Serum ghrelin, TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels are elevated in patients with CHD whether acyanotic or cyanotic. Increased ghrelin levels represent malnutrition and growth retardation in these patients. The relation of ghrelin with TNF-alpha may be explained by the possible effect of chronic congestive heart failure and chronic shunt hypoxemia.

Background: Osteopontin (OPN) is an important bone matrix mediator found to have key roles in inflammation and immunity. OPN is a cytokine which can play a number of roles in promoting activation of T lymphocyte, regulating balance between T-helper 1 and T-helper 2, participating in cell-induced immunologic response and stimulating B lymphocyte to express multi-clone antibodies. Overexpression of OPN has been associated with the development of the autoimmune/ lymphoproliferative syndrome.Objective: The aim of our present study was to analyze the possible correlation between the plasma concentration of OPN and disease activity in children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We also investigated the correlation between plasma IL-18 and OPN concentrations to further confirm the association of OPN with disease activity.Methods: We measured the plasma concentration of OPN, and the plasma proinflammatory IL-18 concentration in 40 SLE patients with or without renal disease (RSLE group and SLE group, respectively) and in 30 sex-and age-matched controls using enzyme immunoassay.Results: Plasma OPN concentrations were significantly higher in RSLE and SLE patients than in the controls (p = 0.000 and p = 0.002). Plasma OPN concentrations were significantly higher in RSLE patients than in the SLE patients (p = 0.000). Plasma OPN concentration correlated positively and significantly with SLE disease activity index in combined SLE patient groups (r = 0.34; p = 0.04). In RSLE patients, plasma OPN concentration showed a significant positive correlation with proinflammatory cytokine IL-18 concentration (r = 0.48; p = 0.004). Conclusion:The above results suggest that the production of OPN is associated with the inflammatory process and SLE development, and may serve as a potential disease marker of SLE.

his paper aims to study the impact of microhabitats and seasonal variations on antioxidants components in Thymus capitatus plants growing in nature. T. capitatus is a perennial xerophyte growing naturally at calcareous hills and wadis closest to the Mediterranean region. Freshly terminal shoots of T. capitatus and associated soil were collected from Wadi Habis (west Matrouh), Egypt. The plant samples were studied from three microhabitats; upstream, wadi-runnel and wadi-bed during winter and summer, 2018. Soil physical analysis was done. In plant samples, water content, malondialdehyde (MDA), specific activities of peroxidase (POD), polyphenoloxidase (PPO) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and proline content, total phenols, anthocyanin, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids, were determined. The specific activity of PPO was increased in the summer season while water content increased in winter. The other parameters were not changed significantly by seasonal variations. Regarding microhabitats effect, MDA attained the highest value in those at upstream, proline content was found higher at wadi-runnel, while PPO, POD, PAL, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, anthocyanin and total phenols were the highest in those at wadi-bed. Our results indicated that T. capitatus is highly tolerant to drought stress via keeping stability on MDA content.