Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver cancer, which is one of the most prevalent cancers among humans. Many factors are involved in the liver carcinogenesis as lifestyle and environmental factors. Hepatitis virus infections are now recognized as the chief etiology of HCC; however, the precise mechanism is still enigmatic till now. The inflammation triggered by the cytokine-mediated immune response, was reported to be the closest factor of HCC development. Cytokines are immunoregulatory proteins produced by immune cells, functioning as orchestrators of the immune response. Genes of cytokines and their receptors are known to be polymorphic, which give rise to variations in their genes. These variations have a great impact on the expression levels of the secreted cytokines. Therefore, cytokine gene polymorphisms are involved in the molecular mechanisms of several diseases. This piece of work aims to shed much light on the role of cytokine gene polymorphisms as genetic host factor in hepatitis related HCC.

Cytokines play critical roles in the pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus infection (HBV). This work was designed to study the effect of IL-10 gene polymorphisms (-1082G/A and -819C/T) on susceptibility of Egyptians to HBV. Genotyping was performed using single-stranded polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction in 118 Egyptian hepatitis B patients and 119 healthy controls, and IL-10 serum levels were measured using ELISA. The frequency of IL-10 -1082G/G was significantly higher in HBV patients than in healthy controls, and G/A and A/A were not significantly different between groups. The distribution of IL-10 -819 genotypes was not significantly different between the HBV and healthy control groups. Although AT was significantly different between controls and patients, the distribution of the other haplotypes was not. IL-10 levels were significantly lower among hepatitis B patients. Our data stress the importance of IL-10 gene polymorphism in HBV infection. Depending on our preliminary work, IL-10 -1082G/G may act as a host genetic factor in the susceptibility to HBV infection in Egyptians.

The interindividual variations in the capacity of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) production have been ascribed to genetic polymorphisms in TGF-β1 gene. As pathogenesis of HBV has a genetic background, this preliminary study was designed to assess the impact of TGF-β1 (T29C) on the susceptibility of Egyptians to HBV infection. Genotyping was performed using single stranded polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (SSP-PCR) in 65 Egyptian hepatitis B patients and 50 healthy controls. TGF-β1 plasma levels were measured using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The frequency of CC genotype was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in HBV patients compared to controls. On the contrary, TC genotype did not show significant difference in both groups. TT genotype was significantly higher (P < 0.01) in controls than HBV patients. Our current preliminary data revealed that the frequency of the genotypes in the controls were within Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) while the patients group was out of HWE (P < 0.01). TGF-β1 was significantly (r = −0.684; P < 0.001) deceased in the sera of patients as compared to normal subjects. Depending on our preliminary work, CC genotype may act as a host genetic factor in the susceptibility to HBV infection in Egyptians. Taken together, the current data pointed to the importance of polymorphism of TGF-β1 gene (T29C) in HBV infection.

Background: Due to versatility in reaction catalyzed by peroxidases, they have potential applications in different areas in the health sciences, food industry, and diagnostic purposes. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the properties of peroxidase from ginger to be meeting the perquisites of several applications. Results: The cationic peroxidase (GPII) was purified to homogeneity by anion exchange chromatography using DEAE-Sepharose column followed by cation exchange chromatography using CM-Sepharose column and finally Sephacryl S-200 column. The molecular mass of GPII was 42 kDa. GPII shows oxidizing activity with several phenolic compounds by using H 2 O 2 as the second substrate. The natural plant phenolic compounds as pyrogallol, catechol, and guaiacol were found to be excellent electron donors for the enzyme compared to other phenolic compounds. GPII exhibited K m values of 3.1 and 7.1 mM and V max values of 0.6 and 0.31 units/assay using H 2 O 2 and guaiacol as substrates, respectively. The enzyme exhibited maximal peroxidase activity at broad pH's 6.0-7.5 and 50°C. GPII was thermal stable up to 50°C and retained 66% of its activity at 70°C after 1 h incubation. The GPII activated by most divalent cations tested and inhibited by Hg 2+ and Cu 2+ cations. Conclusion: PGII could be used in several applications due to its catalytic properties, thermal stability, broad pH, and acting on several phenolic compounds.

A series of unexpected bis-coumarins have been synthesized by multicomponent reactions of 4-hydroxycoumarin, aldehydes, and cyclic secondary amines in ethanol at room temperature. The chemical structures of new compounds were identified by 1H, 13C NMR, and mass spectrometry. Furthermore, the molecular structure of the solid-state adduct of 3,3′-[(4-methoxyphenyl)-methylene]bis(4-hydroxy-2H-chromen-2-one) with morpholine (1:1) has been confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The cytotoxicity of the new coumarin derivatives against MCF7 breast cancer cells was evaluated. A docking study of the new products was carried out to assess the molecular affinity between the tested compound and Topoisomerase IIa.