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We would like to present a case report of a very unusual suicide attempt. A 48-year-old female patient tried to commit suicide by stabbing herself with a kitchen knife into her neck. Suicide by self-stabbing is uncommon, constituting only 1-3% of suicide attempts. Patients with self-inflicted stab wounds may have a higher incidence of surgical interventions based on the stab location. Surprisingly, the mortality associated with this kind of wound is low. Most medical centers have very limited experience with this infrequent injury. There are only a few case reports and small series published in the literature of the subject.
RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Oxidative stress appears to play an essential role as a secondary messenger in such physiological processes as apoptosis and survival as well as in proliferative signaling pathways. Oxidative damage is also considered to play a pivotal role in ageing, several degenerative diseases, and carcinogenesis. Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer, resulting in over 1.3 million deaths each year worldwide. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the activity of selected antioxidative enzymes in patients with lung cancer before and after radical surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 20 patients in the study group and 10 healthy volunteers in the control group. In the study group, blood samples were collected twice: one day before and one day after the operation. In the control group, blood samples were collected once. We estimated the activity of catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in erythrocytes. The total antioxidant status in blood plasma was also determined. RESULTS: The activity of the selected antioxidative enzymes was greater in the case of GPX and CAT after surgery; the results were statistically significant in the study group. The activity of SOD remained at a comparable level. The total antioxidant status also increased after surgery in the study group in comparison to its preoperative level.
