Relation between Vitamin D Level and Cyclin-Dependent Kinase-1 Gene Expression in Egyptian Patients with Lupus Nephritis and their Impact on Disease Activity.

Introduction: Lupus nephritis (LN) is a common complication of systemic lupus erythematosus. Vitamin D and cycline-dependent kinase-1 (CDK1) have been implicated in its pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to determine the relation between vitamin D level and CDK-1 in lupus nephritis patients and their impact on disease activity.

NY-BR-1 Antigen Expression and anti-NY-BR-1 IgG in Egyptian Breast Cancer Patients: Clinicopathological and Prognostic Significance.

Breast cancer is the most common gynecological malignancy in the world. In Egypt, it ranks the first among female malignancies with incidence of 37.7%.

Effect of murine exposure to gamma rays on the interplay between Th1 and Th2 lymphocytes.

Gamma radiation radiotherapy is one of the widely used treatments for cancer. There is an accumulating evidence that adaptive immunity is significantly contributes to the efficacy of radiotherapy. This study is carried out to investigate the effect of gamma rays on the interplay between Th1/Th2 response, splenocyte lymphoproliferative response to polyclonal mitogenic activators and lymphocytic capacity to produce IL-12 and IL-10 in mice.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha concentration in severely asthmatic children.

We assessed tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) concentrations in 80 asthmatic children, 26 with severe asthma in early-phase reaction, 26 with severe asthma in late-phase reaction, 28 with severe asthma controlled in between attacks with oral prednisone and 20 matched control children. TNF-alpha was measured in patients' plasma and in a supernatant of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated (LPS) peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells. TNF-alpha concentrations in plasma and the supernatant of LPS-stimulated cells were positively correlated and the concentration also correlated positively with the time lapse between the start of the asthma attack and the time of blood sampling.

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and its vertical transmission in Egyptian pregnant women and their newborns.

We studied the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody seropositivity using ELISA (Ortho Diagnostic system, 3rd generation test) polymerase chain reaction testing of HCV-RNA (PCR, Promega) and serum alanine transferase (ALT) level in 100 healthy, HIV-negative, pregnant women who delivered spontaneously at the Alexandria University Hospital, and their newborns. Some risk factors were studied using Fisher's exact test. Nineteen per cent of pregnant women were HCV seropositive and 14 of them (14/19) had circulating HCV-RNA, detected by PCR.