AIM:To study serum levels of leptin and adiponectin in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection genotype-4 (HCV-4) related steatosis and fibrosis.

Our results suggested that C1236T polymorphism in ABCB1 gene was associated with steroid resistance. A higher proportion of SR children had C1236T TT genotype and T allele, these patients may require other therapeutic strategies.

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Premature atherosclerosis is common among young thalassemia children. Lp-PLA2 and TNF-α are significantly increased in thalassemia children and show strong correlations with cIMT, suggesting that both of them may be appreciated as modulating factors in carotid atherosclerosis pathophysiological process among these children.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the potential role of platelet‐derived growth factor‐AA (PDGF‐AA) and the PDGF‐α receptor as prognostic markers in Wilms’ tumour. PATIENTS AND METHODS The expression of PDGF‐AA and PDGF‐α were investigated using immunohistochemical analysis of 62 Wilms’ tumours. Patients were treated with chemotherapeutic agents before surgery and had a mean follow‐up of 6.4 years. RESULTS PDGF‐AA and PDGF‐α were expressed by the mesenchymal tissue of the normal kidney and mainly detected in the epithelial component of Wilms’ tumour. Immunoreactive tumour epithelium cells were found in 50% and 55% for PDGF‐AA and PDGF‐α, respectively. The epithelial expression of both PDGF‐AA and PDGF‐α correlated with pathological stage. Univariate analysis showed that epithelial PDGF‐AA and PDGF‐α receptor expression were indicative of clinical progression. In a multivariate analysis, PDGF‐α protein expression by epithelial cells was an independent prognostic marker of a favourable prognosis. CONCLUSIONS Expression of both PDGF‐AA and PDGF‐α in the epithelial part of Wilms’ tumour correlated with tumour stage and clinical progression. Our data suggest that both PDGF‐AA and PDGF‐α receptor expression are related to prognosis.