Fatmanur Hacievliyagil Kazanci

Wet-cupping removes oxidants and decreases oxidative stress

OBJECTIVES Wet-cupping therapy is one of the oldest known medical techniques. Although it is widely used in various conditions such as acute\chronic inflammation, infectious diseases, and immune system disorders, its mechanism of action is not fully known. In this study, we investigated the oxidative status as the first step to elucidate possible mechanisms of action of wet cupping. MATERIAL AND METHODS Wet cupping therapy is implemented to 31 healthy volunteers. Venous blood samples and Wet cupping blood samples were taken concurrently. Serum nitricoxide, malondialdehyde levels and activity of superoxide dismutase and myeloperoxidase were measured spectrophotometrically. RESULTS Wet cupping blood had higher activity of myeloperoxidase, lower activity of superoxide dismutase, higher levels of malondialdehyde and nitricoxide compared to the venous blood. CONCLUSION Wet cupping removes oxidants and decreases oxidative stress.

Evaluation of ADAMTS12, ADAMTS16, ADAMTS18 and IL-33 serum levels in pre-eclampsia

Abstract Objective: Pre-eclampsia is the result of impaired trophoblast invasion and spiral artery remodeling managed by inflammatory response in its etiology and physiopathology. The aim of this study was to compare serum molecules including IL-33, ADAMTS12, ADAMTS16 and ADAMTS18 levels between pre-eclampsia and control groups and to investigate the role of these molecules in pre-eclampsia. Methods: Forty-one women diagnosed as pre-eclampsia between 30 and 40 weeks of gestation and 41 non-complicated pregnant women were enrolled in this cross-sectional, case–control prospective study. ELISA method was used to determine IL-33, ADAMTS12, ADAMTS16 and ADAMTS18 levels within serums in two groups. Results: Serum ADAMTS12 and IL-33 levels were significantly lower in pre-eclampsia group (p < 0.001 and p: 0.028, respectively), however, in sub-group analysis, no significant difference was observed (p > 0.05). The cut-off value of ADAMTS12 levels to discriminate pre-eclampsia with %73.17 sensitivity and %92.68 specificity was 8.27 ng/ml while the cut-off value for IL-33 was 0.23 pg/ml with 82.93% sensitivity and 53.66% specificity. Conclusion: Pre-eclampsia is associated with lower serum IL-33 and ADAMTS12 levels.

Is Kidney Injury Molecule 1 a Valuable Tool for the Early Diagnosis of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy?

Aim/Scope Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a common complication of diagnostic/therapeutic procedures. Serum creatinine levels are sensitive but often lead to diagnostic delays in acute kidney injury and potential misclassification of actual injury status. Kidney injury molecule (KIM-1) is a novel early marker of acute kidney injury. The aim of our study was to evaluate the KIM-1 levels in patients with CIN. We performed a single-center, nested case-control study. Materials and Methods Three thousand two hundred patients who had undergone coronary angiography were included in the study. Thirty-two patients were diagnosed with CIN. Twenty patients who had undergone coronary angiography but did not have CIN were evaluated as a control group (n = 20). The diagnosis of CIN was performed according to the KDIGO 2012 Acute Kidney Injury Guideline criteria. Urinary KIM-1 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay before as well as on the 6th and 48th hours of contrast exposure. Serum creatinine levels were measured before as well as on the 24th and 48th hours after angiographic procedure. Results We demonstrated that KIM-1 levels increased in the patients with CIN significantly on the sixth hour when compared with the baseline (P < 0.01; median levels, 0.27 and 0.70 mg/dL) but not in the controls (P = 0.107). The precontrast and 48th-hour KIM-1 levels were median ones and were also significantly different (P = 0.001, the median levels were 0.27 and 0.60 mg/dL, respectively). Conclusions Because creatinine is a sensitive but a late marker of CIN, KIM-1 may be used for early diagnosis and early initiation of treatment and may reduce risk for morbidity.

Investigation of the Levels of Serum Amyloid A, YKL‐40, and Pentraxin‐3 in Patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever

Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive form of recurrent episodes of fever and an autoinflammatory disease characterized by inflammation of the serous membranes. The clinical diagnosis is supported by the laboratory findings. This study investigated the relationship of Serum Amyloid A (SAA), YKL‐40, and Pentraxin‐3 (PTX‐3) with the FMF disease.

Increased levels of serum granzyme-B is associated with insulin resistance and increased cardiovascular risk in adolescent polycystic ovary syndrome patients

OBJECTIVES Our aim was to determine serum perforin and granzyme-B levels in adolescent PCOS patients, and to investigate whether they are associated with some of the insulin sensitivity, obesity and cardiovascular (CV) risk markers and metabolic syndrome. STUDY DESIGN A case-control study was carried out including a total of 172 adolescents (83 PCOS patients and 89 age-matched healthy controls). Participants were recruited consecutively. Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR), lipid parameters, and anthropometric measurements were determined. Serum perforin and granzyme B levels were measured by commercially available ELISA kits. HOMA-IR>3.16 was considered to indicate the presence of insulin resistance. Logistic regression analysis was applied for the predictive value of granzyme-B for increased CV risk in PCOS patients. RESULTS As body mass index (BMI) of the PCOS patients was significantly higher than the controls (median 24.6kg/m(2) and 21.4kg/m(2), respectively, p<0.001) all parameters were evaluated after adjustment for BMI. Adolescents with PCOS had significantly higher levels of fasting glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR and granzyme-B when compared with controls. According to the results of logistic regression analysis, granzyme-B levels were found to be significantly associated with increased HOMA-IR (OR=6.120, 95% CI: 2.352-15.926, p<0.001) in adolescent PCOS patients. Additionally, elevated levels of serum granzyme-B were predictive for increased CV risk in PCOS patients (OR=0.237, 95% CI: 0.091-0.616, p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS Increased levels of serum granzyme-B are independently associated with insulin resistance and also with increased CV risk in adolescent polycystic ovary syndrome patients.

Is magnetic resonance imaging really innocent

*Corresponding author: Husamettin Erdamar, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Turgut Ozal University, Yenimahalle/ Ankara, Turkey, Phone: +90 312 3977400 (7050 internal), Fax: +90 312 3977448, E-mail: mdherdamar@yahoo.com Ahmet Gurgel, Mehmet Namuslu, Huseyin Tugrul Celik, Fatmanur Hacievliyagil Kazanci, Aslihan Busra Ogretici and M. Ramazan Yigitoglu: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Turgut Ozal University, Yenimahalle/Ankara, Turkey

Response to "A new remedial approach to oxidant/antioxidant imbalance-based diseases: Wet-cupping therapy".

First of all we would like to convey our thanks to Dr. Akyol for aluable comments on our article titled “Wet-cupping removes xidants and decreases oxidative stress” which is published in omplement. Ther. Med. 2014; 22 (6): 1032–1036. Dr. Akyol indicates that he does not agree with the sentence: Free oxygen radical formed during physiological and pathohysiological metabolism are balanced by a similar rate of their onsumption by antioxidant”. He emphases that the imbalance etween oxidative stress and antioxidant status causes some disases. We agree with the author on this issue and in our manuscript e gave examples of diseases caused by reactive oxygen species mmediately after the preceding sentence (Introduction Section, th paragraph).1 The author asks us which biological material was used in the nalyses. We would like to thank the author for his notice. Although he article was read several times before submission, some errors ave been overlooked by the authors. In this study we placed the oth blood samples (venous and wet-cupping) into no-additivesontaining tubes. Therefore, we obtained serum and all analysis ere made with serum samples. In “Determination of serum nitric xide (NOx) levels” sub-section clerical error was made and plasma as written instead of serum. In the same section it was indicated hat serum samples were deproteinized prior to assay and nitric xide levels were measured by the Griess reaction.2 The author indicates that “MDA cannot be used for estimation f superoxide radical production, since MDA is produced via lipid eroxidation induced by most of the free oxygen and nitrous radcals, not just by superoxide radicals”. Superoxide assessment is sually evaluated by interaction of superoxide with protein,3 lipid4