A phage displayed dodecapeptide library and synthetic octapeptides spanning the complete sequence of α‐ and γ‐type gliadin and overlapping in six amino acids (pepscan) were screened for binding to human gliadin antibodies (AGA). Phage display experiments led to four sequences recognized with significantly higher frequency by sera with raised IgA‐AGA titres than by control sera. All these peptides contained the core sequence PEQ. Pepscan experiments revealed binding of AGA to five prominent regions: (i) QXQPFP (binding to IgG and IgA, X representing P, Q, and L); (ii) IPEQ (IgG) and WQIPEQ (IgA); (iii) FFQP (IgG) and QGXFQP (IgA, X representing F and S); (iv) PQQLPQ (IgG and IgA), all in α‐type gliadin; and (v) QPQQPF (IgG and IgA) in γ‐type gliadin. In two of the sequences (QPQQPF and QQQPFP), substitution of Q by E resulting in QPEQPF and QEQPFP, respectively, increased significantly binding of AGA from sera of patients with biopsy‐proven or suspected coeliac disease (CoD), all positive for endomysium antibodies (EmA). In contrast, binding of sera with high AGA titre from EmA‐negative patients (CoD and dermatitis herpetiformis excluded) was not enhanced by this substitution. Thus, AGA directed against these modified epitopes can be regarded as specific for CoD. This is the first study demonstrating that deamidation of gliadin improves reactivity of AGA of CoD patients.

R5 seems to be a good candidate for the specific detection of putative coeliac disease-active sequences in prolamins and thus represents a valuable tool for the quality control of gluten-free food.

. Short-term evaluation of autologous transplantation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in patients with cirrhosis: Egyptian study.Abstract: Background: Stem cell-based therapy has received attention as a possible alternative to organ transplantation. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of autologous transplantation of bone marrow (BM)-derived stromal cells in post-HCV liver cirrhosis patients. Methodology: 10 9 10 6 of isolated human bone marrow (HBM)-stromal cells in 10 mL normal saline were injected in the spleen of 20 patients with end-stage liver cirrhosis guided by the ultrasonography, and then patients were followed up on monthly basis for six months. Results: A statistically significant decrease was detected in the total bilirubin, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) (p-value<0.01), prothrombin time (PT), and international normalized ratio (INR) levels (p-value<0.05), while a statistically significant increase in the albumin and PC (p-value<0.05) after follow-up. Conclusion: This study suggested the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of the intrasplenic injection of autologous BM stromal cells in improving liver function in Egyptian patients with cirrhosis.

Context: Vesicular drug carriers for ocular delivery have gained a real potential. Proniosomal gels as ocular drug carriers have been proven to be an effective way to improve bioavailability and patient compliance. Objective: Formulation and in vitro/ex vivo/in vivo characterization of ketoconazole (KET)-loaded proniosomal gels for the treatment of ocular keratitis. Materials and methods: The effect of formulation variables; HLB value, type and concentration of non-ionic surfactants (Tweens, Spans, Brijs and Pluronics) with or without lecithin on the entrapment efficiency (EE%), vesicle size and in vitro KET release was evaluated. An ex vivo corneal permeation study to determine the level of KET in the external eye tissue of albino rabbits and an in vivo assessment of the level of KET in the aqueous humors were performed. Results and discussion: In vivo evaluation showed an increase in bioavailability up to 20-folds from the optimum KET proniosomal gel formula in the aqueous humor compared to drug suspension (KET-SP). The selected formulae were composed of spans being hydrophobic suggesting the potential use of a more hydrophobic surfactant as Span during the formulation of formulae. Factors that stabilize the vesicle membrane and increase the entrapment efficiency of KET (namely low HLB, long alkyl chain, high phase transition temperature) slowed down the release profile. Conclusions: Proniosomal gels as drug delivery carriers were proven to be a promising approach to increase corneal contact and permeation as well as retention time in the eye resulting in a sustained action and enhanced bioavailability.

BackgroundTissue microarray technology has provided a high throughput means of evaluating potential biomarkers in archival pathological specimens. This study was carried out in order to produce tissue microarray blocks using mechanical pencil tips without high cost.MethodConventional mechanical pencil tips (Rotring Tikky II Mechanical Pencil 1.0 mm) were used to cut out 1 mm wax cylinders from the recipient block, creating from 36 to 72 holes. Three cores of tumor areas were punched out manually by using the mechanical pencil tips from donor paraffin embedded tissue blocks and transferred to the holes of the paraffin tissue microarrays.ResultsThis technique was easy and caused little damage to the donor blocks. We successfully performed H&E slides and immunodetection without substantial tissue cylinder loss.ConclusionOur mechanical pencil tip technique is the most inexpensive easy technique among the literature. It also takes a reasonable amount of time and reduces antibody consumption during immunohistochemistry

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Rifampicin is effective in the treatment of patients with IGLM with complete clinical and ultrasonographic response after 6-9 months and could be used as a solo medical therapy alternative to both surgery and corticosteroids.

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