Disease Markers - Volume 18, issue 3

Authors: Zekri, Abdel-Rahman N. | Awlia, Azza A. | Mahalawi, Hadeer El | Ismail, Emad F. | Mabrouk, Gamal M.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: We screened blood donors in one center in Saudi Arabia for a safety transfusion. We found that among 5043 blood donors negative for HCV and HIV, the incidence of HBsAg positivity was 2.97%. antibody was measured (HBcIg) in HBsAg negative donors, we observed that 21.47% B virus. The HBcIg positive blood was further screened for HBsAb and the specimens were found to be reactive in 81.54%. data blood transfusion was permissible from donors who showed HBsAg …negativity, HBcIg positive and HBsAb reactive blood. In order to ensure safety transfusion an aliquot of specimens (n=80) was further analyzed for HBV DNA by PCR. We found only one specimen positive with incidence of 1.25%. the previously mentioned donors to emergencies. Show more

Keywords: blood units, HBsAg, HBcIg, HBV DNA, Saudi

Citation: Disease Markers, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 107-110, 2002

Authors: Sethi, Astha | Misra, Anoop | Pandey, Ravindra Mohan | Luthra, Kalpana | Devi, J. Rama | Sharma, Rekha | Khanna, Nidhi | Dwivedi, Manjari | Vikram, Naval Kishore

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background: High prevalence of diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemias in people belonging to poor socio-economic strata in urban slums of northern India has been recorded recently. To assess whether this population has high levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), a cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, we investigated subjects belonging to poor socio-economic strata in urban slums and compared them to healthy control subjects from non-slum urban areas of New Delhi. Design: Cross-sectional study. …Methods: Subjects from a previously carried out cross-sectional study, Delhi Urban Slum Project (DUSP) were divided into two groups: Group-1 (n=56) included subjects dwelling in slum area, having at least one risk factor (hypertension, hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia), while group-2 (n=60) consisted of subjects without any risk factor dwelling in the slum area. A third group (n=29) of non-obese subjects without any risk factor living in non-slum urban area was included for comparison. Measurements included; body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (W-HR), four skinfolds, percentage body fat, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), serum lipids, and serum levels of sICAM-1. Results: Though statistically not significant, mean level of sICAM-1 was higher in group-1 (718.5 ± 232.8 ng/ml) as compared to the other groups. Of note, 35% of subjects in group-1 (p<0.05 as compared to other two groups), and 25.3% of all subjects had levels of sICAM-1 in uppermost quartile (>850 ng/ml). Partial correlation coefficients (R) of sICAM-1 levels with various parameters adjusted for age were statistically significant for BMI (R=0.27, p<0.05) in group-1; W-HR (R=0.26, p<0.05) and BMI (R=0.19, p<0.05) for group-2; and FPG (R=0.17, p<0.05) for all the subjects considered together. For females, the levels of sICAM-1 were significantly higher in the following: BMI ≥ 25 kg/m^2 (p= 0.04) and FPG >7 mmol/l (p<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis suggests that an increment in BMI by one kg/m^2 would correspond to an increase in the levels of sICAM-1 by 8.5 units controlling for the influence of age and W-HR in the pooled data of all subjects. Conclusions: High percentage of subjects had levels of sICAM-1 in the upper quartile in the study, particularly those dwelling in the slum area and having coronary risk factor (s). The levels of sICAM-1 strongly correlated to the anthropometric and metabolic parameters, particularly in females. These observations are of potential importance for the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in this population, though further studies are needed to predict those prone to the complications of atherosclerosis, based on sICAM-1 levels, as has been observed in other ethnic groups. Show more

Keywords: soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, body mass index, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia

Citation: Disease Markers, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 111-120, 2002

Authors: Schwarz, Adelheid | Haberbosch, Werner | Tillmanns, Harald | Gardemann, Andreas

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background. Matrix metalloproteinases, such as stromelysin-1, are implicated in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD) and acute myocardial infarction (MI). A 5A/6A promoter polymorphism can regulate the transcription of the stromelysin-1 gene in an allele-specific manner. Evidence has been presented that the 6A allele is associated with the progression of coronary heart disease (CHD). In contrast, the 5A allele may be linked to the risk of MI. Results. To analyse the relation of the …5A/6A polymorphism with the risk and severity of CHD and the risk of MI, a case-control study of 515 healthy controls and 1848 participants who underwent coronary angiography for diagnostic purposes was conducted. In the total sample, the mean CHD scores -- according to Gensini -- were different between 5A/6A genotypes: 5A5A homozygotes had the lowest, 6A6A genotypes the highest and 5A6A heterozygotes intermediate scores. These differences were even more pronounced when the participants were restricted to individuals with a high coronary risk profile (high apoB levels, high Lp(a) levels, high glucose levels, combinations of either high apoB and Lp(a) levels or high apoB, Lp(a) and glucose plasma levels). Mean values were used as cut points for high-risk populations, respectively. In contrast, the 5A allele was not associated with the risk of CHD or MI. Even when angiographically controlled individuals without MI were compared with MI patients in subpopulations of participants with no, single, double and triple vessel disease, the frequencies of the 5A/6A and/or the 5A5A genotypes were not higher in each subgroup, respectively. Conclusions. The present results do not confirm an association of the 5A allele with the risk of MI, observed in another investigation, but strengthen the hypothesis of earlier studies that the 6A allele is a disease marker for progression of coronary heart disease. Further investigations should evaluate whether 6A allele carriers and especially 6A homozygotes might benefit from a more aggressive therapy against CHD progression. Show more

Citation: Disease Markers, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 121-128, 2002

Authors: Seifart, Carola | Plagens, Alexandra | Brödje, Dörte | Müller, Bernd | von Wichert, Peter | Floros, Joanna

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major health problem. Genetic factors that contribute to the disease have been postulated. The pulmonary surfactant protein B (SP-B), which is essential for normal lung function, is considered as a candidate gene for COPD in this case-control study. We studied the SP-B intron 4 size variants in 346 individuals. This group consisted of 118 patients with chronic bronchitis or COPD, including 24 patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) in …COPD, 118 matched controls without pulmonary disease and 110 healthy individuals (population control). The frequency of intron 4 variants was similar in either control group (10.9%, respectively), with a small increase in the COPD group (18.6%) increase was due to a high increase of intron 4 variants in the ARF subgroup (37.5%, indicate that SP-B intron 4 variants may associate with increased risk of ARF in COPD and may be used as a marker of susceptibility in this disease subgroup. Show more

Keywords: chronic bronchitis, SP-B, polymorphism, acute respiratory failure

Citation: Disease Markers, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 129-136, 2002

Authors: Hassan, Mahmoud Ismail | Kassim, Samar Kamal | Ali, Hebatalla Said | Sayed, El-Dieb Abd ElSattar | Khalifa, Ali

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Nitric oxide (NO), a recently discovered free radical, is overproduced in liver cirrhosis. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) might increase NO levels via increased inducible NO synthase (iNOS). This work was carried out to study the effect of HCV-induced liver cirrhosis on NO levels among Egyptian patients. The study included 46 patients with liver cirrhosis, and 30 healthy individuals of matched age and sex. NO levels determined as the stable endproduct nitrate, showed a statistically significant increase …among patients compared to the control group (P<0.001). Furthermore, NO levels increased proportionally with the severity of liver cirrhosis as assessed by Child's classification (P<0.05). Moreover, schistosomial infection enhanced NO levels in cirrhotic patients with HCV infection compared to non-bilharzial patients (P<0.001). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and branched DNA assays were used for detection of HCV RNA positivity, and measurement of the virus load, respectively. Both showed a positive correlation with the NO levels (P<0.001). At a nitrate cutoff value of 70 μmol/L, the sensitivity and specificity were 83.0% analysis showed a significant correlation between ALT levels and both HCV RNA positivity by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (P<0.02), and virus load (P<0.05). Interestingly enough, there was a significant positive correlation between HCV RNA and schistosomal antibody titer as measured by hemaglutination inhibition assay (HAI) (P<0.05). The data presented in this report indicated an association between NO levels and the development and progression of liver cirrhosis. Furthermore, the findings obtained from this study demonstrated that schistomiasis is an important risk factor involved in enhancement of NO levels and virus replication. The latter may aggravate liver cell injury and hence the development of cirrhosis. Show more

Keywords: nitric oxide, HCV RNA, liver cirrhosis, schistomiasis

Citation: Disease Markers, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 137-142, 2002

Authors: Ioachim, E.E. | Goussia, A.C. | Kitsiou, E.G. | Charalabopoulos, K. | Mermiga, E. | Stefanaki, S.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Alterations of the retinoblastoma (Rb) gene have been described in several human neoplasms and recently, it has been suggested that these alterations may play a role in the development of endometrial carcinomas. Paraffin sections from 31 cases of normal endometrium (16 proliferative, 15 secretory), 35 hyperplastic lesions and 89 endometrial carcinomas were investigated immunohistochemically for Rb protein (pRb) expression. The results were compared with p53 and c-erbB-2 protein expression, estrogen (ER) and …progesterone (PR) receptors' status and with clinicopathological prognostic factors. pRb was expressed in normal, hyperplastic and neoplastic epithelium. Proliferative endometrium showed more intense and extensive pRb staining than secretory endometrium. pRb reactivity was heterogeneous in the hyperplastic endometrial cells. Lack or focal (< 10% endometrial cells) pRb immunostaining was noted in 56.2% carcinomas, respectively. In the remaining cases (16.8%) staining was heterogeneous or diffuse. The absence or presence of pRb expression was independent of grade and stage. In normal proliferative and secretory endometrium, pRb expression was correlated with PR (p=0.006 and p=0.001, respectively), PCNA (p=0.04 and p=0.01, respectively) and MIB1 (p=0.02 and p<0.0001, respectively) expression. In hyperplasias, pRb was related to PR (p=0.016) and MIB1 (p<0.0001) expression. In carcinomas, a relationship of pRb expression with p53 (p=0.0015), ER (p=0.0002), PR (p=0.0004) and PCNA (p=0.013) status was detected. We suggest that the absence or presence of pRb expression does not seem to be associated with the progression of endometrioid carcinoma. In addition, pRb seems to be normally regulated in relation to the proliferative growth fraction of the tumours. Show more

Keywords: Rb, p53, hormone receptors, MIB-1, PCNA, endometrial carcinoma

Citation: Disease Markers, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 143-152, 2002