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Vitiligo is a multifactorial disorder commonly associated with hypo-/depigmentation in the skin and may influence both children and adults psychologically because of the notable leopard-skin-like appearance. This study was designed to investigate the thiol/disulfide homeostasis in patients with generalized vitiligo and to determine its relationship with some of the demographical characteristics. Seventy-six generalized vitiligo patients and 67 healthy individuals were included in the study. Blood serum native thiol, disulfide and total thiol concentrations, together with some hematological parameters, were determined. Results demonstrated that native and total thiol contents, and their ratios, were significantly lower in vitiligo patients. Disulfide/native thiol and disulfide/total thiol ratios were significantly higher in the patient group. Progressivity of the disease strongly regulated the thiol/disulfide homeostasis in such a way that active vitiligo patients had reduced native and total thiol levels but increased disulfide/native thiol and disulfide/total thiol ratios. Moreover, there was a statistically significant negative correlation between both duration of the vitiligo and native and total thiol contents. As these results clearly demonstrated that thiol/disulfide homeostasis was shifted toward disulfide formation in patients with generalized vitiligo, determining the dynamic nature of thiol/disulfide homeostasis can be used to monitor disease progression.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by high blood glucose levels due to the absence of secretion of insulin or its inefficient use in the body. In this study, we investigated how resveratrol administration affects the renal functions and pro-inflammatory signaling pathway components in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in male Wistar rats. Rats were randomly divided into four groups: (1) control/vehicle; (2) control/20 mg/kg resveratrol; (3) diabetic/vehicle; and (4) diabetic/20 mg/kg resveratrol. In addition to renal glucose, lipid, angiopoietin-1 (ANG-1), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), erythropoietin (EPO), malondialdehyde (MDA) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) content, the gene expressions of pro-inflammatory markers, including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2) like-2 (Nrf2), and the protein contents of interleukins-1β,6,8 (IL-1β,6,8) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were analyzed using qRT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. The rats in the diabetes group demonstrated significantly lower terminal body weight and renal ANG-1, but significantly higher renal glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, ADMA and MDA concentrations. Diabetes triggered inflammation in kidney tissues, reflected as an increase in NGAL level. The renal inflammation observed in the diabetes group was associated with significant upregulation of components of the pro-inflammatory pathway, iNOS, NF-κB, Nrf2, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α. To some extent, resveratrol administration reversed the diabetes-induced changes in renal tissues, suggesting that resveratrol partially protected from diabetes-induced renal failure due to its restorative activities in tissue inflammation.

Background: Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory cutaneous disease that can be associated with cardiometabolic disorders. Oxidative stress is included in the pathogenesis of rosacea, and thiol-disulfide homeostasis (TDH) acts as antioxidants., Objective: To evaluate the TDH and metabolic parameters in patients with rosacea., Material and Methods: A total of 42 rosacea patients and 50 controls participated in this prospective study. Demographic data, clinical entities, anthropometric measurements, and laboratory findings were recorded. Additionally, TDH was measured by an automated spectrophotometric method., Results: Rosacea patients had greater body mass index values (27.9 ± 5.2 kg/m² vs. 23 ± 1.4 kg/m², p < 0.001), waist-hip ratios (0.87 ± 0.1 vs. 0.77 ± 0.8, p < 0.001), and insulin resistance (3.0 ± 2.0 vs. 1.3 ± 0.5, p < 0.001) compared with controls. Disulfide levels, the disulfide/native thiol ratio (DNTR), and the disulfide/total thiol ratio (DTTR) were increased (p < 0.05) in rosacea patients. Native thiol and total thiol levels and the native/total thiol ratio (NTTR) were decreased in rosacea patients (p < 0.05). Different rosacea subtypes had no effect on oxidative stress markers. The duration of illness and insulin resistance values significantly correlated with DNTR and DTTR in the rosacea group (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Rosacea has a metabolic milieu with increased oxidative stress and insulin resistance., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

This study aims to assess how mean corpuscular volume (MCV), red cell distribution width (RDW), and thiol-disulphide homeostasis are altered in psoriasis patients. This is a cross-sectional review of 76 healthy volunteers and 87 psoriasis patients who were consecutively admitted to the department of dermatology. Psoriasis patients and healthy controls were statistically similar with respect to age, sex, body mass index, blood pressures, and disease duration ( p > 0.05 for all). When compared to healthy controls, psoriasis patients had significantly higher MCV, RDW, C-reactive protein (CRP), disulphide, disulphide/native thiol, and disulphide/total thiol ( p < 0.001 for all). However, psoriasis patients had significantly lower native thiol and native thiol/total thiol ( p = 0.009 and p < 0.001, respectively). When compared to healthy controls, the patients with Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) ≤ 10 and patients with PASI > 10 had significantly higher MCV, disulphide, disulphide/native thiol, and disulphide/total thiol ( p < 0.001 for all). The patients with PASI ≤ 10 and patients with PASI > 10 had significantly lower native thiol/native thiol than healthy controls ( p < 0.001 for all). The psoriasis patients with PASI > 10 had significantly higher RDW and CRP than healthy controls and patients with PASI ≤ 10 ( p < 0.001 for all). Disulphide, disulphide/native thiol, disulphide/total thiol, and native thiol/total thiol correlate significantly with both PASI scores and disease duration. Thiol-disulphide homeostasis is enhanced in psoriasis patients. Ongoing inflammation and increased oxidative stress in psoriasis patients also trigger the formation of prooxidants which are neutralized by antioxidants such as thiols. That is why plasma thiol levels are decreased in psoriasis patients.

Low cholesterol levels may be accompanied by solid tumors or hematological malignancies such as multiple myeloma. Decreased cholesterol levels have been reported in some experimental studies about chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). It may be associated with tumoral cell metabolism. Herein, we examine blood lipid profiles of patients with newly diagnosed CLL (284 male, 276 female, mean age 64 ± 11 years) as defined by National Cancer Institute criteria. The control group consisted of 71 healthy subjects with mean age 55 ± 9 years (28 male, 43 females). 60% of patients with Binet A, while 25% were Binet C. Decreased levels of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) were observed in patients with CLL than control group (p < 0,001). There was no statistical significance between CLL and control group for triglycerides (TG) and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), also between HDL-C, VLDL, TG and grades. Cholesterol may metabolized by abnormal lymphocytes in CLL patients., (Copyright © 2016 National Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Excision repair cross-complementation group 1 enzyme (ERCC1) plays a key role in the removal of platinum induced DNA adducts and cisplatin resistance. Prognostic role of ERCC1 expression in the neoadjuvant setting in bladder cancer has not been reported before. We evaluated the prognostic role of ERCC1 expression in bladder cancer receiving platinum-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy., Materials and Methods: Thirty-eight patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer who received neoadjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy were included. Clinical and histopathologic parameters along with immunohistochemical ERCC1 staining were examined and correlated with response rates and survival., Results: Pathologic complete response rates were similar between patients with low and high ERCC1 expression. Median disease-free survival (DFS) was 9.3 vs. 20.5 months (P = 0.186) and median overall survival (OS) was 9.3 vs. 26.7 months (P = 0.058) in patients with high ERCC1 expression compared with those with low expression, respectively. In multivariate Cox regression analysis: pathological complete response (pCR) after chemotherapy (hazard ratio (HR) 0.1, 95% CI 0.012-0.842, P = 0.034) and high ERCC1 expression (HR 3.7, 95% CI 1.2-11.2, P = 0.019) were significantly associated with DFS. Patient age (>60 vs. ≤ 60 years) (HR 3.4, 95% CI 1.2-9.4, P = 0.018), the presence of pCR (HR 0.11, 95% CI 0.014-0.981, P = 0.048) and high ERCC expression (HR 6.1, 95 CI 1.9-19.9, P = 0.002) were significantly associated with OS., Conclusions: Our results showed that high ERCC1 expression was independently associated with shorter disease-free and overall survival in patients with bladder cancer who received neoadjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy. ERCC1 may represent a potential predictive marker for platinum-based treatment in bladder cancer., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)