Extracorporeal photopheresis in the treatment of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease: A position statement from the Turkish Society of Apheresis (TSA)

Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is still the most important cause of mortality and morbidity after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Though perfect response rates are not achieved, steroids are still the first-line treat-ment. In the face of the presence of the drugs approved by FDA in recent years for acute and chronic GVHD as second-line therapy in the steroid-refractory group, there exists no standard approach. Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) with an immunomodulatory effect, is favored in the treatment of both acute and chronic steroid refractory GVHD as it does not increase the risk of relapses or infections. Having a low profile of side effects, ECP is also generally well-tolerated by patients. Being a time requiring procedure, the fact is that it is not able to be practiced in all health centers and requires central venous catheters in patients unfit for venous access may be enumerated among its shortcomings. No complete standard is available with respect to ECP application frequency-time; it varies from one center to another. The Turkish Society of Apheresis established the Turkish ECP (TECP) group and sought some answers to the questions regarding the use of ECP in the treatment of GVHD, and issued a position statement

New indication for therapeutic potential of an old well-known drug (propranolol) for multiple myeloma

Purpose: Propranolol, a non-selective β-adrenergic receptor blocker, has been used for the treatment of the patients with hypertension for more than 50 years. There are several in vitro and in vivo evidences that β-adrenergic receptor antagonists inhibit proliferation and angiogenesis and also increase apoptosis in breast, skin, and colon cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of propranolol and the genes involved in propranolol-induced apoptosis in multiple myeloma cells. Methods: Time-dependent antiproliferation and apoptotic effects of propranolol were subsequently determined by MTT cell proliferation assay, changes in caspase-3 activity, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and also the localization of phosphatidylserine in the plasma membrane. Changes in expression levels of NF-ΚB pathway were examined by qRT-PCR array. Results: IC50 values of propranolol on U266 cells were calculated as 141, 100, and 75 μM after 24-, 48-, and 72-h propranolol exposure, respectively. There were significant increases in caspase-3 activity, loss of MMP, and increases in apoptotic cell population in response to propranolol in U266 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. There were increases in expression levels of BCL10, TRAF family members, interleukins, TLR1-4, TNFRSF10B, NF-κB, and the inhibitors of NF-κB genes, and significant decreases in expression levels of Bcl-2 in response to propranolol treatment were observed. Conclusion: These results revealed that propranolol has antiproliferative and apoptotic effects on multiple myeloma cells. Being supported with in vivo analyses, propranolol can be a good and economical way to treat multiple myeloma patients.Turkish Academy of Sciences Outstanding Young Investigator Programm

Effects of intraperitoneal injection of allogeneic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells on bronchiolitis obliterans in mice model

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) can ameliorate a variety of lung diseases such as asthma, lung fibrosis, and acute lung injury by its anti-inflammatory and immunmodulatory effects. In this study, we developed a mouse model of bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) and evaluated the effects of the intraperitoneal administration of BMSCs on lung histopathology and cytokine levels. 25 BALB/c mice were divided into four groups; control group (Group I), BO developed and 1x106 BMSCs-injected group (Group II), non-BO, 1x106 BMSCs-injected group (Group III), and BO developed and saline-injected group (Group IV). Histological and immunohistochemical findings of the lung tissue and the migration of BMSCs to the lung were evaluated using light and confocal microscopy techniques. Confocal microscopy evaluations showed that there was no noteworthy amount of BMSCs in the lung tissue of group III while significant amount of BMSCs was detected in group II. Wall thicknesses of terminal bronchiole and periterminal bronchiolar collagen deposition were significantly lower in group II compared to the group IV (p<0.05). Furthermore, according to the immunohistochemical staining results, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20, CD68 and neutrophil elastase positive immune cells of group II were stained more positive than group IV cells (p<0.05). IFN-ã IL-2 and TNF-á levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were significantly lower in group II compared to group IV (p<0.05). The findings of this study indicate that intraperitoneally administered BMSCs have potent effects on histopatological changes of the lung tissue and cytokine levels in the murine model of BO.Scientific and Technological Council of Turkey (112S148

Fiziksel bir stres modeli olarak elektroşok uygulamasının farede östral döngü, yumurta verimi ve progesteron düzeyi üzerine etkileri

TEZ3789Tez (Uzmanlık) -- Çukurova Üniversitesi, Adana, 2002.Kaynakça (s. 82-90) var.ix, 91 s. : rnk. res. ; 30 cm.…Bu çalışma Ç.Ü. Bilimsel Araştırma Projeleri Birimi Tarafından Desteklenmiştir. Proje No: TF. 2000. U. 38