Acute effects of smoking of cigarettes with different tar content on plasma oxidant/antioxidant status.

In this study, acute effects of two different types of cigarette smoking on plasma oxidant/antioxidant status were investigated. For this purpose, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and antioxidant potential (AOP) values were measured in the plasma samples before and after cigarette smoking at fasting. After the first blood sample was obtained, second and third samples were withdrawn at 1.5 h and 3 h. In the first group, subjects smoked five cigarettes with full flavor (FF), and in the second group, five cigarettes with full-flavor low tar (FFLT). Quality classification is made mainly on the basis of tar content of the products. The cigarette with 23 mg tar is defined as FF and that with 12 mg tar as FFLT. MDA level was found to be significantly increased in the 1.5-h plasma samples of both groups, but the increase was greater in the FF group. AOP values, however, were found to be lower in the 3-h plasma samples of both groups, but the decrease was greater in the FF group compared with the FFLT group. It appears that acute smoking causes oxidant stress in blood plasma once exposed to smoke, and then this effect (MDA) begins to decrease. On the other hand, AOP is lowered due to oxidant stress created by smoke. With regard to the types of cigarettes, the FF product seems to be more oxidant than the FFLT product. Our results suggest that antioxidant supplementation might be beneficial for the smokers to cope with the oxidant load derived from cigarette smoke. It is also clearly seen from these results that cigarette manufacturers should reduce tar/nicotine ratio in their products in order to lessen the toxic effects of smoking without causing increased need to smoke.

Adenosine deaminase and guanosine deaminase activities in sera of patients with viral hepatitis.

In order to investigate purin and primidin metabolism pathways in hepatitis, adenosine deaminase (ADA) and guanosine deaminase (GDA) activities in sera of patients with different types and manifestations of viral hepatitis disease (A, B, C, D, E, chronic, acute) were investigated and compared with the control group of healthy individuals. Hepatitis cases were classified with respect to their serological findings and clinics. When compared all the hepatitis cases with the controls, levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase enzymes, as well as ADA and GDA, were significantly higher than the control group (p<0.01). Levels of ADA and GDA in hepatitis cases were determined as 26.07 11.98 IU/l and 2.37 1.91 IU/l, respectively. When compared their ADA and GDA levels amongst the classified hepatitis groups, there was no difference in ADA levels amongst cases (p>0.05). However, GDA levels in hepatitis A group were closed to the controls. Increase in serum ADA activities in hepatitis forms may be dependent on and reflect the increase in phagocytic activity of macrophages and maturation of T-lymphocytes, and may be valuable in monitoring in viral hepatitis cases.

The development and validation of a competitive, microtiter plate enzymeimmunoassay for human albumin in urine.

We have described a fast, simple and sensitive microtiter scale, solid phase, competitive enzymeimmunoassay (EIA) for the determination of urinary albumin. The albumin used in the test system was purified by the combination of PEG precipitation and DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. In this EIA, microtiter plates were coated with rabbit antihuman albumin IgG, and incubated with HRP-albumin conjugate with either sample or standards. O-phenylenediamine (OPD) and H2O2 solution was used as substrate for HRP. Results obtained correlate well (r = 0.994) with those of an in-house RIA in which same antibody and standards were used as in EIA. The present assay covers the range of 0.5 to 10 mg/L and can be performed in 2 hours. The detection limit was 0.15 mg/L of albumin. Within-assay coefficient of variation was 8.1% and 6.6% and between-assay variation was 10.6% and 8.6% at 1.25 and 2.5 mg/L respectively.