Serum paraoxonase-1 activities and malondialdehyde levels in patients with epilepsy

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate antioxidant paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) activity together with malondialdehyde(MDA) (an oxidative stress parameter) levels in patientswith epilepsy.Materials and methods: Forty-five epilepsy patientswere included in the study and compared with healthycontrols (n = 45). The levels of serum MDA and PON-1activities were measured by the Ohkawa method and theEckerson method, respectively.Results: Serum MDA level was significantly higher (P =0.015), whereas PON-1 activity was sigificantly lower (P =0.011) in the patient group than the controls.Conclusions: Increased reactive oxygen species levelsin epilepsy may result in a oxidative stress, which in turncould result in decreased antioxidant PON-1 activity andincreased MDA levels.Key words: Epilepsy, oxidative stress, malondialdehyde,paraoxonase-

Increased visinin-like protein-1, YKL-40, lipocalin-2, and IL-23 levels in patients with migraine

Background: Migraine is a type of primary headache caused by changes in the trigeminal system and has been reported to be associated with neurovascular inflammation of cerebral and extracerebral vessels. Objective: It is known that inflammation is an important process in the pathogenesis of migraine. It has been shown that the molecules of visinin-like protein 1 (Vilip-1), YKL-40, lipocalin-2 and interleukin (IL)-23 play a role in the inflammatory process. Our aim is to investigate the role of this molecule in the metabolic pathway of migraine disease. Methods: Fifty migraine patients with and without aura in the interictal period were included in the study. Vilip-1, YKL-40, lipocalin-2, and IL-23 levels were measured by ELISA method. Results: Serum vilip-1, YKL-40, lipocalin-2, and IL-23 levels were found to be significantly higher in migraine patients compared to the control group. We found that this molecule increased significantly in migraine subgroups compared to the control group (p < 0.001). A positive significant correlation was found between vilip-1 level and YKL-40 and lipocalin-2 levels in migraine patients. In addition, a positive correlation was observed between visual analogue scale score, number of days with pain and vilip-1 level (p < 0.01). The results of our study showed that activation of inflammatory mediators may play a role in the pathogenesis of migraine disease. In addition, our study is valuable in that inflammatory molecules are high in the interictal period and these biomarkers have never been analyzed in migraine patients. However, we still believe that larger studies are needed to explain the role of vilip-1, YKL-40, lipocalin-2, and IL-23 in the molecular mechanism of migraine disease

Investigation of Total Oxidants/Antioxidants in Patients with Intracerebral Haemorrhage

OBJECTIVE: There are numerous study about oxidant and antioxidant status in patients with ischemic stroke however there are few study about this subject in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Malondialdehyde (MDA) is an oxidant parameter which was investigated in patients with ICH, although total oxidant status (TOS) has not been investigated so far. We aimed to investigate in blood samples respectively oxidant and antioxidant parameters MDA and TOS, total antioxidant status (TAS) in patients with ICH. METHODS: Total of 30 patients with ICH, admitted and treated Neurology Clinic in Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital and 30 control, had no stroke or any systemic disorder have been included. Peripheral vein blood samples taken from patients and controls were included in the first 24 hours after stroke. Serum TAS, TOS values measured to the original, fully automatic and colorimetric method of Erel. Serum level of MDA was measured according to the method of Ohkawa et al. RESULTS: According to the control group, the serum levels of TAS, TOS and MDA were significantly higher in patient with ICH (p 0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings support that oxidative stress may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of the ICH. However, the increase of these parameters not associated with hematoma volume and GCS in patients with IC

Serum vitamin B12, folic acid and ferritin levels in patients with migraine

OBJECTIVE: It has been reported that disability due to migraine may be reduced with homocysteine-lowering treatment including folic acid and vitamin B12. In addition, recently the periaqueductal gray matter iron deposits have been found to be increased in migraine patients. There are few studies regarding vitamin B12, folic acid, ferritin and transferrin levels in patients with migraine. The aims of this study was to measure vitamin B12, folic acid, ferritin and transferrin levels in patients with migraine and compare them with the control group. METHODS: Fifty-one consecutive newly diagnosed migraine patients who did not receive any vitamin supplement medication were enrolled. The study group consisted of 51 patients, suffering from migraine with aura (n= 23) and migraine without aura (n= 28). The control group consisted of 28 healthy participants without history of headache, anemia and vitamin supplement. Serum vitamin B12, folic acid, ferritin and transferin levels were measured using a chemiluminescence method. RESULTS: Migraine patients had significantly lower concentrations of vitamin B12 and folic acid compared with the healthy controls (for vitamin B12; 215.6±133.7 pg/ml vs. 289.9±12 pg/ml, respectively, p=0.005; for folic acid; 6.74 ± 4.31 pg/ml vs. 8.47 ± 1.85 pg/ml, respectively, p=0.048). The vitamin B12 levels were found to be significantly lower during attacks in migraine patients than in interictal periods (177.3 ± 139.2 pg/ml vs 252.5 ± 119.5 pg/ml, p=0.043). There were no differences in folic acid, ferritin, and transferritin levels between during attacks and in interictal period of patients with migraine (p>0.05). The ferritin levels were found to be significantly lower during attacks in migraine patients than in interictal periods (43.4 ± 41.1 mg/ml, vs 75.4 ± 51.7, mg/ml, p=0.018). CONCLUSION: Migraine patients had lower serum vitamin B12 and folic acid levels than healthy subjects. These findings supported that vitamin B12 and folic acid may have a role in migraine pathogenesis and they may be given in migraine prophylaxis. Also, this study indicated that iron homeostasis was disturbed in migraine attacks