The Status of Antioxidants and Oxidative Damage in Patients with COVID-19

Purpose: COVID-19 is a viral disease that has recently caused a pandemic and significantly affects human health. In this study, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione, total thiol, natural thiol, disulfide, oxidative DNA damage and malondialdehyde levels in COVID-19 were investigated. Materials and Methods: Thirty-five patients and 35 healthy volunteers were included in this study. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was made by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Serum glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, natural thiol, total thiol and disulphide levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and malondialdehyde and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine/10⁶ deoxyguanosine levels by high-pressure liquid chromatography measured. Results: While serum superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, malondialdehyde, 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine/10⁶ deoxyguanosine, disulfide levels were higher in the COVID-19 patient group than in the healthy control group, glutathione, total thiol, natural thiol levels were lower. In addition, there was a negative correlation between 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine/10⁶ deoxyguanosine and glutathione, natural thiol and total thiol, and a positive correlation with disulfide. Conclusion: This study revealed that serum superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, malondialdehyde, 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine/10⁶ deoxyguanosine, and disulfide levels increased and glutathione, thiol and natural thiol levels decreased in COVID-19 patients. These results revealed that there was a decrease in antioxidant marker levels and an increase in oxidative stress markers in COVID-19 patients

The efficiency of single agent docetaxel in patients with platinum-refractory non-small cell lung carcinoma

Background To evaluate the efficiency of docetaxel as second line chemotherapy in patients with platinum-refractory non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Patients and methods Fifty-two patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC who had platinum-refractory disease (progressed through or within 3 months of completion of first line therapy) and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance (ECOG) status 0-2 were treated with second-line chemotherapy consisting of single agent docetaxel (100 mg/m2, intravenously, on day 1 of a 21-day cycle). The median number of treatment cycles was 4 (2-6). Disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS), response rates and toxicity were evaluated. Results The median progression-free survival of patients was 3 months (95% CI: 0.01-5.99) and overall survival was 7.2 months (95% CI: 2.2-9.5). One-year overall survival rate was 29%. Disease control (complete response, partial response, or stable disease) was achieved in 25 patients (48%) and overall response rate was 13% (7 patients). There were no complete responses. Seventeen patients (33%) had stable disease and twenty-seven patients (52%) had progressive disease. Age, gender, stage at diagnosis (IIIB vs. IV), performance status at initiation of second-line therapy (0-1 vs. 2) histopathological type (epidermoid vs. others), grade, LDH, albumin, weight loss were evaluated as prognostic factors; however, none of these had a significant affect on survivals. The protocol was well tolerated and there were no toxic deaths. Grade III-IV anemia was present in 8 patients (15%) and thrombopenia in 12 (23%) patients. The most frequent grade 3-4 toxicities were leucopenia (52%) and neutropenia (48%). Febril neutropenia occurred in 14 patients (26%). No patients experienced grade III-IV mucositis and diarrhea. Totally, the need of a dose reduction was about 25% and treatment delay (4-9 days) occurred in 5 patients (10%) and 7 patients (13%), respectively, because of toxicity. Conclusions Second-line chemotherapy with single-agent docetaxel offers a small but significant survival advantage with acceptable toxicity for patients with advanced NSCLC who have platinum-refractory disease

Determination of serum differential carnitine ester levels in hiv(+)patients: a cross-sectional study

Objective It has been reported that carnitine deficiency is observed in various viral infections and in the follow-up of the prognosis of some diseases. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to determine how carnitine ester derivatives change in HIV-positive patients. Materials and Methods In this study, 25 HIV-infected patients who applied to Harran University Faculty of Medicine Education Research and Practice Hospital Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Outpatient Clinic and who did not receive any antiretroviral treatment, as well as 25 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Carnitine ester levels in serum samples were measured by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method (Shimadzu North America, Columbia, MD, USA). Results While suberoylcarnitine (C8DC), myristoleylcarnitine (C14:1), tetradecadienoylcarnitine (C14:2), palmitoleylcarnitine (C16:1), and linoleylcarnitine (C18:2) levels in HIV(+) patients were quite low compared to the control group, tiglylcarnitine (C5:1) levels were high (p <= 0.05). In addition, C5:1 and C14:2 index parameters according to VIP score, and C5:1 and C14:1/C16 index parameters according to ROC analysis were determined as markers with high potential to distinguish HIV(+) patients from healthy volunteers. Conclusion This study showed that levels of acylcarnitine derivatives might be altered in HIV(+) patients, and the results obtained may contribute to a better understanding of carnitine metabolism