ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Uremic pruritus is an irritating symptom for patients with end-stage kidney disease. Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) has relevant importance in several biological cellular processes and immunity. It is also a major player in the progression of many disorders, such as renal injury. AIM: To evaluate LCN2 expression in chronic kidney disease (CKD) pruritic patients in serum together with immunohistochemical expression in skin samples and further correlation of their results with the studied clinicopathologic parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum level of LCN2 (assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and skin immunohistochemical expression were investigated in 25 CKD patients and 25 healthy controls. Ten patients were subjected to narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy for 12 weeks then re-evaluated for serum and tissue LCN2 after therapy. RESULTS: LCN2 expression was increased significantly in both the epidermis and dermal adnexa in CKD patients over controls. Also, serum LCN2 level was higher in patients than in healthy subjects and was significantly associated with itching severity, grades of CKD, urea, and creatinine serum level. Tissue and serum levels of LCN2 were significantly diminished in CKD patients following narrowband therapy along with improvement of the severity of pruritus. CONCLUSIONS: The increased serum and tissue LCN2 expression in CKD pruritic patients and its pronounced decrease, in addition to the improvement of pruritus after treatment, suggest a major pathogenic role of LCN2 in uremic pruritus.
ABSTRACT
Background: Maternal and perinatal mortality is caused by a variety of factors, including preeclampsia. PE's onset and progression may be influenced by lncRNAs. The effect of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) Colon cancer-associated transcription factor 1 (CCAT1) expression in the placenta of preeclampsia patients on preeclampsia progression was the focus of this investigation. Objectives: The aim of the current study is to check if the levels of expression of Colon cancer-associated transcription factor 1 (CCAT1) and Cyclin-dependent protein kinase 4 (CDK4) are associated with preeclampsia vulnerability and biogenesis. Subjects: and methods: This work included the participation of 160 people. Eighty of the patients had preeclampsia. The control group included 80 normal pregnant women. The two groups were almost of the same age. A thorough clinical examination was performed in all groups (including taking a detailed history, concentrating on parity, age and previous background of diabetes or hypertension). The expression levels of CCAT1 and CDK4 in placental tissue were determined using a real-time q PCR technique. Results: Expression levels of CCAT1 and CDK4 differed significantly between the study groups. preeclamptic patients having the highest level of CCAT1in comparison with control group, However, preeclamptic patients having lower level of CDK4 than controls. There was a strong negative association between CDK4 expression level and DBP, SBP, creatinine, urea and CCAT1 level of expression in the preeclamptic group, whereas there was a positive correlation between CCAT1 level of expression and DBP, SBP, urea and creatinine in patients group. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it is possible that CCAT1 and CDK4 expression levels could be used to aid in the diagnosis and biogenesis of preeclampsia.