The importance of some angiogenic markers in spontaneous abortion.

AIM: In this study, the authors aimed to determine the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), angiopoietin-l (ang-1) and angiopoietin-2 (ang-2) factors as indicators of placental angiogenesis and vasculogenesis in abortion cases. Materials and Meth- ods: This study was conducted in 40 women who were pregnant for 7-20 weeks and diagnosed with an incipient abortion and 40 pregnant healthy women with similar ages, gestational weeks, and body mass index (BMI) values. Serum VEGF, ang-1, and ang-2 levels were measured with ELISA methods. RESULTS: The authors found that the serum VEGF levels were higher and ang-1 levels were significantly lower in pregnant women whose pregnancies failed with abortion, compared to control group. There was no significani difference in terms of ang-2 levels between groups. CONCLUSION: A strong relationship was found between VEGF and ang-I early pregnancy loss, and significant changes of these factors may also be associated with the physiopathology of abortion incipience. Evaluating these factors may be benefical for prediction and designing of treatment modalities on spontaneous abortion.

The relationship between COVID-19 and the complement system: mannose-binding lectin.

OBJECTIVE: Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is one of the important parts of the complement system. In our study, we aimed to determine serum MBL levels and their relationship with intensive care hospitalization. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety COVID-19-positive patients from outpatient clinics and clinics were included in this study. The patients were evaluated in three groups as mild, moderate, and severe groups. Each group consisted of 30 patients. A venous blood sample was taken once from each patient. Serum MBL, C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), fibrinogen, D-dimer, and ferritin levels were measured. RESULTS: The mean serum MBL levels of all patients were 695.46±324.42 ng/mL. One-way ANOVA test resulted in significant differences in serum CRP, LDH, fibrinogen, D-dimer, ferritin, and MBL levels between groups (p<0.05 for all comparisons). Post-hoc Tukey analysis showed significant differences in serum MBL levels between mild and severe groups and moderate and severe groups. CONCLUSIONS: MBL may be used as a prognostic biomarker in COVID-19 patients. Further studies are needed to determine MBL in treatment strategies.

Evaluation of the relationship between TAFI level and prognosis in COVID-19 patients.

OBJECTIVE: Serum thrombin-activated fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) levels were measured in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients requiring intensive care, clinical hospitalization, and outpatient follow-up. The relationships between serum TAFI levels and prognosis were determined. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety patients who had positive COVID-19 PCR test results were randomly selected and included in the study. Subgroups were formed according to the clinical characteristics of the patients as follows: mild, moderate, and severe. Venous blood samples were taken from all patients, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), fibrinogen, D-dimer, ferritin, and TAFI levels were measured. The results were evaluated by comparing each group. RESULTS: The one-way ANOVA test to determine differences between subgroups resulted in p-values lower than 0.05 for all biochemical analytes (CRP, LDH, fibrinogen, D-dimer, ferritin, and TAFI). Regarding serum TAFI levels, there were significant differences in the severe group (853.04 ± 338.58 ng/mL) compared to the mild group (548.33 ± 264.17 ng/mL). ROC curve analysis to predict mortality revealed that TAFI levels were able to detect 85% of deaths. In addition, ROC analysis revealed that serum TAFI levels could detect 86% of intubated cases. CONCLUSIONS: The disease progression is more severe in patients with high TAFI levels, and high TAFI levels are associated with mortality and intubation rates. Further studies are needed to determine serum TAFI levels as a biomarker of prognosis in COVID-19 patients.

Serum irisin levels in colorectal cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: There are limited studies investigating the role of irisin in colorectal cancer, and the results are diverse. The role of irisin in colorectal cancer patients was investigated in this study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 53 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) and 87 healthy volunteers. Serum irisin, glucose, insulin, C-peptide, and whole blood hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels were measured in venous blood samples taken from patients and the control group. RESULTS: The mean serum irisin levels were significantly lower in the patient group (23.97 ± 16.94 ng/mL) than in the control group (32.71 ± 17.26 ng/mL) (p = 0.004). Serum glucose levels were 96.58 ± 15.12 mg/dL in the patient group and 81.91 ± 11.24 mg/dL in the control group. Serum glucose levels were significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (p < 0.01). In the patient group, there was no statistically significant difference between metastasis (+) patients and metastasis (-) patients in terms of serum irisin levels (27.53 ± 18.48 ng/mL and 21.23 ± 15.43 ng/mL, respectively; p = 0.182). CONCLUSIONS: Our study has provided new insights into the potential role of irisin in CRC. However, further studies, including in vitro, in vivo, and larger patient groups, are necessary to fully understand the potential of irisin as a biomarker or therapeutic target for CRC and other diseases.

Endothelin receptor inhibition with bosentan delays onset of liver injury in streptozotocin-induced diabetic condition.

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to investigate the protective effects of bosentan an orally active non-peptide mixed ETA/ETB receptor antagonist, on liver injury in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: 24 Albino-Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: healthy (Group 1), diabetic (Group 2) (60 mg/kg of streptozotocin i.p.), diabetic treated with bosentan 50 mg/kg (Group 3) and diabetic treated with bosentan 100 mg/kg (Group 4). The treatment of bosentan was initiated after streptozocin injection and continued for 60 days. RESULTS: Liver from diabetic rats showed significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) level and significant decrease in glutathione (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Endothelin (ET-1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß) gene expression significantly increased in the diabetic groups in the rat liver tissue. Bosentan treatment showed a significant up-regulatory effect on ET-1, TNF-α and TGF-ß mRNA expression. Results from histopathological evaluation of the liver were in accordance with our biochemical and molecular results. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide clear evidence that bosentan treatment is associated with promising hepatoprotective effect against diabetes-induced liver damage via reduction of cell inflammation and oxidative damage. These data suggest that ET receptors may be an important actor in diabetes-related liver damage, and blockage of these receptors may become a target for preventing diabetic complications in the future.