Angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion gene polymorphism in patients with laryngeal cancer.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the distribution of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) I/D polymorphism between patients with laryngeal cancer (LC) and a control group and to examine the distribution of this polymorphism with clinical parameters related to LC. Methods: We enrolled 44 LC patients and 61 healthy controls. The ACE I/D polymorphism was genotyped with the PCR-RFLP method. The distribution of ACE genotypes (II, ID, and DD) and alleles (I or D) was evaluated with Pearson's chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis was performed for statistically significant parameters. Results: There was no significant difference in ACE genotypes and alleles between LC patients and controls (p = 0.079 and p = 0.068, respectively). Among clinical parameters related to LC (extension of tumour, node metastasis, tumour stage and tumour location), only the presence of node metastasis was found to be significant in terms of ACE DD genotype (p = 0.137, p = 0.031, p = 0.147, p = 0.321 respectively). In the logistic regression analysis, the ACE DD genotype was increased 8.3 fold in nodal metastases. Conclusions: The findings of the study suggest that ACE genotypes and alleles do not affect the prevalence of LC, but the DD genotype of ACE polymorphism may increase the risk of lymph node metastasis in LC patients.

A comparison of intravitreal piperacillin/tazobactam with ceftazidime in experimental Pseudomonas aeruginosa endophthalmitis.

In the present study, we aimed at comparing the efficacies of intravitreal piperacillin/tazobactam and ceftazidime applications in the treatment of experimental Pseudomonasaeruginosa endophthalmitis in rabbit eyes. Twenty-four New Zealand white albino rabbits were divided into three groups (n=8 in each), and the right eyes received 0.1 ml intravitreal injections of P. aeruginosa suspension. The left eyes served as uninfected control and were injected with 0.1 ml of saline solution. The right eyes of rabbits in group 1 were treated with intravitreal injection of 250 microg/0.1 ml piperacillin/tazobactam 24 hr after intravitreal inoculation of P. aeruginosa, whereas group 2 eyes received intravitreal 1 mg/0.1 ml ceftazidime. Group 3 eyes received no treatment and served as infected controls. Clinical, microbiological and histopathological evaluations of the eyes in each group were performed on the 1st, 3rd, and 6th day after the inoculation of P. aeruginosa. The mean clinical scores of each group were similar at the first day after P. aeruginosa inoculation (P>0.05). At the 6th day, there was no statistically significant difference in mean clinical scores between group 1 and 2, but mean clinical score of group 3 was significantly higher (P<0.001). Microbiological analysis and histopathological scoring demonstrated no statistically significant difference between group 1 and 2 (for each, P>0.05). Group 3 eyes had a significantly more CFU/ml and higher histopathological score (for each, P<0.001). In conclusion, intravitreal application of 250 microg/0.1 ml piperacillin/tazobactam seems to be effective in the treatment of P. aeruginosa endophthalmitis in rabbits, but is not superior to intravitreal ceftazidime application. Therefore, intravitreal piperacillin/tazobactam may be a useful alternative to ceftazidime for pseudomonal endophthalmitis.