Efficiency of diagnostic biomarkers among colonic schistosomiasis Egyptian patients

The schistosomal parasite plays a critical role in the development of malignant lesions in different organs. The pathogenesis of cancer is currently under intense investigation to identify reliable prognostic indices for disease detection. The objective of this paper is to evaluate certain biochemical parameters as diagnostic tools to efficiently differentiate between colonic carcinoma and colonic carcinoma associated with schistosomal infection among Egyptian patients. The parameters under investigation are interleukin 2 (IL-2), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels, tissue telomerase, pyruvate kinase (PK), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme activities. The results revealed a significant elevation in the level of the tumour markers IL-2, TNF-α and CEA as well as the activities of LDH, telomerase and G-6-PD among non-bilharzial and bilharzial colonic cancer groups, with a more potent effect in bilharzial infection-associated colonic cancer. A significant inhibition in PK activity was recorded in the same manner as compared to normal tissues. The efficacy of this biomarker was also evaluated through detecting sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values. In conclusion, schistosomal colonic carcinoma patients displayed more drastic changes in all parameters under investigation. The combination of the selected parameters succeeded in serving as biomarkers to differentiate between the two malignant types.     

Characterization of ISR region and development of a PCR assay for rapid detection of the fish pathogen Tenacibaculum soleae

The aims of this work were to characterize the 16S-23S internal spacer region of the fish pathogen Tenacibaculum soleae and to develop a PCR assay for its identification and detection. All T.?soleae strains tested displayed a single internal spacer region class, containing tRNA(I) (le) and tRNA(A) (la) genes; nevertheless, a considerable intraspecific heterogeneity was observed. However, this region proved to be useful for differentiation of T.?soleae from related and non-related species. Species-specific primers were designed targeting the 16S rRNA gene and the internal spacer region region, yielding a 1555-bp fragment. Detection limit was of 1?pg DNA per reaction (相似文献   

Growth and longevity of the protogynous parrotfish,Hipposcarus harid,Scarus ferrugineus and Chlorurus sordidus (Teleostei,Scaridae), off the eastern coast of the Red Sea

Growth and longevity were studied for three species of the family scaridae, the longnose parrotfish (Hipposcarus harid), rusty parrotfish (Scarus ferrugineus) and bullethead parrotfish (Chlorurus sordidus), sampled at the eastern coast of the Red Sea, off Saudi Arabia. The three species are protogynous hermaphrodites presenting two distinct phases whereby the initial phase includes females and primary males, and the terminal phase is exclusively secondary males transformed from females. Annual marks in the ctenoid scales from the three species were used to develop size‐at‐age plots. Linear relationships were found between the scale radius and standard length for the three species, and the relationships between body weight (w) and standard length (L) were estimated. Scales of these species increased in size consistently throughout life, even though the somatic growth rate decreased with age. Sex‐specific growth effects in the three species were demonstrated. Growth of initial phase females was the lowest, followed by the initial phase males and terminal phase males, the latter showing the fastest growth rates. Thus, transition to the terminal male identity was associated with enhanced growth, resulting in larger terminal males than females of equivalent size. The von Bertalanffy growth formula (VBGF) was estimated for H. harid, S. ferrugineus and C. sordidus (L_∞ = 43.92, 27.4 and 23.3; K = 0.067, 0.27 and 0.56; t₀ = ?6.92, ?4.98 and ?4.6, respectively). The relationship between growth and reproduction of these species is also discussed.     

Characterization of unique signature sequences in the divergent maternal protein Bcl2l10

Insertions or deletions (indels) of amino acids residues have been recognized as an important source of genetic and structural divergence between paralogous Bcl-2 family members. However, these signature sequences have not so far been extensively investigated amongst orthologous Bcl-2 family proteins. Bcl2l10 is an antiapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family that has evolved rapidly throughout the vertebrate lineage and which shows conserved abundant expression in eggs and oocytes. In this paper, we have unraveled two major sites of divergence between human Bcl2l10 and its vertebrate homologs. The first one provides length variation at the N-terminus (before the BH4 domain) and the second one is located between the predicted α5-α6 pore-forming helices, providing an unprecedented case in the superfamily of helix-bundled pore-forming proteins. These two particular indels were studied phylogenetically and through biochemical and cell biological techniques, including truncation and site-directed mutagenesis. While deletion of the N-terminal extension had no significant functional impact in HeLa cells, our results suggest that the human Bcl2l10 protein evolved a calcium-binding motif in its α5-α6 interhelical region by acquiring critical negatively charged residues. Considering the reliance of female eggs on calcium-dependent proteins and calcium-regulated processes and the exceptional longevity of oocytes in the primate lineage, we propose that this microstructural variation may be an adaptive feature associated with high maternal expression of this Bcl-2 family member.     

Phylogenetic diversity and genome sizes of Astragalus (Fabaceae) in the Lebanon biogeographical crossroad

The Lebanese mountain range is an important zone of plant species richness and endemism where the genus Astragalus constitutes a principal component of plant biodiversity. Most of endemic Astragalus taxa, living in mountains and arid zones of Mounts Lebanon and anti-Lebanon, are characterized by a cushion, spiny vegetative form, named “tragacanthic”, which is a remarkable example of vegetative convergence evolution. Because of determination difficulties, taxonomic uncertainties, and discrepancy in the number of taxa listed according to authors, new data are hardly needed to improve systematics of Astragalus and to investigate the role of the Lebanese mountain range as refugia of biodiversity. Before this study only two values on the genome size of Astragalus were reported in the literature and no previous molecular studies had been carried out on Astragalus genus in Lebanon. We examined the utility of rDNA ITS molecular markers to distinguish Astragalus species of Lebanese mountain range and the variation range of their genome size. The main results revealed a striking diversity in Lebanese Astragalus species with the emphasis of a huge variation of genome sizes, an important inter-specific chromosome polymorphism and the existence of a high phylogenetic diversity. The strict endemic species of the Lebanese mountains are positioned throughout the phylogeny. These results confirm that the Lebanon and anti-Lebanon mounts constitute a third diversity center for Astragalus and that high altitude areas are important refugia of plant biodiversity despite centuries of exploitation by humans.     

Volatile Oils from the Aerial Parts of Eremophila maculata and Their Antimicrobial Activity

The essential oils isolated from the fresh flowers, fresh leaves, and both fresh and air‐dried stems of Eremophila maculata (Scrophulariaceae) were characterized by GC‐FID and GC/MS analyses. Sabinene was the major component in most of the oils, followed by limonene, α‐pinene, benzaldehyde, (Z)‐β‐ocimene, and spathulenol. The leaf and flower essential oils showed antibacterial and antifungal activity against five Gram‐positive and four Gram‐negative bacterial strains, multi‐resistant clinical isolates from patients, i.e., methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), as well as two yeasts. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum microbicidal concentrations (MMCs) were between 0.25 and 4 mg/ml.     

Practice and Attitude of Cigarette Smoking: A Community-Based Study

Background

In Saudi Arabia many studies have addressed cigarette smoking from various perspectives. Most of these studies, however, were conducted among males and confined to Riyadh, the capital city. Such limitations have enhanced the need for community-based epidemiological studies that include both genders and various age groups and socio-demographic features, as well as different regions.

Objective

This cross-sectional study aims to assess the prevalence of cigarette smoking and to discuss the association between cigarette smoking habits and socio-demographic factors among community members of the Jazan area in southwest Saudi Arabia.

Methods

A pre-coded questionnaire was designed and tested for data consistency. A well-trained health team was assigned to gather the data from the 30 primary healthcare centers distributed across eight provinces. The response rate was 92.8% (4,326 respondents ≥13 years old). The associations among the subjects'' socio-demographic characteristics were examined by the chi-square test. A multiple logistic regression and odds ratios were calculated as well.

Results

A total of 1,017 (23.5%), 1,042 (24.1%), and 3,284 (75.9%) respondents were, respectively, current smokers (TCS), ever-smokers (TES), and non-smokers (TNS). Though current smokers seem to be more prevalent in urban populations (13.8%) than in rural populations (9.7%), the association of urbanization with a current smoking habit is insignificant.

Conclusion

Having fun, relieving stress, and the influence of parents, particularly of mothers, were the main motives that encouraged participants'' cigarette-smoking habits. This situation was worsened by the fact that accessing cigarettes was either very easy or easy for over 90% of the respondents.     

Anti-Cancer Potential of MAPK Pathway Inhibition in Paragangliomas–Effect of Different Statins on Mouse Pheochromocytoma Cells

To date, malignant pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PHEOs/PGLs) cannot be effectively cured and thus novel treatment strategies are urgently needed. Lovastatin has been shown to effectively induce apoptosis in mouse PHEO cells (MPC) and the more aggressive mouse tumor tissue-derived cells (MTT), which was accompanied by decreased phosphorylation of mitogen-activated kinase (MAPK) pathway players. The MAPK pathway plays a role in numerous aggressive tumors and has been associated with a subgroup of PHEOs/PGLs, including K-RAS-, RET-, and NF1-mutated tumors. Our aim was to establish whether MAPK signaling may also play a role in aggressive, succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) B mutation-derived PHEOs/PGLs. Expression profiling and western blot analysis indicated that specific aspects of MAPK-signaling are active in SDHB PHEOs/PGLs, suggesting that inhibition by statin treatment could be beneficial. Moreover, we aimed to assess whether the anti-proliferative effect of lovastatin on MPC and MTT differed from that exerted by fluvastatin, simvastatin, atorvastatin, pravastatin, or rosuvastatin. Simvastatin and fluvastatin decreased cell proliferation most effectively and the more aggressive MTT cells appeared more sensitive in this respect. Inhibition of MAPK1 and 3 phosphorylation following treatment with fluvastatin, simvastatin, and lovastatin was confirmed by western blot. Increased levels of CASP-3 and PARP cleavage confirmed induction of apoptosis following the treatment. At a concentration low enough not to affect cell proliferation, spontaneous migration of MPC and MTT was significantly inhibited within 24 hours of treatment. In conclusion, lipophilic statins may present a promising therapeutic option for treatment of aggressive human paragangliomas by inducing apoptosis and inhibiting tumor spread.