Investigation of the effect of melatonin administration on inflammatory mediators; MMP-2, TGF-ß and VEGF levels in rats with sepsis.

AIMS: Sepsis causes life-threatening tissue and organ dysfunctions caused by endogenous mediators in response to infection. Melatonin is a powerful endogenous anti-inflammatory agent and effective in reducing cellular damage. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in serum and liver tissue levels of VEGF, TGF-ß and MMP-2 in melatonin-treated septic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one Wistar-albino male rats were included in this study. Rats were randomly divided into three groups. Group 1 is sham-operated control (C) group, Group 2 is caecal ligation and puncture (CLP) group and Group 3 is melatonin-treated (10 mg/kg) (M-CLP) group. Serum and tissue samples were analysed. All procedures were carried out according to the ethical rules specified in Helsinki Declaration. RESULTS: Sera MMP-2 levels were found higher than tissue MMP-2 levels in C and CLP (respectively, P = .048, P = .01). In CLP and M-CLP, serum TGF-ß levels were higher than tissue TGF-ß levels(respectively, P = .05, P = .01). Serum VEGF levels in CLP were found to be significantly higher than both C and M-CLP(P < .01). CONCLUSION: MMP-2 levels may have increased because of the prevention of oxidative damage in sepsis, and this may increase the anti-inflammatory effect. Melatonin treatment may have a therapeutic effect against sepsis since it prevents the increase in serum VEGF level. A powerful endogenous antioxidant, may be a promising therapeutic agent on the mortality and morbidity of the disease, because of its lowering effect on serum VEGF, which is a poor prognostic factor in sepsis.

Hemolysis detection for ethanol measurement in whole blood samples before centrifugation: HemCheck device evaluation.

Background: As previously reported, the measurement of ethanol can also be affected by interference from hemolysis. This is a matter of concern since ethanol is widely regarded as the most commonly abused substance globally. When sample re-collection is ordered to eliminate hemolysis effects for ethanol testing, this can have unfavourable consequences for these patients. Rapid detection of hemolysed specimens would alleviate some issues associated with forensic samples. This study aimed to assess the qualitative analytical performance of a novel point-of-care testing device per the guidelines specified in CLSI-EP-12A document. HemCheck™ is a novel POCT device that qualitatively detects free-hemoglobin levels on the specimen shortly after drawing the sample. Methods: The system consists of two components. One is a cartridge with a needle that is used to transfer a small volume of whole blood from a vacuum tube to vertical and lateral flow filtration. The second component is the reader. The consumable cartridges are designed to be inserted into the reader without requiring the syringe or blood collection tube removal. A red indicator led illuminates, indicating that the sample has been hemolysed. To assess the imprecision of the method, we determined the C5-C95 interval and C50, using the Roche Cobas clinical chemistry analyser as the comparator. For this study, we utilised residual samples.