Assessment of synovial repair in primary knee osteoarthritis after platelet rich plasma (PRP) intra-articular injection.

Primary knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a persistent condition marked by the gradual deterioration of the joint and cartilage loss on its surfaces. Recently, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was considered a biological intervention that alleviates symptoms and restricts the advancement of primary KOA in patients. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of intra-articular PRP injections on synovial repair through cytokine assays in 20 patients with primary KOA.

Evaluation of CTLA-4 (+ 49A/G) polymorphism association with rheumatoid arthritis in Egyptian patients.

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) is an inhibitory molecule that has an essential role in T-cell homeostasis and self-tolerance because of its inhibitory signals. Genetic polymorphisms in the CTLA-4 gene have been associated with several autoimmune diseases. We aimed to assess the association between the CTLA-4 +49 A/G polymorphism (rs231775) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Egyptian RA patients.

Krebs von den Lungen-6, a promising marker in evaluating the severity of interstitial lung disease in Egyptian rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) is one of the mucins associated with interstitial lung disease. We aimed to assess the value of KL-6 as a marker for detecting the presence of interstitial lung disease in Egyptian rheumatoid arthritis patients and to evaluate its ability to assess severity in different grades of interstitial lung disease. The study included 89 rheumatoid arthritis patients; 64 patients with interstitial lung disease and 25 patients without interstitial lung disease.

Vascular endothelial growth factor profile and Vitamin D level in Systemic Sclerosis Egyptian patients.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was described as a potentially important driver of systemic sclerosis (SSc) pathogenesis. Additionally, recent literature elucidated that vitamin D serum level was found to be significantly lower in SSc patients in comparison to healthy individuals. The aim of the current study was to evaluate serum level of VEGF and its correlation with clinical features and vitamin D level in systemic sclerosis (SSc) Egyptian patients.

Value of immunohistochemical expression of podocalyxin in active lupus nephritis.

Unlabelled: Podocalyxin is an electronegative sialoglycoprotein that prevents the podocyte foot process from collapsing. The aim of this study was to detect an association between the glomerular immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of podocalyxin and the degree of podocyte effacement detected by electron microscopy, and to evaluate the role of podocalyxin IHC expression as a novel marker for disease activity in lupus nephritis (LN).

Methods: Thirty-two renal biopsies of active lupus nephritis patients were studied.