Pulmonary involvement in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is common and can be due to the disease itself as well as to the therapies used to treat it. The purpose of this study was to disclose the pulmonary involvement in early RA patients not more than 2 years disease duration using the computed tomography (CT) as well as the pulmonary function tests as ways of pulmonary involvement assessment. Forty patients aged 37.6 ± 10.3 with early rheumatoid arthritis not more than 2 years of disease duration were recruited for the study. All patients were assessed clinically for their RA with DAS28, which was utilized for disease activity determination. Ten percent of our patients were found to be clinically involved by interstitial lung disease (ILD), where 27% have abnormal HRCT finding and 32.5% with abnormal PFT. Predilection for clinically manifest ILD was evident in active RA patients with high DAS28 score, seropositive RA patients, and in patients receiving steroids and anti-TNFα therapy. ILD occurs early in the course of RA, with more predilection for clinically active RA disease.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a critical hindrance to the success of cancer chemotherapy. The main thing responsible for MDR phenotypes are plasma-membranes associated with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) Binding Cassette (ABC) drug efflux transporters, such as the P-glycoprotein (Pgp) transporter that has the broadest spectrum of substrates. Curcumin (CURC) is a Pgp inhibitor, but it is poorly soluble and bioavailable. To overcome these limitations, we validated the efficacy and safety of CURC, loaded in biocompatible solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), with or without chitosan coating, with the goal of increasing the stability, homogeneous water dispersibility, and cellular uptake. Both CURC-loaded SLNs were 5–10-fold more effective than free CURC in increasing the intracellular retention and toxicity of doxorubicin in Pgp-expressing triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). The effect was due to the decrease of intracellular reactive oxygen species, consequent inhibition of the Akt/IKKα-β/NF-kB axis, and reduced transcriptional activation of the Pgp promoter by p65/p50 NF-kB. CURC-loaded SLNs also effectively rescued the sensitivity to doxorubicin against drug-resistant TNBC tumors, without signs of systemic toxicity. These results suggest that the combination therapy, based on CURC-loaded SLNs and doxorubicin, is an effective and safe approach to overcome the Pgp-mediated chemoresistance in TNBC.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a connective tissue disease characterized by the formation of autoantibodies and immune complexes. Lupus nephritis is one of the hallmark features of SLE. CXCL10 is a chemokine secreted by IFNg- stimulated endothelial cells and has been shown to be involved in the pathological processes of autoimmune diseases. The objective was to measure urinary CXCL10 in SLE patients, to compare levels between nephritis and non-nephritis groups and to study its correlation with other variables. Sixty lupus patients were enrolled in our trial. Thirty patients had lupus nephritis and the other 30 were without evidence of lupus nephritis. Thirty healthy subjects were willing to participate as a healthy control group. Renal biopsy was performed for lupus nephritis group. Urinary CXCL10 was measured using the ELISA technique. Serum creatinine, C3, C4 and 24 h urinary proteins were measured. Lupus activity was assessed using systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) scoring system. Renal activity was measured using renal activity scoring system. CXCL10 was significantly higher in lupus nephritis patients than in lupus patients without nephritis. CXCL10 was significantly correlated with renal activity score, 24 hours urinary proteins and the SLEDAI score. It is highly valid predictor of SLE nephritis with high sensitivity and specificity. CXCL 10 a highly sensitive and specific non-invasive diagnostic tool for lupus nephritis patients.

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ABSTRACTake Burullus represents an economically important lake in Egypt , due to its rich fishery resources. Unfortunately, the lake is exposed to many kinds of chemical and biological pollutants in addition to the remains of agricultural and wastes that are disposed into it. So, the aim of the present study was compare the quality of water samples collected from three different sites along lake Burullus; a site of the lake in contact with the Mediterranean sea called ElBoughaz inlet, western sector of the lake where agricultural drainage discharged and eastern sector where agricultural and industrial effluents.Water quality of samples collected from the different studied sites along the lake showed highly significant (P< 0.01) differences with the highest values in the dissolved oxygen content and salinity at El-Boughaz inlet. However, water samples collected from the eastern and western sectors of the lake showed highly significant (P< 0.01) increase in ammonia, nitrite, Cu, Zn and Mn but insignificant (P> 0.05) Pb concentration. Bioaccumulation of either of the studied heavy metals in gills, liver, kidneys and muscles of the Nile tilapia; Oreochromis niloticus collected from the eastern and western sectors of the lake was much higher than that of fish collected from El-Boughaz inlet. Moreover, histopathological sections showed clear damage of gills, liver and kidney of fish collected from eastern and western sectors of the lake.Furthermore, Oreochromis niloticus collected from eastern and western sectors of the lake had lower condition factor values, hepatosomatic index, RBCs, Hb, Ht, serum total protein and total lipids but higher liver water contents, WBCs, MCV, MCH, serum glucose, AST, ALT, creatinine and uric acid.The obtained results also revealed that the meat quality of the collected fish from El-Boughaz inlet was more superior than those of fish collected from the eastern and western sectors of the lake.