Investigation of nitric oxide in pterygium

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of nitric oxide in pterygium. METHODS: Twenty nasal pterygium tissue samples were collected from 20 surgery patients in Kahramanmaras Sutcuimam University hospital. For control purposes, nasal conjunctivas from 10 patients undergoing limbal extracapsular cataract extraction were also collected. All specimens were preserved at -70 degrees C until analysis. The specimens were tested for the presence of nitric oxide and superoxide dismutase with the Griess and Fridovich methods, respectively. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients in the control group was 45.6 (+/- 13.2) years, and 53.7 (+/- 15.8) years in the pterygium group. We found that nitric oxide and superoxide dismutase levels were significantly higher in the control group (p < 0.05). The level of superoxide dismutase was 747.8 +/- 524.4 units/mg of protein in the normal conjunctiva and 184.2 +/- 163.9 units/mg of protein in the pterygium group. The nitric oxide level was 1.5 +/- 0.9 micromol/mg of protein in the normal conjunctiva and 0.4 +/- 0.4 micromol/mg of protein in pterygium. INTERPRETATION: The low level of nitric oxide may have some role on pterygium development.     

Long tortuous aorta in a child with Larsen syndrome

A three-year-old boy with unusually flattened facies, multiple joint dislocations and eye abnormalities suggesting the presence of Larsen syndrome presented with a broad mediastinum on routine chest radiography. Computed tomography revealed a huge dilated tortuous aortic arch. Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated aortic valve dilation, aneurysmal dilation of the ascending aorta with a high aortic arch and a kink in the arch at the isthmus level. Aortography showed a dilated elongated aorta with two acute curves, one at the ductal level and the second at the diaphragmatic level. These aortic lesions may have prognostic significance for the future risk of rupture or dissection. The present article reports the presence of a tortuous aorta in a child with Larsen syndrome.     

Effect of erythropoietin on bcl-2 gene expression in rat cardiac myocytes after traumatic brain injury

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether erythropoietin (EPO) has an effect on the expression of bcl-2 in rat cardiac myocytes following experimental isolated traumatic brain injury (TBI). Forty-eight Wistar-Albino female rats were randomly allocated into eight groups. Groups AC and BC were controls; groups AS and BS were sham-operated animals. Groups A1 and B1 underwent head trauma without treatment. Groups A2 and B2, head traumas plus EPO intraperitoneally (1000 IU/kg); groups A3 and B3, the vehicle groups, head traumas and intraperitoneal albumin (0.4 ml/rat). The method of weight drop was used to produce impact trauma at 24 hours after injury. Samples obtained from the left ventricle were assayed for lipid peroxidation and bcl-2 gene expression using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reactions. Lipid peroxidation in the heart tissue was determined by the concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs). The results showed that administration of EPO significantly reduced the increase in lipid peroxidation by-products after moderate or severe trauma. The bcl-2 expression was significantly higher in EPO (A2 and B2) compared to trauma groups (A1 and B1) suggesting a protective effect. These findings suggest that EPO may play an important role in the expression of bcl-2 and decrease in TBARs-the end product of lipid peroxidation in myocytes-after moderate or severe TBI.     

Effects of antihypertensive agents,alpha receptor blockers,beta blockers,angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors,angiotensin receptor blockers and calcium channel blockers,on oxidative stress

BACKGROUND: Free oxygen radicals and insufficiency of antioxidant enzymes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of hypertension disease (HD). Trace elements function as a co-factor in antioxidant enzymes. The antioxidant system and trace elements have been investigated in many different studies including HD, but these subjects have not been investigated as a whole in these patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate the antioxidative system and trace elements in hypertensive patients given different antihypertensive therapy. METHODS: We examined malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase activities together with copper and zinc levels in plasma of 102 patients with HD and in 51 healthy controls. RESULTS: It was found that in patients with HD, plasma malondialdehyde was significantly higher than those of controls, while plasma superoxide dismutase activities were significantly lower in patients with HD. Plasma zinc levels were significantly higher than those of controls and plasma copper levels were significantly lower in patients with HD. Plasma lipid levels and oxidative state were analyzed in five different treatment groups given antihypertensive drug therapy before and after a 3-month treatment period. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our clinical study shows that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers have notable effects on oxidative stress, and are an essential step in managing essential hypertension by the way of improvement of endothelial dysfunction. Although it has been shown that calcium channel blockers, beta blockers and alpha receptor blockers have antioxidant effects in in vitro conditions, we did not demonstrate these effects in our clinical study.     

Blood and lens lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status in normal individuals,senile and diabetic cataractous patients

PURPOSE: Oxidative mechanisms are believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of cataract, the most important cause of visual impairment at advanced age. To determine the body's antioxidant status as well as its lipid peroxidation levels, both blood and lens parameters were evaluated. METHODS: This study was performed on the blood samples and lenses obtained from 46 patients diagnosed as having cataract and 20 control subjects. The control group was composed of 10 women and 10 men who do not smoke. Control subjects without any lens opacity or vacuoles when observed with a slit lamp were recruited on the same exclusion criteria as far as disease and treatment were concerned. No antioxidant medicines were used. They were all healthy individuals without any systemic diseases. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), glutathione reductase (GSSG-Red) activities in red blood cell (RBC) lysates as well as whole blood glutathione (GSH) and plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), the indicator of lipid peroxidation concentrations, were determined quantitatively both in the blood samples and the lenses of the patients with senile and diabetic cataracts. RESULTS: Whole blood GSH values, and erythrocyte SOD activities were significantly lower in the cataractous patients than those in the control group. The values in the diabetic cataractous group were also less than those in the senile cataractous group. Significantly decreased erythrocyte GSSG-Red and G6PD activities were detected in the diabetic cataractous group. Plasma TBARS values were higher both in the senile and diabetic groups when compared to those in the control group. Significantly decreased values were observed for GSSG-Red activities and TBARS values in the lenses of the senile cataractous patients in comparison with those in the diabetic cataractous patients. The lens GSH values were found to be higher in the senile cataractous group than the values obtained in the diabetic cataractous group. CONCLUSIONS: A strong correlation was found between lens GSH and lens TBARS concentrations in the diabetic group. This emphasized the vital role of GSH as an antioxidant in the lens over the other antioxidant parameters, e.g., enzymes, and the oxidative stress is at the highest level in lens.     

Peritonsillar dexamethasone–bupivacaine vs. bupivacaine infiltration for post-tonsillectomy pain relief in children: a randomized,double-blind,controlled study

European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Post-tonsillectomy pain is one of the most frequent morbidities of tonsillectomy surgery. Currently, there is no standard protocol for...     

Detection of Helicobacter pylori using nested polymerase chain reaction and rapid urease test in gastric biopsy samples.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this study was to compare nested polymerase chain reaction and rapid urease test findings in the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection. METHODS: Two gastric biopsy specimens were obtained from each of 64 patients and polymerase chain reaction and rapid urease test were performed. DNA extraction was followed by amplification with two primer pairs from the urease A gene of Helicobacter pylori genome. RESULTS: Fourty two patients (65.6%) had a positive rapid urease test result while 22 (34.4%) had a negative result for Helicobacter pylori. Sixty of 64 patients (93.8 %) had a positive result with the nested polymerase chain reaction method. Four patients with negative nested polymerase chain reaction results also had negative rapid urease test results. All of the eighteen patients with rapid urease test-negative results were positive with nested polymerase chain reaction. The number of nested polymerase chain reaction-positive patients (93.8%) was significantly higher than rapid urease test-positive (65.6%) and first round polymerase chain reaction-positive (53.1%) patients (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the nested polymerase chain reaction is more specific and sensitive than the rapid urease test for detecting Helicobacter pylori in gastric biopsy samples.