Examination of cervical swabs of patients with endometriosis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

PURPOSE: There is no established non-invasive method to diagnose patients with endometriosis. As a nondestructive type of radiation, infrared light might be used for discrimination by causing vibration of the covalent bonds of the molecules when absorbed by the tissues. The aim of the study was to test whether cervical swab can be used to diagnose women with endometriosis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). METHODS: In this prospective case-control study, women between 18-45 years old and undergoing laparoscopy due to various reasons were recruited (n = 20). According to the findings during laparoscopy, patients were stratified as stage I-II or stage III-IV endometriosis groups. Women lacking any visible lesions of endometriosis were recruited as controls. A cervical swab was taken from all patients just before the surgical procedure and pulled into a tube containing saline solution. FTIR spectra were obtained and the fingerprint region (1750-850 cm-1) was used for analyses. RESULTS: Finally, three samples in stage I-II, five samples in stage III-IV and five samples in the control group were analyzed. Hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis were performed as the chemometric method. A total of ten observable peaks were detected in the absorbance spectra of samples. The peaks at 1450 and 1405 cm-1 originating from lipids and proteins significantly increased in the stage III-IV endometriosis group when compared with controls. In addition, nucleic acid/carbohydrate ratio was significantly lower in the stage I-II group indicating that the alteration of the carbohydrate level might be important. CONCLUSIONS: Examination of cervical swab with FTIR spectroscopy might be a proper candidate for a non-invasive diagnostic approach of endometriosis.

Purification and mass spectrometry based characterization of a pediocin produced by Pediococcus acidilactici 13.

Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides produced by several bacterial species. Among the bacteriocins pediocin-like bacteriocins have a significant inhibitory activity on the foodborne pathogens especially on Listeria monocytogenes. This study aims to select a simple and usable purification method to purify/concentrate the antimicrobial peptide and characterization of the bacteriocin produced by Pediococcus acidilactici 13 by using proteomic approaches which is a recent omic technology. For purification dialysis, ultrafiltration method was used, and as a result of this study the bacteriocin activity reached 819,200 AU/mL from 102,400 AU/mL initially. Two dimensional gel electrophoresis and then matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization/time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis were carried out to identify the current bacteriocin and related proteins. Obtained data revealed similarity to pediocin PA-1 transport/processing ATP-binding protein PedD (accession number: P36497), pediocin operon PedC (accession number: Q68GC4) and bacteriocin pediocin PA-1 (accession number: P29430) from UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot databank, thus the bacteriocin produced by P. acidilactici 13 is considered similar to pediocin PA-1.

Prohemostatic and antithrombin activities of Ankaferd hemostat are linked to fibrinogen gamma chain and prothrombin by functional proteomic analyses.

Ankaferd blood stopper (ABS) is a novel topical hemostatic agent of plant origin registered for the management of external hemorrhages, in Turkey. The ABS-induced formation of the protein network with vital erythroid aggregation covers the whole physiological hemostatic process. The aim of this study is to assess prohemostatic and antithrombin effects of ABS on the basis of functional proteomic analyses performed in ABS-treated plasma and serum samples based on the previous hypotheses about ABS action. For this purpose, serum and plasma proteins were separated by 2-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis, and proteins were identified using reference plasma gel on Swiss-2DPAGE database. Our results indicated that fibrinogen gamma chain and prothrombin levels just initially decreased first and thereafter enhanced following the ABS exposure. Dual effects of ABS on those critical hemostatic molecules seem to be associated with prohemostatic and antithrombin activities of the hemostatic agent.

Effects of cadmium on antioxidant enzyme and photosynthetic activities in leaves of two maize cultivars.

Effects of cadmium (Cd(2+)) on photosynthetic and antioxidant activities of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars (3223 and 32D99) were investigated. Fourteen-day-old cultivar seedlings were exposed to different Cd concentrations [0, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9mM Cd(NO(3))(2) x 4H(2)O] for 8 days. The results of chlorophyll fluorescence indicated that different levels of Cd affected photochemical efficiency in 3223 much more than that in 32D99. In parallel, the level of Cd at 0.9mM caused oxidative damage but did not indicate cessation of PSII activity of the cultivars; plant death was not observed at highly toxic Cd levels. Additionally, the increase in Cd concentration caused loss of chlorophylls and carotenoid and membrane damage in both cultivars, but greater membrane damage was observed in 3223 than in 32D99. Depending on Cd accumulation, a significant reduction in dry biomass was observed in both cultivars at all Cd concentrations. The accumulation of Cd was higher in roots than in leaves for both cultivars. Nevertheless, cultivar 3223 transferred more Cd from roots to leaves than did 32D99. On the other hand, our results suggest that there were similar responses in SOD, APX and GR activities with increasing Cd concentrations for both cultivars. However, POD activity significantly increased at highly toxic Cd levels in 32D99. This result may be regarded as an indication of better tolerance of the Z. mays L. cultivar 32D99 to Cd contamination.