MicroRNA-193a-3p as a Valuable Biomarker for Discriminating between Colorectal Cancer and Colorectal Adenoma Patients.

Specific markers for colorectal cancer (CRC), preceded by colorectal adenoma (pre-CRC), are lacking. This study aimed to investigate whether microRNAs (miR-19a-3p, miR-92a-3p, miR-193a-3p, and miR-210-3p) from tissues and exosomes are potential CRC biomarkers and compare them to existing biomarkers, namely carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9. MiRNA was isolated in the samples of 52 CRC and 76 pre-CRC patients. Expression levels were analyzed by RT-qPCR. When comparing pre-CRC and CRC tissue expression levels, only miR-193a-3p showed statistically significant result (p < 0.0001). When comparing the tissues and exosomes of CRC samples, a statistically significant difference was found for miR-193a-3p (p < 0.0001), miR-19a-3p (p < 0.0001), miR-92a-3p (p = 0.0212), and miR-210-3p (p < 0.0001). A receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the diagnostic value of CEA, CA 19-9, and miRNAs. CEA and CA 19-9 had good diagnostic values (AUCs of 0.798 and 0.668). The diagnostic value only of miR-193a-3p was highlighted (AUC = 0.725). The final logistic regression model, in which we put a combination of CEA concentration and the miR-193a-3p expression level in tissues, showed that using these two markers can distinguish CRC and pre-CRC in 71.3% of cases (AUC = 0.823). MiR-193a-3p from tissues could be a potential CRC biomarker.

Circulating Tumor Cells in Colorectal Cancer: Detection Systems and Clinical Utility.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide. The high mortality from CRC is mainly related to metastasis affecting distant organs and their function. Dissemination of tumor cells from the primary tumor and hematogeneous spread are considered crucial in the formation of tumor metastases. The analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and CTC clusters in the blood can be used for the early detection of invasive cancer. Moreover, CTCs have a prognostic significance in the monitoring of a malignant disease or the response to chemotherapy. This work presents an overview of the research conducted on CTCs with the aim of finding suitable detection systems and assessing the possibility of clinical applications in patients with CRC.

Lipid profile and atherogenic indices in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Limited number of studies investigated lipid profile in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with inconsistent results. This study aimed to investigate lipid parameters in sera of patients with stable COPD and their associations with disease severity, smoking, comorbidities and therapy. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study included 137 COPD patients and 95 controls. Triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were assessed. Non-HDL-C (NHC), atherogenic coefficient (AC), TG/HDL-C, atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), Castelli's risk index I and II (CRI-I, CRI-II), and monocyte to HDL ratio (MHR) were calculated. HDL-C and MHR were increased, while other lipid parameters and indices were decreased in COPD patients compared to healthy individuals. Smoking did not influence lipid parameters. However, lipid profile was altered only in more severe disease stages. AC, CRI-I and CRI-II showed positive association with lung function parameters in COPD patients, and negative with COPD multicomponent indices (ADO, BODCAT, BODEx, CODEx and DOSE). Combined model that included CRI-II, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen and white blood cells showed great diagnostic performances, and correctly classified 72% of study participants with an AUC of 0.800 (0.742-0.849), P < 0.001. Bronchodilator monotherapy and statins have opposite impact on TC, LDL-C and NHC, while TG, TG/HDL-C and AIP were increased in COPD patients with cardiovascular diseases. CONCLUSION: Lipid disbalance is present in COPD, and it seems to occur later as the disease progresses. Further studies are needed to illuminate the underlying mechanism of dyslipidaemia.

Profiling Colorectal Cancer in the Landscape Personalized Testing-Advantages of Liquid Biopsy.

Drug-specific therapeutic approaches for colorectal cancer (CRC) have contributed to significant improvements in patient health. Nevertheless, there is still a great need to improve the personalization of treatments based on genetic and epigenetic tumor profiles to maximize the quality and efficacy while limiting cytotoxicity. Currently, CEA and CA 19-9 are the only validated blood biomarkers in clinical practice. For this reason, laboratories are trying to identify new specific prognostics and, more importantly, predictive biomarkers for CRC patient profiling. Thus, the unique landscape of personalized biomarker data should have a clinical impact on CRC treatment strategies and molecular genetic screening tests should become the standard method for diagnosing CRC. This review concentrates on recent molecular testing in CRC and discusses the potential modifications in CRC assay methodology with the upcoming clinical application of novel genomic approaches. While mechanisms for analyzing circulating tumor DNA have been proven too inaccurate, detecting and analyzing circulating tumor cells and protein analysis of exosomes represent more promising options. Blood liquid biopsy offers good prospects for the future if the results align with pathologists' tissue analyses. Overall, early detection, accurate diagnosis and treatment monitoring for CRC with specific markers and targeted molecular testing may benefit many patients.

Cigarette smoke and extracellular Hsp70 induce secretion of ATP and differential activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in monocytic and bronchial epithelial cells.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an inflammatory disease mainly caused by smoking. Cigarette smoke damages airway epithelium and activates lung macrophages, causing inflammatory responses. It was suggested that nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome might have an important role in COPD development. Study aimed to explore whether cigarette smoke extract (CSE), extracellular heat shock protein 70 (eHsp70) or their combinations induce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) release and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. METHODS: We detected NLRP3 and interleukin (IL)-1ß mRNA expression, extracellular IL-1ß and ATP concentrations as well as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity. We used bronchial epithelial (NCI-H292, 16HBE and NHBE) and monocytic cells (monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) and THP-1) as representative of local airway and systemic compartments that could be affected in COPD. RESULTS: CSE and eHsp70 increased NLRP3 and IL-1ß mRNA expression as well as IL-1ß and ATP secretion in all cells compared to untreated cells. Lytic cell death was observed in cell lines, especially those of bronchial epithelium origin, but not in primary cells (NHBE, MDMs). Regarding LDH activity, eHsp70 did not modulate CSE effects, except in NCI-H292 cell line. However, eHsp70 significantly affected CSE-provoked NLRP3 inflammasome activation by causing mostly antagonistic effects in airway epithelial cells and synergistic effects in MDMs. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that both CSE and eHsp70 induce ATP secretion and differential activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in bronchial epithelial and monocytic cells. We suggest that these mechanisms might be involved in pathophysiology of COPD by contributing to the propagation of inflammation.

Pro-inflammatory effects of extracellular Hsp70 on NCI-H292 human bronchial epithelial cell line.

Extracellular Hsp70 (eHsp70) exerts its biological actions via Toll-like receptors 2 and 4, and is increased in sera of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. The aim of this study was to explore the pro-inflammatory effects and cytotoxicity of eHsp70 alone and in combination with bacterial components lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on NCI-H292 airway epithelial cells. NCI-H292 cells were treated with recombinant human Hsp70 protein (rhHsp70), LPS, LTA and their combinations for 4, 12, 24 and 48 hours. IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α levels were measured by an ELISA method. Cell viability was determined by the MTS method, and caspase-3/7, caspase-8 and caspase-9 assays. rhHsp70 induced secretion of IL-6 and IL-8 in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, with the highest secretion at 24 hours. rhHsp70 combined with LTA had antagonistic and with LPS synergistic effect on IL-6 secretion, while the interactions between rhHsp70 and LPS or LTA on IL-8 were synergistic. TNF-α was not detected in the applied conditions. rhHsp70, LPS or LTA did not affect cell viability, and rhHsp70 even suppressed caspase-3/7 activities. We suggest that pro-inflammatory effects of eHsp70, together with other damaging molecules and/or COPD risk factors, might contribute to the aggravation of chronic inflammation in human bronchial epithelium.

N-glycosylation patterns of plasma proteins and immunoglobulin G in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex condition, whose diagnosis requires spirometric assessment. However, considering its heterogeneity, subjects with similar spirometric parameters do not necessarily have the same functional status. To overcome this limitation novel biomarkers for COPD have been investigated. Therefore, we aimed to explore the potential value of N-glycans as COPD biomarkers and to examine the individual variation of plasma protein and immunoglobulin G (IgG) glycosylation profiles in subjects with COPD and healthy controls. METHODS: Both the total plasma protein and IgG N-glycome have been profiled in the total of 137 patients with COPD and 95 matching controls from Croatia. Replication cohort consisted of 61 subjects with COPD and 148 controls recruited at another Croatian medical centre. RESULTS: Plasma protein N-glycome in COPD subjects exhibited significant decrease in low branched and conversely, an increase in more complex glycan structures (tetragalactosylated, trisialylated, tetrasialylated and antennary fucosylated glycoforms). We also observed a significant decline in plasma monogalactosylated species, and the same change replicated in IgG glycome. N-glycans also showed value in distinguishing subjects in different COPD GOLD stages, where the relative abundance of more complex glycan structures increased as the disease progressed. Glycans also showed statistically significant associations with the frequency of exacerbations and demonstrated to be affected by smoking, which is the major risk factor for COPD development. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that complexity of glycans associates with COPD, mirroring also the disease severity. Moreover, changes in N-glycome associate with exacerbation frequency and are affected by smoking. In general, this study provided new insights into plasma protein and IgG N-glycome changes occurring in COPD and pointed out potential novel markers of the disease progression and severity.

Extracellular Hsp70 modulates the inflammatory response of cigarette smoke extract in NCI-H292 cells.

NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? Does extracellular heat shock protein 70 (eHsp70) alter cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced inflammatory responses in NCI-H292 bronchial epithelial cells? What is the main finding and its importance? eHsp70 modulates inflammatory responses and TLR2, TLR4 and Hsp70 gene expression, and protects NCI-H292 cells against CSE-induced cytotoxicity. eHsp70 might be implicated in development of inflammatory diseases affected by cigarette smoke, such as COPD. ABSTRACT: One of the major risk factors for development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is cigarette smoke. Extracellular Hsp70 (eHsp70) is increased in sera of COPD patients, and can act as damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP). In this study, we explored inflammatory parameters (cytokine concentrations, Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and 4 and Hsp70 expression, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation, and cytotoxicity) after exposure of bronchial-epithelial NCI-H292 cells to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) alone (2.5 and 15%) and in combinations with recombinant human (rh) Hsp70 (0.3, 1 and 3 µg ml-1 ). We applied specific MAPKs, NF-κB and Hsp70 inhibitors to elucidate rhHsp70 inflammation-associated responses. CSE alone and combinations of 15% CSE with rhHsp70 stimulated IL-1α, IL-6 and IL-8 release. However, rhHsp70 applied with 2.5% CSE decreased secretion of cytokines indicating antagonistic effects. Individual and combined treatments with 2.5% CSE suppressed TLR2 expression. CSE at 15% induced TLR2 and TLR4 gene expression, whereas rhHsp70 abolished that effect. rhHsp70 and 15% CSE alone reduced, while their combination increased, intracellular Hsp70 mRNA level. CSE alone and in combination with rhHsp70 activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase and p38 MAPKs, while inhibition of MAPKs, NF-κB and Hsp70 attenuated IL-6 and IL-8 secretion. CSE at 15% reduced cell viability and induced apoptosis, as shown by MTS and caspases-3/7 assays. CSE at 2.5% alone stimulated lactate dehydrogenase release, but cellular membrane integrity remained intact in co-treatments with rhHsp70. rhHsp70 might modulate the inflammatory response of CSE and could also protect NCI-H292 cells against CSE cytotoxicity. Those effects are implemented via MAPK and NF-κB signalling pathways.

Differential expression of heat shock proteins and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases in A549 alveolar epithelial cells exposed to cigarette smoke extract.

NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? What is the effect of cigarette smoke on cell death, oxidative damage, expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in A549 alveolar epithelial cells? What is the main finding and its importance? Cigarette smoke induces cytotoxicity and oxidative damage to A549 cells, increases expression of different HSPs and activates MAPK signalling pathways. This could be related to inflammatory response and apoptosis observed in lungs of patients with smoking-related diseases. ABSTRACT: Cigarette smoking is one of the main risk factors for development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We previously reported that cigarette smoke (CS) induces damage to proteins and their ineffective degradation. Here, we hypothesize that CS could induce oxidative stress and cytotoxicity in lung epithelial cells through alterations of heat shock protein (HSP) expression and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathways. We exposed A549 alveolar epithelial cells to various concentrations of cigarette smoke extract (CSE). Higher concentrations of CSE caused apoptosis of A549 cells after 4 h, while after 24 h cell viability was decreased, and lactate dehydrogenase in cell culture medium was increased as well as the number of necrotic cells. Concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) were elevated, while total thiol groups were decreased. Changes in the expression of HSPs (HSP70, HSP32 and HSP27) were time-dependent. After 6 h, CSE caused an increase in the expression of HSP70 and HSP32, while after 8 h all examined HSPs were up-regulated and remained increased up to 48 h. Treatment of A549 cells with CSE stimulated phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and p38 in a dose-dependent manner, while c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation was not detected. By using specific inhibitors, we demonstrated that MAPKs and HSPs interplay in CSE effects. In conclusion, our results show that MAPKs and HSPs are involved in the mechanism underlying CSE-induced cytotoxicity and oxidative damage to A549 alveolar epithelial cells. These processes could be related to inflammatory response and apoptosis observed in lungs of patients with smoking-related diseases, such as COPD.

Weather conditions: a neglected factor in human salivary cortisol research?

There is ample evidence that environmental stressors such as extreme weather conditions affect animal behavior and that this process is in part mediated through the elevated activity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis which results in an increase in cortisol secretion. This relationship has not been extensively researched in humans, and weather conditions have not been analyzed as a potential confounder in human studies of stress. Consequently, the goal of this paper was to assess the relationship between salivary cortisol and weather conditions in the course of everyday life and to test a possible moderating effect of two weather-related variables, the climate region and timing of exposure to outdoors conditions. The sample consisted of 903 secondary school students aged 18 to 21 years from Mediterranean and Continental regions. Cortisol from saliva was sampled in naturalistic settings at three time points over the course of a single day. We found that weather conditions are related to salivary cortisol concentration and that this relationship may be moderated by both the specific climate and the anticipation of immediate exposure to outdoors conditions. Unpleasant weather conditions are predictive for the level of salivary cortisol, but only among individuals who anticipate being exposed to it in the immediate future (e.g., in students attending school in the morning shift). We also demonstrated that isolated weather conditions or their patterns may be relevant in one climate area (e.g., Continental) while less relevant in the other (e.g., Mediterranean). Results of this study draw attention to the importance of controlling weather conditions in human salivary cortisol research.

Systemic redox imbalance in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

CONTEXT: Increased oxidative burden is found in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of ceruloplasmin, albumin, bilirubin, transferrin, thiols and malondialdehyde (MDA) with stable COPD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Oxidative stress markers measured in 106 COPD patients and 45 healthy subjects were evaluated. RESULTS: Higher ceruloplasmin and MDA, and lower albumin, transferrin and thiols in COPD patients were found. Ceruloplasmin was the strongest single predictor of COPD. The model combining ceruloplasmin, albumin and thiols improved their individual diagnostic performances. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnostic characteristics of ceruloplasmin, albumin, transferrin, thiols and MDA suggest their potential value as additional tools in disease diagnosis.

VKORC1 gene polymorphisms and adverse events in Croatian patients on warfarin therapy.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to determine the impact of VKORC1 polymorphisms on warfarin anticoagulant therapy (stable warfarin maintenance dose, time required to reach therapeutic dose and time spent in therapeutic range) and its adverse events (overanticoagulation and bleeding events, time to first overanticoagulation or bleeding event, and therapy for bleeding events) in Croatian patients. MATERIALS: Blood samples were collected from 186 patients on stable warfarin therapy. METHODS: VKORC1 1173C>T and VKORC1 –1639G>A gene polymorphisms were analyzed using real-time PCR. Prothrombin time international normalized ratio (INR) values were determined and overanticoagulation as well as bleeding events were recorded. RESULTS: Both tested VKORC1 gene polymorphisms (VKORC1 1173C>T and VKORC1 -1639G>A) were in perfect linkage disequilibrium. Genotype analysis showed that 33.9% of patients were homozygous for wild-type, 46.8% were heterozygous and 19.4% were homozygous for the variant allele. We have found a statistically significant difference between variantallele carriers and wild-type patients in stable warfarin maintenance dose (p<0.001) and incidence of bleeding events (p=0.040). Patients homozygous for variant-allele were more likely to experience an overanticoagulation event in the first 30 days of therapy (p=0.040). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that VKORC1 1173C>T and VKORC1 -1639G>A gene polymorphisms are associated with stable warfarin maintenance dose and adverse events of warfarin therapy.

Quantification of malondialdehyde by HPLC-FL - application to various biological samples.

Malondialdehyde (MDA) is stabile product of lipid peroxidation (LPO), and therefore MDA is frequently used as a biomarker of LPO. To determine MDA level in various biological samples (human plasma, fish liver tissue and cells in culture), we used an HPLC method with fluorescent detection based on 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay. The method was validated by the use of spiked pooled plasma samples. In tested concentration range (0.15-3.0 µmol/L) the method was linear (R(2) = 0.9963), the between-day variability (coefficient of variations, CVs) was between 4.7 and 7.6%, the within-day variability CVs was between 2.6 and 6.4% and recovery was between 91.2 and 107.6%. The level of MDA in human plasma (healthy male, non-smokers, 46.3 ± 4.7 years; N = 38) was 2.2 ± 1.4 µmol/L; that in liver tissue of common carp (Cyprinus carpio; N = 12) was 0.02 ± 0.004 µmol/g tissue, and in cultured cells (human laryngeal carcinoma cells; N = 10) it was 0.18 ± 0.02 nmol/mg proteins. The HPLC-FL method is rapid, accurate and reliable to follow the extent of LPO in various biological samples, particularly in samples in which a low level of MDA is expected, such as cells in culture. Owing to the rapid analytical process and run time, it can be used for routine analysis of MDA in clinical laboratory.

Paraoxonase 1 activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

INTRODUCTION: Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is an antioxidative enzyme manly associated with high density lipoproteins (HDL) in the peripheral blood. The aim of this study was to determine the PON1 paraoxonase and arylesterase activities in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We also aimed to determine the concentration of reduced thiol groups as a marker of protein oxidation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 105 patients with stable COPD and 44 healthy controls. PON1 activities and thiols concentration were assayed in sera by spectrophotometry. RESULTS: PON1 basal (POX) and salt-stimulated paraoxonase activity (POX1) as well as arylesterase activity (ARE) were significantly reduced in COPD patients. In addition, concentration of reduced thiol groups was significantly decreased in COPD group. PON1 activities were similar in patients with different disease severity (GOLD stages). However, a significant reduction in POX, POX1 and ARE was observed already in GOLD II stage when compared to controls. POX and POX1 showed modest while ARE yielded very good power for discrimination between healthy subjects and COPD patients. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that ARE is a good COPD predictor. CONCLUSION: Reduction of PON1 activity observed in COPD patients could be partly caused by oxidative environment. Lower concentrations of reduced thiol groups in COPD patients suggest that a decrease in PON1 activity could reflect oxidative changes of enzyme free cysteine residues. Furthermore, decreased PON1 arylesterase activity might indicate a down-regulation of PON1 concentration. Our results suggest that ARE could be considered as potential biomarker for COPD diagnosis.

Effects of Hypoxia and Inflammation on Hepcidin Concentration in Non-Anaemic COVID-19 Patients.

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to explore the influence of hypoxia, inflammation, and erythropoiesis on hepcidin and other iron status parameters in non-anaemic COVID-19 patients admitted to the emergency unit before the introduction of therapeutic interventions. Methods: Ninety-six COVID-19 patients and 47 healthy subjects were recruited. Patients were subdivided into hypoxic or normoxic groups and, after follow-up, into mild and moderate, severe or critical disease severity groups. Iron, unsaturated iron-binding capacity (UIBC), ferritin, C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) were measured on automatic analysers. ELISA kits were used for hepcidin and erythropoietin (EPO) determination. We calculated total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) and ratios of hepcidin with parameters of iron metabolism (ferritin/hepcidin, hepcidin/iron), inflammation (hepcidin/CRP, hepcidin/IL-6), and erythropoietic activity (hepcidin/EPO). Results: Hepcidin, ferritin, EPO, CRP, IL-6, ferritin/hepcidin, and hepcidin/iron were increased, while UIBC, TIBC, hepcidin/CRP, and hepcidin/IL-6 were decreased in hypoxic compared to normoxic patients as well as in patients with severe or critical disease compared to those with mild and moderate COVID-19. Regarding predictive parameters of critical COVID-19 occurrence, in multivariable logistic regression analysis, a combination of EPO and ferritin/hepcidin showed very good diagnostic performances and correctly classified 88% of cases, with an AUC of 0.838 (0.749-0.906). Conclusions: The hypoxic signal in our group of patients was not strong enough to overcome the stimulating effect of inflammation on hepcidin expression. EPO and ferritin/hepcidin might help to identify on-admission COVID-19 patients at risk of developing a critical form of the disease.

Assessment of NLRP3 inflammasome activation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease before and after lung transplantation.

The interplay between purinergic receptors as well as pattern recognition receptors like Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and NOD-, LRR-, and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) might have a role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to determine and compare the concentrations of the damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and gene expression of their respective receptors as well as NLRP3 inflammasome-related molecules in the peripheral blood of patients with end-stage COPD before and 1 year after lung transplantation (LT). Lung function was assessed by spirometry and diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was applied for detection of TLR2, TLR4, P2X7R, P2Y2R, IL1B, CASP1, and NLRP3 expression. High-sensitivity ELISA kits were used for extracellular (e) Hsp70 and IL-1ß, and luminescence assay for eATP measurements. Concentrations of eHsp70 and eATP as well as IL-1ß were significantly increased in the plasma of end-stage COPD patients and significantly decreased after LT. In addition, TLR4, P2Y2R, IL1B, CASP1, and NLRP3 expression was up-regulated in COPD patients before LT, while it was significantly suppressed after LT. In conclusion, it could be assumed that NLRP3 inflammasome is activated in the peripheral blood of end-stage COPD patients and that eHsp70 and eATP could be responsible for its activation through triggering their receptors. On the other hand, previously enhanced pro-inflammatory reactions seem to be suppressed to the healthy population levels in lung recipients without allograft rejection.

Serum concentration of ferroportin in women of reproductive age.

Introduction: Ferroportin (Fpn) is the only known iron exporter and plays an essential role in iron homeostasis. Serum concentrations of Fpn in health and/or diseased states are still mostly unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the concentration of Fpn in the serum of women of reproductive age (WRA) for the first time, and to establish whether there is a difference in the concentration of Fpn according to ferritin status. Materials and methods: This research included 100 WRA (18-45 years, C-reactive protein (CRP) < 5 mg/L, hemoglobin > 120 g/L). Serum Fpn was measured using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method on the analyzer EZ Read 800 Plus (Biochrom, Cambridge, UK). Reference interval was calculated using the robust method. Results: The median concentration of Fpn in the whole study group was 9.74 (5.84-15.69) µg/L. The subgroup with ferritin concentration > 15 µg/L had a median Fpn concentration 15.21 (10.34-21.93) µg/L, which significantly differed from Fpn concentration in the subgroup with ferritin concentration ≤ 15 µg/L (5.93 (4.84-8.36) µg/L, P < 0.001). The reference limits for the Fpn were 2.26-29.81 µg/L with 90% confidence intervals (CI) of 1.78 to 2.83 and 25.37 to 34.33, respectively. Conclusions: The proposed reference interval could help in the future research on iron homeostasis both in physiological conditions and in various disorders, because this is the first study that measured Fpn concentration in a certain gender and age group of a healthy population.

Gamma-glutamyltransferase and C-reactive protein in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Systemic inflammation and oxidative stress are the most important features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The presence of oxidative stress in the airways of smokers, the largest population of COPD patients, is a consequence of direct inhalation of cigarette smoke and increased inflammation-related production of reactive oxygen species. On the other hand, oxidative stress appears to be the key component of many processes associated with chronic inflammation. We intend to examine whether serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) activity might be used as auxiliary markers in monitoring level of oxidative stress and inflammation in clinically stable COPD. We also investigated influence of cigarette smoking on these two systemic parameters. Catalytic activity of GGT and concentration of CRP were determined in sera of COPD patients (N = 109) and in healthy controls (N = 51) by using standard spectrophotometric method and immunoturbidimetric method, respectively. Concentration of CRP and activity of GGT were increased in COPD patients, as compared to healthy controls (p < 0.05). We found a significant positive correlation between those two parameters in COPD patients (r = 0.202, p = 0.0371). Our results showed no difference in GGT activity (p = 0.606) or CRP concentration (p = 0.573) between groups of patients when subdivided according to the severity of the disease. Smoking did not have a significant impact on CRP and GGT values in COPD patients and healthy controls. We showed an increase of serum CRP and GGT values in COPD patients, and we suggest that serum GGT activity might also represent an inflammation/oxidative stress marker. It seems that COPD patients present higher serum CRP and GGT values than healthy subjects independently from their smoking habits.

Germline variants of the genes involved in NF-kB activation are associated with the risk of COPD and lung cancer development.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer (LC) are closely related diseases associated with smoking history and dysregulated immune response. However, not all smokers develop the disease, indicating that genetic susceptibility could be important. Therefore, the aim of this study was to search for the potential overlapping genetic biomarkers, with a focus on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in the regulatory regions of immune-related genes. Additionally, the aim was to see if an identified SNP has potentially an effect on proinflamma-tory cytokine concentration in the serum of COPD patients. We extracted summary data of variants in 1511 immune-related genes from COPD and LC genome-wide association studies (GWAS) from the UK Biobank. The LC data had 203 cases, patients diagnosed with LC, and 360 938 controls, while COPD data had 1 897 cases and 359 297 controls. Assuming 1 association/gene, SNPs with a p-value < 3.3 × 10-5 were considered statistically significantly associated with the disease. We identified seven SNPs located in different genes (BAG6, BTNL2, TNF, HCP5, MICB, NCR3, ABCF1, TCF7L1) to be associated with the COPD risk and two with the LC risk (HLA-C, HLA-B), with statistical significance. We also identified two SNPs located in the IL2RA gene associated with LC (rs2386841; p = 1.86 × 10-4) and COPD (rs11256442; p = 9.79 × 10-3) but with lower significance. Functional studies conducted on COPD patients showed that RNA expression of IL2RA, IFNγ and related proinflammatory cytokines in blood serum did not correlate with a specific genotype. Although results presented in this study do not fully support our hypothesis, it is worth to mention that the identified genes/SNPs that were associated with either COPD or LC risk, all were involved in the activation of the NF-κB transcription factor which is closely related to the regulation of the inflammatory response, a condition associated with both pathologies.

A potential role of calcium in apoptosis and aberrant chromatin forms in porcine kidney PK15 cells induced by individual and combined ochratoxin A and citrinin.

The aim of this study was to establish the involvement of calcium signalling in genotoxicity, apoptosis and necrosis evoked by ochratoxin A (OTA) and citrinin (CTN) alone or in combination in porcine kidney PK15 cells. Cell proliferation test (MTT) and trypan blue assays (24 h) demonstrated that CTN (IC(50) = 73.5 ± 1.0, 75.4 ± 1.4 µM, respectively) was less toxic than OTA (IC(50) = 14.0 ± 2.4, 20.5 ± 1.0 µM, respectively). To test their cytotoxic interactions, two doses of single OTA (6 and 10 µM) and CTN (30 and 50 µM) and their combinations were applied. Combined treatment showed additive cytotoxic effects. OTA and CTN induced dose-dependent increase in cytosolic calcium level (assessed with Fura-2 AM). However, combined treatment did not provoke additional increase in calcium signal. The rate of apoptosis and necrosis (DAPI-antifade staining) was significantly higher after 12 h than 24 h, while the frequencies of micronuclei (MNs) and nuclear buds (NBs) were higher after 24 h than 12 h treatment. Combined exposure resulted in apoptotic and necrotic synergism, while genotoxic effects of OTA + CTN were noted as antagonistic or additive. Co-exposure of cells to calcium chelator BAPTA-AM significantly reduced CTN and OTA + CTN-evoked apoptosis. Twenty-four hour after co-exposure to BAPTA-AM and a single OTA and CTN, MNs significantly decreased while NBs dropped significantly after co-treatment with BAPTA-AM and OTA + CTN. In conclusion, disturbance of Ca(2+) homeostasis caused by OTA and CTN plays a significant role in cell genotoxicity and death.