Halla M Ragab

National Research Center, Egypt | NRC · Department of Biochemistry

Complement system is becoming increasingly recognized as being intimately tied to obesity and other various metabolic abnormalities linked to it and may be involved in NAFLD. The goal of this study was to see if complement C3 might be used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in NAFLD patients. Forty-one NAFLD patients and fourteen age- and gender...

Background: Liver inflammation is deliberated a risk factor for the ongoing liver damage including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatoma. CD14, an effectual mediator for the monocytes activation, has been postulated as a marker of liver inflammation and fibrosis. This study is constructed to detect the alterations in the CD14 serum...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant public health problem. The crucial role of interleukin (IL)-21 in HCV has been established. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association of serum IL-21 levels with the virological response to interferon (IFN)-based therapy in a group of Egyptian patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Clinical da...

Early outcome prediction after hepatitis C viral infections has a great interest. This study aims to evaluate kallistatin in the prediction of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C Egyptian patients. This study included 62 patients with chronic HCV infection (30 patients suffering from early liver fibrosis, 16 with advanced liver fibrosis, 16 with...

Background and objective: Hepatitis C virus is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in Egypt. This work aims to assess the use of the simple and noninvasive biomarker Serum Growth differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15), along with Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP) and Ferritin for the diagnosis of advanced liver disease in chronic hepatitis C patients....

Breast cancer is a highly metastatic disease even after surgical removal of the primary tumor. Metastasis is the main cause of death in breast cancer patients. The aim of the study was to assess the concentration of E-selectin in serum and tissue from breast cancer patients and women suffering from benign breast disease to determine its prognostic...

Background and Objective: This study examined the correlation between immunohistochemistry (IHC) expression of the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in primary breast carcinoma tissue and its concentration in blood samples of the same patients preoperatively and to the other established clinicopathological parameters namely, tumor size, gra...

Background: Survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptotic protein family is involved in cell proliferation and apoptotic suppression. Survivin is highly expressed in many cancers and correlated with more aggressive disease. Objective: Assessment of survivin expression in breast carcinoma and its association with clinicopathological factors. Mate...

Polysaccharides from mushroom Pleurotus sajor-caju (PS1) and Lactuca Sativa (PS2) were isolated and purified (22.40 and 26.80g/100g respectively). Cytotoxic activities of PS1 and PS2 were examined In vitro using colon (HCT 116), liver (HEPG2), cervical (HELA) and breast (MCF7) carcinoma cell lines. The present results indicated that these polysacch...

We aimed to detect the validity of serum ATX as a diagnostic marker for liver fibrosis. Forty-eight males and 16 females were enrolled in the current study. Their ages ranged from 29-57 years with mean of 45.09, all were chronically HCV infected. Laboratory assessment was done for all subjects in form of complete blood picture; liver function test;...

Background: Psoriasis is one of the dermatologic diseases that are aggravated by overweight or obesity. Leptin, a hormone secreted from the adipocytes of white fat, has been implicated in obesity. It has been recognized as a cytokine-like hormone that modulates both innate and adaptive immunity by enhancing T-cell survival and stimulating the produ...

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the levels of cystatin C and beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) are altered during the second trimester in the plasma of women who subsequently develop preeclampsia.Study designWe performed a case control study to compare the levels of cystatin C and B2M in women in whom preeclampsia ultimately developed (...

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, options for treatment of breast cancers are complex and varied, there is a need for biological prognostic indicators that would, alone or in combination with others, be sufficient to predict disease recurrence and hence, the basis for supplemental treatment after local therapy. The aim of this s...

Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a clonal disease of hematopoiesis with poor clinical outcome despite recent improvements in chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation regimens. It is the most common acute leukemia in adults. Hyaluronic acid, ferritin and Interleukin-6 are involved in the pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia , but thei...

The benefit of preoperative biliary drainage in jaundiced patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy for a suspected cancer head of pancreas is still under debate. This study evaluated the postoperative outcomes of preoperative biliary drainage with delayed surgery and immediate surgery. This study conducted on 42 patients who had malignant obstru...

Background: Psoriasis has been characterized by hyperproliferation accompanied by acanthosis and aberrant differentiation of keratinocytes. Several growth factors and cytokines, are assumed to be important. Recent studies indicate that various cytokines including tumor necrosis factor -á (TNF -á), IL -2R and IL -6 play an essential role in the indu...

Background: Understanding genetic structure and status of genetic variation of the Fasciola gigantica and F. hepatica isolates from different hosts, has important implications for epidemiology and effective control of fasciolosis. The aim of the present work was to study the molecular characterization of Fasciola gigantica and F. hepatica isolates...

Lung cancer is the commonest cause of cancer death in developed countries and throughout the world. Cigarette smoking is the main risk factor for lung cancer, it was responsible for 80-90 % of lung cancer death and ex-smokers today comprise 50% of all new lung cancer cases. In addition, occupational exposures increase the incidence of lung cancer....

Determination of tumor biomarkers in serum has been proposed as an alternative and noninvasive way of establishing diagnosis for lung cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the combined use of Cyfra 21-1; the soluble fragment of cytokeratin 19, and soluble E-selectin; endothelial adhesion molecule, for improving the accuracy of diagnosing and...

In this study, a chemical modification of the polysaccharides extract (E) derived from Leucaena leucocephala seeds was performed to prepare C-glycosidic 2-propanol derivative (PE), and its sulphated derivative (SPE). This study aimed to characterize immunomodulatory activities of the original extract and its derivatives by exploring their effects o...

This work aimed to prove that simple chemical modification could provide new cancer chemopreventive and/or anticancer properties to the inactive extracted polysaccharide derived from Leucaena leucocephala . Polysaccharides were extracted from Leucaena leucocephala seeds and its 2,4-pentanedione-treated derivative (glycosylated form) was prepared, w...