bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Use of Biochemical Markers in Covid-19 Infection for Detecting Disease Severity and Patient Outcome
Authors: Mohammed Ezzat Nada Ahmed Hany , Abdel Wahab Korraa Emad El Din , Mohammed Hilal Amr Mohammed , Sayed Daif Marwa 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
Corona viridea is a family of viruses that cause illness such as respiratory diseases or gastrointestinal diseases. Respiratory diseases can range from common cold to more severe diseases such as, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). In December 2019, the city of Wuhan in China became the epicentre of unexplainable cases of pneumonia, which in January 2020 were identified as a new coronavirus, turning rapidly into a major problem of public health worldwide. This pathogen, corresponding to a beta coronavirus, is made up of single chains of positive RNA belonging to the large Coronaviridae subfamily and has the ability to infect mammals and other animals.

Aim of the Work
to use different biomarkers to evaluate if they are able to predict clinical outcomes and correlate with the severity of COVID-19 disease.

Patients and Methods
This retrospective study was conducted on COVID-19 infection patients who were admitted in Ain Shams University Isolation for 6 months from 1st of April 2021 to 31st of October 2021. It included hospitalized isolated patients in “Ain Shams University Isolation Hospital” with COVID-19 infection confirmed by “Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive for SARS-CoV2”.

Results
Results in the current study show that LDH was significantly increased in patients who died compared to patients who recovered (p = 0.023) indicating a good prognostic value. Procalcitonin also showed good prognostic value being higher in patients who died than in patients who recovered. This study showed no significant relation between severity or outcome of disease and liver function tests including AST and ALT (p &gt; 0.05), nor severity or outcome of disease and kidney function tests including BUN and serum creatinine. There was also no significant relation between serum ferritin and D-dimer levels and the severity or outcome of disease.

Conclusion
This work suggests that there is clear evidence of how the levels of some biomarkers may alternate according to severity of COVID-19 infection. Biomarkers of prognostic significance such as LDH and PCT have shown remarkable clinical implications for ineffective management, monitoring, and assessment of the severity of disease in COVID- 19 patients. This can be used as an adjunct in clinical practice to guide treatment and admission to ICU. Doing so may improve prognosis and minimise the mortality rates.
Pulmonary Complications in Egyptian Bone Marrow Transplantation Recipients and their Effect on the Outcome of Transplant: A Single Center Experience
Authors: Al-Abbassy Yasmin Fahd , Ahmed Mona Mansour , Samra Mohamed Abdelmooti Mohamed , Ali Abd El-Haleem Tamer Mohamed , El-Kader Maryam Ali Abd 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
Pulmonary complications, both infectious and non- infectious, are found in 40%–60% of all Bone Marrow Transplantation recipients, which lead to a significant morbidity and mortality. In some studies, pulmonary complications are the main cause of 50% of all deaths in this population, and patients with these complications have a higher mortality rate than those without such complications

Aim
This study is to evaluate the pulmonary complications in BMT Recipients and their effect on the outcome in these Patients

Patients and Methods
Our study was a retrospective-prospective Cohort clinical study on 150 patients who underwent Bone Marrow Transplantation (allogeneic and autologous) in Wadi El-Neel Hospital. It was for 2 years in patients who underwent the procedure in 2017 (one year retrospective from 2017 to 2018 and one year prospective from 2018 to 2019)and for one year in those who underwent it in 2018 (prospective from 2018 to 2019) and we continued the follow up of all cases till the end of 2019. Patients were subjected to blood and sputum examination with sputum culture for fungi if suspected fungal infection, High resolution CT chest along with spirometry if indicated.

Results
150 patients were studied for Pulmonary complications either infectious or noninfectious after HSCT where pulmonary complications were found in 48% of patients, the most common pulmonary complication was Bacterial pneumonia in 14.7%, 50 patients (33.3% of patients) died; The cause was predominantly pulmonary in 28 patients (56%) of the deaths, 88% died in the first 100 days with 66% of them in the first 30 days. The pulmonary complications related mortality in those 28 patients;54.8% of death were due to infectious causes and 5.8% were due to non-infectious causes with 22 patients of infectious causes (95.7%) died within 100 days, also, presence of CT chest abnormalities has an independent effect on survival time for those patients

Conclusion
Pulmonary complications are a major complication after BMT affecting the patients' prognosis, They represent significant cause of mortality and bacterial pneumonia is a highly significant factor for death in those population, The first 100 days after BMT are the most critical period
Next-Generation Sequencing-based Genetic Landscape and its Clinical Implications for Egyptian Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome
Authors: Abdel Rahman Nada Ahmed Hamed , Mekawy Mohamed Amin , Hamza Mohamed Tarif Mohamed , Moustafa Gehan Moustafa Hamed , Agamy Heba Samy 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
Myeloid malignancies are a heterogeneous group of clonal disorders characterized by disturbed hematopoietic stem cells self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation capacity as a result of genetic and epigenetic changes. The molecular landscape of these diseases is complex involving many molecular alterations. Several techniques have been used to identify these genetic alterations including; FISH, RT-PCR (real time-PCR) and recently next generation sequencing (NGS) that is capable of detecting copy number variations (CNV) or translocations by a fast less expensive technique making it more practical in clinical practice.

Objectives
Designing a genetic map for Egyptian population with myeloid and detecting the prognostic impact of these genetic alterations.

Patients and Methods
Myeloid NGS Oncomine 79-gene panel was applied on 42 patients diagnosed with myeloid neoplasms (Mainly AML & MDS) recruited from the hematology unit, and their follow up till 12 months.

Results
Among the different studied groups, the highest NGS variants were found in AML compared to other myeloid neoplasms, while the percentage of patients with no NGS variants is higher in MDS (77.8%). The most frequently mutated genes detected in myeloid neoplasms were NPM1 mutation in 8 patients (19%), followed by NRAS mutation in 7 patients (16.7%). BCR-ABL1 and CALR mutations were significantly more common in the MPN group (P- value =0.000). TET2 was significantly more common in MDS/MPN patients (P-value =0.027). TP53 mutation was detected in all myeloid neoplasms (Mainly in MDS) except AML (P-value =0.027). NPM1 was significantly more frequent in AML group (P-value =0.042). There was a significant correlation between the presence of NGS variants and the clinical outcome, as the presence of one or more NGS variants is associated with poor clinical outcome & lower survival rate (p value =0.038).

Conclusion
Assessment of clinically important genetic alterations by NGS is essential for the diagnosis, prognosis, monitor measurable residual disease and detect predictive mutational markers/therapeutic targets in myeloid neoplasms. However, it cannot identify structural abnormalities, so simultaneous cytogenetic analysis to have a complete picture of the genomic profile is essential.
Significance of miRNA-192 as a Prognostic Marker in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Authors: Ali Soliman Samah Hussein , Shalaby Nahela Ahmed , Gamal Eissa Doaa Ahmed , El Dine Salem Dalia Diaa 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common human leukemia in western world. This disease can arise in two forms, aggressive and indolent, both characterized by the accumulation of incompetent CD5+ B lymphocytes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs): represent a class of small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) of 19–25 nucleotide (nt) length, which post-transcriptionally regulate protein expression, impacting on key cellular functions. miRNAs control numerous cellular/molecular processes such as apoptosis, cell proliferation and differentiation. Deregulated expression of miRNAs contributes to the initiation or development of numerous diseases such as cancer. One of these microRNA is miR-192 which has been suggested to be a positive regulator of p53 (a tumor suppressor gene) and its expression is deregulated in biological samples of cancer patients.

Objective
To evaluate miRNA-192 as a prognostic biomarker in CLL patients, correlate miRNA-192 expression levels to p53 gene in CLL and find out the association between miRNA- 192 and p53 genes expressions and prognostic criteria of CLL.

Methods
The present study was conducted on 40 newly diagnosed CLL patients who attended the Hematology outpatient clinic-Ain Shams University hospital during the years from 2018 to 2019 and were included in the study in addition to ten healthy subjects. Quantitation of plasma miR-192 and P53 expression levels were done by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Results
A significant statistical association between poor patients’ outcome and advanced clinical Rai staging together with unfavorable cytogenetic profile was found. Moreover, significant statistical association was also observed in patients with poor outcome expressing low levels of miRNA-192 with p value (P = 0.00) and increased levels of P53. miRNA-192 expression levels in our work were significantly lower in patients with lymphadenopathy and in patients with unfavorable cytogenetic profile. However, it was significantly higher among patients with good prognosis in comparison to patients with worse one.

Conclusion
miRNA-192 expression levels was significantly correlated with some standard prognostic factors as TLC, Hb &insignificantly with platelets, P53 expression level and favorable cytogenetic profile indicated that circulating miR-192 can serve as non-invasive biomarker that can be used for predicting prognosis and monitoring of therapy in CLL patients.
Expansion of Identification Panel of Enterococci by Conventional Methods
Authors: Fahmi Zainab Fawzy , Saber Sally , Sherif Basma 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
Enterococcus species (spp) represent part of the normal flora of the human gastrointestinal tract. However, recently they have gained greater interest due to their ability to emerge as one of the most important nosocomial pathogens worldwide. The conventional method for Enterococcal identification can be made reliable via involvement of multiple biochemical reactions to reach definitive diagnosis in case of resource constraint labs where automated methods may not be affordable. This study aimed to expand the conventional biochemical panel involved in identification of Enterococcus spp which made it on equal footing with the automated identification.

Methods
This study included 308 samples sent for routine culture and sensitivity at microbiology lab. Samples were collected from different departments at Ain Shams University Hospitals. 50 isolates were selected randomly to perform automated identification through Vitek 2 Compact system as well as perform further conventional biochemical testing as PYR test and Modified salt broth test.

Results
Our study showed frequency of isolation of E.faecalis, E.faecium and E.gallinarum are 70%, 26% and 4% respectively among the studied isolates. Pyrrolidonyl arylamidase (PYR) test was rapid and easy for interpretation. Modified salt broth together with PYR showed high accuracy. As regard antimicrobial susceptibility test, Penicillin showed the highest resistance among enterococcal species.

Conclusion
the conventional biochemical panel: PYR and modified salt broth involved in identification of Enterococcus spp can be on equal footing with the automated identification.
Intradermal Botulinum Toxin A versus Intradermal Minoxidil in the Management of Androgenetic Alopecia: A Comparative Study
Authors: Saleh Hanan Mohamed , Ibrahim Samah , Maher Dana Ashraf 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is one of the most frequent clinical complaints encountered by dermatologists. The two most common treatments for AGA are topical minoxidil and finasteride. Several new therapies are emerging or being studied as treatment options for AGA, including PRP injections, intralesional injection of latanoprost. The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy of intradermal minoxidil versus botulinum toxin A in the treatment of AGA. The study was conducted on thirty patients attending the dermatology clinic complaining of AGA. Participants were divided into two groups (15 per group), group A receiving intradermal BTA injections and group B receiving intradermal minoxidil. The participants received one session every 4 weeks for a total of 3 sessions. Follow-up for the patients was done at every session and 12 weeks after last session. Comparison between BTA and minoxidil groups regarding assessment of total, terminal, vellus hair count and terminal/vellus ratio at baseline and 20 weeks of follow up showed no statistically significant difference. Comparison among BTA, the terminal hair count medians were 103, 116, 117, and 157 with a P value 0.003 showing highly statistically significant increase at each follow up visit. Comparison among Minoxidil group at different times of assessment revealed highly significant difference regarding the count of total, terminal, vellus hair and terminal/vellus hair ratio. Regarding the total hair count, the median count was 164, 135, 155, and 176 respectively, with a P value less than 0.001. In the BTA group, 53.3% and in the minoxidil group, 66.7% had an improvement in the total hair count from baseline to 20 weeks. There was significant negative correlation between the terminal hair percent of change (between baseline and 20 weeks) and age in both groups, in BTA group (p = 0.004) and in minoxidil group (P = 0.049). In BTA group, there was significant negative correlation between duration of AGA and % of change from baseline to 20 weeks regarding total count (p = 0.048). Digital and dermoscopic images were taken for AGA patients included in the study, to demonstrate their progress at different treatment times.

Conclusion
Both intradermal botulinum toxin A and intradermal minoxidil are equally effective treatment modalities of AGA. They are advantageous due to minimal invasiveness and absence of major side effects. Minoxidil is of an affordable cost compared to BTA, therefore, can be considered to be more cost-effective.
Efficacy and Safety of Biologic Therapies for Treatment of Psoriasis: A Systematic Review and Observational Meta-Analysis
Authors: Naeem Sallam Mohamed Abd El , Hafeez Elsayed Zeinab Abd El , Elhusseiny Rania Mahmoud , Mohamed Tamer Mohsen , El Fatah Abouzeid May Mohsen Abd 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
Psoriasis is a chronic, systemic, immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease of unknown etiology, however, several cytokines were reported to share in the pathogenesis of psoriasis as IL-12, IL- 23 and TNF-α. Biologics targeting these cytokines showed effective results in treatment of psoriasis patients. However, long term efficacy and tolerability of these agents is still questionable.

Objective
To compare the efficacy and safety of anti-TNF alpha, anti IL12/23, anti IL17, anti IL23 in moderate to severe psoriasis over long periods of treatment in order to complete the efficacy and safety profile of biologic therapies.

Patients and Methods
We searched ClinicalTrials.gov register (www.clinicaltrials.gov) up to July 2022 with the following search terms: psoriasis AND one by one each biologic therapy name listed in types of interventions.

Results
Regarding rate of PASI 75 at year 1, IL-12/23 inhibitors have a greater probability of achieving a PASI 75 response than anti-TNF alpha, with the pooled PASI 75 estimate at 84% and 76.18%, respectively. While, regarding rate of PASI 75 at year 2, 3, 4 and 5, there are no studies that assess the PASI 75 at year 2 or more for anti-TNF. The PASI 75 at years 2, 3, and 5 for IL- 12/23 inhibitors appeared to be stable at about 80 %, while it reached 91% at year 4. Rate of serious infections was 2.9% and 2.4% with anti-TNF alpha and IL-12/23 inhibitors respectively. There was showing no significant difference in the risk of serious infection between the two classes. In the current study, the rate of malignancy showed no-significant difference in psoriatic patients as patients receiving anti-TNF-alpha had 3.7% rate while in patients receiving IL 12/23 inhibitors the rate was 3.9%.

Data Sources
Medline databases (PubMed, Medscape, ScienceDirect. EMF-Portal) and all materials available in the Internet till 2023.

Conclusion
In the current meta-analysis we compare the efficacy and safety of anti-TNF alpha and anti IL12/23 in moderate to severe psoriasis over long periods of treatment in order to complete the efficacy and safety profile of biologic therapies. IL-12/23 inhibitors have a greater probability of achieving a PASI 75 response than anti-TNF alpha. There was no significant difference in the risk of serious infection or rate of malignancy between the two classes. Moreover, there was insignificant risk of MACEs with IL12/23 inhibitors and a slight increased risk with anti-TNF alpha. There was significant rate of common adverse events in patients receiving anti-TNF-alpha compared to patients receiving IL 12/23 inhibitors.
Efficacy of Non-cross Linked Hyaluronic Acid Injection versus Platelet Rich Plasma Injection in Treatment of Sexual Dysfunction Caused by Vulvo-vaginal Atrophy in Post-menopausal Females and Their Impact on Sexual Satisfaction
Authors: Shawki Mikhail Sylvia Ragy , Kahky Hanan El , Elfakkar Nehal Mohammed Zu , Elhusseiny Rania Mahmoud , Mohamed Nassar Salma Ashraf 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
Sexuality in women is a relatively new field of bio-medical research. The prevalence of female sexual dysfunction among postmenopausal women approaches 50% with vulvovaginal atrophy being a cardinal sign in most post females among this age group. For decades hormone replacement therapy was the only solution to get rid of symptoms associated with this atrophy. However, hormone replacement therapy was limited by its serious side effects, raising the need for new treatment strategies with less side effects.

Objectives
The aim of this study is to compare between the efficacy and safety of non-cross linked hyaluronic acid injection (HA) versus autologous platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection into the vagina and labia majora of post- menopausal females presented with vulvo-vaginal atrophy to improve female sexual dysfunction.

Methods
Twenty post menopausal female patients presenting with vulvovaginal atrophy were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups, 10 patients in each group. The first group received non cross linked hyaluronic acid injection into the labia majora and the vagina, however the second group received platelets rich plasma injections in the same sites as the first group. Subjective assessment was carried out in the form of female sexual function index questionnaire, female sexual distress scale revised questionnaire, index of sexual satisfaction for the female and male partner and global aesthetic improvement scale. Objective assessment was carried out by measuring the labia majora length and reviewing the histopathological changes occurring in the vulva through skin biopsies taken before and after treatment. Estimating the change in vaginal was thickness was done through performing transvaginal ultrasound.

Results
Non cross linked hyaluronic acid as well as PRP were found to be effective and safe in the treatment of post menopausal vulvovaginal atrophy. However, HA showed more significant improvement in female sexual function index (P &lt; 0.01) and significantly higher couple satisfaction as assessed by index of sexual satisfaction (P &lt; 0.05). There was also higher values in vaginal wall thickness as measured by transvaginal ultrasound in favor of HA injected group. Histopathological assessment showed more changes in papillary dermis in HA treated group. No complications were reported in both groups

Conclusion
There was a great need for non hormonal therapies for post menopausal females. Both non cross linked hyaluronic acid and PRP were effective in relieving symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy. However, non cross linked hyaluronic acid showed more patient and over all couple satisfaction. It also showed more improvement in histopathology and ultrasound assessments.
Hypericin Mediated Photodynamic Therapy (HY-PDT) versus Methylene Blue Mediated Photodynamic Therapy (MB-PDT) in Treatment of Common Warts: A Comparative Study
Authors: Omar Zulfa Mohammad Ahmad , Fathy Ghada , El-Samahy Mai 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
Many therapeutic modalities are available for the treatment of warts, but no single therapy is universally effective. Warts can resolve, recur, shrink, or grow despite therapy.

Aim of the Study
to compare between the efficacy and safety of topical hypericin (HY)-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) and methylene blue (MB)-mediated PDT in the treatment of common warts.

Patients and Methods
The study included 40 patients subdivided into two groups (20 patients each). Group one (MB group) patients were treated with topical MB/IPL PDT. Group two (Hypericin group) patients were treated with topical HY/IPL PDT. Patients were assessed using digital photography and dermoscopic examinations.

Results
MB-mediated PDT group showed that there was significant difference regarding the decrease of size of warts before versus after MB-mediated PDT. HY- mediated PDT group showed that there was a significant difference regarding the decrease of size and number of warts before versus after HY-mediated PDT. There was better response with HY-mediated PDT compared to MB-mediated PDT without statistical significance.

Conclusion
Both HY and MB-mediated PDT are effective in clearing common warts. Hypericin is a promising photosensitizer alternative that has a potential efficacy for clearing wart by PDT.