RESUMEN
Background & objectives: Continuous subclinical inflammation can be seen in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) during the attack-free period. The importance of oxidative stress parameters in acute appendicitis (AA) progression has also been shown in previous studies. So, oxidative stress and the oxidant/antioxidant balance may play a role in this persistent subclinical inflammation. With this background the main objective of this study was to investigate the usefulness of combining the thiol-disulfide homeostasis parameters and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the differential diagnosis of AA and an acute FMF attack. Methods: The present study was conducted prospectively with 84 patients who were admitted to the emergency department between May 1, and December 31, 2018. Another 40 healthy individuals were assigned as the control group. The homeostasis parameters of thiol-disulfide were measured by a spectrophotometric method and NLR was measured in the patient and control groups. Results: Native thiol and total thiol values were lower, while disulfide values were insignificantly higher in patients with AA than in patients with FMF. The white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil and NLR values were significantly higher in the AA group (P<0.001, P<0.001, P<0.001, respectively). When the neutrophil cut-off value for AA was set at 8.55, the calculated sensitivity was 80 per cent, the specificity was 72.2 per cent, and the area under the curve was 0.837. Interpretation & conclusions: The results of this study suggest that neutrophil, WBC and NLR values can be useful in the differentiation of AA from an acute FMF attack.
RESUMEN
Objective: The aim of our study is to assess thiol-disulfide homeostasis (TDH), which is a biomarker of systemic oxidative stress, in breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: Thirty-seven breast cancer patients and 31 age-matched healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. Serum native thiol, disulfide, and total thiol levels and disulfide/native thiol, disulfide/total thiol, and native thiol/total thiol ratios were analyzed using a novel colorimetric method. Results: Serum native thiol level was statistically significantly lower in breast cancer patients (350.39 ± 7.15) than in healthy controls (380.60 ± 7.35) (P = 0.008). Serum disulfide level was statistically significantly higher in breast cancer patients (24.96 ± 0.85) than in healthy controls (19.25 ± 1.34) (P = 0.002). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this study is the first study in the literature that investigated TDH in breast cancer patients. We have concluded that an alteration in TDH due to oxidative stress is likely to have a role in the pathogenesis of breast cancer