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Background: Inflammation is recognized as a hallmark feature of cancer development and progression. The aim of our study was to investigate the significance of serum nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kB) levels as a circulating marker in the monitoring of inflammation in breast and colon cancer; to show the relationship between NF-kB with inflammatory parameters as tumour necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), soluble TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (sTRAIL), interleukin-6 (IL-6), pentraxin-3 (PTX-3), procalcitonin (PCT), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Methods: Serum NF-kB, TNF-a, sTRAIL, IL-6, PTX-3, PCT, and serum CRP levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 40 patients with breast cancer, 40 patients with colon cancer and 30 healthy controls. Results: The serum NF-kB, TNF-a, IL-6, PTX-3, PCT, and serum CRP concentration was significantly higher, and the serum sTRAIL concentration was significantly lower in the patients with breast and colon cancer than in healthy controls. NF-kB was positively correlated with CRP and negatively correlated with sTRAIL. Conclusions: These results suggest that increased NF-kB may decrease the clinical efficacy of sTRAIL in solid tumour cells. There is a relationship between inflammation and carcinogenesis so that the development of cancer occurs with chronic inflammation in breast and colon. The study results have shown that colon and breast cancer patients have increased systemic inflammation, as measured by increased circulating cytokines, and acute-phase proteins, or by abnormalities in circulating cells. NF-kB may combine with other markers of the systemic inflammatory response in prognostic scores in cancer. In addition to surgical resection of the tumour, and conventional radio and chemotherapy for cancer treatment, the use of sTRAIL or other agonists for cancer therapy appeared a new potential therapy.

Berrin Papila Kundaktepe,1 Volkan Sozer,2 Cigdem Papila,3 Sinem Durmus,4 Pinar Cigdem Kocael,1 Gonul Simsek,5 Remise Gelisgen,4 Kagan Zengin,1 Kenan Ulualp,1 Hafize Uzun4 1Department of General Surgery, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey; 2Department of Biochemistry, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Oncology, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey; 4Department of Medical Biochemistry, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey; 5Department of Physiology, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, TurkeyCorrespondence: Hafize UzunDepartment of Medical Biochemistry, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University Cerrahpasa, Cerrahpasa, İstanbul 34303, TurkeyTel +90 212 414 30 56Fax +90 212 633 29 87Email huzun59@hotmail.comObjective: Screening approaches using microRNAs (miRNAs) have been gaining increased attention owing to their potential applications in the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of cancer, because aberrant miRNA expression plays a role in the development and advancement of malignancies. The objectives of this study were to characterize mir21, miR31, mir143, mir145, and control RNU43, which are differentially expressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of breast and colorectal cancer patients, compared to that in controls and to establish whether this is specific to breast and colon cancer for use as tumor markers.Methods: Thirty newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer and 30 patients with colorectal cancer were enrolled together with 30 healthy controls. PBMCs were isolated from venous blood samples of individuals. Next, miRNA expression analysis was performed by a two-step method of reverse transcription and qPCR.Results: The expression levels of miR-143 and miR-31 were significantly decreased, whereas the expression levels of miR-145 and miR-21 were significantly increased in breast cancer patients compared to those in healthy subjects. Moreover, the expression levels of miR-143, miR-145, and miR-21 were significantly increased and, in contrast, the changes in the expression levels of miR-31 were not statistically significant in colon cancer compared to those in healthy subjects. miR-21 exhibited the highest increase in both breast and colon cancers. There was a weak positive correlation between miR-145 and CA-15.3 in patients with breast cancer (r = 0.451; p = 0.012). miR-143 was positively correlated with the TNM stage in colon cancer patients (r = 0.568; p = 0.001).Conclusion: A biomarker panel composed of miR-21, miR-31, miR-143, and miR-145 in PBMC may provide a new diagnostic approach for the early detection of breast and colon cancer. As miR-21 expression was found to be the highest among all the miRNAs evaluated, it may represent a new tumor biomarker and a candidate therapeutic drug or gene target in colon and breast cancer.Keywords: breast cancer, colon cancer, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, mir21, mir31, mir143, mir145

Pelin Uysal,1 Gonul Simsek,2 Sinem Durmus,3 Volkan Sozer,4 Hulya Aksan,5 Sibel Yurt,6 Caglar Cuhadaroglu,1 Filiz Kosar,6 Remise Gelisgen,3 Hafize Uzun3 1Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Atakent Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey; 2Department of Physiology, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey; 3Department of Biochemistry, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey; 4Department of Biochemistry, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey; 5Deparment of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Halic University, İstanbul, Turkey; 6Clinic of Chest Diseases, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Chest Surgery Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey Background: Antimicrobial peptides are effectors of host defence against infection and inflammation and can encourage wound repair. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate the plasma antimicrobial peptide LL-37 and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) levels in patients with stable COPD compared with a control group and to highlight their importance in immune inflammation. Methods: One hundred and thirty-eight stable COPD patients and 33 control subjects were enrolled in the study. The COPD patients were classified into four groups based on FEV1 (groups I–IV) and also divided into “low-risk and high-risk” groups (groups A–B [low risk], C–D [high risk]). Results: Plasma LL-37 levels were significantly lower while plasma NF-κB levels of the COPD patients were significantly higher than those of the control subjects (P

Background/aims: Reactive oxygen species have a known potent role in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. Iloprost, a pharmaceutical, is a chemically stable derivative of a naturally- occurring human prostacyclin. Several studies have demonstrated protective effects of iloprost via its antioxidant and its anti-inflammatory activity. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of iloprost on oxidant/antioxidant status, as well as the large bowel histopathology in experimental colitis., Materials and Method: Forty adult male Wistar-albino rats were randomly divided in to four equal weight-matched groups: sham group (n=10), iloprost administered sham group (n=10), colitis group (n=10), iloprost administered colitis group (n=10). Acetic acid (1 ml of 4% solution) was used to induce colonic inflammation in the rats., Results: Colonic tissue and plasma malondialdehyde levels were significantly lower in the iloprost administered colitis group than the colitis group (p<0.01). Tissue glutathione levels of the iloprost administered colitis group were significantly higher than the colitis group (p<0.001)., Conclusion: We have demonstrated in this study iloprost to be an antioxidant, as well as iloprost demonstrating protective activity against colitis induced oxidative stress.

Background/aims: Partial hepatectomy is performed for the treatment of mass lesions in the liver. Lycopene, which is a carotenoid, is present in various physiologic processes. In this study, the effects of lycopene administration in partially hepatectomized rats were evaluated by assessing various oxidant/antioxidant parameters, remnant liver histology and plasma nitric oxide levels., Methods: Thirty Wistar albino adult male rats were randomly divided into three equal groups as: Sham, Partial Hepatectomy and Lycopene-Administered + Partial Hepatectomy groups. Lycopene (4 mg/kg), which was dissolved in olive oil, was given to the rats per orally (via gavage tube) (0.1 ml) every day for 6 weeks before partial hepatectomy and for one week after partial hepatectomy. Tissue and blood samples were collected one week after partial hepatectomy., Results: Plasma malondialdehyde (p<0.001) and nitric oxide (p<0.05) levels in the lycopene-administered + partial hepatectomy group were significantly higher than in the partial hepatectomy group. Intraerythrocytic glutathione (p<0.001), plasma (p<0.001) and liver tissue Cu-Zn (p<0.05) superoxide dismutase levels of the lycopene-administered + partial hepatectomy group were significantly lower than in the partial hepatectomy group., Conclusions: Lycopene administration could be harmful by increasing oxidative stress after partial hepatectomy.

ABSTRACT High serum total cholesterol concentration has been strongly connected with atherosclerosis in numerous studies. Being the main carrier of cholesterol in blood, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is also the principal lipoprotein causing atherosclerosis. Sialic acids are a family of amino sugars that are commonly found as terminal oligosaccharide residues on glycoproteins and are sialylated on their apolipoprotein and glycolipid constituents. In several studies, it was demonstrated that LDL has a 2.5- to 5-fold lower content of sialic acid in patients with coronary artery disease compared with healthy subjects. The role of oxidatively modified LDL in the pathogenesis has been well documented. These studies have focused on modifications in the lipid and protein parts of LDL. But recently, desialylated LDL and its relation with the oxidation mechanisms have received attention in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD). From these points, we have performed atheroma plaques in an experimental atherosclerosis model with rabbits and examined the LDL and plasma sialic acid and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) levels in the same model. We also have determined serum sialidase enzyme activities relevant with these parameters. LDL sialic acid levels were significantly decreased in the progression of the atherosclerosis (by the 30th, 60th, and 90th days). LDL and plasma TBARS levels and plasma sialidase enzyme activities were significantly elevated by the same time periods. In conclusion, serum sialidase enzyme may play an important role in the desialylation mechanism, and reactive oxygen substance (ROS) may affect this reaction.

Carnitine has two main functions, i.e., transporting long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondrial matrix for beta-oxidation to provide cellular energy and modulating the rise in intramitochondrial acyl-CoA/CoA ratio, which relieves the inhibition of many intramitochondrial enzymes involving glucose and amino acid catabolism. The present study examined the acid soluble carnitine (ASCAR) acid insoluble carnitine (AICAR) and total carnitine (TCAR) concentrations of 50 human brain tumor tissues and 11 normal brain tissues. The ASCAR levels significantly higher in gliomas and meningiomas than brain, however similar to brain in metastatic adenocarcinomas. AICAR levels were lower than brain in all tumors with the exception of a medullablastoma. TCAR levels were similar to brain in all tumor types. Decreased AICAR levels may be due to increased utilization of lipids or enhanced phospholipid and cholesterol synthesis which is need for increased membrane synthesis or formation of eicosanoids. Also decreased concentrations may be a reflection of camitine and its acylesters role in preserving the physiologic membrane structure function from oxidative damage.

Interleukin 4, (IL4) known as a lymphokine secreted by type II helper T-cells, is thought to regulate IgG and IgE secretions. Therefore, elevated IL4 levels are expected in atopic allergic disease and parasitoses. The purpose of this study was to determine IL 4 levels in allergic asthmatic children. In 50 extrinsic atopic children (19 females, 31 males, mean age 8 +/- 4), IgE and IL 4 were found to be 469 +/- 296 U/L and 0.318 +/- 0.09 ng/ml, respectively. In seven control cases, IgE and IL4 levels were 62 +/- 25 and 0.106 +/- 0.017, respectively. Comparison of the two groups disclosed statistically significant differences in IL4 and IgE levels, suggesting the ability of IL4 to augment IgE production.