Serum level of Selenium, Zinc, and Vitamin C and their relation to the clinical spectrum of leprosy.

INTRODUCTION: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease with many risk factors including inadequate nutrient intake and nutritional deficiencies, which affect the immune system, and influence leprosy progression. OBJECTIVES: To elucidate the relation between the serum level of zinc, vitamin C, and selenium and the clinical spectrum of leprosy. METHODOLOGY: A case control study included 100 leprotic patients (50 multibacillary and 50 paucibacillary) and 100 age and sex matched controls. Vitamin C was measured by ELISA, zinc was measured by using centronic colorimetric spectrophotometry, and selenium was measured by Inductivity Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy technique. RESULTS: Zinc and Vitamin C levels were significantly lower in paucibacillary (mean ± SD = 89.86 ± 20.712 and 2.52 ± 1.27 respectively) and multibacillary (mean ± SD = 81.41 ± 18.61 and 1.98 ± 0.59 respectively) than in controls (mean ± SD = 107.34 ± 3.98 and 4.95 ± 2.45 respectively) (p value < 0.001) with no significant difference between paucibacillary and multibacillary patients (p value = 0.142 and = 0.066 respectively). Selenium level showed no significant difference between the three groups (p value > 0.05) (mean ± SD = 51.27 ± 42.61 in paucibacillary, 47.54 ± 30.21 in multibacillary, and 44.07 ± 46.58 in controls). CONCLUSIONS: Lower serum levels of zinc and vitamin C in leprosy patients may be a result of disease pathogenesis or related to the antioxidants based treatment. It might also present prior to the disease onset due to malnutrition that may have accelerated the development of leprosy.

Evaluation of serum and urinary orsomucoid protein A in psoriatic patients and their relation to severity of disease.

BACKGROUND: Orsomucoid protein A (ORM) is a major acute-phase protein. Serum ORM (se-ORM) protein A elevates in infections, malignancies, and autoimmune diseases. Urinary ORM (u-ORM) protein A is more accurate and less invasive marker of inflammation. Elevated u-ORM was associated with pathomechanism factors related to psoriasis such as endothelial dysfunction; however, the clinical significance of it has not been explored yet. AIM: To evaluate se-ORM/u-ORM protein A and urinary orsomucoid protein A/urinary creatinine (u-ORM/u-CREAT) in patient with psoriasis and their relations to severity of the disease. METHODS: This case-control study was conducted at Dermatology and Andrology Department; 35 psoriasis patients and 35 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included. They were subjected to history taking and general and dermatological examination. Psoriasis severity was assessed by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score. Measurement of se-ORM/u-ORM protein A using ELISA and u-ORM/u-CREAT using colorimetric method. RESULTS: Highly significant difference between psoriasis patients and controls regarding u-ORM protein A level (p value = 0.01). It was also higher in severe cases than moderate and mild ones and higher in moderate than mild cases (p value 0.001, 0.001, and 0.004, respectively). There were significantly higher u-ORM/u-CREAT (p Ë‚ 0.001) levels in psoriasis patients than in controls. Also, significantly higher U-ORM/u-CREAT levels were found in severe psoriasis cases than in mild and moderate cases (p = 0.003 and 0.006, respectively). While the se-ORM levels showed no significant differences between the studied groups. CONCLUSION: u-ORM/u-CREAT is a highly sensitive, easily available, and new inflammatory biomarker of psoriasis which correlates to the disease severity.

Measuring the serum level of retinol-binding protein can enhance the treatment of recalcitrant warts.

BACKGROUND: Warts are common benign (60%-65%) self-limited tumors of the epidermis caused by human papillomaviruses (HPVs). However, some warts fail to resolve despite of different treatments and become recalcitrant. Vitamin A has antiproliferative and antikeratinizing properties by which the disruption of HPV replication can be occurred. Concentrations of retinol-binding protein (RBP) and retinol in the circulation highly correlate with each others. AIM: To assess the serum level of RBP in patients with resistant warts to evaluate the possible role of retinol in the disease pathogenesis. PATIENTS: This case-control study included 30 patients with resistant cutaneous warts (defined as failure of cure after conventional treatment as 12 weeks of salicylic acid application, 4 or more cycles of cryotherapy or electrocautery and/or other physical treatment modalities) and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. RBP level in the serum was measured by ELISA. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between cases and controls regarding the level of serum RBP (P = .001). However, serum RBP level did not differ significantly regarding sociodemographic or clinical data (P > .05 each). RBP is a good biomarker for significant early detection and discrimination between cases and controls (P = .001) at a cutoff point < 563.3 mg/l with sensitivity (93%) and specificity (80%). CONCLUSION: Low serum RBP level in our studied patients may suggest an important role of retinol in the resistant warts pathogenesis. Thus measuring serum RBP will help to identify patients who are going to have resistant warts in the future.