No abstract

Background: Previous studies have suggested a strong genetic effect on sepsis pathogenesis. The present study aimed to investigate the role of miRNA-146-a expression in pediatric sepsis. Methods:The study included 55 pediatric sepsis patients and 60 control children of the same age and sex. Serum miRNA-146-a expression was measured using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and procalcitonin levels were measured by an enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. The outcome of the pediatric sepsis group was determined at 28 days of follow up. Results:The results obtained revealed that serum miRNA-146-a levels were significantly decreased in sepsis group compared to the control group. Serum level of miRNA-146a correlated with sepsis severity, with the pediatric septic shock group having the lowest level, followed by the severe sepsis and sepsis groups. The miRNA-146-a level could indicate sepsis (area under curve = 0.803). Serum miRNA-146-a expression was negatively associated with C-reactive protein, pro-calcitonin, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α. Patients with miRNA-146-a at a level lower than 0.4 had an increased mortality rate.Conclusions: miRNA-146-a is of significant diagnostic and prognostic value in pediatric sepsis and could be used for planning therapeutic strategies.

The increased survival of breast cancer (BC) patients by earlier detection and improved treatment outcomes together with younger age at diagnosis, raised the concerns about Quality Of Life among survivors, suffering from treatment side effects. To measure QOL among BC Egyptian females, then to compare HRQOL scores in BC patients receiving different lines of treatment. A comparative cross-sectional study on a sample 142 BC survivor receiving different lines of treatment, using EORTC QLQ-C30, and a BC-specific scale (QLQBR23 scale). The emotional functioning had the lowest score (29.22 ± 8.1), the most prominent symptom was appetite loss (69.48 ± 15.6) and in QLQ-BC23 scale, the future perspectives had the lowest score among functioning scale (19.71 ± 4.9). While among the symptoms scale; the most annoying symptom was upset by hair loss (89.67 ± 15.5). A significant difference in emotional subscale between three lines of treatment (p = 0.000) with the hormone therapy had the highest Global QOL (41.17 ± 9.97) (p = 0.008). Significant inverse correlation between the level of Global QOL and presence of chronic disease in the chemotherapy group (p = 0.001) and stage of carcinoma in all lines of treatment. Moreover the results proved that age and stage of carcinoma were the significant predictors for Global QOL. Hormonal therapy group showed the best functional scale in all subdomains of QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BC23, while radiotherapy group showed the lowest scores in QOL-C30 and chemotherapy group in QLQ-BC23. Chemotherapy group shows the highest level of problematic Global QOL with appetite loss in QLQ-C30 and upset from hair loss in QLQ-BC23.