ABSTRACT
Copper and zinc are the elements with numerous physiological activities. Copper [Cu] has an important role in angiogenesis and acts by increasing Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor [VEGF]. Serum levels of copper will be increased in cancer incidence, progression and recurrence. The aim of this study was to measure blood levels of copper, zinc, and the ratio of Cu /Zn, as well as VEGF levels before and after treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. Thirty patients who were recently diagnosed with Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia [AML] in Shahid Ghazi Tabatabai oncology hospital enrolled in this clinical trial. On the first day, blood samples were taken for copper, zinc, and VEGF assay and flowcytometry. Treatment protocol was [7x3] regimen. Blood samples were collected for evaluation of copper, zinc, and VEGF. They were sent to Biochemistry Laboratory in medicine faculty for analysis. Amongst 30 AML patients, 14 [46.7%] were female and 16 [53.3%] were male. Patients of various ages ranged from 16 to 53 years, with a median age of 9.1 +/- 9.35 years. The mean serum level of copper, zinc, and mean Cu/Zn ratio before and after treatment showed significant difference [p<0.05] There was also significant difference between the mean VEGF level before and after treatment [p<0.05]. This study reveals that there is no significant relationship between copper, zinc serum levels, their ratio, and VEGF in AML patients. We hypothesize that increased serum copper is associated with increase of VEGF levels which can indicate the impact of copper in malignancies including AML
ABSTRACT
Blast in peripheral blood and bone marrow is a diagnostic factor in acute leukemia, the percentage of blasts will be also important in patient management, particularly after chemotropy. Although conventional study of the cells by light microscopy is an essential step, however it is time consuming and the obtained results may vary from one to other. The H1 system that not only able to automatically differentiate all blood leukocytes, it is also calculate the percentage of blast cells. To evaluate the accuracy of results by the H1 on blast, the study was set to investigate that issus in comparison by CD45 dimly expressed cells [blasts] that computed by flow cytometry. Blood samples from 17 patients with acute lymphoid leukemia [ALL] and 31 patients with acute myeloid leukemia [AML] simultaneously were studied by H1 and flow cytometry using anti-CD4S and CD45/RALS gating. Blood samples from 50 patients with chronic lymphocyte leukemia [CLL] were used as negative controls. The mean values of H1-blasts for B-ALL, T-ALL and AML were 16.3%, 27% and 49.6%, respectively. This figures were 66.6%, 79.7% and 87% by flow cytometry. Both systems were not identified any blast in CLL cases. Analysis of blood samples by H1 in cases with CLL is trusty, but in cases with acute leukemia is unreliable. In comparison to flow cytometry, H1 is identified significantly [p<0.05] lower number of blast in acute leukemia
Subject(s)
Humans , Leukemia/blood , Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte , Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/diagnosis , Leukemia, Lymphoid/diagnosis , Flow Cytometry , Leukocyte Common AntigensABSTRACT
Rapid urease test is increasingly used as a cheap and quick procedure with high specificity for clinical detection of Helicobacter pylori worldwide. To evaluate the functionality of a rapid urease kit manufactured by Pasteur institute of Iran in 2002, with some modifications compared with other common kits. During a clinical trial in Baghiatallah hospital, Tehran, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the kit was investigated. This was an experimental study in which 91 patients suspected of having H pylori infection were examined. Following collection of history and clinical symptoms, the endoscopic signs of all patients were also recorded. Each endoscopic specimen was carefully examined in three ways with no previous knowledge of operator as follows: 1. Detection of urease test using modified rapid urease kit. 2. Detection of urease test using certified commercial kit. 3. Pathologic examination as the gold standard method. Regarding the results of present study, employing modified rapid urease kit produced positive results on 78.8% of pathologically positive samples. When negative pathologic samples were tested with modified kit, 89.7 % of samples found to be negative. The differences observed between the results of two tests were statistically significant [p=0.001]. Using modified rapid urease kit also produced a false positive rate of 4.4%. Based on our data, it was shown that the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the modified kit were 78.8%, 89.7% and of 83.5%, respectively