Serum angiostatin levels in diabetic patients with heart failure taking oral antidiabetic therapy or basal insulin and its clinical significance

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder with an increasing incidence all over the world leading to high sequelae and high mortality rates behind other microvascular and macrovascular complications. The deterioration in angiogenesis in particular is known to cause deterioration of vascular complications of diabetes. After the discovery of a natural angiogenesis inhibitor, angiostatin in the ethiopathogenesis of retinopathy and nephropathy, which are frequent complications of diabetes, several successful clinical trials have been made. However, the most lethal complication of diabetes, diabetic heart failure, lacks any trial about effectiveness of angiostatin. In this study, the levels and the clinical significance of angiostatin were investigated in oral antidiabetic or Insulin treated diabetic patients with heart failure. The patient group consisted of 31 patients with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and heart failure and the control group included 30 patients with heart failure without diabetes mellitus. Serum levels of angiostatin were studied. A total of 61 subjects were enrolled in the study. The patient group consisted of 31 patients; between the age of 56-88 (73.06 ± 8.7) years, of which 16 (51.6%) were female and 15 (48.4%) were male. The control group included 30 patients; 15 (% 50) women and 15 (50%) of were male, between the ages of 57 to 85 (74.23 ± 8.27). In the case group, the average angiostatin levels were 133.25 ± 78.46 and in the control group it was found to be 121.7 ± 71.81. The average angiostatin levels were similar in diabetic and non-diabetic heart failure groups (p=0.55). The average serum angiostatin levels showed a significant negative correlation with the level of fasting blood glucose. In our study, diabetic patients with heart failure, when compared with non-diabetic patients with heart failure, showed no significant difference in the levels of angiostatin. Levels of angiostatin are not affected by the level of HbA1c. Fasting blood glucose level has a negative correlation with the level of angiostatin. In order to be used in determining the prognosis in diabetic patients with heart failure, further studies are needed on angiostatin levels. [Med-Science 2020; 9(1.000): 45-8

Prognostic value of ABO blood group in patients with nonseminomatous testicular cancer who treated with autologous stem cell transplantation

Aim: Even though ABO blood group surface antigens are expressed in red blood cells, they can be observed in many normal and pathologic cells. Relationship between ABO blood groups and progression and prognosis of cancer has been mainly demonstrated in gastric and pancreatic cancer. However there is no study in current literature about its relation with testicular cancer. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the prognostic value of the ABO blood group in nonseminomatous testicular cancer patients who treated with high dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation. Material and method: 64 patients who diagnosed as non-seminomatous testicular cancer and treated with HDC and OSCT in Gulhane Medical Oncology Clinic between January 2011 and December 2016 were enrolled to the study. Patients' age, TNM stage, chemotherapy protocols and blood group characteristics were obtained retrospectively. Results: The mean age of patients was 31.4 (18–61) years. Blood groups of patients' were as follows: A blood group 19 (29.7%), B blood group 7 (10.9%), O blood group 34 (53.1%), AB blood group 4 (6.3%). Rh was negative in 3 patients (4.7%) and Rh positive in 61 patients (95.3%). 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 72.5% and 2-year PFS was 68.4%. 1-year overall survival (OS) was 82% and 2-years OS was 72%. While 1-year and 2-year OS was 88.2% and 84.4% in O blood group individuals, respectively, it was 75.6% and 59.5% in all other blood types, respectively. Although the OS was superior in individuals with O blood group, the difference was not reached the statistically significance (p = 0.071). When O blood group was compared with other blood groups in terms of PFS, 1 year PFS was 79.1% in O blood group and 65.2% in the all other blood groups (p = 0.19). Conclusion: OS and PFS were superior in O blood group than other blood groups, however the difference was not reached statistical significance. In the literature, there is no study that focused on the relationship between stem cell transplantation and blood groups. ABO blood groups are the phenotype of a person's genotype and may reflect differences in the individual's immune mechanisms. However, due to small number of cases and heterogeneity of the group, the results and the strength of the study may have affected negatively. So, the prognostic importance of ABO blood groups can be shown with multi-center studies that performed with larger number of cases. Keywords: High dose chemotherapy, Autologous stem cell transplantation, Testicular cancer, ABO blood grou

Assessment of the efficiency of Brentuximab Vedotin in patients with pulmonary Hodgkin Lymphoma by the mean of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio

Background: Lung involvement, an uncommon initial presentation of Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL), may appear as primary or secondary pulmonary HL. Although the combination of Brentuximab vedotin (BV) with AVD is suggested as an alternative treatment to combinations including bleomycin for patients with pulmonary involvement. The efficacy and adverse effects of BV have not been specialized on pulmonary HL. There is insufficient data about neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) of cases treated with BV. We performed this retrospective study to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of BV in patients with pulmonary HL and to demonstrate the prognostic role of NLR in patients treated with BV. Methods: Data of 10 CD 30 (+) HL patients who treated with BV between years 2011–2016 were analyzed retrospectively. Relapsed cases after autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) and/or resistant cases to at least two lines of chemotherapy, and treated with BV were included in the study. Results: Patients underwent a median of 8.5 cycles BV. Eight patients (80%) achieved an objective response including 2 of them (20%) with complete response and six of them (60%) with a partial response at the end of the 3rd cycle. At a median follow-up of 16.8 months, median progression-free survival for all patients was 6 months and 3 patients died because of progression. BV, as a single agent, revealed well response in HL cases with pulmonary involvement and other clinical types. No pulmonary toxicity has been occurred due to BV. NLR was found to be o good indicator of prognosis and mortality in pulmonary HL patients and other HL patients. While NLR was not influenced by BV, it can be suggested as an easy prognostic marker in patients treated with BV. Conclusion: BV may be used as a bridge therapy to the next curative treatment in order to obtain minimal tumor burden in pulmonary HL patients, and NLR can be used as a prognostic marker in these patients. We believe that this study contributes the current literature in terms of being the first research on the referred issue. Keywords: Brentuximab vedotin, Hodgkin lymphoma, Pulmonary infiltratio

Does ABO blood type is a novel risk factor for osteoporosis or low bone density among postmenopausal women or not?

ABO blood types may cause a vulnerability to individuals for conditions such as malignancies or chronic diseases. However, the interaction of ABO blood types and osteoporosis is inexplicit. In this study, we focused on the role of ABO blood types on bone health by comparing bone mineral density (BMD), and the prevalence of low bone mass (LBM) and osteoporosis among postmenopausal women. Non-institutionalized postmenopausal women aged over 50 years were prospectively enrolled in the study following the measurement of BMD by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). The prevalence of osteoporosis and LBM were interpreted according to T scores of either site. Self-reported blood types of participants were noted. The study included 220 postmenopausal women, and the median age of participants were 59 (11) years (min:50 years, and max:82 years). The mean BMD values at the lumbar spine, femoral total, and femoral neck of participants were 0.821±0.118 g/cm2, 0.810±0.121 g/cm2, and 0.716±0.112 g/cm2, respectively. Both mean BMD and T scores of enrollees for either site were similar across blood types (p-value >0.05 for all). The prevalence of osteoporosis and LBM showed no significant association between blood groups (p=0.45, and p=0.226, respectively).The present study showed evidence of a similar BMD, the prevalence of LBM, and osteoporosis among postmenopausal women over 50 years regardless of ABO blood type. [Med-Science 2022; 11(2.000): 672-6