The association of breast arterial calcification and metabolic syndrome

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the relationship between metabolic syndrome and breast arterial calcification detected via mammography in a cohort of postmenopausal subjects. METHODS: Among 837 patients referred to our radiology department for mammographic screening, 310 postmenopausal females (105 patients with and 205 patients without breast arterial calcification) aged 40 to 73 (mean 55.9±8.4) years were included in this study. The groups were compared with respect to clinical characteristics and metabolic syndrome criteria. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified the factors related to breast arterial calcification. RESULTS: Age, postmenopausal duration and the frequencies of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and metabolic syndrome were significantly higher in the subjects with breast arterial calcification than in those without (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis indicated that age (OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.1-1.6, p = 0.001) and metabolic syndrome (OR = 4.0, 95% CI = 1.5−10.4, p = 0.005) were independent predictors of breast arterial calcification detected via mammography. The independent predictors among the features of metabolic syndrome were low levels of high-density lipoproteins (OR = 8.1, 95% ...

The Investigation of Antibacterial Activities of Ethanol and Methanol Extracts of Flavoparmelia caperata (L.) Hale (Parmeliaceae) and Roccella phycopsis Ach. (Roccellaceae) Lichens Collected from Eastern Blacksea Region, Turkey.

This study evaluates antibacterial activities of extracts of Flavoparmelia caperata and Roccella phycopsis by disc-diffusion and broth dilution methods against seven gram positive and nine gram negative bacteria. The solvents used as extractants in this study were ethanol and methanol. The antibacterial activities of lichen extracts were comparable with penicillin, tetracycline and gentamicin, commonly used antibiotics for the treatment of infections. Antibacterial activities of lichen extracts ranged from 14-26 mm. It was observed from the studies that the most resistant bacteria was Bacillus megaterium and the most sensitive bacteria was Proteus vulgaris. Studied lichen extracts have antibacterial activity on both gram negative and gram positive bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration values of the lichen extracts were ranged from 58-7500 μg/mL. Our studies suggest that methanol and ethanol extracts of Flavoparmelia caperata and Roccella phycopsis could be an alternative of the antibiotic to cure the diseases.