Evaluation of oxidant/anti-oxidants status in patients with mild acute -pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Acute pancreatitis (AP), an inflammatory disorder of the pancreas, is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The pathogenesis of AP has been suggested to -involve high oxidative stress (OS), combined with inadequate antioxidant status. We aimed to investigate the levels of serum total anti-oxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS) and ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) in patients with mild AP2016. METHODS: Thirty subjects with mild AP and 29 healthy controls were enrolled into the study. The levels of TAS, TOS and IMA, C-reactive protein (CRP), high sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) and fibrinogen were measured in both groups. RESULTS: TAS levels were significantly lower (p = 0.037), while IMA levels were significantly higher (p < 0.001) in patients, compared to controls. TOS levels were similar between two groups. Fibrinogen, CRP and hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in patients than those of controls (p < 0.001 for all parameters). IMA levels were positively correlated with amylase and lipase levels (r = 0.448, p = 0.001 and r = 0.469, p < 0.001, respectively). There was a negative correlation between TAS levels, and amylase and lipase levels (r = -0.277, p = 0.035 and r = -0.278, p = 0.034, respectively). CONCLUSION: OS is reported to be associated with the inflammatory process and the severity of AP. In our study, among OS parameters, an increase in IMA levels and a decrease in TAS levels were observed in mild AP patients.

New insights into pharmacological tools to TR(i)P cancer up.

The aim of this review is to address the recent advances regarding the use of pharmacological agents to target transient receptor potential (TRP) channels in cancer and their potential application in therapeutics. Physiologically, TRP channels are responsible for cation entry (Ca(2+) , Na(+) , Mg(2+) ) in many mammalian cells and regulate a large number of cellular functions. However, dysfunction in channel expression and/or activity can be linked to human diseases like cancer. Indeed, there is growing evidence that TRP channel expression is altered in cancer tissues in comparison with normal ones. Moreover, these proteins are involved in many cancerous processes, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion, as well as resistance to chemotherapy. Among the TRP superfamily, TRPC, TRPV, TRPM and TRPA1 have been shown to play a role in many cancer types, including breast, digestive, gliomal, head and neck, lung and prostate cancers. Pharmacological modulators are used to characterize the functional implications of TRP channels in whole-cell membrane currents, resting membrane potential regulation and intracellular Ca(2+) signalling. Moreover, pharmacological modulation of TRP activity in cancer cells is systematically linked to the effect on cancerous processes (proliferation, survival, migration, invasion, sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs). Here we describe the effects of such TRP modulators on TRP activity and cancer cell phenotype. Furthermore, the potency and specificity of these agents will be discussed, as well as the development of new strategies for targeting TRP channels in cancer.

Prognostic value of Dicer expression in human breast cancers and association with the mesenchymal phenotype.

BACKGROUND: Dicer, a ribonuclease, is the key enzyme required for the biogenesis of microRNAs and small interfering RNAs and is essential for both mammalian development and cell differentiation. Recent evidence indicates that Dicer may also be involved in tumourigenesis. However, no studies have examined the clinical significance of Dicer at both the RNA and the protein levels in breast cancer. METHODS: In this study, the biological and prognostic value of Dicer expression was assessed in breast cancer cell lines, breast cancer progression cellular models, and in two well-characterised sets of breast carcinoma samples obtained from patients with long-term follow-up using tissue microarrays and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. RESULTS: We have found that Dicer protein expression is significantly associated with hormone receptor status and cancer subtype in breast tumours (ER P=0.008; PR P=0.019; cancer subtype P=0.023, luminal A P=0.0174). Dicer mRNA expression appeared to have an independent prognostic impact in metastatic disease (hazard ratio=3.36, P=0.0032). In the breast cancer cell lines, lower Dicer expression was found in cells harbouring a mesenchymal phenotype and in metastatic bone derivatives of a breast cancer cell line. These findings suggest that the downregulation of Dicer expression may be related to the metastatic spread of tumours. CONCLUSION: Assessment of Dicer expression may facilitate prediction of distant metastases for patients suffering from breast cancer.