Oxidative stress and the importance of H. pylori eradication in patients with functional dyspepsia

Background: To investigage the thiol and disulphide levels in Helicobacter pylori-positive patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia and investigate the change in these levels with eradication therapy. Methods: This is a prospective observational study. A total of 320 patients diagnosed with dyspepsia according to Rome IV criteria were included in the study. First, blood samples were drawn from patients to determine their serum thiol and disulphide levels. Endoscopic biopsy was performed on all patients and the biopsy specimens obtained were examined pathologically. Patients positive for H. pylori were administered eradication therapy. Blood samples were drawn from these patients for the second time, and their serum thiol and disulphide levels were measured. The thiol–disulfide levels of the patients who were successful in H. pylori eradication treatment, with those who were not, were compared before and after the treatment. Results: The mean plasma disulphide level decreased significantly from 14.0 ± 6.6 to 10.9 ± 5.9 µmol/L in H. pylori-positive patients that responded to the H. pylori eradication treatment (P = 0.033). On the other hand, there was an insignificant increase in the mean serum thiol level (341.4 ± 30.5 vs. 342.6 ± 29.8 µmol/L; P = 0.273) and an insignificant decrease in the mean serum disulphide level (15.2 ± 2.5 vs. 14.8 ± 2.3 µmol/L; P = 0.163) in H. pylori-positive patients that did not respond to the H. pylori eradication treatment. Conclusion: The inflammation caused by H. pylori shifted the thiol–disulphide equilibrium in the cell redox system towards the direction of disulphide. The study findings suggest that the restoration of the said hemostatic balance with eradication therapy relieved the organism from oxidative stress

A Case of Hepatitis B Reactivation with Acute Flare Three Months After Tenofovir Prophylaxis Withdrawal in a Allogenic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Patient

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health problem worldwide. HBV reactivation is associated with high mortality rates in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and, prophylactic antiviral treatment is suggested to prevent this phenomenon. However, the duration of antiviral treatment in HSCT patients is not fully defined and the time of immune recovery is considered the best parameter for a drug to be safely interrupted. We aimed to present a case of hepatitis B reactivation after cessation of one-year prophylactic tenofovir treatment in a anti-hepatitis B core immunoglobulin G-positive patient who received allogenic HSCT treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Increased oxidative stress is associated with insulin resistance and infertility in polycystic ovary syndrome

Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the role of oxidant-antioxidant status in young women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).Material and methods: Seventy-one women with PCOS and 53 healthy controls are compared in aspect of demographic characteristics, biochemical data, hormones, and oxidant-antioxidant status.Results: The PCOS group had significantly lower zinc, higher malondialdehyde and gluthathione peroxidase and lower serum catalase levels than the control group (p = 0.016, p < 0.001, p = 0.043 and p = 0.025 respectively). The PCOS patients with IR had significantly higher malondialdehyde, lower catalase and serum zinc levels than the PCOS patients without IR (p = 0.015, p = 0.010, p = 0.001 respectively). The infertile PCOS patients had significantly higher malondialdehyde, lower catalase and serum zinc levels than the fertile PCOS patients (p = 0.022, p = 0.045,p = 0.001 respectively). There was a statistically significant and positive correlation between HOMA-IR and malondialdehyde values (r = 0.523, p = 0.001), between HOMA-IR and glutathione peroxidase values (r = 0.468, p = 0.001) and between HOMA-IR and zinc values (r = 0.601, p = 0.001). There was a statistically significant and negative correlation between HOMA-IR and catalase values (r = –0.493, p = 0.001).Conclusions: The patients with PCOS are under oxidative stress and this oxidative stress seems to be the highest in patients with IR and with infertility. Despite the prominent increase in the oxidative stress, there was a variation in the antioxidant response