Evaluation of cytotoxic and antioxidant potential of Dittrichia viscosa (L.) Greuter used in traditional medicine.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Dittrichia viscosa (L.) Greuter ("Sari ot, Yapiskan andiz otu" in Turkish) is a medicinal plant that has been traditionally used in the Mediterranean area. This plant is used by the local population for the treatment of cancer. Investigation of their biological activities is therefore very important to be supported by scientific basis for traditional use. AIMS OF THE STUDY: In this study, it is aimed to assess the phytochemical composition, in vitro antioxidant, cytotoxic, and antiproliferative activities of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts obtained from the aerial parts (stems, leaves, flowers) of D. viscosa, collected from two sites in Turkey (Istanbul and Marmaris) against breast and prostate tumor cell lines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Validated methods were used to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS, CUPRAC), cytotoxicity (Cell Viability Assay), antiproliferative (Apoptosis assay), and phytochemical compositions. The nepetin (N), 3-O-methylquercetin (Q), and hispidulin (H) in the extracts of D. viscosa were quantified by HPLC and LC-HRMS. Furthermore, in order to control the standards of benefiting from the plant in a healthy way, the contents of some heavy metals were also assessed by ICP-OES in the plant and soil samples as well as the species soil's physical and chemical characteristics. RESULTS: We have found that heavy metal accumulation in the soil does not exceed the allowable limit value except for the nickel. The results showed that ethanol extraction is an efficient strategy to get NQH molecules with a higher content compared with other extraction techniques. However, using the same extraction method revealed that the amount of NQH molecules in the samples of two different regions were variable. The results suggested that all extracts had a high amount of total phenolic content (12.354-22.184 µg GAE/mg) and total flavonoid content (4.442-17.263 µg QE/g). In the antioxidant assay according to the DPPH method, the aqueous ethanol extracts (IC50; 21.00 µg/mL) showed stronger antioxidant activity than BHT. A significant reduction in cell viability was particularly observed in MDA-MB-231 cells, which were sensitive to ethanolic extracts in Istanbul (12-22%) and in Marmaris (14-15%), while PC3 cell lines were also more sensitive to extracts of the aqueous in Istanbul (16%) and the decoction in Marmaris (12%) after 72 h. Especially, it was observed that Marmaris and Istanbul samples induced the toxicity against PC3 cells. CONCLUSION: The study supports the medicinal use of D. viscosa as a potential anticancer against breast and prostate cancer cells in vitro and underlines the immense therapeutic potential of the plant.

Prognostic value of preoperative CEA and CA 19-9 levels in resectable gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Preoperative tumor marker assays have been used to predict the prognosis of gastric cancer, but the exact role they may play is still unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 levels in resectable gastric cancer patients. METHODOLOGY: Seventy-five resectable, nonmetastatic gastric cancer patients were analysed in regard to their clinicopathological characteristics and their relation with tumor markers and influence on survival have been evaluated. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients were female and 47 were male. The mean age was 61 years (range 21-85 years). Fifty-two patients had total gastrectomy, and 23 had a subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection. The median follow up period was 24 months (6-74 months). Elevated serum CA 19-9 levels correlated well with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.008), stage (p = 0.012), vascular invasion (p = 0.03) and tumor size (p = 0.001). The survival of the patients were not correlated with the tumor markers (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Elevated CA 19-9 levels are significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, which may improve the selection of patients with advanced disease. CEA and CA 19-9 levels do not provide any predictive information about survival of operable, nonmetastatic gastric cancer patients.

A case of primary lymphoma of the bladder managed with multimodal therapy.

BACKGROUND: A 65-year-old female patient presented to a urology department with macroscopic hematuria, dysuria, urinary frequency and urgency. One year previously, she had visited a urologist because of a 1-month history of hematuria, dysuria, urinary frequency and urgency. She had subsequently undergone successful, simultaneous surgeries for resection of a basal cell carcinoma of the nasal skin and lymphoma of the bladder. INVESTIGATIONS: Physical examination, measurement of serum urea, creatinine and electrolyte levels, peripheral blood film evaluation, ultrasonography, intravenous pyelography, abdominal, thoracic and pelvic CT, bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, cystoscopy and pathologic examination. DIAGNOSIS: Primary lymphoma of the bladder. MANAGEMENT: Transurethral resection, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and follow-up comprising cystoscopy, biopsy, CT imaging and immunocytologic analyses of urine samples.