Cord Blood Plasma and Placental Mesenchymal Stem Cells-Derived Exosomes Increase Ex Vivo Expansion of Human Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cells While Maintaining Their Stemness.

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used for ex vivo expansion of umbilical cord blood (UCB) hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to maintain their primitive characters and long-term reconstitution abilities during transplantation. Therapeutic effects of MSCs mainly rely on paracrine mechanisms, including secretion of exosomes (Exos). The objective of this study was to examine the effect of cord blood plasma (CBP)-derived Exos (CBP Exos) and Placental MSCs-derived Exos (MSCs Exos) on the expansion of UCB HSCs to increase their numbers and keep their primitive characteristics.

Myocardial injury induced by scorpion sting envenoming and evidence of oxidative stress in Egyptian children.

In the present study, 45 children in Upper Egypt (less than 16 years old) were admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for scorpion envenomation (SE). They were compared with 30 apparently healthy children of matching age and sex as controls. Out of the studied victims, 35 children (78%) showed signs of severe envenomation, while 10 victims (22%) showed signs of mild envenomation.

Ischemic heart diseases in Egypt: role of xanthine oxidase system and ischemia-modified albumin.

It is known that xanthine oxidoreductase contributes significantly to ischemia/reperfusion injury by generating reactive oxygen species. Ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) is a biomarker of acute myocardial ischemia with high sensitivity but moderate specificity. Our study aims to evaluate the xanthine oxidase (XO) system and the IMA level in the serum of patients with ischemic heart disease, and their correlation with traditional cardiac markers.