Serum concentrations of neuropilin-1 in women with endometriosis.

Objective of this work is to investigate, for the first time, serum concentration of neuropilin-1 (NRP-1), aiming to evaluate its diagnostic performance in endometriosis and usability as a potential non-invasive serum marker of endometriosis. Two hundred women were treated laparoscopically. After laparoscopic surgery women were divided into two groups: 120 women diagnosed with endometriosis and 80 healthy women (control group). Blood samples were taken from all women undergoing laparoscopy half an hour before the induction of anesthesia, for the purpose of collection of serum. The level of NRP-1 in serum was assayed by a standardised sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Differences between endometriosis and healthy control group in NRP-1 levels were significant. All values were significantly and several times higher in patients group, p < .001. After receiver operating characteristic analysis, the area under curve was 0.97 (95% confidence interval: 0.941 to 0.989, p < .0001) at 11 µg/L cut-off level for NRP-1. Preliminary threshold values for NRP-1 in serum were assumed to serve as diagnostic parameters with sensitivity of 99.3% and specificity of 97.8%. Serum concentration of NRP-1 can be considered as a potentially good laboratory diagnostic, non-invasive marker for endometriosis.

Oxidative stress impact on growth hormone secretion in the eye.

AIM: To evaluate the influence of oxidative stress on extrapituitary growth hormone (GH) secretion in the eye and to analyze the interdependence between eye and serum GH levels under normal and hypoxic conditions. METHODS: Pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) was performed in 32 patients with developed proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and 49 non-diabetic controls, both of whom required this procedure as part of their regular treatment in the period from April 2013 to December 2014. During PPV, vitreous samples were taken and blood was simultaneously collected from the cubital vein. GH levels in serum and vitreous samples were measured by electrochemical luminescence assay. Oxidative stress was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) and lipid hydroperoxide (LPO) in serum and vitreous. RESULTS: Serum AOPP levels were significantly higher than vitreous levels in both groups (P<0.001 for each group) and LPO levels were significantly higher only in PDR group (P<0.001). There was a significant positive correlation between serum and vitreous LPO levels in PDR group (r=0.909; P<0.001). Serum GH levels were significantly higher than vitreous levels in both groups (P<0.001 for each group). Serum GH levels were significantly higher in PDR group than in controls (P=0.012). Vitreous GH values were slightly higher in PDR group, but the difference was not significant. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that GH production in the eye is autonomous and independent of oxidative stress or pituitary GH influence.

Levels of selected oxidative stress markers in the vitreous and serum of diabetic retinopathy patients.

PURPOSE: In diabetes, an impaired antioxidant defense system contributes to the development of diabetic retinopathy. The main objective of this paper was to find correlations of oxidative stress parameters within and between the vitreous and serum in patients with type 2 diabetes who had developed proliferative diabetic retinopathy. METHODS: The study included and compared two groups of patients who underwent vitrectomy: 37 patients with type 2 diabetes and proliferative retinopathy (PDR), and 50 patients with non-diabetic eye disorders (NDED). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), advanced oxidized protein product (AOPP), and oxidative stress markers (direct lipid hydroperoxidation (LPO), malondialdehyde (MDA), total superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione (GSH)) were measured in the vitreous and serum of both groups and correlated with one another, between humoral compartments and with gender, age, and serum glucose levels. RESULTS: In the vitreous of PDR patients, VEGF, LPO, and MDA (p<0.05) were increased and SOD values were slightly lowered (p<0.05) than in NDED patients. Vitreous AOPP and GSH showed no differences between the groups. In the serum, AOPP, MDA, and SOD were increased (p<0.05) and VEGF was slightly increased (p<0.05) in the PDR group compared to NDED. With regard to gender, similar changes were recorded for both groups, except for the lower serum MDA in males than females in the NDED group. Advanced age showed no significant effect on changes of measured parameters in the vitreous. In the serum, VEGF was positively correlated (p<0.05) and MDA and SOD negatively correlated (p<0.05) with increasing age. Among measured parameters within and between the vitreous and serum, several correlative links occurred in the PDR group that were not present in the NDED group. The most prominent correlation changes were between serum LPO and vitreal LPO, serum SOD and vitreal LPO, serum LPO and serum SOD, and vitreal VEGF and serum SOD. CONCLUSIONS: Among the selected oxidative stress markers, SOD and LPO were highly correlative in both the vitreous and serum in PDR compared to patients without metabolic disorders. Their correlations suggested that monitoring their mutual alterations might be informative during PDR development and should be considered in further research.