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Background: Adipokines are demonstrated to be associated with multiple cutaneous diseases. Leptin is mainly produced by the adipocytes that stem from the obese gene. In addition, it was reported that, secretion of leptin is a response to increased lipid uptake, thus, it might be regarded as a link between improper diet and the development of inflammatory acne. Objective: The aim of the current work wasto estimate serum leptin and adiponectin in both obese and non-obese patients with acne vulgaris and to evaluate adiponectin/leptin ratio (A/L) rates as a biomarker of insulin resistance and hence their role in pathogenesis of acne vulgaris in correlation with body weight and disease severity. Patients and methods: This prospective case-controlled study included a total of 60 patients with acne vulgaris, attending at the Dermatology, Andrology & STD Outpatient Clinic, Mansoura University Hospitals. Forty healthy subjects matched with the patients in age, sex were included. This study was conducted between April 2019 to January 2020. Results: Cases with acne vulgaris demonstrated significant increase in serum leptin level as well as significant decrease in serum adiponectin level compared to controls. No significant correlation was reported between both serum leptin and adiponectin levels and disease severity. Leptin could be used as reliable predictor in terms of the differentiation between cases of acne vulgaris and controls with high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. Adiponectin could be used as reliable predictor in terms of the differentiation between cases of acne vulgaris and controls with high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. Conclusion: Acne vulgaris was associated with significant elevation in leptin level, significant reduction in adiponectin level and significant decrease in A/L ratio. Thus, leptin, adiponectin and insulin resistance may be pathogenic cofactors contributing to the development of the disease and could be used as reliable predictors for development of acne vulgaris but not for severity of disease.

Introduction: Male factor is responsible for about half of infertility problems. However, the reasons for the decrease in male fertility are still broadly unclear. The mechanisms of how smoking may impact male fertility have not been established. However, with its influence on different semen parameters, it is regarded as a risk factor for infertility.Aim: To investigate the effect of chronic smoking on spermatozoa NRF2 expression and DNA fragmentation in infertile men with apparently normal seminogram and to determine if NRF2 expression and DNA fragmentation markers could be possible predictors of the impact of chronic cigarette smoking on male fertility.Methods: Semen samples were collected from 170 subjects; 65 nonsmokers (40 fertile and 25 infertile) and 105 smokers (25 fertile and 80 infertile). NRF2 gene expression, 8-OHdG and DNA fragmentation were assayed.Results: There were significant increases in 8-OHdG and %DNA fragmentation with a significant decrease in NRF2 gene expression in infertile smokers. ROC curve analysis of spermatozoa NRF2 gene expression showed 95% sensitivity 93.3% specificity at cutoff value ≤0. 931 (p 19.33 pg/ml predicting the detrimental effect of smoking on spermatozoa DNA.Conclusion: Chronic cigarette smoking may be a hidden causative mechanism of delayed fertility. Spermatozoa NRF2 gene expression and seminal 8-OHdG levels may serve as sensitive diagnostic indicators predicting smoking induced infertility. So, the presence of normal seminal parameters could not be an exclusion of potential effect of chronic smoking on male fertility.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with oxidative stress (OS) and serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity has been reported with mixed results. The objective of this study was to examine the activity of SOD both in the serum and FF from women with PCOS undergoing ICSI, as well as the expression of Cu/Zn-SOD mRNA in the cells recovered from the FF.Forty women undergoing an ICSI trial were divided into: group I, included 20 PCOS cases, group II included 20 age-matched controls with tubal factor infertility. Both groups were similarly stimulated. A total of 204 metaphase II (MII) oocytes were aspirated; (108) from PCOS, and (96) from the control group. SOD activities in the serum and FF, as well as Cu/Zn-SOD (SOD1) mRNAs in follicular fluid (FF) cells were analyzed.There was a statistically highly significant decrease (p 0.001) both in the mean serum SOD (45.56 ± 18.06) and FF SOD activity (42.49 ± 11.46) in PCOS than the control group (77.38 ± 7.82), (74.37 ± 6.15) respectively. The mean relative levels of Cu, Zn SOD mRNAs was significantly lower (p 0.001) in cells isolated from the FF in PCOS (0.36 ± 0.14) than the control group (0.81 ± 0.15). SOD activity in FF had no effects on fertilization rate (p 0.05), or embryo quality after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).Although decreased SOD activity in FF has no effect on fertilization rate and/or embryo quality, serum SOD activity could be a clinical parameter for determining systemic oxidative stress in PCOS.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly aggressive malignancy characterized by its high resistance to chemotherapeutic agents leading to high morbidity and mortality rates. Capsaicin, the active ingredient of hot peppers, has been reported for its potential as an active anti-cancer agent. In this study, we hypothesized that incorporating capsaicin into nanocarriers might improve its pharmacokinetics. As a result, densely dispersed capsaicin-loaded trimethyl-chitosan nanoparticles (CL-NPs) were developed and their anti-tumor effect was investigated in comparison with capsaicin on human HepG2 cells. The CL-NPs were obtained via iontropic gelation of cationic trimethyl chitosan (TMCS). Both synthesized TMCS and TMCS-based nanoparticles were characterized using zeta analyzer, nanosizer, and TEM. Human hepatoma cell line (HepG2) were cultured then divided into 4 groups receiving ethanol, conventional capsaicin, plain nanoparticles (PNs), or CL-NPs in dose of 100 μM. The apoptotic activity in the cell line was evaluated by DNA fragmentation assay, immunocytochemistry for caspase-3 and BCL-2, in addition to gene expression studies of BCL-2, and Bax genes via RT-PCR. The capsaicin effect on HCC response to chemotherapy was also assessed by studying the level of MDR-1 (multidrug resistance) gene expression. CL-NPs in dose of 100 μM, 24 h after treatment, showed more upregulation of Bax and downregulation of both BCL-2 and MDR-1 genes in comparison with conventional capsaicin. In addition, immunocytochemistry assay revealed that both capsaicin and plain NPs show higher expression of caspase-3 and lower expression of BCL-2 than the control group, while the group treated with CL-NPs showed complete necrosis. This indicates that plain TMCS nanoparticles had a little anti-apoptotic effect by themselves. Our findings highlight the potential of the developed CL-NPs as an effective anti-cancer agent which efficiently induced apoptosis in human HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells. Moreover, a possible role in improving response to chemotherapy has been observed through downregulation of MDR-1 gene.

Background Use of cellular phones emitting radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) has been increased exponentially and become a part of everyday life. This study aimed to investigate the effects of in vitro RF-EMF exposure emitted from cellular phones on sperm motility index, sperm DNA fragmentation and seminal clusterin (CLU) gene expression. Materials and Methods In this prospective study, a total of 124 semen samples were grouped into the following main categories: i. normozoospermia (N, n=26), ii. asthenozoospermia (A, n=32), iii. asthenoteratozoospermia (AT, n=31) and iv. oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT, n=35). The same semen samples were then divided into two portions non-exposed and exposed samples to cell phone radiation for 1 hour. Before and immediately after exposure, both aliquots were subjected to different assessments for sperm motility, acrosin activity, sperm DNA fragmentation and CLU gene expression. Statistical differences were analyzed using paired t student test for comparisons between two sub-groups where p < 0.05 was set as significant. Results There was a significant decrease in sperm motility, sperm linear velocity, sperm linearity index, and sperm acrosin activity, whereas there was a significant increase in sperm DNA fragmentation percent, CLU gene expression and CLU protein levels in the exposed semen samples to RF-EMF compared with non-exposed samples in OAT>AT>A>N groups, respectively (p < 0.05). Conclusion Cell phone emissions have a negative impact on exposed sperm motility index, sperm acrosin activity, sperm DNA fragmentation and seminal CLU gene expression, especially in OAT cases.