Corina Daniela Ene

Monitoring Diabetic Nephropathy by Circulating Gangliosides.

Gangliosides are multifunctional molecules, abundantly expressed in renal cell membrane but also in sera of patients with renal disease. The aim of this study was to quantify the serum levels of sialic acid-ganglioside in patients diagnosed with diabetes for an eventual biomarker stratification of patients with renal complications. We included 35 diabetic patients without metabolic complications, 35 patients with diabetic nephropathy, 35 non-diabetic individuals. We found that sialic acid ganglioside serum level was significantly increased in patients with diabetic nephropathy compared to the level obtained in patients with uncomplicated diabetes and to non-diabetic controls. A statistically significant positive correlation was obtained between serum levels of sialic acid gangliosides, HbA1c, and serum creatinine in patients with diabetes without complications. Moreover positive correlation was found between sialic acid ganglioside and blood glucose, HbA1c, urea, creatinine, microalbuminuria in patients with diabetic nephropathy. We can conclude that serum sialic acid-gangliosides are statistically increased in diabetic nephropathy positively correlated with microalbuminuria.

The seroprevalence of several infections in urticaria

Results Serology for hepatitis B was found to be positive in 8 patients (3.38%) in the acute spontaneous urticaria group, in 9 patients (5.35%) in the chronic spontaneous urticaria group and in 5 subjects (2.27%) in the control group. Antibodies to HCV were identified in 3 patients (1.27%) with acute spontaneous urticaria, in 4 patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (2.38%) and in one subject (0.45%) in the control group. Antibodies to Helicobacter pylori were present in 139 acute spontaneous urticaria patients (58.89%), in 107 chronic spontaneous urticaria patients (63.69%) and in 124 (56.36%) controls.

Ascorbic acid deficiency in patients with lichen planus

ABSTRACT Objectives. Recent studies have highlighted the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of lichen planus (LP). In the present study, the interest of the authors is focused on the investigation of ascorbic acid status in patients with LP and identification of parameters that might influence the level of this vitamin. Material and method. We analyzed the level of urinary ascorbic acid (reflectometric method) in 77 patients with LP (cutaneous LP (CLP)—49 cases; oral LP (OLP)—28 cases) and 50 control subjects. The evaluation of all participants included clinical examination and laboratory and imaging tests. Results. Compared to the control group (19.82 mg/dl) the level of ascorbic acid was significantly lower both in patients with CLP (8.47 mg/dl, p = 0.001) and in those with OLP (8.04 mg/dl, p = 0.001). In patients with LP it was found that the deficiency of ascorbic acid increases with age (r = -0.318, p = 0.032). The urinary concentrations of ascorbic acid were significantly lower in patients with LP associated with infections compared to patients with LP without infections. Conclusions. The urinary ascorbic acid level may be a useful parameter in identifying patients with LP who are at risk of developing viral or bacterial infections.

The influence of hepatitis C virus infection on H1 antihistamine treatment in urticaria patients

Background Considerable evidence indicates that, in addition to antiallergic effect, several H1-antihistamines also possess antiinflammatory properties. The anti-inflammatory activity of H1 antihistamine treatment in urticaria patients is based on the capacity of H1-antihistamines to inhibit the release of chemical mediators from mast cells and basophiles, to regulate the chemotaxis of neutrophils and eosinophils, to increase eosinophils apoptosis and to reduce the expression of the adhesion molecules. Viral hepatic infections may affect the efficacy of H1 antihistamines probably interfering with their hepatic metabolism through cytochrome P450 system. We proposed to analyze the effect of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on the therapeutic efficacy of H1 antihistamines in urticaria patients.