Serum IFNγ-induced protein 10 (IP10/CXCL10): association with asthma exacerbations and severity in children.

Objective: Asthma is a chronic disorder of the airways, in which chemokines coordinate airway inflammation and determine its severity. We aimed to study the chemokine interferonγ-inducible protein 10 kDa (IP10/CXCL10), a member of the CXC receptor 3 (CXCR3) ligand family, at the protein level in the serum of children, to evaluate the association between CXCL10 and exacerbations of childhood asthma.

Methods: Patients experiencing an asthma exacerbation (42 patients) and stable patients (43 patients) were investigated for serum CXCL10 levels.

The use of multiplex PCR for the detection of atypical pathogens in Egyptian children with CAP: a high rate of in early infancy.

Background: Atypical pathogen infections played an important role in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children. Pathogen-specific clinical symptoms are often lacking, and it is difficult to detect atypical pathogens by culture methods. The use of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods enables testing for many pathogens simultaneously in a single analysis.

Prematurity, a significant predictor for worse outcome in viral bronchiolitis: a comparative study in infancy.

Background: The rate of admissions to hospital with bronchiolitis has increased over the past years. The reasons for this are likely to be multifactorial including improved survival of preterm infants.

Aim: To assess the severity of viral bronchiolitis in preterm compared to term infants admitted at a tertiary hospital in Cairo, Egypt, based on the outcome.

Increased expression of serum periostin and YKL40 in children with severe asthma and asthma exacerbation.

Children with severe asthma or acute asthma exacerbation may encounter difficulties in performing pulmonary function tests. In this situation, serum biomarkers can play a great role in evaluation of such patients. The aim of this study was to estimate the serum levels of human chitinase-3-like protein 1 (YKL40) and periostin in a group of Egyptian children with asthma during acute asthma exacerbation and in stable asthmatics compared with healthy control, and to correlate these findings with the severity of asthma.

Giardia Assemblages A and B in Diarrheic Patients: A Comparative Study in Egyptian Children and Adults.

Giardia duodenalis is considered the most common intestinal parasite in humans worldwide. Children are especially affected, with more severe consequences than adults. The present study was designed to determine the distribution of assemblages A and B Giardia infection in children and adults, with the use of light microscopy and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) as diagnostic procedures, and to investigate its associations with clinical and epidemiological data collected from children and adult groups.

Profile of cystic fibrosis in a single referral center in Egypt.

It was generally believed that Cystic fibrosis (CF) is rare among Arabs; however, the few studies available from Egypt and other Arabic countries suggested the presence of many undiagnosed patients. The aim of the present study was to determine the frequency of CF patients out of the referred cases in a single referral hospital in Egypt. A total of 100 patients clinically suspected of having CF were recruited from the CF clinic of the Allergy and Pulmonology Unit, Children's Hospital, Cairo University, Egypt, throughout a 2 year period.

Viral causes of acute respiratory infection among Egyptian children hospitalized with severe acute asthma exacerbation.

Background: Viral respiratory infections are associated with nearly 80% of asthma exacerbation episodes. These can have severe adverse outcomes in patients with established asthma.

Aim: The aim of the study was to identify the viral causes of acute respiratory infection that precipitate acute asthma exacerbation in Egyptian asthmatic children.