The effects of different feeding management systems on performance of a slow-growing broiler genotype.

1. A total of 420 male 1-d-old chicks of a slow-growing genetic line (Hubbard ISA Red JA) were used as the trial material. Two diets that were low in fats and high in cereals, and free from growth promoters and animal protein, and formulated at two energy and protein concentrations, were fed ad libitum or 80% of ad libitum. The birds had access to pasture from 14 d to slaughter at 84 d of age. 2. The treatment groups were: Dilute-AL (energy and protein diluted diet fed ad libitum), Dilute-R (restricted energy and protein diluted diet), High-AL (high energy and protein diet fed ad libitum), High-R (restricted high energy and protein diet). 3. Daily weight gains and feed consumptions were recorded in each replicate. 4. The live weight on d 84 was lowest in the Dilute-R group, whereas the highest live weight was in the High-AL group. The highest feed consumption was found in the Dilute-AL and High-AL groups. The worst feed conversion ratio was determined in the Dilute-AL and Dilute-R groups. The effect of treatments on mortality was not significant. 5. The best feed conversion efficiency was obtained in the feed-restricted group receiving the high energy and protein diet. The results suggest that forage may contribute to the nutrition of slow-growing free range broiler chickens if suitable pasture species are grown.

Adenosine deaminase, 5' nucleotidase, xanthine oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities in cancerous and noncancerous human laryngeal tissues.

We determined activities of adenosine deaminase (ADA), 5' nucleotidase (5NT), xanthine oxidase (XO), superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn SOD), and catalase (CAT) enzymes in 15 human laryngeal tissues with well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas, in 15 corresponding tumor-free adjacent tissues and in 7 normal laryngeal tissues. We found lower ADA and 5NT and higher XO, Cu-Zn SOD, and CAT activities in cancerous tissues than those in corresponding noncancerous ones. In the correlation analysis, we established one positive intercorrelation, which was between ADA activities of tumor tissues and noncancerous adjacent tissues. We also found some significant intracorrelations between enzyme activities of the tissues, all of which were positive in cancerous ones.

Adenosine deaminase, 5'nucleotidase, xanthine oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities in cancerous and noncancerous human bladder tissues.

Activities of adenosine deaminase (ADA), 5'nucleotidase (5NT), xanthine oxidase (XO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) enzymes were measured in cancerous and cancer-free adjacent bladder tissues from 36 patients with bladder cancer and in control bladder tissues from 9 noncancer patients. Increased ADA and decreased XO, SOD, and CAT activities were found in cancerous bladder tissues compared with those of cancer-free adjacent tissues and of control bladder tissues. Differences were also found between enzyme activities in the bladder of different disease stages and grades. In the cancerous tissues, only positive intracorrelations were found, but in the cancer-free adjacent tissues and control tissues, both positive and negative correlations were established between enzyme activities. Results suggested that purine metabolism and salvage pathway activity of purine nucleotides were accelerated in the cancerous human bladder tissues via increased ADA and decreased XO activities, probably together with changes in some other related enzyme activities and, free radical metabolising-enzyme activities were depressed in cancerous bladder tissues, which indicated exposure of cancerous tissues to more radicalic stress.

Adenosine deaminase, 5'-nucleotidase, guanase and cytidine deaminase activities in gastric tissues from patients with gastric cancer.

The activities of some of the enzymes participating in nucleotide metabolism were measured in cancerous and noncancerous gastric tissues from patients with gastric cancer. The enzyme activities measured were found to be higher in the cancerous tissues than in the non-cancerous tissues. Adenosine deaminase (ADA), 5'-nucleotidase (5'-NT), guanase (GUA) and cytidine deaminase (CD) activities in the cancerous tissues were 56.0 +/- 24.0, 45.0 +/- 20.0, 0.34 +/- 0.16 and 4.65 +/- 2.04, respectively. The activities in non-cancerous tissues were 13.2 +/- 6.0, 19.8 +/- 8.3, 0.12 +/- 0.06 and 1.65 +/- 0.8, respectively. Cancerous tissues consisted of 7 gastric tissues with Grade I-II and 8 tissues with Grade III-IV adeno cancer. Non-cancerous adjacent tissues were obtained from the same patients with Grade I-II cancer. There were no meaningful differences between enzyme activities of the gastric tissues with Grade I-II and Grade III-IV cancer. Enzyme activity ratios indicates that ADA activity increased by the highest amount relative to other enzyme activities in the cancerous tissues. In the correlation analysis, we found positive correlations between some of the enzyme activities in the cancerous tissues. Results suggest that increased activities of these enzymes might play a part in the accelerated nucleotide metabolism in the cancerous gastric tissues.

The effects of gentamicin on the activities of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase enzymes and malondialdehyde levels in heart tissues of guinea pigs.

In this study, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured in heart tissues from guinea pigs treated with gentamicin and gentamicin plus vitamin E combination. Mean values were compared with those of the controls treated with only physiological saline solution. The activities of SOD and GSH-Px were found to be lower and the MDA level higher in the hearts from gentamicin-treated animals compared with those of the controls. In the gentamicin plus vitamin E group, however, tissue SOD activity was found to be increased and MDA level decreased significantly relative to the gentamicin group. GSH-Px activity was lowest in this group. Results suggest that gentamicin suppresses SOD and GSH-Px activities in heart tissue, thereby making the tissue more vulnerable to oxidative stress and peroxidative attacks, an important indicator of which is increased MDA level in the heart tissues from gentamicin-treated guinea pigs. This effect might be deleterious when gentamicin is used after cardiac surgery since a potential risk of free radical injury exists in the heart tissue during and/or after cardiac surgery owing to ischaemia and reperfusion processes, and, possibly, in the management of the patients with certain types of heart disease. Our results showed that vitamin E given concomitantly with gentamicin could protect the heart tissue against free radical injury.

Activities of adenosine deaminase and 5'-nucleotidase in cancerous and noncancerous human colorectal tissues.

In order to characterize human colorectal cancer, much attention has been paid to enzyme studies. However, little is known about the correlation between the levels of key enzymes of purine nucleotide pathway and some clinical and biological indicators of tumor invasiveness and aggressiveness. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) and 5'-nucleotidase (5'-NT) were measured in cancerous and cancer-free adjacent large bowel tissues from 38 patients with colorectal carcinoma. We have analyzed the relationship between the enzyme levels and some clinical and pathological parameters. The enzymes' activities were markedly higher in primary tumors than in corresponding normal mucosae. The ADA level in tumor tissue was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, histologic type, tumor location, and patient's age, whereas the 5'-NT level showed a significant correlation with tumor grade and tumor location. ADA activity in tumor tissues was significantly higher in patients whose clinical course remained stable than in those with recurrent diseases. The purine metabolism and salvage pathway activity of purine nucleotides are accelerated in the cancerous human colorectal tissue. Although our findings suggest that these enzymes' activities are most likely related to the same histomorphological architecture of the tumor, the authors believe that long-term follow-up studies are needed to evaluate the prognostic value of purine enzymes for colorectal cancer.

Serum adenosine deaminase and total superoxide dismutase activities before and after surgical removal of cancerous laryngeal tissue.

In this study, pre- and post-operative serum activities of adenosine deaminase (ADA) and total superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymes were measured in patients with squamous cell laryngeal cancer. Activities of both enzymes were found to be higher in cancerous patients compared to the controls. No significant differences were found however between pre- and post-operative values for both enzymes in the patient group. It has been suggested that ADA and SOD enzymes leak from the cancerous laryngeal tissues into the blood stream. The absence of differences between pre- and post-operative serum enzyme activities has two possible explanations: Firstly, removal of previously released enzymes from the blood stream takes a much longer period than one month; and secondly, cancerous laryngeal tissue is not the only source of the enzymes mentioned even after removal of cancerous tissue by surgical operation, other sources such as adjacent tissues and/or metastatic tissues etc, still release these enzymes into the blood stream.

Activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase enzymes in cancerous and non-cancerous human kidney tissues.

The activities of superoxide dismutases (total, cytoplasmic and mitochondrial) and glutathione peroxidase were measured in 10 cancerous and 10 non-cancerous adjacent human kidney tissues. Total (T-SOD) and cytoplasmic (Cu, Zn-SOD) superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities were found lower in cancerous tissues compared with those of non-cancerous ones. However, no difference was found between the mitochondrial (Mn-SOD) superoxide dismutase activities of the tissues. Similarly, no differences were observed between the enzyme activity values of the tissues at stage I-II and III-IV renal cancer. In correlation analysis the positive relation found between Cu, Zn-SOD and GSH-Px enzymes in the non-cancerous tissues was found to be absent in the cancerous ones. The results suggest that enzymatic free radical defense mechanism is significantly reduced in the cancerous human kidney tissues due to depressed Cu, Zn-SOD and GSH-Px activities.

The effect of diosmin hesperidin on intestinal ischaemia--reperfusion injury.

AIM: The effect of Diosmin Hesperidin on intestinal ischaemia reperfusion injury was evaluated in an experimental model in rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty Spraque-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups of (n = 10) (sham, sham + Diosmin Hesperidin, Reperfusion, Reperfusion + Diosmin Hesperidin). Diosmin Hesperidin oral gavage was administrated at a dose of 50 mg/kg to rats 14 and 2 hours before the operation and 30 minutes of ischaemia and 30 minutes of reperfusion was performed in the groups when appropriate. Ileum samples were resected for histopathological evaluation and tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) and myeloperoxidase (MPA) level determination. RESULTS: Mean mucosal injury score of IR group (4,50+/-0,23) was significantly higher than the other groups (p < 0.05). Although mean mucosal injury score of IR + DH group was higher than sham and sham + DH groups, difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Tissue MDA and MPO activities of IR group were 45,55+/-2.61 nmol/g/wet tissue and 1.68+/-0.25 U/g/wet tissue respectively and were significantly higher than the other groups (p < 0.008). Although tissue MDA and MPO activities of IR + DH group was higher than sham and sham + DH groups, differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.008). CONCLUSION: Diosmin Hesperidin seems to be effective in the prevention of intestinal reperfusion injury.

Magnesium contents of leukemic lymphocytes.

In this study, magnesium concentrations were measured in lymphocytes from patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), chronic megalositer leukemia (KML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) before and after chemotherapy management, and results were compared with those of control subjects. Magnesium concentrations were higher in the patient groups compared with control values. However, no meaningful differences were found among magnesium concentrations of the patient groups themselves. Similarly, no statistically meaningful differences were found between lymphocyte magnesium concentrations before and after chemotherapy management in the patient groups. In the inter-correlation analysis, we observed no correlations between pre- and post-magnesium concentrations in patients' lymphocytes. It has been suggested that magnesium concentrations of leukemic lymphocytes might increase due to the high ATP requirement of the leukemic cells since magnesium is known to play an important part as a cofactor in most of the energy-producing reactions.

Effects of modulators of the production and degradation of hydrogen peroxide on erythropoietin synthesis.

Erythropoietin (Epo) synthesis is suppressed in normoxia and stimulated in hypoxia. To test the hypothesis that the cellular H2O2 level is important in the control of Epo synthesis, we have studied effects of modulators of H2O2 generation and degradation on Epo production in human hepatic cell cultures (hepatoma lines HepG2 and Hep3B). In addition, we measured the activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase) in cultures following hypoxia exposure or H2O2 treatment. The results show that the formation of immunoreactive Epo was stimulated in normoxic cultures by treatment with exogenous catalase thus mimicking the effect of hypoxia (24 h incubation periods). Epo production was also stimulated when scavengers of reactive O2 species (tetramethylthiourea, dihydrorhodamine) were added to the cells. On the other hand, stimulators of H2O2 generation (xanthine oxidase, glucose oxidase, NADH, NADPH) lowered Epo production in hypoxic cultures. Hypoxia exposure decreased superoxide dismutase activity and H2O2 treatment reduced catalase activity thus influencing the endogenous antioxidant defense system. These findings support the concept that reactive O2 species, primarily H2O2, act as messengers in the O2-dependent control of the hepatic production of Epo. Changes in the cellular activities of antioxidant enzymes appear to play only a minor role in this process.

Glutathione peroxidase activity in serum during acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina pectoris.

We studied GSH-Px enzyme activity in serum after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and unstable angina pectoris (UAP). The study included 15 patients with AMI and 9 patients with UAP. Serum GSH-Px activity in the AMI group (0.992 +/- 0.071) (IU/ml) was higher than that of the UAP group. Serum GSH-Px activity was established as 0.683 +/- 0.110 (IU/ml) in UAP and 1.012 +/- 0.121 (IU/ml) in 10 healthy subjects (p < 0.0005). We suggest that measurement of serum GSH-Px activity together with other enzyme tests such as CK-MB, LDH, GOT, etc. can be helpful in the differentiation of AMI from UAP.

The effects of gentamicin and vitamin E on enzymatic antioxidant defence in guinea-pig lung.

OBJECTIVE: To study the possible effects of gentamicin on the enzymic free-radical defence system in the lung. METHOD: Activities of cytoplasmic superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD), mitochondrial superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT) enzymes were studied in lung tissues from gentamicin-treated guinea-pigs compared to controls. RESULTS: Levels of those enzymes were higher in the gentamicin group except for xanthine oxidase (XO) activity. Vitamin E given concomitantly with gentamicin caused significant decreases in CuZn-SOD, Mn-SOD and GSH-Px activities but an increase in CAT activity in the lung tissue. Only vitamin treatment caused significant decreases in the activities of CuZn-SOD, Mn-SOD and GSH-Px enzymes and an increase in CAT activity. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that lung tissue is able to respond quickly and effectively against the adverse effects of some oxidant substances by inducing and/or activating the enzymatic free-radical defence system.

The comparison of adenosine deaminase activity values with polymerase chain reaction results in patients with tuberculosis.

Three methods in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis have been compared in this study. Serum adenosine deaminase activities of patients with tuberculosis was compared with those of control groups with (+) and (-) PPD (purified protein derivative) results and were found to be higher than the controls. Within the controls the PPD (+) group displayed higher adenosine deaminase activities in comparison to the PPD (-) group. All patients had growth of B. Tuberculosis in the culture medium and all but one had positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results. Control patients were negative for culture and PCR. The sensitivity of ADA (adenosine deaminase) assay was 91.7% and specificity was 94.5%, whereas PCR had a sensitivity of 95.8% and a specificity of 100%. The ADA assay may be used in adjunction with other methods in the follow-up of tuberculosis with high sensitivity, specificity, and ease in applicability and specimen collection.

Reduced erythrocyte defense mechanisms against free radical toxicity in patients with chronic renal failure.

In this study, activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT) enzymes were determined in the erythrocytes from patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) and from healthy subjects. In the conservative drug management group and intermittent ambulatory peritoneal dialysis group, CAT activity was lower than in the control group. However, SOD and GSH-Px activities of these groups were not statistically different from the control values. In the continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis group and the hemodialysis group, SOD, GSH-Px and CAT activities were lower than control values. In the patient groups, correlation coefficients between the enzyme activities were also found to be different from the control values. Results suggested that enzymatic antioxidant defense mechanisms were suppressed in the erythrocytes from the patients with CRF, in particular in the erythrocytes from those who were under hemodialysis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis management. It is proposed that reduced antioxidant defense mechanisms in the erythrocytes is one of the important factors leading to peroxidation in the membrane lipid structure of the erythrocytes and thereby to hemolysis and anemia in the patients with CRF.

Adenosine deaminase, 5'-nucleotidase, xanthine oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities in gastric juices from patients with gastric cancer, ulcer, and atrophic gastritis.

Adenosine deaminase (ADA), 5'-Nucleotidase (5NT), Xanthine oxidase (XO), Cu-Zn Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Catalase (CAT) activities were determined in gastric juices from patients with gastric cancer, ulcer, gastritis and from healthy subjects. Enzyme activities were given as units per ml gastric juice and units per mg protein in gastric juice. ADA, 5NT and XO activities were found lower and protein concentrations were found higher in the cancer group than controls. There was however no significant difference between Cu-Zn SOD activities of the cancer and control groups. In all groups including control one, we could not find catalase activities in most of the samples. On the other hand, ADA, 5NT activities and protein concentrations in the gastric juice were lower in the gastritis group than control group. In the ulcer group, we found higher Cu-Zn SOD and XO activities and lower 5NT activity and protein concentrations compared with control values. In an attempt to establish statistical correlations between mean enzyme activities, pH and protein concentrations in the gastric juices of the groups, we found noticeable intra and inter-correlations, which indicated possible relations between DNA and free radical metabolizing enzymes.

Concentrations of some major and minor elements in larynx tissues with and without cancer.

In this study, concentrations of some major and minor elements were determined in the larynx tissues with and without cancer, and results obtained were statistically compared. No meaningful differences were found between sodium, potassium, calcium and copper concentrations in cancer tissues, corresponding cancer-free adjacent tissues and in control larynx tissues. Phosphate concentrations of the cancer tissues were higher compared with cancer-free adjacent tissues and control tissues. Iron, zinc and magnesium concentrations were found increased in both cancer and corresponding cancer-free adjacent tissues relative to control values. Intra- and inter-element correlations established within and between groups indicated that relations between elements were also disordered in the cancer tissues. We suggest that the changed element status of cancerous larynx tissues may arise from increased requirements of cancer tissues for some elements such as iron, zinc, magnesium and phosphate.

Activities of total, cytoplasmic, and mitochondrial superoxide dismutase enzymes in sera and pleural fluids from patients with lung cancer.

In this study, total cytoplasmic (Cu,Zn-SOD) and mitochondrial (Mn-SOD) superoxide dismutase activities were measured in sera and pleural fluids from patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. The results were compared with those of control subjects and those of patients with tuberculosis and chronic heart failure. Serum activities were found higher in all patient groups compared to control group. Highest values were however in tuberculosis group. In the correlation analysis, meaningful intra- and inter-correlations were established between enzyme activities in the samples. Results suggest that high serum and pleural fluid SOD activities are not specific biochemical parameters for carcinogenesis and, activities may also increase in some other degenerative diseases such as tuberculosis, chronic heart failure, etc. Therefore, we believe that it is not useful to use serum and pleural fluid SOD activities for diagnostic purposes in cancer. However, the activities of these enzymes in the biological samples might be used as nonspecific prognostic markers in assessing cellular and mitochondrial tissue destruction.