Leprosy is a chronic, debilitating disease lacking a definitive diagnostic biomarker. Serum anti-phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I) IgM antibody level is considered an important diagnostic and prognostic marker for leprosy patients. However, there is limited evidence on the role of anti-PGL-I IgM antibody level as early predictive biomarker of subclinical infection among Egyptian household contacts of leprosy patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhotodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed
May 2024
Atopic dermatitis (AD) aetiology is not exactly identified, but it is characterized by pruritic skin reactions with elevation in the levels of inflammatory markers. Despite the fact that Corticosteroids are the mainstay therapy in the management of AD, they have many local and systemic adverse effects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical tacrolimus ointment in comparison to topical hydrocortisone cream in the management of the AD of children diagnosed with AD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common skin disorder affecting negatively patients' lives. Vitamin D deficiency has been reported to be associated to many allergic skin disorders.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the association between the serum level of 25 hydroxy vitamin D and CSU and to assess the efficacy and safety of active vitamin D in management of CSU.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), a prevalent form of heart failure, is frequently accompanied by the metabolic syndrome and kidney disease. Because current treatment options of HFpEF are limited, evaluation of therapies in experimental models of HFpEF with the metabolic syndrome and kidney disease is needed. In this study, we evaluated the effects of captopril, furosemide, and their combination in aged, obese ZSF1 rats, an animal model of HFpEF with the metabolic syndrome and chronic kidney disease as comorbidities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is prevalent and often accompanied by metabolic syndrome. Current treatment options are limited. Here, we test the hypothesis that combined A1/A2B adenosine receptor blockade is beneficial in obese ZSF1 rats, an animal model of HFpEF with metabolic syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major cause of end-stage renal disease. Yet the pathogenic mechanisms underlying the development of DN are not fully defined, partially due to lack of suitable models that mimic the complex pathogenesis of renal disease in diabetic patients. In this study, we describe early and late renal manifestations of DN and renal responses to long-term treatments with rosiglitazone or high-dose enalapril in ZSF1 rats, a model of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and chronic renal disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOxidative stress, that is, overproduction of reactive oxygen species and reduced antioxidant system activity, is implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications; and therefore, superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic tempol should be protective in diabetic kidney. However, the effects of tempol in metabolic syndrome-associated renal injury have not been thoroughly examined. In this study, we examined the effects of 9 weeks of treatment with tempol on metabolic status, renal oxidative stress, and kidney function and structure in obese, diabetic, hypertensive ZSF(1) rats and their nondiabetic, hypertensive, lean littermates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur previous studies indicate that prolonged caffeine consumption exacerbates renal failure in nephropathy associated with the metabolic syndrome. Reduced activity of the antioxidant defense system and beneficial effects of antioxidant therapy have been reported in diabetic rats and humans. The purpose of this study was to examine the early renal effects of caffeine consumption and the effects of concomitant antioxidant therapy in young obese, diabetic ZSF1 rats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cardiovasc Pharmacol
October 2005
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PH) is a deadly disease characterized by pulmonary arterial vasoconstriction and hypertension, pulmonary vasculature remodeling, and right ventricular hypertrophy. Our previous in vivo studies, performed in several models of cardiac, vascular, and/or renal injury, suggest that the metabolites of 17beta-estradiol may inhibit vascular and cardiac remodeling. The goal of this study was to determine whether 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME), major non-estrogenic estradiol metabolite, prevents the development and/or retards the progression of monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo evaluate the hypothesis that the granuloma cell population in S. haematobium is different from that of S. mansoni infections, a hamaster animal model was established.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur previous studies in rodent models of nephropathy demonstrate that 2-hydroxyestradiol (2HE), an estradiol metabolite with little estrogenic activity, exerts renoprotective effects. In vivo, 2HE is readily converted to 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME), a major estradiol metabolite with no estrogenic activity. The goal of this study was to determine whether 2ME has renal and cardiovascular protective effects in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe effects of overexpression of Cu(2+)/Zn(2+) superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1) on indexes of renal injury were compared in 5-month-old nontransgenic (NTg) db/db mice and db/db mice hemizygous for the human SOD-1 transgene (SOD-Tg). Both diabetic groups exhibited similar hyperglycemia and weight gain. However, in NTg-db/db mice, albuminuria, glomerular accumulation of immunoreactive transforming growth factor-beta, collagen alpha1(IV), nitrotyrosine, and mesangial matrix were all significantly increased compared with either nondiabetic mice or SOD-Tg-db/db.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt has been previously shown that 2-hydroxyestradiol (2-OHE) attenuates the development of renal disease in genetic nephropathy associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that 2-OHE, irrespective of its effects on metabolic status and/or obesity, exerts direct renoprotective effects in vivo. First, the effects of increasing doses of 2-OHE on mesangial cell growth, proliferation, and collagen synthesis in isolated rat glomerular mesangial cells were evaluated in vitro.
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