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Background The chronic inflammatory autoimmune illness of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is defined by continuous symmetrical joint inflammation and joint distortions, as well as by bone loss which leads to a serious handicap. Calprotectin is a heterodimer formed by two proteins (S100A8 and S100A9) released from leukocytes, macrophages, and monocytes, with an important role in the process of several inflammatory diseases including RA. Aim The present research seeks to study the discriminatory capacity of calprotectin to distinguish between clinically active and inactive disease in RA patients despite the recently used laboratory examinations being normal. Patients and methods This study included 60 patients (25 patients diagnosed as active RA with low C-reactive protein (CRP); 15 patients diagnosed as active RA with high CRP; 20 patients with inactive RA (remission); and 20 apparently healthy volunteers as the control group. Results When RA patients were compared with healthy controls, serum calprotectin levels were significantly higher. Serum calprotectin levels were also shown to have statistically significant relationships with Disease Activity Score 28 score, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide. Serum calprotectin showed an 88% sensitivity and 90% specificity for detecting RA activity at a threshold level of more than 6 ng/dl. Conclusion Calprotectin plays an essential role in evaluating illness activity in RA patients, with added usefulness in assessing RA’s inflammatory activity, particularly in individuals who do not have high levels of conventional acute-phase reactants like interleukin-6 (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CRP).

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent type of liver malignancy. For HCCs with low or normal alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), several indicators have been proposed. Aim To evaluate C-reactive protein (CRP) and platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR) as potential HCC markers. Patients and methods This was a cross-sectional study carried out at the Tropical Medicine Department of Tanta University. A total of 90 patients with cirrhosis owing to chronic hepatitis C were divided into group 1, which included 30 patients with HCC with low AFP; group 2, which included 30 patients with HCC with elevated AFP (>20 ng/ml); and group 3, which included 30 patients with liver cirrhosis (as control group). The PLR, CRP, and AFP were measured in each group. Results There were significant differences among the studied groups regarding CRP and AFP, with highest levels in group 2 and then group 1 and the least level in group 3. PLR showed significantly higher levels in group 3 when compared with group 2 and group 1. Conclusion CRP can differentiate patients with HCC in total and patients with HCC with low AFP from patients with cirrhosiswith high sensitivity and moderate specificity. When PLR is combined with CRP, the specificity is increased for the diagnosis of HCC cases from patients with cirrhosis.

CONTEXT: One of the most common extra-intestinal signs of ulcerative colitis (UC) disease is anemia, which has a significant influence on patients' quality of life. AIM: The aim was to evaluate the role of serum hepcidin and reticulocyte hemoglobin concentration (CHr) in the study of anemia in UC patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We recruited 80 UC patients and 30 healthy individuals of matched age and sex as controls. Subjects were subdivided into three groups – Group I: 50 anemic UC patients, Group II: 30 nonanemic UC patients, and Group III: 30 healthy controls. RESULTS: CHr showed a statistically highly significant decline in Group I than Groups II and III. Serum hepcidin showed a significant difference between Groups I, II, and III. We reported a significant negative correlation between CHr and severity of UC and extension of UC and a significant positive correlation between CHr and hemoglobin level, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), serum ferritin, and transferrin saturation. While, serum hepcidin had a significant negative correlation with severity and extension of UC and a significant positive correlation with hemoglobin level, MCV, serum ferritin, transferrin saturation, and CHr. CONCLUSIONS: CHr had an excellent performance in prediction of iron-restricted anemia and was the test of best performance in prediction of iron-deficiency anemia ± ACD. Serum hepcidin had an excellent performance in prediction of ACD.