Purpose. The current study aimed at assessing vitamin D level and vitamin D receptor polymorphism in hypothyroid Egyptian patients and its effect on hypothyroidism and thyroid morphology, also to find a causal relation between vitamin D and hypothyroidism. Methods. This case-control study was conducted on 35 hypothyroid patients and 35 matched unrelated healthy controls. Total serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 and thyroid antibodies were measured using a human ELISA kit. Genotyping was performed by using real-time PCR. HOMA-IR was also calculated (fasting insulin in mIU/L × fasting glucose in mg/dL/405). All subjects were assessed for thyroid morphology by thyroid ultrasonography. Results. Vitamin D level was lower in hypothyroid patients than in control subjects. Vitamin D was also inversely related to TSH, HOMA-IR, and levels of anti-TG and anti-TPO. VDR polymorphism (Fok1 and Apa1) had no relation to TSH or vitamin D levels in both patients and control groups. Low vitamin D levels were associated with increased thyroid vascularity and nodularity; furthermore, vitamin D was inversely proportional to thyroid gland volume. Correlation of HOMA-IR with the levels of both anti-TG and anti-TPO in the 70 subjects proved that HOMA-IR was positively correlated to both antibodies. Conclusion. This study confirmed the association of vitamin D deficiency with hypothyroidism, thyroid autoimmunity, increased volume, nodularity, and vascularity of thyroid gland in hypothyroid patients as well as increased HOMA-IR. It proved the association between HOMA-IR and thyroid autoimmunity. The study proved no association between VDR polymorphisms (Fok1 and Apa1) with either vitamin D levels or TSH levels.

No abstract

No abstract

Background: The exact relationship between the different TCF7L2 gene polymorphisms and the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN) remains unclear. Objective: To investigate the association of TCF7L2 rs12255372 (G/T) gene polymorphism and diabetic nephropathy (DN) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: 100 patients with T2D (50 patients without DN and 50 patients with DN) and 50 age and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) were enrolled in the study. Genotyping for the rs12255372 (G>T) polymorphism in the TCF7L2 gene was performed by real-time PCR. Results: The rs12255372 polymorphism showed a statistically significant difference between HC and patients with and without DN in both the genotype and allele frequency. However, the rs12255372 polymorphism genotype or allele frequency was not statistically different between patients with DN and those patients without DN. The G allele was found to be higher in patients and the T allele was higher in HC suggesting that the G allele was the risk allele for developing T2D &DN and that the T allele was protective. Conclusion: rs12255372 TCF7L2 gene polymorphism was strongly associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and DN. The association between rs12255372 polymorphism and DN was a mere reflection of a complicated diabetes mellitus rather than a direct independent association.

Background Generally, hemangiomas are asymptomatic and most lesions are incidentally diagnosed on abdominal ultrasonography. The indications for surgery are still debated mainly due to limited data about the natural history of hepatic hemangiomas. The aim of this study is to investigate the natural history of hepatic hemangiomas, the effects of age and sex on their growth, and their tendency to increase in size or causing symptoms or complications as a guide for surgical indication. In this current study, combined retrospective and prospective analysis was conducted on 186 Egyptian adult patients having 244 hepatic hemangiomas who attended to the outpatient clinics. Follow-up was performed to observe the accurate site, size, number, rate of growth of the lesions, and their tendency to cause symptoms or complications. Results Ninety-one percent of patients were asymptomatic and 9% were symptomatic. During follow-up, 48% of patients showed an increase in tumor diameter, 22% decreased, and 30% were stable. The growth rate at 18–45-year group showed an increasing trend that was higher in females; it was 3.3 ± 2 mm/year for males and 3.9 ± 1.8 mm/year for females. At ˃ 45 year group, the female patients showed a decreasing trend (− 2.1 ± 1.1 mm/year) while in males showed an increasing trend that was slower than in 18–45-year group (2.6 ± 1.7 mm/year). Conclusion Growth pattern of liver hemangiomas is affected by age and sex. The majority of hemangiomas are asymptomatic and complications are rare. Hemangioma size alone is not an indication for surgery in asymptomatic patients. Surgical indications are limited to patients with severe symptoms, complications, or suspicious lesions. Most hemangiomas can be managed conservatively even giant hemangiomas.