Assessment of chemotherapy on various biochemical markers in breast cancer patients.

Chemotherapy is a standard treatment method for the patients with locally advanced breast cancer. Lately, cyclophosphamide (CYP) and doxorubicin (DOX) are used as the major chemotherapeutic agents especially for the treatment of breast cancer. Till date, no serum biomarker has been able to provide an early diagnosis of breast cancer. This study aimed to assess inflammatory, cardiac, renal and hematological markers in 56 breast cancer patients (BCP) before, during and after termination of chemotherapy with CYP and DOX. Blood samples were collected from the patients at the each treatment stages mentioned above. These samples were assessed for interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 10 (IL-10), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), creatinine, hemoglobin (Hb), leukocyte, platelet and Na+ /K+ -ATPase levels either by ELISA or colorimetric methods. The results suggest a significant increase in IL-6 level at all the stages in BCP as compared to control group. On the other hand, IL-10, CK and Na+ /K+ -ATPase levels were found to be significantly declined during all the stages. Moreover, the majority of hematological parameters remained unchanged throughout the treatment period with the exception of creatinine and Hb which showed slight modulation in their level at different stages. Based on the results, we conclude that breast cancer and co-treatment with CYP and DOX, interfere arious biological markers, thereby, showing the physiological imbalance.

Soroprevalência e perfil imunofenotípico de células linfóides T em indivíduos soropositivos para o vírus linfotrópico de células T humanas / Seroprevalence and immunophenotypic profile of T lymphocyte cells in human T lymphotropic virus seropositive individuals

O vírus linfotrópico de células T humana (HTLV) é transmitido por transfusões, uso compartilhado de agulhas contaminadas, aleitamento e contato sexual. A prevalência varia de acordo com a região geográfica, grupo racial e população estudada. Cerca de 1 por cento a 4 por cento dos indivíduos infectados desenvolvem algum tipo de doença em decorrência da infecção. É reconhecida a associação entre o HTLV-I e leucemia de células T do adulto e paraparesia espástica tropical (PET). Embora a maioria dos portadores permaneça assintomática, existem evidências de comprometimento funcional da resposta imune celular. Os objetivos desse trabalho foram avaliar a prevalência de soropositividade para HTLV-I/II na população de doadores de sangue do HEMOCE e analisar o perfil imunofenotípico de células linfóides circulantes em 26 doadores soronegativos, 11 soropositivos para HTLV-I sintomáticos e 24 assintomáticos, comparando-os entre si. A prevalência da soropositividade para HTLV-I/II foi de 0,66 por cento. No grupo de indivíduos contaminados pelo HTLV-I houve predomínio do sexo feminino e a maior média de idade. O grupo soropositivo apresentou menor valor de hemoglobina e o grupo sintomático evidenciou contagem de neutrófilos significativamente mais elevada. A contagem média de linfócitos não diferiu entre os grupos. A análise imunofenotípica mostrou que os valores médios de células CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ e relação CD4/CD8 não diferiram significativamente entre os grupos. Uma elevação de células CD8+ no grupo soropositivo foi observada embora não alcançasse significância estatística. A ativação de linfócitos CD8+ está envolvida na patogênese das doenças associadas ao HTLV-I. A definição do valor preditivo desse achado requer confirmação posterior

Human T lymphotropic virus (HTLV) can betransmitted by transfusions of cellular blood products,shared use of contaminated syringes, breast feedingand sexual intercourse. The prevalence of the infectionvaries according to geographic region, racial group,and population under risk. About 1% to 4% of theinfected individuals develop some form of infectionrelateddisease. The association of HTLV-I with AdultT-Cell Leukaemia, as well as the Tropical SpasticParaparesis, is presently well recognised. Although mostHTLV-I-infected individuals remain asymptomatic,there are indications that cellular immune responsesare functionally impaired. The aims of this study wereto determine the prevalence of HTLV-I/II seropositivityamong blood donors in HEMOCE and analyse theimmunophenotypic profile of peripheral lymphocytesin 26 HTLV-I seronegative blood donors, 11symptomatic and 24 asymptomatic HTLV-I seropositiveindividuals. The prevalence of HTLV-I/II was 0,66%. Inthe infected group a predominance of females wasobserved as well as a higher average age. The meanhemoglobin value was found to be significantly lowerin this group and the mean polymorphonuclearneutrophil count was significantly higher among thesymptomatic individuals. The mean lymphocyte andplatelet count were not significantly different betweenthe groups. Immuno-phenotyping evaluation revealedthat the mean CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ T cell counts, aswell as the CD4+/CD8+ ratio were not significantlydifferent between the groups. A slightly higher meanCD8+ T lymphocyte count was observed in theseropositive individuals, although it did not reachstatistical significance. The activation of CD8+ subsetis known to be part of pathogenesis of HTLV-I-relateddiseases. The predictive value of this immunologicalfinding needs further and long-range studies.