Relationship Between the Bee Venom Therapy and Tumor Necrosis Factor-308 Variation in the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis, a Prospective Study

Bee venom (BV) was traditionally used to treat various inflammatory disorders including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The current study aims to assess the anti-arthritic effect of BV and the relation between tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-308 polymorphism and BV treatment response in RA. Methods: 50 RA patients received BV injection for 6 months, with an evaluation of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), visual analog scale (VAS), disease activity score (DAS28-ESR), TNF-α, at baseline and after 6ms. Genotyping assay for TNF-α G308A rs1800629 gene polymorphism. Results: The mean age was 36.0 (29.0 -40.0) years; 90% were females and 10% were males with a mean disease duration 8 (5-10 years). Most of the studied patients (64%) had high disease activity and 37% had moderate disease activity with a mean 5.5 (4.7 -6.8) at baseline. Treatment with BV was associated with a significant improvement in ESR, CRP, VAS, and significant decline in the DAS28-ESR score with p-value \u3c0.005. Most of cases achieved moderate and good EULAR response and a significant reduction of (TNFα) Level. TNF-α-308 genetic variant showed that the GG genotype (32 patients, 64 %) was more prevalent followed by AA genotypes (14 patients, 28 %). There was no difference between TNF-α G308 genotypes regarding the post-treatment response. Conclusion: Treatment with Bee venom can improve joint pain, disease activity, reduce ESR, CRP, and TNFα levels in RA patients. No difference between TNF-α G308 genotypes regarding treatment response

Global burden of human brucellosis : a systematic review of disease frequency

BACKGROUND: This report presents a systematic review of scientific literature published between 1990-2010 relating to the frequency of human brucellosis, commissioned by WHO. The objectives were to identify high quality disease incidence data to complement existing knowledge of the global disease burden and, ultimately, to contribute towards the calculation of a Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) estimate for brucellosis.METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Thirty three databases were searched, identifying 2,385 articles relating to human brucellosis. Based on strict screening criteria, 60 studies were selected for quality assessment, of which only 29 were of sufficient quality for data analysis. Data were only available from 15 countries in the regions of Northern Africa and Middle East, Western Europe, Central and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central Asia. Half of the studies presented incidence data, six of which were longitudinal prospective studies, and half presented seroprevalence data which were converted to incidence rates. Brucellosis incidence varied widely between, and within, countries. Although study biases cannot be ruled out, demographic, occupational, and socioeconomic factors likely play a role. Aggregated data at national or regional levels do not capture these complexities of disease dynamics and, consequently, at-risk populations or areas may be overlooked. In many brucellosis-endemic countries, health systems are weak and passively-acquired official data underestimate the true disease burden.CONCLUSIONS: High quality research is essential for an accurate assessment of disease burden, particularly in Eastern Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Central and South America and Africa where data are lacking. Providing formal epidemiological and statistical training to researchers is essential for improving study quality. An integrated approach to disease surveillance involving both human health and veterinary services would allow a better understand of disease dynamics at the animal-human interface, as well as a more cost-effective utilisation of resources

Ruminant Brucellosis in the Kafr El Sheikh Governorate of the Nile Delta, Egypt: Prevalence of a Neglected Zoonosis

Brucellosis is a zoonosis of mammals caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella. It is responsible for a vast global burden imposed on human health through disability and on animal productivity. In humans brucellosis causes a range of flu-like symptoms and chronic debilitating illness. In livestock brucellosis causes economic losses as a result of abortion, infertility and decreased milk production. The main routes for human infection are consumption of contaminated dairy products and contact with infected ruminants. The control of brucellosis in humans depends on its control in ruminants, for which accurate estimates of the frequency of infection are very useful, especially in areas with no previous frequency estimates. We studied the seroprevalence of brucellosis and its geographic distribution among domestic ruminants in one governorate of the Nile Delta region, Egypt. In the study area, the seroprevalence of ruminant brucellosis is very high and has probably increased considerably since the early 1990s. The disease is widespread but more concentrated around major animal markets. These findings question the efficacy of the control strategy in place and highlight the high infection risk for the animal and human populations of the area and the urgent need for an improved control strategy

Predictions for the future of kallikrein-related peptidases in molecular diagnostics

Kallikrein-related peptidases (KLKs) form a cancer-related ensemble of serine proteases. This multigene family hosts the most widely used cancer biomarker that is PSA-KLK3, with millions of tests performed annually worldwide. The present report provides an overview of the biomarker potential of the extended KLK family (KLK1-KLK15) in various disease settings and envisages approaches that could lead to additional KLK-driven applications in future molecular diagnostics. Particular focus is given on the inclusion of KLKs into multifaceted cancer biomarker panels that provide enhanced diagnostic, prognostic and/or predictive accuracy in several human malignancies. Such panels have been described so far for prostate, ovarian, lung and colorectal cancers. The role of KLKs as biomarkers in non-malignant disease settings, such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis, is also commented upon. Predictions are given on the challenges and future directions regarding clinically oriented KLK research