ABSTRACT
Purpose@#The etiology and pathogenesis of distal colitis (DC) are poorly understood. Activation of intestinal inflammatory response may lead to intestinal tissue necrosis. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents are among the treatment options. Our study aimed to compare the protective effects of mesalazine and Ganoderma lucidum in acetic acid (AA)-induced colitis in rats. @*Methods@#Twenty-four rats were randomly grouped as colitis, mesalazine, G. lucidum, and combined (G. lucidum + mesalazine) groups. DC was induced by intrarectal administration of AA. Statistical comparisons were done by using parameters including colonic tissue IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP levels. Histopathologic changes of the samples of colonic tissue were scored as mucosal damage score and inflammatory score. A P-value of <0.05 was considered significant. @*Results@#Intrarectal administration of AA leads to increased interleukin and CRP levels. High mucosal damage and inflammatory scores were noted in colitis group animals. Single mesalazine or G. lucidum treatment produced considerably decreased tissue interleukin and CRP levels. The lowest tissue interleukin and CRP levels were noted in the combined treatment group of animals. Mucosal damage and inflammatory scores were found to be significantly low in this group of animals. @*Conclusion@#The intrarectal administration of AA results in an activation of intestinal inflammation and severe mucosal damage in colonic tissue. Single use of mesalazine and G. lucidum treatment decreases the severity of intestinal inflammatory response and mucosal damage. The healing effects of the combined treatment of mesalazine and G. lucidum seem to be more effective than that of separate use in the treatment of DC.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Breast Arterial Calcification [BAC] on mammography and the 10-year fatal Cardiovascular Disease [CVD] risk by using SCORE risk system
Methods: The study was conducted from September 2013 to July 2014. A total of 66 women with BAC and 66 age-matched controls without BAC were analyzed. The groups were compared with respect to demographics, clinical, reproductive, laboratory parameters, and 10-year fatal CVD risk
Results: The mean ages of the women in the study was 54.0 years [40-85 years]. Hypertension, systolic blood pressure, levels of serum total cholesterol and the calculated SCORE risk were higher in the BAC [+] group than in the BAC [-] group [p=0.04, p=0.031, p=0.046, and p=0.038 respectively]. Multivariate analysis showed that none of them was independent factor of BAC on mammograms, only the 10-year fatal CVD risk
was close to being statistically significant [OR:1.17, CI:0.98-1.38, p=0.06]
Conclusion: BAC on mammography was found to be related to the 10-year fatal CVD risk as calculated by the SCORE risk score system. Additional large-scale prospective studies are required to further assess whether BAC can be considered a useful screening tool for CVD risk prediction in women who screened for breast cancer by mammography