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Objective. Several studies with contradictory results from different cultures about association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism in schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Little is known about this association in Arab culture and Egypt. So the present study aimed to assess the association of MTHFR C677T polymorphism in bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia in comparison to control group. The association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and the age at onset in schizophrenia or BD was also studied. Methods. Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) were used to examine the genotype and allele frequencies of MTHFR C677T polymorphism in 149 healthy subjects and 134 bipolar and 103 schizophrenia patients. Results. In BD and schizophrenia, there was a higher prevalence of MTHFR C677T polymorphism than healthy subjects. Earlier age at onset was found in patients with BD, carrying one copy of the T allele or CT genotypes but not in patients with schizophrenia. Conclusion. The present findings suggest that the MTHFR C677T polymorphisms are likely to be associated with the risk of developing BD and schizophrenia and influence the age at onset of BD but not the age at onset of schizophrenia.

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Background and Aim of work:The aim of the present study is to evaluate serum YKL-40 levels in patients with type II diabetes with increasing levels of albuminuria, and to examine a possible correlation to high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and insulin resistance in these patients. Methods: The study comprised 125 patients with type II diabetes attending Diabetes& Endocrinology Unit in Mansoura Specialized Medical Hospital. They were divided into 3 groups: 39 patients had normoalbuminuria (urinary albumin excretion rate < 30 mg/24 h), 46 patients had persistent microalbuminuria (urinary albumin excretion rate 30-300 mg/24 h), and 40 patients had persistent macroalbuminuria/diabetic nephropathy (urinary albumin excretion rate > 300 mg/24 h). The control group included 35 healthy individuals with matched age and sex. Serum YKL-40 was measured by sandwich enzyme immunoassay and serum hsCRP was measured by particle enhanced immunonephelometry. Insulin resistance was assessed using Homeostasis Model Assessment index for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR). Results: Mean serum YKL-40 level was 38.48ng/ml, 75.33ng/ml, 116.87ng/ml and 146.43ng/ml in control, normo-, micro-and macroalbuminuria groups respectively. Serum YKL-40 levels were significantly elevated in the three diabetic groups versus control group (P < 0.001 for each group). Also, YKL 40 was correlated with hsCRP and P < 0.001 & r = 0.792, P < 0.001, respectively) in the total group of participants. ROC curve analysis showed that YKL-40 is a good marker to discriminate between patients with and without albuminuria with sensitivity 93% and specificity of 88%. Conclusion: It could be concluded that YKL-40, is a marker of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. It is elevated in patients with type II diabetes with marked elevation in patients with macroalbuminuria/ nephropathy. These results suggest a role for YKL-40 in the gradually progressing vascular complications in patients with diabetes, with YKL-40 being a possible early and good marker of renal affection. It seems to be useful for screening because it is detectable in early stages and subclinical diseases.

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The link between Graves’ disease (GD) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) has been debated for decades due to the shared pathological and immunological components. Immune intolerance and inappropriate immune reaction against self-thyroid cells are distinctive features of both diseases, but definitive data for the clinical presentation of autoimmune thyroid disease remains unclear. To analyse the expression of T-regulatory cells, CD58, the CD4/CD8 ratio and the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and to determine if these parameters could be used as differentiating markers between auto- and non-immune thyroid diseases, 75 patients were enrolled in this study—40 with autoimmune thyroid disease (HT and GD ), 15 with non-immune thyroid disease, and 20 healthy controls. Multicolour flow cytometry was used to analyse CD58, T-regulatory cells (Treg) expressing CD4, CD25, HLA-DR and CD8 using different stained fluorescent labelled monoclonal antibodies. The neutrophils and lymphocyte ratio was also measured. Lower expression of Treg with higher expression of CD58 (LFA-3) was found in the autoimmune diseases when compared with the non-immune and control groups. ROC analysis showed that CD58 with sensitivity 88% and specificity 100% with cut-off value more than or equal to 29.9 indicates Hashimoto’s disease, while lower value indicates colloid goitre, and higher or equal to 29.84 indicates Graves’ disease and lower indicates colloid goitre with 100% sensitivity and specificity. CD58 could be used as differentiating marker between immune and non-immune thyroid disorders.

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease. It is characterized by an inflammatory polyarthritis that preferentially affects the small joints leading to joint damage and eventual deformity and disability, and can also present with extra-articular manifestations. Micro RNA (miRNA) is a class of non-coding RNAs which negatively regulate messenger RNA (mRNA) expression. Several studies had shown that miRNA-23b has a close relationship with inflammation and autoimmune diseases. An increasing evidence has suggested that miRNA-23b is closely associated with many inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The current study aimed to evaluate the plasma expression of miRNA-23b in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and to explore its potential association with diseases activity. Results RA patients had a significantly higher plasma miRNA-23b expression than controls (P < 0.001). The miRNA-23b plasma expression was significantly associated with the clinical and laboratory indices of RA activity as well as with the DAS28-ESR score (P = 0.009) and grades (P < 0.001). The miRNA-23b plasma expression was significantly correlated with the radiological severity of RA (P = 0.002). Conclusions Plasma expression of miRNA-23b is significantly increased in patients with RA than controls. In RA patients, plasma expression of miRNA-23b was significantly correlated with the activity and radiological severity of RA. miRNA-23b may represent a potential therapeutic target that can retard progression of RA.