Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a serious health problem associated with both foetal and maternal complications. New biomarkers that can predict or help in the early diagnosis of GDM are nee...

Background: Hepatic and renal damage is a cisplatin (Cis)-induced deleterious effect that is a major limiting factor in clinical chemotherapy. Objectives: The current study was designed to investigate the influence of pretreatment with olive leaf extract (OLE), bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC), and their conditioned media (CM-MSC) against genotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, and immunotoxicity induced by cisplatin in rats. Methods: The rats were randomly divided into six groups (six rats each) as follows: Control; OLE group, treated with OLE; Cis group, treated with a single intraperitoneal dose of Cis (7 mg/kg bw); Cis + OLE group, treated with OLE and cisplatin; Cis + CM-MSC group, treated with BM-MSC conditioned media and Cis; and Cis + MSC group, treated with BM-MSC in addition to Cis. Results: Cis resulted in a significant deterioration in hepatic and renal functions and histological structures. Furthermore, it increased inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and decreased glutathione (GSH) content, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in hepatic and renal tissues. Furthermore, apoptosis was evident in rat tissues. A significant increase in serum 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG), nitric oxide (NO) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and a decrease in lysozyme activity were detected in Cis-treated rats. OLE, CM-MSC, and BM-MSC have significantly ameliorated Cis-induced deterioration in hepatic and renal structure and function and improved oxidative stress and inflammatory markers, with preference to BM-MSC. Moreover, apoptosis was significantly inhibited, evident from the decreased expression of Bax and caspase-3 genes and upregulation of Bcl-2 proteins in protective groups as compared to Cis group. Conclusions: These findings indicate that BM-MSC, CM-MSC, and OLE have beneficial effects in ameliorating cisplatin-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in the hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and genotoxicity in a rat model.

Background. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is considered a major global public health problem. Recently, there are great advances in HCV therapy, but there are some limitations that are creating an urgent need for assessment of some cytokines that have a potent antiviral effect in the immune system and anti‐inflammatory effects to provide a potential novel immunotherapeutic target in HCV infection. Objective. This study was directed to assess the serum levels and gene expression levels of Galectin‐4 (LEG4), Interleukin‐27 (IL‐27), and Complement‐7 (C‐7) and their correlation with the viral load in HCV infection. Subjects and Methods. This work was conducted on 80 subjects, Group 1 (n = 40) early detected HCV patients and Group 2 (n = 40) healthy controls. LEG4, IL‐27, and C‐7 were assessed at the protein levels by ELISA, and their gene expression was assessed by RT‐qPCR. The viral load was measured by PCR. Results. There were significant elevations in the mean levels of gene expression and serum levels of all studied parameters LEG4, IL‐27, and C‐7 in the HCV group compared to the control group. Significant negative correlations between the viral load and each of the serum proteins and gene expressions of both LEG4 and IL‐27 in HCV patients were found. The gene expression levels of LEG4, IL‐27, and C‐7 were positively correlated with their corresponding serum proteins in HCV patients.Conclusion. LEG4 and IL‐27 showed significant negative correlations with the viral load, which could be an immune response to the control of the extent of hepatic inflammation, thus creating a potential novel immunotherapeutic approach in HCV infection for further studies or therapeutic clinical trials.

Background/Objectives: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2-DM) is a continuing national and global health challenge. Retinoic acid (RA), the major transcription-regulating ligand, plays a critical role in energy metabolism, and pancreatic β-cell homeostasis. However, human data linking circulating RA levels to T2-DM and its clinical outcomes are sparse and inconsistent. In this ethically approved cross-sectional study of consented hospital-diagnosed adult T2-DM patients (n = 292) and matched healthy controls (n = 64), variation in plasma RA levels and its relationship with disease and patient characteristics were investigated. Methods: RA concentrations assayed via specific ELISA were related to glycemic control indices [fasting blood glucose (FBG) and HbA1c], the triglyceride–glucose ratio for insulin resistance (TyG-IR), treatment modalities, and complications derived from patients’ medical records. Results: RA concentrations were substantially lower in patients with T2-DM (mean ± SD 2.63 ± 1.54 ng/mL) than in controls (5.21 ± 4.3 ng/mL; p < 0.001). Within the diabetic cohort, RA was inversely correlated with indices of glycemic dysregulation and insulin resistance. Plasma RA exhibited strong discriminatory performance for distinguishing diabetic patients from healthy adults. Its AUC is 0.870 (p < 0.0001 and 95% CI = 0.832–0.902) with a sensitivity of 79.7% and a specificity of 81.3%, at an optimal cutoff of ≤3.061 ng/mL. Conclusions: Circulating RA is associated with metabolic perturbations that define T2-DM, and therefore is promising as a clinically useful biomarker. It may reflect pathophysiological processes linking nutrient signaling, energy handling and β-cell function in T2-DM that merit further evaluation.