The role of oxidative stress in chemotherapy-induced gonadotoxicity in a rat model, and the protective effects of Nigella Sativa oil on oxidative stress, the anti-Müllerian hormone level, and apoptosis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the role of oxidative stress (OS) in carboplatin-induced gonadotoxicity and whether Nigella Sativa oil (NSO), an herbal antioxidant, has a protective effect on ovarian apoptosis, OS, and the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level in a rat model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 24 adult female rats that were divided into 4 treatment groups. Group A saline + saline (sham group); group B: NSO + saline; group C: saline + carboplatin; group D: NSO + carboplatin. Saline, NSO, and carboplatin were administered intraperitoneally 24 and/or 48 h before sacrification as 4 mL/kg, 4 mL/kg, and 80 mg/kg, respectively. Apoptosis, OS parameters, and AMH were measured. RESULTS: Oxidant levels and apoptosis were higher, whereas AMH and the antioxidants were lower in group C than in group A. Apoptosis, OS parameters, and AMH levels were negatively affected by chemotherapy (CTx) in group C whilst improvement in those parameters was observed in group D following NSO pretreatment. The levels of apoptosis and malondialdehyde (MDA), an OS parameter, in group D were lower than in group C as they declined from 34.3% to 8.65% (p = 0.002) and from 199.4 nmol/g tissue to 136.4 nmol/g tissue (p = 0.002), respectively. However, the slight increase in AMH level from 2.7 ng/mL to 3.5 ng/mL due to the NSO effect was not significant between groups C and D. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings show that carboplatin has adverse effects on AMH, ovarian tissue apoptosis, and OS parameters. NSO pretreatment might protect ovarian tissue and decrease CTx-induced ovarian injury by decreasing OS and apoptosis, but the protective effect of NSO on AMH is limited.

Is the 2009 FIGO staging system really valuable for stage I endometrial cancer?

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the survival predictive values of the 1988 and 2009 FIGO staging systems for the staging of patients with early-stage endometrioid type endometrial cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred twenty-four patients treated for endometrial cancer from 1996 to 2006 at Ankara Oncology Education and Research Hospital were staged according to the two staging systems. Early-stage patients with a histological diagnosis of endometrioid adenocarcinoma were included in the study. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis. RESULTS: The charts of 224 patients treated for endometrial cancer were retrospectively evaluated. The five-year overall survival (OS) for Stage IA and IB cases was 100% (n = 19) and 96.2% (n = 79), respectively, with no significant difference between the OS values (p = 0.126) with the FIGO 1988 system and 96,4% (n = 112) and 87.5% (n = 48), respectively with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.05) with the FIGO 2009 system. CONCLUSION: The authors found that the survival prognostic value of the 2009 FIGO staging system was more effective than the 1988 FIGO staging system for cases with early-stage endometrioid type endometrial cancer.

The effect of posterior vitreous detachment on the prognosis of branch retinal vein occlusion.

PURPOSE: Two important complications causing visual loss in retinal branch vein occlusions are vitreous hemorrhage due to retinal neovascularization and persistent macular edema. The aim of this study was to identify the effect of the total posterior vitreous detachment on the disease prognosis. METHODS: Fifty-three patients with temporal branch vein obstruction were followed for eighteen months on average. The vitreous conditions of all patients were established, and the effect on persistent macular edema and retinal neovascularization development was statistically investigated. RESULTS: This prospective study shows that total posterior vitreous detachment has a clear preventive effect on both complications. CONCLUSION: Careful vitreous examinations of all patients with branch retinal vein occlusion give us important information about the prognosis and patient management.

Histopathological and ultrastructural examination of the rat conjunctiva after exposure to tobacco smoke.

Exposure to tobacco smoke can cause irritation of the conjunctiva. We conducted this study to identify the effect of tobacco on rat conjunctiva. Animals were divided into experimental and control groups and we exposed the experimental group to tobacco smoke. Control group rats inhaled only room air. Spectrophotometric analysis of the smoke-air mixture revealed that many toxic substances were present in this compound. We found very high levels of plasma thiocyanate after exposure to smoke in experimental group animals but no increase in the control group. So, this data indicates that these animals inhaled smoke effectively in our method. After 3 months conjunctivas were examined by light and electron microscopy. In the experimental group, conjunctivas were thinned, atrophied and microvillous projections and desmosomal connections were absent in comparison with the control conjunctivas. This pathologic change is very similar to conjunctival response to chronic irritants of any type.

Comparison of T helper/T suppressor ratios in aqueous humor and blood samples by flow cytometric analysis.

This study investigates the T lymphocyte role in the production of the specific immunosuppressive environment that occupies the anterior segment of the eye. Aqueous and peripheral venous blood samples were taken from 23 patients who were operated because of senile cataract. In all samples, T helper/T suppressor ratios were established and differences between aqueous and blood samples were investigated by t statistic and Mann-Whitney U test. We found significantly more T suppressor cell activity in aqueous humor than in peripheral blood (p < 0.05). We think that high T suppressor concentration in aqueous humor plays an important role in the induction of the immunosuppressive microenvironment that occupies the anterior chamber of the eye.

Hepatitis B surface antigen in tears and aqueous humor. A comparative study of serum hepatitis B surface antigen levels.

Tear samples of 20 patients who were determined to have positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) after an acute hepatitis B infection and aqueous humor samples of 10 patients who were HBsAg carriers were tested for HBsAg, and the results obtained for serum and these fluids were compared. In 85% of the 20 patients who were HBsAg positive, HBsAg was found to be positive in tear samples. In 50% of the other 10 patients in aqueous humor was also found to be HBsAg positive. Our findings show that tears and aqueous humor are important in the spreading of hepatitis B infections.