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.

Possible anticancer activity of rosuvastatine, doxazosin, repaglinide and oxcarbazepin.

BACKGROUND: Rosuvastatine, doxazosin, repaglinide and oxcarbazepin are therapeutic drugs available in the market for the treatment of different diseases. Potential to display antitumor activities has also been suggested. The aim of the current study was to evaluate their in vitro effects on some human transformed cell lines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cytotoxicity of the four drugs was tested in MCF-7, HeLa and HepG2 cells by the neutral red assay method and also the effect of rosuvastatine and doxazosin against Ehrlich Ascities Carcinoma Cells (EACC) by trypan blue assay. RESULTS: Rosuvastatine exerted the greatest cytotoxic effect against HepG2 cells with an IC50 value of 58.7±69.3; in contrast doxazosin showed least activity with IC50=104.4 ±115.7. Repaglinide inhibited the growth of both HepG2 and HeLa cells with IC50 values of 87.6±117.5 and 89.3±119.5, respectively. Oxcarbazepine showed a potent cytotoxicity against both HeLa (IC50=19.4±43.9) and MCF7 cancer cells ((IC50=22±35.7).On the other hand the growth of EACC was completely inhibited by doxazosine (100% inhibition) while rosuvastatine had weak inhibitory activity (11.6%) . CONCLUSIONS: The four tested drugs may have cytotoxic effects against hepatic, breast and cervical carcinoma cells; also doxazosine may inhibit the growth of endometrial cancer cells. Further investigations in animals are needed to confirm these results.

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.