The effects of methylene blue on adhesion formation in a rat model of experimental peritonitis.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the effects of methylene blue (MB) on the early and late phases of adhesion and abscess formation in a standard colonic wall injury and fecal peritonitis model in rats. METHODS: There were four groups: Group I (only laparotomy, n=10), Group II (peritonitis + MB, n=15), Group III (peritonitis + saline, n=15), and Group IV (colon incision + saline, n=15). Mortality, morbidity, adhesion scores, histopathologic analyses, serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-?) levels, and tissue hydroxyproline (5-HP) levels were evaluated in all animals. Descriptive statistical methods were used with Kruskal-Wallis test. When a statistical difference was obtained between groups, Mann-Whitney U test was used to confirm the difference between two groups. RESULTS: Adhesion scores of Groups I, III and IV were significantly higher than in Group II. TNF-? levels were significantly higher in Groups I, III and IV. 5-HP levels were significantly lower in Groups I and II compared to Groups III and IV. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, it appears that MB may prevent peritoneal adhesions in a peritonitis model, but wound healing could be impaired. MB should be further evaluated because of its dual effect.

Effect of ankaferd blood stopper on hemostasis and histopathological score in experimental liver injury.

AIM: To investigate intra-abdominal, local histopathological and hemostatic effects of Ankaferd (ABS) in an experimental liver injury. METHODS: Forty rats were randomly assigned to the primary suture group (PS) (n = 15), ABS group (n = 15) and control group (n = 10). A wedge resection was performed on the left lobe of the liver. In the primary suture group, the liver was sutured with polypropylene material, while in ABS group the liver surface was covered with ABS. Adhesion, histo-pathological scores and hydroxyproline levels were measured postoperatively on day 3 and day 15. RESULTS: The mean bleeding time was 7.5 sec shorter in the ABS group (6.5 sec-13.5 sec) and 107 sec shorter in PS group. AST, ALT, total bilirubin and ALP values complete blood count (CBC) did not change. Intra-abdominal adhesions were the same in PS and ABS groups on 3rd (2.20 +/- 1.30 vs 2.0 +/- 1.11) and 15th (1.60 +/- 0.54 vs 1.25 +/- 0.7) days postoperatively. Histopathological scores were better in the ABS group than in the primary suture group on 3rd (2.5 +/- 0.5 vs 5.25 +/- 0.2, p = 0.006) and 15th (1.65 +/- 1.7 vs 3.15 +/- 1.0, p = 0.025) days postoperatively. Hydroxyproline levels were higher in ABS group on postoperative 15th day (17.12 microg/tissue vs 13.69 microg/tissue; p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that ABS in experimental liver trauma causes favorable histopathological scores and shorter hemostasis time and higher hydroxyproline levels (Tab. 2, Fig. 2, Ref. 35).

Importance of serum SELDI-TOF-MS analysis in the diagnosis of early lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Different methods of diagnosis have been found to be inefficient in terms of screening and early diagnosis of lung cancer. Cancer cells produce proteins whose serum levels may be elevated during the early stages of cancer development. Therefore, those proteins may be recognized as potential cancer markers. The aim of this study was to differentiate healthy individuals and lung cancer cases by analyzing their serum protein profiles and evaluate the efficacy of this method in the early diagnosis of lung cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 170 patients with lung cancer, 53 under high risk of lung cancer, and 47 healthy people were included in our study. Proteomic analysis of the samples was performed with the SELDI-TOF-MS approach. RESULTS: The most discriminatory peak of the high risk group was 8141. When tree classification analysis was performed between lung cancer and the healthy control group, 11547 was determined as the most discriminatory peak, with a sensitivity of 85.5%, a specificity of 89.4%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 96.7% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 62.7%. CONCLUSIONS: We determined three different protein peaks 11480, 11547 and 11679 were only present in the lung cancer group. The 8141 peak was found in the high-risk group, but not in the lung cancer and control groups. These peaks may prove to be markers of lung cancer which suggests that they may be used in the early diagnosis of lung cancer.