Glioblastoma multiforme influence on the elemental homeostasis of the distant organs: the results of inter-comparison study carried out with TXRF method.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumor which invades the nearby brain tissue but generally does not spread to the distant organs. Nonetheless, if untreated, GBM can result in patient death in time even less than few months from the diagnosis. The influence of the tumor progress on organs other than brain is obvious but still not well described. Therefore, we examined the elemental abnormalities appearing in selected body organs (kidney, heart, spleen, lung) in two rat models of GBM. The animals used for the study were subjected to the implantation of human GBM cell lines (U87MG and T98G) characterized by different levels of invasiveness. The elemental analysis of digested organ samples was carried out using the total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) method, independently, in three European laboratories utilizing various commercially available TXRF spectrometers. The comparison of the data obtained for animals subjected to T98G and U87MG cells implantation showed a number of elemental anomalies in the examined organs. What is more, the abnormalities were found for rats even if neoplastic tumor did not develop in their brains. The most of alterations for both experimental groups were noted in the spleen and lungs, with the direction of the found element changes in these organs being the opposite. The observed disorders of element homeostasis may result from many processes occurring in the animal body as a result of implantation of cancer cells or the development of GBM, including inflammation, anemia of chronic disease or changes in iron metabolism. Tumor induced changes in organ elemental composition detected in cooperating laboratories were usually in a good agreement. In case of elements with higher atomic numbers (Fe, Cu, Zn and Se), 88% of the results were classified as fully compliant. Some discrepancies between the laboratories were found for lighter elements (P, S, K and Ca). However, also in this case, the obtained results fulfilled the requirements of full (the results from three laboratories were in agreement) or partial agreement (the results from two laboratories were in agreement).

Study of chromium, selenium and bromine concentrations in blood serum of patients with parenteral nutrition treatment using total reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis.

Total reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis (TXRF) was used to determine chromium, selenium and bromine concentrations in blood serum samples of 50 patients with parenteral nutrition treatment. The concentrations were measured two times, namely in the first day (I measurement) of the treatment and the seventh day (II measurement) after the chromium and selenium supplementation. For comparison purposes also serum samples of 50 patients without nutritional disorders, admitted to a planned surgical procedure to remove the gall bladder (cholecystectomy), were analyzed and treated as the control group. Descriptive statistics of measured concentrations of Cr, Se and Br both for the studied and control groups was determined. In order to check the effectiveness of Cr and Se supplementation, the results of the first and seventh day measurements for studied group were statistically compared with each other, with literature reference values and with the results of the control group (two-group comparison). These comparisons indicate the effectiveness of selenium supplementation in the applied treatment procedure. In the case of Cr and Br concentrations no statistically significant differences were observed. We conclude that monitoring of the concentration of the important trace elements in human serum should be standard procedure in parenteral nutrition treatment. In this monitoring the TXRF technique can be successfully used.

Analysis of copper concentration in human serum by application of total reflection X-ray fluorescence method.

The chemotherapy and photon radiotherapy are the most often applied methods in treatment of the cancer diseases because of their effectiveness and high cure rates. Apart from eligible destruction of the tumour, one of the side effects of these treatment methods is possible modification of main and trace element concentration in different human tissues and fluids. In this paper, the copper (Cu) level in human serum was determined by total reflection X-ray fluorescence method in 142 chemotherapy patients and in 44 healthy persons being a control group. The Cu concentration in the chemotherapy group was found to be on the level 1.78 ± 0.909 mg/L, while in the control group, it was 1.08 ± 0.551 mg/L. Performed measurements allowed for calculation of the parameters of copper concentration distribution (mean value, standard deviation, median) for both analysed groups. The theoretical nature of the concentration distribution was tested and found as a log-normal distribution (control group) and a log-stable distribution (chemotherapy group). The copper concentration distributions for both studied group were statistically compared using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and the conclusion was that the distributions are statistically different. Serum Cu levels were significantly higher in the chemotherapy group than in the control group. Taking into account the results for the control group, the copper concentration reference quantile ranges in human serum were obtained. The values of the mean, median and other quantiles determined in this case can be applied in two-group comparison studies. The obtained results can be used as a diagnostic tool for chemotherapy patients.