Late onset neonatal sepsis: Can plasma gelsolin be a promising diagnostic marker?

Plasma gelsolin (pGSN) correlates with clinical improvement in septic patients. We aimed to investigate pGSN levels as a diagnostic and prognostic marker of neonatal late-onset-sepsis (LOS). A case-control study was done on 184 neonates (92 with LOS and 92 controls). All participants were subjected to detailed history taking, full clinical evaluation, sepsis workup, and pGSN enzyme-linked immunosorbent-assay measurement. We detected significantly lower pGSN level among cases compared to controls (90.63 ±â€…20.64 vs 451.83 ±â€…209.59). It was significantly related to the severity of sepsis and mortality, with significantly lower values among cases with septic shock and multiorgan failure and non-survivors. Follow-up pGSN significantly increased after sepsis improvement in survivors compared to admission values. pGSN might be a reliable diagnostic and prognostic marker for LOS.

308-nm excimer laser: a hopeful and optional therapy for pityriasis versicolor.

BACKGROUND: Pityriasis Versicolor (PV) is known as a superficial fungal infection. It is suggested that resistant strains to azoles may be developed and hence, the treatment would be difficult. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of excimer laser (308 nm) as an alternative therapy for PV. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective intra-patient left-to-right, randomized, placebo-controlled study conducted on 26 patients with bilateral lesions which are not responding to the PV standard treatment. Patients were randomly assigned to right or left-side therapy for a duration of 8 weeks with either excimer laser (308 nm three times weekly) or topical placebo. Clinical assessment and mycological evaluation were performed before the initiation of treatment and at the fourth and eighth week of therapy. RESULTS: A decrease in the mean clinical score of cases was recorded from 7.1 at the baseline evaluation to 1.56 after 4 weeks and to 1.96 after 8 weeks of treatment. At week 4, there was a statistically significant reduction in the clinical scores compared with pretreatment scores and with the placebo group (p < .001). CONCLUSION: 308-nm excimer laser can be considered as a hopeful and optional therapy for PV.

Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori cagA and iceA Genes and Their Association with Gastrointestinal Diseases.

H. pylori infection causes peptic ulcer, chronic gastritis, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, and gastric carcinoma. It has several virulence factors such as cytotoxin-associated gene A(cagA) and the induced by contact with epithelium antigen (iceA). We aimed to explore the relationship between cagA and iceA of H. pylori and gastrointestinal diseases. One hundred and eighteen patients who attended Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Unit at Zagazig University Hospitals, Egypt, were included in this study. Two gastric biopsies were collected and evaluated by rapid urease test (RUT) and PCR. cagA and iceA genes were amplified by PCR. We found that 54 patients (45.76%) were positive by both RUT and PCR. cagA and iceA genes were present in 57.4% and 46.29% of the studied patients, respectively. cagA was the most prevalent gene in gastritis (33.3%) and peptic ulcer (68.7%). iceA1/iceA2 positive genes were the most prevalent in gastric cancer (75%). iceA1 gene was present in 38.7% of cagA positive cases, but iceA2 gene was present in 45.2% of cagA positive cases. iceA1/iceA2 positive genes were present in 29% of cagA positive cases. In conclusion, cagA and iceA genes could be used as markers for severe gastrointestinal diseases. iceA gene was strongly related to cagA gene.