Detection of reactive oxygen metabolites in malignant and adjacent normal tissues of patients with lung cancer

BACKGROUND: Different types of reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs) are known to be involved in carcinogenesis. Several studies have emphasized the formation of ROMs in ischemic tissues and in cases of inflammation. The increased amounts of ROMs in tumor tissues can either be because of their causative effects or because they are produced by the tumor itself. Our study aimed to investigate and compare the levels of ROMs in tumor tissue and adjacent lung parenchyma obtained from patients with lung cancer. METHODS: Fifteen patients (all male, mean age 63.6 ± 9 years) with non-small cell lung cancer were enrolled in the study. All patients were smokers. Of the patients with lung cancer, twelve had epidermoid carcinoma and three had adenocarcinoma. During anatomical resection of the lung, tumor tissue and macroscopically adjacent healthy lung parenchyma (control) that was 5 cm away from the tumor were obtained. The tissues were freshly frozen and stored at −20°C. The generation of ROMs was monitored using luminol- and lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) techniques. RESULTS: Both luminol (specific for (.)OH, H(2)O(2), and HOCl(-)) and lucigenin (selective for O(2)(.-)) CL measurements were significantly higher in tumor tissues than in control tissues (P <0.001). Luminol and lucigenin CL measurements were 1.93 ± 0.71 and 2.5 ± 0.84 times brighter, respectively, in tumor tissues than in the adjacent parenchyma (P = 0.07). CONCLUSION: In patients with lung cancer, all ROM levels were increased in tumor tissues when compared with the adjacent lung tissue. Because the increase in lucigenin concentration, which is due to tissue ischemia, is higher than the increase in luminol, which is directly related to the presence and severity of inflammation, ischemia may be more important than inflammation for tumor development in patients with lung cancer

Circulating irisin levels in newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea patients

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is commonly associated with obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and coronary artery disease. Irisin is a newly identified myokine and its serum concentration was found to be correlated with cardiac troponin and creatin kinase-MB in acute myocardial infarction patients. Furthermore, irisin levels were positively associated with endothelium-dependent vasodilation in type 2 diabetic patients.Aim: In this study, we aimed to investigate serum irisin level in the newly diagnosed OSAS patients.Materials and Methods: After obtaining ethical approval, 32 OSAS patients were included. All patients gave written informed consent. Diagnosis of OSAS was verified by an overnight polysomnography (PSG) and made by an apnea hypopnea index equal to or higher than 5. Venous blood samples were collected in the morning between 08.00 – 10.00 after PSG (n=25) or after one-night CPAP treatment (n=7). Serum irisin concentrations were studied by ELISA.Results and Conclusion: Serum irisin concentrations were significantly higher in newly diagnosed OSAS group than in OSAS group after one night of CPAP treatment (199.7±42.4 vs 159.7±18.3 ng/mL respectively; p<0.01). These results suggest that increased serum irisin levels can be reduced by CPAP treatment and elevated serum irisin levels may be due to increased respiratory muscle activity and body temperature.

Mutations in Influenza A Virus (H5N1) and Possible Limited Spread, Turkey, 2006

We report mutations in influenza A virus (H5N1) strains associated with 2 outbreaks in Turkey. Four novel amino acid changes (Q447L, N556K, and R46K in RNA polymerase and S133A in hemagglutinin) were detected in virus isolates from 2 siblings who died

Draft Genome Sequences of Two Heat-Resistant Mutant Strains (A52 and B41) of the Photosynthetic Hydrogen-Producing BacteriumRhodobacter capsulatus

The draft genome sequences of two heat-resistant mutant strains, A52 and B41, derived from Rhodobacter capsulatus DSM 1710, and with different hydrogen production levels, are reported here. These sequences may help understand the molecular basis of heat resistance and hydrogen production in R. capsulatus.Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK)Publisher's Versio

Assessment of cardiac remodeling in asymptomatic mitral regurgitation for surgery timing: a comparative study of echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early surgery is recommended for asymptomatic severe mitral regurgitation (MR), because of increased postoperative left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in patients with late surgery. On the other hand, recent reports emphasized a "watchful waiting" process for the determination of the proper time of mitral valve surgery. In our study, we compared magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and transthoracic echocardiography to evaluate the LV and left atrial (LA) remodeling; for better definitions of patients that may benefit from early valve surgery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty-one patients with moderate to severe asymptomatic MR were evaluated by echocardiography and MRI. LA and LV ejection fractions (EFs) were calculated by echocardiography and MRI. Pulmonary veins (PVs) were measured from vein orifices in diastole and systole from the tangential of an imaginary circle that completed LA wall. Right upper PV indices were calculated with the formula; (Right upper PV diastolic diameter- Right upper PV systolic diameter)/Right upper PV diastolic diameter.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In 9 patients there were mismatches between echocardiography and MRI measurements of LV EF. LV EFs were calculated ≥60% by echocardiography, meanwhile < 60% by MRI in these 9 patients. Severity of MR evaluated by effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA) didn't differ with preserved and depressed EFs by MRI (p > 0.05). However, both right upper PV indices (0.16 ± 0.06 vs. 0.24 ± 0.08, p: 0.024) and LA EFs (0.19 ± 0.09 vs. 0.33 ± 0.14, p: 0.025) were significantly decreased in patients with depressed EFs when compared to patients with normal EFs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>MRI might be preferred when small changes in functional parameters like LV EF, LA EF, and PV index are of clinical importance to disease management like asymptomatic MR patients that we follow up for appropriate surgery timing.</p

Outlier detection in a preliminary test estimator of the mean

WOS: 000391036900006Pre-test estimator has earlier been introduced to estimate the mean of a normal distribution when non-sample prior information is available. In this paper, our aim is to consider the pre-test estimator for the mean in the presence of outliers. A well known procedure to define the pre-test estimator of the mean is based on the sample mean. However, the sample mean is not a robust location estimator. In order to overcome this problem, we replace it by M-location estimators. In particular, we use the M-location estimators obtained from Huber [6], Hampel[3] and Tukey [12]. Also, we use the median as an alternative location estimator. Cook's squared distance (Cook [2]) is used to study the influential observations in a Monte Carlo study. We conduct a simulation study to illustrate the performance of the pre-test estimator of the mean in the presence of outliers in the data