Effect of metformin on the human T98G glioblastoma multiforme cell line

Metformin is a guanidine derivative found in Galega officinalis that is commonly used to treat diabetes mellitus. The mechanism of action of metformin involves regulation of the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway, which is implicated in the control of protein synthesis and cell proliferation. This led to the hypothesis that metformin reduces the risk of cancer and slows tumor growth. Thus, in the present study, the effectiveness of metformin as an antiglioma agent was evaluated using the human T98G glioblastoma multiforme cell line. The viability of the T98G cells was assessed using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yL)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Apoptosis was monitored by measuring caspase-3 levels, as well as by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling and staining with acridine orange and ethidium bromide. The results demonstrate that metformin reduced cell viability and caused apoptotic morphological changes in the T98G cells. Furthermore, the caspase-3 levels in the metformin-treated T98G cells were higher than those in the control cells. Metformin induced apoptosis in the T98G cell line in a concentration-dependent manner. Metformin may provide an important contribution to the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme

Psychiatric comorbidity, depression, and anxiety levels and quality of life of the patients with mycosis fungoides

Mycosis fungoides (MF) is a chronic disease, causing serious morbidities and mortality. This study was designed to measure depression and anxiety levels in MF patients, and quality of life (QoL) assessments and to compare the results with controls. Fifty-two patients with a diagnosis of MF and 52 age and sex matching healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) were administered to all patients and controls. Mean BAI and BDI scores of the patients with MF were significantly higher than controls. In case of the SF-36, general health perception, emotional, and social functioning scores were significantly lower in MF patients. Depression scores of the patients' were positively correlated with the age of disease onset and negatively correlated with physical functioning scores. Significant negative correlation was detected between eight subscales of the SF-36 and BDI and BAI scores. This study has demonstrated that there is significant impairment of QoL in MF patients MF, with higher anxiety and depression levels, when compared to control group. As the disease progresses, level of depression increases and patients' general health perception deteriorates

Evaluation of pre-procedure anxiety levels for undergoing mammography women

WOS: 000304300200015Purpose: The present study evaluated of pre-procedure anxiety levels for undergoing mammography women. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. 15-item questionnaire and the 20-item State Anxiety Inventory, developed by Spielberger et al. were used for data collection. Percentage, arithmetic average, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskall-Wallis test were used to analyze the data. Findings: The women, whose average age is 49.78 +/- 8.67,87.5 % are married; 46.9 % are graduated from primary school; 60.9 % are not working; 58.6 % are during the period of menopose; 86.7 % have children and 62.5 % have breast cancer in their family members. The total anxiety score averages of women are 57.17 +/- 8.33. The level of anxiety about mammography screening was found to be higher in women with low educational levels and this difference was found to be statistically significant. Conclusions: From the results of this study it has been determined that women having mammography have a moderate level of anxiety

Determination of Total Antioxidant Capacities of Algal Pigments in Seaweed by the Combination of High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with A Cupric Reducing Antioxidant Capacity (CUPRAC) Assay

This study mainly aimed to analyze the essential antioxidant algal pigments present in marine algae to quantify the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of these pigment constituents with CUPRAC (cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity) and ABTS spectrophotometric methods, and to correlate the TAC values combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) results. S. vulgare, C. barbata brown and F. petiolata green algae species demonstrated the highest antioxidant activity with the values of 12.11 +/- 0.01; 18.56 +/- 0.01; and 13.98 +/- 0.02 (mmol trolox (TR) g(-1) dw) obtained by the CUPRAC method. The individual antioxidant constituents of acetonic seaweed extracts were detected and quantified by HPLC on a C30 column using a modified mobile phase of gradient elution comprised of methanol-acetonitrile (50:50, v/v) with 0.1% (v/v) triethylamine (TEA) and acetone and ultraviolet detection for caroteneoids at 450 nm and for chlorophylls at 650 nm. The theoretical TAC values of seaweed samples were calculated by multiplying individual concentrations of pigments determined by HPLC with the spectrophotometric trolox equivalent or beta-carotene equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC or CEAC) coefficient of each identified pigment and summing up this values. Among the studied seaweeds, those with the highest carotenoid content determined by HPLC were S. vulgare (51.77 mu g/g), H. incurva (32.89 mu g/g) and F. petiolata (200.12 mu g/g), respectively. On the other hand, those with the highest total chlorophyll content were F. petiolata (1694.67 mu g/g), S. vulgare (127.07 mu g/g), and C. barbata (100.78 mu g/g), respectively. As expected, fucoxanthin was present as the main carotenoid accumulated in the brown algae species presented in the study

Loss of CTNNB1 exon 3 in sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation of the spleen

Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT) is a rare vascular lesion of the spleen. Although several hypotheses have been suggested, the etiopathogenesis of SANT remains unknown. It is also unclear whether SANT is a reactive or a neoplastic lesion. Since CTNNB1 (beta-catenin gene) exon 3 mutations were frequently detected in some rare fibrovascular lesions, we aimed to investigate the presence of oncogenic CTNNB1 mutations in SANT cases. For this purpose, 7 cases of SANT with typical histopathological features were retrieved. First, the presence of CTNNB1 exon 3 alterations was examined with a recently described immunohistochemistry-based method. Then, the findings were confirmed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR), reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), and Sanger sequencing. In all cases, immunochemistry of beta-catenin gave a staining pattern that was suggestive of exon 3 alteration; however, no missense mutations were found in any case at the CTNNB1 exon 3 hotspot region. Subsequently, we screened for large interstitial deletions of CTNNB1 exon 3 which revealed short PCR products in three cases. Sequencing confirmed that these cases had large interstitial deletions, resulting in loss of the entire exon 3 of CTNNB1. In the remaining four cases, loss of exon 3 was documented at the cDNA level, although genomic deletion was not identified. These results demonstrate that loss of CTNNB1 exon 3 and stabilization of beta-catenin with activation of Wnt signaling pathway might have a significant role in the pathogenesis of SANT. Through this study, we provided important evidence for the neoplastic nature and pathogenesis of this disorder

Demographic, Clinicopathological and Laboratory Features of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis Patients

Aim: Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is one of the common glomerulonephritis in Turkey and the world. The aim of our study was to determine demographic and clinical features and biopsy results of patients who were followed up with primary FSGS in our center

Relationship Between Left Ventricule Hypertrophy and inflammation and Albuminuria in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The strong association between diabetes mellitus and the cardiac left ventricular hypertrophy can be partially explanatory for the cardiovascular complications and end organ damage in diabetes, In our study we planned to compare the levels of inflammatory markers and albuminuria, the index for renal failure, between type 2 diabetic patients with and without LVH, with the purpose to find out if the following up of the inflammatory markers in Type 2 diabetic patients can be important for the prevention of the development of cardiac and renal complications

cfDNA in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and contamination by ambient air: toward volatile biopsies

###EgeUn###Exhaled breath is a source of volatile and nonvolatile biomarkers in the body that can be accessed non-invasively and used for monitoring. The collection of lung secretions by conventional methods such as bronchoalveolar lavage, induced sputum collection, and core biopsies is limited by the invasive nature of these methods. Non-invasive collection of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) provides fluid samples that are representative of airway lining fluids. Various volatile and nonvolatile biomarkers can be detected in volatile condensates, such as H2O2, nitric oxide, lipid mediators, cytokines, chemokines, DNA, and microRNAs. Studies have examined cell-freeDNA(cfDNA) in plasma samples from non-small-cell lung cancer patients, offering to new insights and fostering development of the liquid biopsy. However, few studies have examined cfDNA in EBC samples. This study examined whether EBC is an appropriate source of cfDNA using housekeeping-gene-specific primer probes and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in healthy subjects. Ambient (room) air is contaminated with DNA, so caution is needed. Preliminary studies indicated that volatile biopsies are becoming an important diagnostic tool in lung cancer.Department of Scientific Research Projects of Dokuz Eylul University [KB.SAG.049]; Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [216S435, 216S591]Informed consent was obtained from all research subjects. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Ege University and was supported by grants from the Department of Scientific Research Projects of Dokuz Eylul University (Project no: 2017.KB.SAG.049) and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Project no: 216S435 and 216S591)