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Thalassemia is a major health problem due to iron overload, iron deposition and oxidative stress-induced tissue damage. Here, we introduce Al-hijamah (a minor surgical excretory procedure) as a novel percutaneous iron excretion therapy. Al-hijamah is a wet cupping therapy of prophetic medicine, and prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, strongly recommended Al-hijamah, saying: \"The best of your treatment is Al-hijamah\". Our study aimed at investigating the safety, iron chelation, pharmacological potentiation and oxidant clearance effects exerted by Al-hijamah to thalassemic children. Ethical committee's approval and patients' written agreement consents were obtained. We treated 20 thalassemic children (15 males and five females aged 9.07±4.26 years) with iron chelation therapy (ICT) plus Al-hijamah (using sterile disposable sets and in a complete aseptic environment) vs a control group treated with ICT only. This clinical trial was registered in the ClinicalTrial.gov registry under the name \"Study of the Therapeutic Benefits of Al-hijamah in Children with Beta Thalassemia Major\" (identifier no NCT 02761395) on 30 January 2016. Al-hijamah was quite simple, safe, effective, tolerable (with no side effects) and time-saving procedure (30-60 minutes). A single session of Al-hijamah significantly reduced iron overload ( <0.001) in all thalassemic children. Al-hijamah significantly decreased serum ferritin by 25.22% (from 3,778.350±551.633 ng/mL to 2,825.300±558.94 ng/mL), significantly decreased oxidative stress by 68.69% ( <0.05; serum malondialdehyde dropped from 42.155±12.42 to 13.195±0.68 nmol/L), exerted pharmacological potentiation to ICT and significantly increased total antioxidant capacity ( <0.001) by 260.95% (from 13.195±0.68 nmol/L to 42.86±12.40 nmol/L through excreting reactive oxygen species). Moreover, therapeutic indices for evaluating Al-hijamah were promising. Al-hijamah is a novel, safe, effective percutaneous iron excretion therapy through percutaneous iron excretion with minimal blood loss in agreement with the evidence-based Taibah mechanism. Al-hijamah is an effective outpatient hematological procedure that is safer than many pediatric procedures such as catheterization, hemofiltration and dialysis. Increasing the number of cups during Al-hijamah session or the number of sessions reduces iron overload more strongly. Medical practice of Al-hijamah is strongly recommended in hospitals.

Background: Thalassemia is a major health problem due to iron overload, iron deposition and oxidative stress-induced tissue damage. Here, we introduce Al-hijamah (a minor surgical excretory procedure) as a novel percutaneous iron excretion therapy. Al-hijamah is a wet cupping therapy of prophetic medicine, and prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, strongly recommended Al-hijamah, saying: \"The best of your treatment is Al-hijamah\". Aim of the study: Our study aimed at investigating the safety, iron chelation, pharmacological potentiation and oxidant clearance effects exerted by Al-hijamah to thalassemic children. Patients and methods: Ethical committee's approval and patients' written agreement consents were obtained. We treated 20 thalassemic children (15 males and five females aged 9.07[+ or -]4.26 years) with iron chelation therapy (ICT) plus Al-hijamah (using sterile disposable sets and in a complete aseptic environment) vs a control group treated with ICT only. This clinical trial was registered in the ClinicalTrial.gov registry under the name \"Study of the Therapeutic Benefits of Al-hijamah in Children with Beta Thalassemia Major\" (identifier no NCT 02761395) on 30 January 2016. Results: Al-hijamah was quite simple, safe, effective, tolerable (with no side effects) and time-saving procedure (30-60 minutes). A single session of Al-hijamah significantly reduced iron overload (P<0.001) in all thalassemic children. Al-hijamah significantly decreased serum ferritin by 25.22% (from 3,778.350[+ or -]551.633 ng/mL to 2,825.300[+ or -]558.94 ng/mL), significantly decreased oxidative stress by 68.69% (P<0.05; serum malondialdehyde dropped from 42.155[+ or -]12.42 to 13.195[+ or -]0.68 nmol/L), exerted pharmacological potentiation to ICT and significantly increased total antioxidant capacity (P<0.001) by 260.95% (from 13.195[+ or -]0.68 nmol/L to 42.86[+ or -]12.40 nmol/L through excreting reactive oxygen species). Moreover, therapeutic indices for evaluating Al-hijamah were promising. Conclusion: Al-hijamah is a novel, safe, effective percutaneous iron excretion therapy through percutaneous iron excretion with minimal blood loss in agreement with the evidence-based Taibah mechanism. Al-hijamah is an effective outpatient hematological procedure that is safer than many pediatric procedures such as catheterization, hemofiltration and dialysis. Increasing the number of cups during Al-hijamah session or the number of sessions reduces iron overload more strongly. Medical practice of Al-hijamah is strongly recommended in hospitals. Keywords: thalassemia, Al-hijamah, iron chelation therapy, oxidative stress, clearance, Al-hijamah indices

The apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, encompassing three alleles (ε2, ε3, ε4), is a critical player in lipid metabolism and has been extensively studied for its role in neurodegenerative diseases. This study examines APOE genetic variability and its association with PD in an Egyptian cohort. A total of 891 participants, including 422 PD patients and 469 healthy controls, were included in this study. APOE genotyping was performed using Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) to detect the rs429358 and rs7412 SNPs, which define the APOE alleles. APOE alleles were categorized based on the genotypes into ε2, ε3, and ε4 groups. Clinical assessments of PD patients included age at onset, disease severity (MDS-UPDRS), and demographic factors. Statistical analyses compared APOE distributions between PD and control groups and examined associations with clinical variables. The ε3 allele was the most prevalent in the cohort (77.3%), aligning with global and African trends. The ε2 allele was observed in 11.4%, and the ε4 allele in 11.3%, with both frequencies being lower than reported African estimates. The ε3/ε3 genotype was predominant in both PD patients (72.51%) and controls (72.07%). The ε4/ε4 genotype was absent in PD cases and rare among controls (0.64%). No significant association was found between APOE genotypes and PD risk, age at onset, or disease severity. Our findings do not support a significant role for APOE in PD susceptibility or severity in Egyptians.

Background COVID-19 is the largest outbreak to strike humanity. The wide scale of fatalities and morbidities lead to a concurrent pandemic of uncertainty in scientific evidence. Conflicting evidences are released on daily basis about the neonatal outcomes of COVID-19-positive mothers. The aim of this study was to use the relevant case reports and series to determine the percentage of newborns who test positive for COVID-19 who are born to COVID-19-positive mothers. Secondary outcomes included examining laboratory abnormalities among COVID-19-positive neonates, and any depicted placental abnormalities in COVID-19-positive mothers. For this purpose, systematic review was performed on all studies reporting primary data on fetus-mother pairs with COVID-19. Data bases were searched for studies that met our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results Final screening revealed 67 studies, from which the primary data of 1787 COVID-19 mothers were identified and had their pregnancy outcome analyzed. Only 2.8% of infants born to COVID-19-positive mothers tested positive, and this finding is identical to percentages reported in former Coronaviridae outbreaks, whereas 20% manifested with intrauterine hypoxia alongside placental abnormalities suggestive of heavy placental vaso-occlusive involvement. Conclusions These findings suggest that while vertical transmission is unlikely, there appears to be an underlying risk of placental insufficiency due to the prothrombotic tendency observed in COVID-19 infection. Guidelines for proper prophylactic anticoagulation in COVID-positive mothers need to be established.

The impact of LRRK2 variants on the risk of Parkinson’s disease in Egyptians remains unknown. We examined 1210 Egyptians (611 PD patients and 599 controls) from 16 governorates across Egypt for 12 LRRK2 pathogenic variants. The p.Gly2019Ser was the only variant detected, with a prevalence of 4.1% in sporadic cases, 6.5% in familial cases, and 0.68% in controls. Among p.Gly2019Ser carriers, all were heterozygous bar one homozygous patient, and all shared the common haplotype 1. Demographics and UPDRS scores did not differ between carriers and non-carriers, with most patients being males and developed PD in their fifties. Young and Early-onset PD prevalence was 37.5% in carriers and 33% in non-carriers. Familial cases were 16.6% in carriers and 11.5% in non-carriers. This study affirms that like other Mediterranean populations, Egyptians with PD have a higher prevalence of the p.Gly2019Ser variant compared to the global average. LRRK2 inhibitors could be promising therapeutic options for further exploration in this population.