Several studies were performed to evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis by non-invasive markers. We aimed to assess the diagnostic value of both biglycan (BGN) and osteopontin (OPN) as non-invasive markers of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC). This study was performed on 100 patients with CHB virus, 100 patients with CHC virus and 100 normal controls. All participants were subjected to the following laboratory tests: hemoglobin, platelet, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, albumin, international normalized ratio, HBs Ag, hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody, hepatitis B virus DNA, HCV RNA, liver biopsy, BGN and OPN. We found that BGN level was significantly increased in the CHB group compared with the controls (p<0.001), but the level was not different between the CHC group and the controls (p<0.96). OPN was increased in both the CHB and CHC groups compared with the controls (p<0.001). Positive correlation was found between fibrosis stages and BGN level of the CHB group (r=0.64; p<0.001) and between fibrosis stages and OPN level of the CHB (r=0.63; p<0.001) and CHC (r=0.59; p<0.03) groups. The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity of BGN were 1.0, 100% and 100% in predicting fibrosis in patients with CHB, and 0.50, 26% and 78% in predicting fibrosis in patients with CHC. OPN had an AUC of 0.997, sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 100% in predicting fibrosis in patients with CHB, and 0.974, 96.5% and 100% in predicting fibrosis in patients with CHC. In conclusion, BGN and OPN could be considered non-invasive markers for liver fibrosis assessment.

The association between infection with Gram-negative bacteria and autoimmune diseases has been investigated with controversies about the role of the organisms especially, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). To evaluate the impact of the presence and activity of H. pylori on the disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). This study was carried out on one hundred adult patients and 50 controls. Patients included 40 RA, 40 SLE, and 20 AS. Participants were subjected to clinical examination and laboratory investigations; ESR (spectrophotometric assay), CRP (turbidimetric method), serum H.pylori IgG antibody test (enzyme immunoassay), and H. pylori antigen test (lateral flow immunoassay, rapid one-step test) in stool. Positive test in stool indicated active current H. pylori infection. Mean age of patients was 36.95±10.34; 51.2±6.91, 35.5±3.71, and 48.82±5.81 in SLE, RA, AS, and control groups respectively. Serum H. pylori IgG antibodies was 0.803±0.497 U/mL in SLE group, 1.48±0.637 U/mL in RA group and 0.75±0.68 U/mL in AS group while it was 0.2±0.61U/mL in the control group with a significant difference (P=0.000). The H. pylori antigen in stool was found positive in 30%, 70% and 20% of patients of the three groups respectively while it was positive in 10% of the control group with P>0.001. Patients with active SLE (SLEDAI >3) and RA (DAS-28 >3.2) demonstrated higher frequency of positive test for H. pylori antigen in stool than patients at remission (66.7% P= 0.02 and 83.3% P= 0.01 respectively). In contrast, 22.2% of patients with active AS (BASDAI > 4) were positive for H. pylori in stool. In conclusion, H. pylori infection is associated with increased disease activity in patients with SLE and RA but not AS.

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) has named the virus as 2019 novel coronavirus on January 12, 2020, and has declared a public health emergency globally on January 30, 2020. The epidemic started in Wuhan, China, in December of 2019 and quickly spread to over 200 countries. COVID-19 can cause multiple organ injuries (e.g., kidney, heart, blood, and nervous system). Among them, acute kidney injury (AKI) is a critical complication due to its high incidence and mortality rate. So, it is essential to evaluate AKI in COVID-19 patients during this pandemic state. The aim of this work is to detect the occurrence of AKI in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. So, a retrospective study was conducted on hospitalized adult patients > 18 years old with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted to the Abo Teeg Hospital at Assiut City, Egypt, from May 1, 2020, to July 1, 2020. All data were collected from medical records, patients’ follow-up, and charts. Data were verified, coded by the researcher, and analyzed using IBM-SPSS 21.0. Results Eighty-six COVID-19 patients were admitted to Abo Teeg Hospital in Assiut City, Egypt, between May and July 2020. Thirty-eight patients (33%) were of the male gender. Mean age was 58.07 ± 17.9, and 61 patients developed AKI. 32.8% of the AKI group were a stage I severity (increase in serum creatinine by 0.3 mg/dl within 48 h), 21.3% of them presented by stage II (2–2.9 times increase in serum creatinine), and 45.9% were in stage III (3 times or more increase in serum creatinine). The overall hospital mortality for the patients admitted to ICU with AKI was 6.7% (11/61), compared to 1% (4/25) in those without AKI. Conclusion Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 had a higher risk of AKI, and we recommended that those patients should be evaluated after discharge for the development of CKD.

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