Parasitaemia and haematological changes in malaria-infected refugees in South Africa

Background. Haematological changes associated with malaria are well recognised, but may vary with level of malaria endemicity and patient background, haemoglobinopathy, nutritional status, demographic factors and malaria immunity. Although malaria in South Africa (SA) has been reduced dramatically in endemic areas, little is known about the haematological changes associated with malaria infection among refugee populations who live in SA cities.Objective. To describe haematological alterations among malaria-infected refugees living in Durban, SA.Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2012 to July 2013 inclusive at a refugee centre in central Durban. Blood samples from 102 adult black African refugees were examined for infection with malaria parasites, and haematological profiles were compared with standard normal values.Results. Malaria infection was detected in 16 (15.7%) of the 102 participants. The mean haemoglobin (Hb) value was reduced (mean 9.2 g/dL) in the participants with malaria, who also had an extremely low mean packed cell volume (PCV) of 28.3%. The mean Hb value in the non-malaria-infected participants was normal (12.6 g/dL), and the mean PCV was slightly low (38.0%).Conclusions. Anaemia was more common among participants with malaria infection than among those who were uninfected. Other haematological changes were common in both infected and uninfected participants, suggesting that infections other than malaria, or other underlying factors that cause haematological alterations, may be present. This research needs to be expanded to include a large sample and other areas and infections

Metformin plus PIAF combination chemotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma

Objectives: Metformin, the most used oral antidiabetic drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetus mellitus, has proved encouraging results when used in the treatment of various types of cancer such as triple-negative breast cancer. Despite compelling evidence of a role of metformin as an anticancer drug, the mechanisms by which metformin exerts its oncostatic actions are not fully understood yet. Therefore, we tried to bring new insights by analyzing the anti-neoplastic effect of metformin for hepatocellular carcinoma-derived stem-like cells treated with conventional combination chemotherapy. Methods: Cancer stem-like cells previusly isolated from a hepatocellular carcinoma biopsy were treated with metformin, PIAF chemotherapy regimen and the combination of these two protocols. Measurements of lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione, fluorescein diacetate and proliferation rates were determined, apart from the autophagy assay and apoptosis determination by chip flow cytometry. Results: Metformin alone and especially metformin in association with PIAF increases oxidative stress within the cells by increasing the levels of lipid peroxids as well as decreasing the levels of reduced glutathione. The MTT cell proliferation assay showed decreased prolife­ration rates for the arm treated with metformin and with the combination of drugs in comparison with the control arm, proving high correlation with the oxidative stress results. The autophagy assay and determination of apoptosis by chip flow cytometry confirmed the results obtained in the previous assays. Conclusion: Metformin could be used in chemotherapy treatments to induce reactive oxygen species and increase the cytostatics effects within the tumor cell. Still, further experiments must be carried out on murine models before we can move on and use this drugs in the adjuvant setting for unresectable primary liver cancer

Combining the chemotherapeutic effects of epigallocatechin 3-gallate with siRNA-mediated p53 knock-down results in synergic pro-apoptotic effects

Ioana Berindan-Neagoe,1,2 Cornelia Braicu,1 Alexandru Irimie3,41Department of Functional Genomics and Experimental Pathology, Cancer Institute, “Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 2Department of Immunology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, “I. Hatieganu”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 3Department of Surgical Oncology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, “I. Hatieganu”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 4Department of Surgery, Cancer Institute, “Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaAbstract: Plant extracts and compounds are applied to a wide variety of diseases in which traditional drugs have proven ineffective. A quickly developing trend in biomedicine is the therapeutic use of siRNA (short interfering RNA) structures. The focus of this study was on evaluating the gene expression involved in the modulation of apoptosis, in cases of combinatorial treatment (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and/or p53siRNA. EGCG in combination with p53siRNA exerts synergic pro-apoptotic effects that are greater than those of each agent taken individually. There is a cumulative antiproliferative effect, induced by EGCG and p53siRNA treatment, and it is mediated through the activation of a large number of pro-apoptotic genes and the inhibition of anti-apoptotic protein expression levels. p53siRNA promotes the convergence of the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways in a synergic manner with EGCG. The chemotherapeutic effects of EGCG in combination with p53siRNA therapy induced a synergic pro-apoptotic effect, indicating the potential for development of promising new anticancer therapies.Keywords: p53siRNA, apoptosis, HeLa cell

Nanopharmacology in translational hematology and oncology

Ciprian Tomuleasa,1,2,* Cornelia Braicu,1,* Alexandra Irimie,3 Lucian Craciun,1 Ioana Berindan-Neagoe1,4,51Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 2Department of Hematology, Ion Chiricuta Cancer Center, 3Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Dental Materials, 4Department of Immunology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 5Department of Functional Genomics and Experimental Pathology, the Oncological Institute “Prof Dr Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania*These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: Nanoparticles have displayed considerable promise for safely delivering therapeutic agents with miscellaneous therapeutic properties. Current progress in nanotechnology has put forward, in the last few years, several therapeutic strategies that could be integrated into clinical use by using constructs for molecular diagnosis, disease detection, cytostatic drug delivery, and nanoscale immunotherapy. In the hope of bringing the concept of nanopharmacology toward a viable and feasible clinical reality in a cancer center, the present report attempts to present the grounds for the use of cell-free nanoscale structures for molecular therapy in experimental hematology and oncology.Keywords: hematological malignancies, nanoparticles, translational medicin

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate suppresses cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis and autophagy in oral cancer SSC-4 cells

Alexandra Iulia Irimie,1 Cornelia Braicu,2 Oana Zanoaga,2 Valentina Pileczki,2,3 Claudia Gherman,2,4 Ioana Berindan-Neagoe,2,4–6 Radu Septimiu Campian7 1Department of Prosthodontics and Dental Materials, Faculty of Dental Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 2Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 3Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 4Department of Functional Genomics and Experimental Pathology, The Oncology Institute “Prof Dr. Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 5Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 6Department of Experimental Therapeutics MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX, USA; 7Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dental Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Abstract: Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the major bioactive component of green tea. Our experimental data indicated that EGCG treatment suppresses cell proliferation of SSC-4 human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the effect being dose- and time-dependent. In parallel was observed the activation of apoptosis and autophagy, in response to EGCG exposure in SSC-4 cells. Treatment with EGCG activates the expression of the BAD, BAK, FAS, IGF1R, WNT11, and ZEB1 genes and inhibits CASP8, MYC, and TP53. All of these results suggest that EGCG has an excellent potential to become a therapeutic compound for patients with OSCC, by inducing tumor cell death via apoptosis and autophagy. Keywords: oral squamous carcinoma, time dependent cell proliferation, gene expressio