Age and growth of chiton Acanthopleura spiniger from the northwestern region of the Red Sea

274-277Common rock chiton Acanthopleura spiniger from rocky shores at Al-Ghardaqa in the northwestern region of the Red Sea, were studied for age and growth. The longevity of A. spiniger extends to 6 y. Length-weight relationship was expressed by the geometric regression equation W = 7.5 x 10(-4) L 2.5158. The lowest values of the coefficient of condition (Kn) were for the size-group 35-40 and 70-75 mm and higher values were in 45-65 mm group. Theoretical growth in length and weight of A. spiniger was best estimated using the von Bertalanffy growth formula and not the straight line equation

Cytokeratin 18 as a non invasive marker in diagnosis of NASH and its usefulness in correlation with disease severity in Egyptian patients

Background: A simple noninvasive test that accurately distinguishes NASH from NAFL as well as determines the disease severity is urgently needed. Recently, it was found that determination of cytokeratin-18 (CK-18) fragments in the blood, predicts and correlates with histological NASH in which there is development of lobular inflammation, cell ballooning and fibrosis, supporting its usefulness in clinical practice. Aims: To evaluate the role of CK-18 as a non invasive marker in diagnosis of NASH and its usefulness in correlation with disease severity in Egyptian patients. Patients and methods: 90 subjects were divided into 3 groups: group I: including 30 patients with NASH, group II: including 30 patients with NAFL, and group III: including 30 healthy subjects as control. Diagnosis of NASH and its discrimination from NAFL was done by liver biopsy. CK-18 level in plasma was measured for all subjects using ELISA. Results: CK-18 was significantly elevated in patients of group I in comparison to group II and III patients, with mean ± SD: 460 ± 279, 167 ± 56 and 149 ± 57, respectively, and P value: 0.001. The (ROC) curve diagnostic performance of CK18 in diagnosis of NASH shows: cutoff value of >240 U/L, with sensitivity 76.7%, specificity 95.0%. Ck-18 was found to correlate with disease severity assessed by NAS scoring system with P value: 0.001. Conclusion: Measurement of CK18 in NASH is a useful screening, diagnostic and staging biomarker