The increased chromosomal DNA damage in patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever.

Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is an inherited autoinflammatory disease. In this study, we aimed to assess chromosomal DNA damage and cell proliferation by using cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome (CBMN-cyt) assay in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of untreated FMF patients carrying M694V and R202Q mutations, which are the most common MEFV gene mutations in Turkish society. The study included 20 untreated FMF patients with M694V and R202Q mutations and 20 healthy individuals of similar age and sex as the control group. Micronucleus (MN), nucleoplasmic bridges (NPBs), and nuclear buds (NBUDs) were scored in the obtained bi-nucleated (BN) cells. Additionally, the nuclear division index (NDI) was calculated using the scores of mononuclear, binuclear, and multinuclear cells. We found that MN and NPBs frequencies in FMF patients were significantly higher than in controls, and number of metaphases was significantly lower (respectively, p < 0.05, p < 0.01, and p < 0.01). However, there was no significant difference in NBUDs frequencies and NDI values between FMF patients and controls (p > 0.05). Our study is the first to evaluate FMF patients' lymphocytes using the CBMN-cyt assay, as no previous research has been found in this respect. Increased MN and NPB frequencies may be useful as biomarkers for chromosomal DNA damage, and may indicate a potential for elevated cancer risk in untreated FMF patients.

Gut barrier protein levels in serial blood samples from critically ill trauma patients during and after intensive care unit stay.

PURPOSE: In an effort to better manage critically ill patients hospitalised in the intensive care unit (ICU) after experiencing multiple traumas, the present study aimed to assess whether plasma levels of intestinal epithelial cell barrier proteins, including occludin, claudin-1, junctional adhesion molecule (JAM-1), tricellulin and zonulin, could be used as novel biomarkers. Additional potential markers such as intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP), D-lactate, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and citrulline were also evaluated. We also aimed to determine the possible relationships between the clinical, laboratory, and nutritional status of patients and the measured marker levels. METHODS: Plasma samples from 29 patients (first, second, fifth and tenth days in the ICU and on days 7, 30 and 60 after hospital discharge) and 23 controls were subjected to commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) testing. RESULTS: On first day (admission) and on the second day, plasma I-FABP, D-lactate, citrulline, occludin, claudin-1, tricellulin and zonulin levels were high in trauma patients and positively correlated with lactate, C-reactive protein (CRP), number of days of ICU hospitalisation, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score and daily Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores (P < 0.05-P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study showed that occludin, claudin-1, tricellulin and zonulin proteins, as well as I-FABP, D-lactate and citrulline, may be used as promising biomarkers for the evaluation of disease severity in critically ill trauma patients, despite the complexity of the analysis of various barrier markers. However, our results should be supported by future studies.

Bacterial Membrane Vesicles as Smart Drug Delivery and Carrier Systems: A New Nanosystems Tool for Current Anticancer and Antimicrobial Therapy.

Bacterial membrane vesicles (BMVs) are known to be critical communication tools in several pathophysiological processes between bacteria and host cells. Given this situation, BMVs for transporting and delivering exogenous therapeutic cargoes have been inspiring as promising platforms for developing smart drug delivery systems (SDDSs). In the first section of this review paper, starting with an introduction to pharmaceutical technology and nanotechnology, we delve into the design and classification of SDDSs. We discuss the characteristics of BMVs including their size, shape, charge, effective production and purification techniques, and the different methods used for cargo loading and drug encapsulation. We also shed light on the drug release mechanism, the design of BMVs as smart carriers, and recent remarkable findings on the potential of BMVs for anticancer and antimicrobial therapy. Furthermore, this review covers the safety of BMVs and the challenges that need to be overcome for clinical use. Finally, we discuss the recent advancements and prospects for BMVs as SDDSs and highlight their potential in revolutionizing the fields of nanomedicine and drug delivery. In conclusion, this review paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art field of BMVs as SDDSs, encompassing their design, composition, fabrication, purification, and characterization, as well as the various strategies used for targeted delivery. Considering this information, the aim of this review is to provide researchers in the field with a comprehensive understanding of the current state of BMVs as SDDSs, enabling them to identify critical gaps and formulate new hypotheses to accelerate the progress of the field.

Increased oxidative and chromosomal DNA damage in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: its role in pathogenesis.

Increased DNA damage has been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases, but controlled studies are lacking in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Therefore, we assessed oxidative stress, oxidative DNA damage, chromosomal DNA damage, cell proliferation and cell death in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with AS as well as the possible role of DNA damage in the development of the disease. In total, 25 newly diagnosed AS patients who had not received anti-inflammatory agents and 25 healthy controls were recruited. Oxidative DNA damage was assessed by plasma 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels, and chromosomal DNA damage was assessed by the cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome (CBMN-cyt) method. Compared to controls, the micronucleus (MN) frequencies, nucleoplasmic bridge (NPB) frequencies, nuclear bud (NBUD) frequencies, apoptotic cell frequencies, necrotic cell frequencies and plasma 8-OHdG levels were significantly higher in patients with AS (p < 0.001, p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p < 0.001, respectively), and the metaphase cell numbers, binucleated (BN) cell frequencies and nuclear division index (NDI) values were significantly lower in patients with AS (p < 0.01, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Thus, the present findings suggested that oxidative stress, oxidative DNA damage, and chromosomal DNA damage may be involved in the pathogenesis of AS similar to other chronic inflammatory diseases. In addition, the increased plasma 8-OHdG levels, MN frequencies, NPB frequencies and NBUD frequencies in AS patients may reflect an increased cancer risk.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Diagnosis of Lung Cancer.

Non-COVID hospital admissions decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic and follow-up of people in the lung cancer risk group was delayed. There are not enough studies on the effects of the pandemic period on the diagnosis of lung cancer. In this study, it was aimed to determine the characteristics of patients diagnosed with lung cancer in the pre-pandemic and pandemic period and to investigate the effects of the pandemic on the diagnosis of lung cancer. Patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer 16 months before and after the detection of the first COVID-19 case were retrospectively analyzed for their characteristics at the time of diagnosis. Age, gender, pathological diagnosis, distant organ metastasis status, and also pathological stages at the time of diagnosis of the patients were analyzed. Two hundred forty-six patients were included in the study. One hundred forty-five of the patients were diagnosed in the pre-pandemic period and 101 during the pandemic period. Mean age of patients was 64.24 years and 91.87% were male. Pathological diagnosis distributions were similar in the pre-pandemic group and the pandemic period group. Distant organ metastases were present in 59.31% of the pre-pandemic group and 65.35% of the pandemic group. There was no significant difference in terms of the stages of the patients at the time of diagnosis. Number of patients diagnosed with lung cancer during the pandemic period was lower. The characteristics of the patients were similar. These results may have resulted from the decrease in applications to health institutions due to social isolation and fear of COVID-19 infection, and limitations in accessing health services.

Estimation of biosurfactant production parameters and yields without conducting additional experiments on a larger production scale.

In this study, a Plackett-Burman design was applied to investigate critical factors for surface tension. After adding a new factor called "production scale", a central composite design (CCD) was constructed to examine nonlinear relations among factors and surface tension. An artificial neural network (ANN) was trained using data from CCD experiments. The ANN with the best structure of 5-6-1 was then tested with different unseen data sets. The predictions from ANN were within the 95% confidence interval (CI), even for a larger production scale, determined by using the replicates. A genetic algorithm (GA) was developed to check how the values of the factors vary if the production scale was set to a user-defined value. Based on the validation experiments, it was observed that the 95% confidence interval of surface tension was 36.83 ± 1.00 mN m-1 while pH 8, temperature 35 °C, incubation time 12 h, and amount of inoculum 2.30%, respectively, for the production scale of 600 mL. The proposed methodological approach with the integration of ANN and GA is considered to make a serious economic contribution as it allows predicting a proper setup for larger production scales without conducting additional experiments.

Attitude and Practice Toward Use of Cigarettes and Electronic Cigarettes Among Pregnant Women: A Questionnaire-Based Survey.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate attitude and practice toward use of regular tobacco cigarettes and electronic cigarettes among pregnant women. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 1123 pregnant women participated on a voluntary basis in this questionnaire survey. Maternal characteristics, cigarette consumption parameters, and personal opinions regarding the adverse effects of smoking during pregnancy were evaluated. RESULTS: Active smokers composed 12.4% (9.4%: regular tobacco cigarettes, 3.0%: electronic cigarettes) of the study population. Smoking during the current pregnancy, particularly via regular tobacco cigarettes, was more likely for women with smoking during previous pregnancies (56.0% vs. 7.8%, P < .001), previous history of low birth weight infant delivery (16.1% vs. 8.6%, P = .013), premature delivery (16.7% vs. 7.0%, P < .001), and stillbirth (22.8% vs. 11.7%, P = .002). The presence versus absence of smoking during pregnancy was associated with a lower likelihood of being a housewife (70.5% vs. 80.5%, P = .010) and a higher likelihood of having an actively smoking mother (25.9% vs. 11.2%, P < .001) or partner (65.7% vs. 46.9%, P < .001). Regular tobacco cigarette users considered electronic cigarettes to have a higher risk of adverse impacts (11.1% vs. 2.9%, P = .012), while electronic cigarette users considered regular cigarettes to have a higher risk of nicotine exposure (55.9% vs. 13.0%, P < .001). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate being employed, having an actively smoking mother or partner, as well as smoking in previous pregnancies, to be the risk factors for increased likelihood of smoking during pregnancy.

The investigated case of etiology of chylous pleural effusion: Ataxia-telangiectasia.

Ataxia-telangiectasia is an autosomal recessive, rare, neurodegenerative multisystem disorder characterized by ataxia-telangiectasia, cerebellar ataxia, oculocutaneous telangiectasia, immunodeficiency, progressive respiratory failure associated with increased malignancy risk. Clinical diagnosis is made with ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene. Our case, who was diagnosed as ataxia-telangiectasia while investigating the etiology of chylous pleural effusion, is presented because of its rare occurrence.

Bacterial membrane vesicle functions, laboratory methods, and applications.

Bacterial membrane vesicles (BMVs) are cupped-shaped structures formed by bacteria in response to environmental stress, genetic alteration, antibiotic exposure, and others. Due to the structural similarities shared with the producer organism, they can retain certain characteristics like stimulating immune responses. They are also able to carry molecules for long distances, without changes in the concentration and integrity of the molecule. Bacteria originally secrete membrane vesicles for gene transfer, excretion, cell to cell interaction, pathogenesis, and protection against phages. These functions are unique and have several innovative applications in the pharmaceutical industry that have attracted both scientific and commercial interest.This led to the development of efficient methods to artificially stimulate vesicle production, purification, and manipulation in the lab at nanoscales. Also, for specific applications, engineering methods to impart pathogen antigens against specific diseases or customization as cargo vehicles to deliver payloads to specific cells have been reported. Many applications of BMVs are in cancer drugs, vaccines, and adjuvant development with several candidates in clinical trials showing promising results. Despite this, applications in therapy and commercialization stay timid probably due to some challenges one of which is the poor understanding of biogenesis mechanisms. Nevertheless, so far, BMVs seem to be a reliable and cost-efficient technology with several therapeutic applications. Research toward characterizing more membrane vesicles, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology will enable the scope of applications to widen. This might include solutions to other currently faced medical and healthcare-related challenges.

Simulated acid mine drainage treatment in iron oxidizing ceramic membrane bioreactor with subsequent co-precipitation of iron and arsenic.

Acid mine drainage (AMD), generated in the active and abandoned mine sites, is characterized by low pH and high metal concentrations. One AMD treatment possibility is biologically oxidizing Fe2+ followed by precipitation through pH control. As compared to autotrophic iron oxidizing microbial community, a microbial community enriched in the presence of organic nutrients was hypothesized to yield higher biomass during commissioning the bioreactor. In this study, the treatment of Fe, Cu, Co, Mn, Zn, Ni, and As containing simulated AMD was studied using an iron-oxidizing ceramic membrane bioreactor (CMBR) at varying hydraulic retention times (HRTs) (6-24 h) and two different feed Fe2+ concentrations (250 and 750 mg/L). The impact of tryptone soya broth (TSB) on the CMBR performance was also investigated. Almost complete Fe2+ oxidation and sustainable flux at around 5.0 L/(m2.h) were obtained in the CMBR with the Alicyclobacillus tolerans and Acidiphilium cryptum dominated enrichment culture. The Fe2+ oxidation rate, as assessed in batch operation cycles of CMBR, increased significantly with increasing Fe2+ loading to the bioreactor. The iron oxidation rate decreased by the elimination of organic matter from the feed. The increase of the CMBR permeate pH to 3.5-4.0 resulted in selective co-precipitation of As and Fe (over 99%) with the generation of biogenic schwertmannite.