted to the ICU. Moreover, 27% had needed mechanical ventilation, 14% developed cytokine storm, and finally, 11% of RDP died due to COVID infection; 89% of RDP had been resolved from COVID infection. Conclusions Three-quarters of the recruited patients needed hospitalization. The mortality was 11%. The frequency of hospitalization and mortality of RDP were related significantly to the severity of COVID-19 infection, presence of comorbidity, and use of cyclophosphamide. Despite this, the outcomes of rheumatic patients and the general population were not significantly different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer is the leading cancer diagnosed and the second most common cause of cancer related death in the western world. For prognostic monitoring after prostatectomy, recurrent increase of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), the so-called PSA or biochemical relapse remains the leading biomarker. There is currently no biomarker that can accurately predict the risk of relapse at the time of surgery. We analyzed formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 52 primary prostate cancers and normal adjacent tissues obtained after radical prostatectomy. Patients were grouped into two categories: i) patients with early biochemical relapse (<1 year after radical prostatectomy) and ii) patients with late or no biochemical relapse (>2 years after surgery). Multiplex real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis was performed to identify a miRNA signature that can predict relapse. Results were validated by quantitative RT-PCR analysis. We identified 63 miRNAs that were differentially expressed among the same categories of patients, of whom 35 miRNAs were up-regulated and 28 were down-regulated. Literature search shows that many of these miRNAs have an established prognostic significance in other cancers and can be actively involved in tumor progression. Target prediction analysis showed that predicted targets of these miRNAs could be involved in biological processes and pathways that enhance tumor progression. We experimentally validated the role of one of the dysregulated miRNAs (miR-10b) in relapse using proliferation and wound-healing assay. miRNAs can be reliable predictive markers for biochemical relapse of prostate cancer at the time of radical prostatectomy. This should have significant impact on patient managing plans.