Frequency of Genotypes and Allelic Polymorphisms of Vitamin D Receptor in Egyptian Psoriatic Patients and Their Association With Disease Severity, Immune Modulation of IL-22 Levels and The Response to Topical Calcipotriol Treatment: A Case Control Study.

Objective: This study was performed to determine the genotype and allelic frequencies (polymorphisms) of the four genes of vitamin D receptor (VDR) among Egyptian psoriatic patients and healthy controls to explore their association with disease severity (PASI) score and immune modulation of IL-22 cytokine and to predict the response to topical calcipotriol treatment.

Patients And Methods: The frequencies of the four VDR gene polymorphisms (FokI, ApaI, TaqI, and BsmI) in blood samples of 51 adult Egyptian patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 50 healthy controls were evaluated using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)-PCR. Serum levels of IL-22 were measured by ELISA.

Circulating Cell-Free DNA as Inflammatory Marker in Egyptian Psoriasis Patients.

Background: Cell lesion and apoptosis with release of cell-free DNA (CFD) in circulation are associated with chronic inflammation of psoriasis.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the CFD concentrations in sera of patients with psoriasis, to assess its relationship with disease severity as defined by Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) and other inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)) levels, and to monitor the efficacy of treatment.

Patients And Methods: Thirty adult patients with different types of psoriasis (25 vulgaris; 10 mild, 15 moderate and 5 erythroderma; severe) were evaluated during the exacerbation phase of the disease, before starting (T0) and after 12 weeks (T12) of treatment with topical therapy for mild cases, narrowband-ultraviolet light B (NB-UVB) for moderate cases and methotrexate for severe cases.

Soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (slCAM-1) for early diagnosis of neonatal infections.

We investigated the validity of circulating soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (slCAM-1) as an early immunological marker of neonatal sepsis as compared to C-reactive protein (CRP), immature to total neutrophils ratio (IlT) and blood culture assays. The study included 28 full term neonates with clinical manifestations of sepsis, 10 of them had suspected sepsis "Group I" with negative blood culture, positive CRP during 1st week of life and one or more risk factors for infections. The other 18 neonates had proven sepsis "Group II"; with positive blood culture and positive CRP.

Serodiagnosis of human intestinal schistosomiasis.

We developed an enzyme linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for serodiagnosis of Schistosoma mansoni infection using a purified immunogenic fraction from schistosome adult worm, obtained by SDS-polyacrylamid gel electrophoresis. Sera from patients with active schistosomiasis (egg passers; n=10); inactive schistosomiasis previously treated with praziquantel (not passing eggs; n=10); fascioliasis, hydatosis (n=5); and healthy controls (n=10) were examined. Western blot analysis revealed that the Sm 31/32 KDa fraction of Schistosoma mansoni is recognized by sera from of both active and inactive schistosomiasis.

Immunomodulatory effects of blood letting cupping therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

This study was carried out in order to evaluate the efficiency of blood-letting cupping (BLC) therapy as a complementary therapy in management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to investigate its modulatory effects on natural killer cells (NK) and soluble interleukin-2 receptor (SIL-2R). Two groups of RA patients diagnosed according to American Rheumatology Association were included: Group I included 20 patients who received the conventional medicinal therapy of RA, Group II included 30 patients who received combined conventional and BLC therapy. Ten age and sex matched normal controls were also included, as group III.