Circulating fetuin-A in patients with pancreatic cancer: a hospital-based case-control study.

Context: A proteomic analysis has proposed fetuin-A (alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein) as a new potential marker for pancreatic cancer (PC).

Objective: Circulating fetuin-A levels in patients with PC.

Methods: Serum fetuin-A was measured in 81 cases with PC and 81 matched controls before the initiation of any treatment.

Higher fetuin-A, lower adiponectin and free leptin levels mediate effects of excess body weight on insulin resistance and risk for myelodysplastic syndrome.

Objective: Excess body weight has been implicated in the pathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). We thus explored the role of serum fetuin-A reflecting ectopic hepatic fat deposition when storage capacity of adipocytes has been exceeded, free leptin reflecting overall fat mass and adiponectin reflecting visceral fat mass, all potential mediators of the effects of obesity on insulin resistance and, consequently, to MDS risk.

Materials & Methods: In a hospital-based case-control study, we studied 101 cases with incident, histologically confirmed primary MDS and 101 controls matched on gender, age and date of diagnosis, between 2004 and 2007.

Serum levels of ischemia modified albumin in overweight/obese postmenopausal women: a potential biomarker of atherosclerotic burden associated with oxidative stress.

Objective: Menopause is associated with weight gain and an increase of cardiovascular risk. The aim of the present study was to estimate serum ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) levels in postmenopausal women and evaluate their association with body mass index (BMI) and coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: The study included 130 non-smoker postmenopausal women aged 43-80: 40 with BMI 26-32 kg/m(2) (Group A), 60 with BMI 21-25 kg/m(2) (Group B), and 30 with documented CAD and BMI 23-29 kg/m(2) (Group C).

Platelet markers correlate with glycemic indices in diabetic, but not diabetic-myelodysplastic patients with normal platelet count.

Background: Altered thrombocyte morphology and function have been reported in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) type 2. The aim of the present study was to determine the associations between platelet morphology markers and hemoglobin A1C (HbA(1c)), fasting glucose (FG), hypertension and coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and DM, in patients with DM and in controls.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 30 cases with primary MDS with normal platelet count and non-insulin dependent diabetes, 30 non-insulin dependent diabetic patients and 30 non-diabetic, non-MDS controls matched on age and gender.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia risk in association with serum leptin and adiponectin: a case-control study in Greece.

Aim: Leptin and adiponectin are two well-studied adipokines in relation to malignancies. In this study, we examined the association between leptin/adiponectin and risk of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), as well as the relationships between adipokines and several established prognostic factors of B-CLL.

Methods: Ninety-five patients with incident B-CLL and 95 hospital controls matched on age and gender were studied between 2001 and 2007, and blood samples were collected.

Ischemia modified albumin, high-sensitivity c-reactive protein and natriuretic peptide in patients with coronary atherosclerosis.

Background: Ischemia modified albumin (IMA), is a new biomarker of oxidative processes involved with coronary artery disease (CAD). We determined serum IMA, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and evaluated their correlation with severity of coronary atherosclerosis in patients undergoing coronary angiography (CA). Cardiac troponin T (cTnT), CK-MB mass, albumin and Total Antioxidant Status (TAS) were also evaluated.

Pancreatic cancer expresses adiponectin receptors and is associated with hypoleptinemia and hyperadiponectinemia: a case-control study.

Obesity and insulin resistance have been implicated in the etiology of pancreatic cancer (PC). Whether adiponectin and/or leptin, two adipocyte-secreted hormones important in metabolic regulation, are associated with PC pathogenesis and whether adiponectin receptors are expressed in PC remains unknown. In a hospital-based case-control study, we studied 81 cases with incident, histologically confirmed PC and 81 controls matched on gender and age between 2000 and 2007 to investigate the role of adiponectin and leptin adjusting for risk factors linked to PC.

Adiponectin and resistin are associated with risk for myelodysplastic syndrome, independently from the insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) system.

Aim: Obesity has been implicated in the aetiology of myelogenous leukaemia and myelodysplasia (MDS). We hypothesised that altered secretion of adiponectin and resistin may underlie this association. We thus investigated the role of both total and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin and resistin in MDS.

Leptin, soluble leptin receptor, adiponectin and resistin in relation to OGTT in overweight/obese postmenopausal women.

Objective: In obese postmenopausal women with normal glucose metabolism (NGT) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) we assessed serum leptin, adiponectin, resistin, soluble leptin receptor (sOB-R) during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in order to investigate their response to acute changes in glucose and insulin in the abnormal glucose metabolism, as it is early detected by IGT.

Methods: Thirty in total, overweight/obese postmenopausal women, were included in the study: 15 with NGT and 15 with IGT as it was diagnosed by OGTT. Serum glucose and insulin levels were measured at 30 min intervals, leptin, sOB-R, adiponectin and resistin at 60 min intervals during the 120 min OGTT.

Circulating adiponectin and leptin in relation to myelodysplastic syndrome: a case-control study.

Objective: Adiponectin plays a protective role in several malignancies, including myeloblastic leukemia, whereas leptin may increase the proliferation of progenitor cells and may stimulate leukemic cell growth in vitro. We investigated the role of adiponectin and leptin levels in the etiopathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a preleukemic condition with increasing incidence which has recently been associated with obesity.

Methods: In a case-control study, 101 cases with incident, histologically confirmed primary MDS and 101 controls matched on gender and age were studied between 2004 and 2007, and blood samples were collected.

Serum oxidizability, total antioxidant status and albumin serum levels in patients with aneurysmal or arterial occlusive disease.

Objectives: Oxidative stress is involved in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. The aim of the present study was to estimate the extent of oxidative stress in patients with aneurysmal and arterial occlusive disease (AAOD) by analyzing the magnitude of serum oxidizability, total antioxidant status and serum antioxidants and to evaluate their potential clinical significance.

Design And Methods: The study was conducted on 47 patients with AAOD and 49 healthy individuals.

Is thyroid autoimmunity a risk factor for developing primary myelodysplastic syndrome?

Objective: Thyroid disease has been associated with leukemia and lymphoma. No previous study using clinical and laboratory data has explored whether thyroid disease and especially autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) is associated with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) risk. In this case-control study, we investigated the association of ATD with MDS.

Oxidized LDL, serum oxidizability and serum lipid levels in patients with breast or ovarian cancer.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of oxidative stress in patients with breast or ovarian cancer by analyzing the magnitude of serum oxidizability and the involvement of oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) in the disease.

Design And Methods: The study was conducted on 32 patients diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer but who had not undergone any kind of treatment and 30 healthy individuals of similar age. The evaluation of oxidative stress was assessed by: (a) the ex-vivo susceptibility of serum lipids to oxidation and (b) the detection of oxLDL and anti-oxLDL autoantibodies.

Correlation of nm23-H1 gene expression with clinical outcome in patients with advanced breast cancer.

Background: Conflicting results exist regarding the significance of the metastasis suppressor gene nm23-H1 in cancer patients. Initial results from a study done by our group were more indicative of its negative prognostic role in breast cancer. Our aim was to examine further its significance in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Clinical study on the serum carcinoembryonic antigen, CA 19-9, CA 50 and alpha-fetoprotein levels in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

The present study aimed to determine the serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA 19-9, CA 50 and alpha-fetoprotein (alpha-FP) levels between patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) at diagnosis and controls to clarify their potential clinical significance. A case-control investigation was conducted over a three year period, covering 95 MDS cases and 95 age- and gender-matched controls. Mean serum CEA levels were significantly higher (P = 0.

Presence of high-risk human papillomavirus sequences in breast cancer tissues and association with histopathological characteristics.

Objective: To examine the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in breast cancer tissues.

Design And Methods: Four different PCR methods for detection and verification of genital HPVs were applied in frozen breast cancer specimens. Tumors were also evaluated for various histopathological parameters.

Circulating oxidized low density lipoprotein, autoantibodies against them and homocysteine serum levels in diagnosis and estimation of severity of coronary artery disease.

The oxidative hypothesis of atherosclerosis proposes that oxidative modification of low density lipoprotein (LDL) plays a critical role in atherogenesis. The evaluation of LDL oxidation in vivo is therefore very important. However, data concerning the evaluation of the above biochemical marker is very limited in clinical practice.

Association of hyperandrogenemic and metabolic phenotype with carotid intima-media thickness in young women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common endocrinopathy of women of reproductive age, is associated with the early appearance of multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus. However, premature atherosclerosis of the carotid artery has not yet been demonstrated in young women with PCOS. Measurement of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) is considered an easy and reliable index of subclinical atherosclerosis, which is predictive of subsequent myocardial infarction and stroke.

The significance of oxidant/antioxidant balance for the pathogenesis of experimental sepsis by multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Objective: The significance of lipid peroxidation as an independent factor leading to sepsis by multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Design experimental study.

Methods: Twenty-six rabbits were applied.

Experimental sepsis using Pseudomonas aeruginosa: the significance of multi-drug resistance.

In order to clarify whether susceptible and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa differ in the mechanism of induction of sepsis, three different isolates were used; one susceptible (isolate A) and two (isolates B and C) multidrug-resistant. Isolate B had moderately elevated MICs of antipseudomonal antimicrobials and isolate C highly elevated MICs. Each isolate was infused by a catheter inserted into the right jugular vein of six rabbits.

Rapid alterations of serum fatty acids with the intravenous administration of an arachidonate solution.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been shown to possess a considerable anti-tumor and anti-bacterial effect in vitro. In an attempt to achieve serum concentrations of these acids similar to those applied in vitro, a solution of ethyl ester of arachidonic acid (AA) was administered intravenously at 25 mg/kg within 10 min in six male rabbits. Blood samples were collected before and 60 min after infusion from catheters inserted in the hepatic veins and in the carotid artery.

Lipid peroxidation in chronic gastritis; any influence of Helicobacter pylori?

In an attempt to investigate the significance of lipid peroxidation in the pathogenesis of gastritis associated with or without Helicobacter pylori infection, malonodialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured by the thiobarbiturate assay in the gastric juice of 101 patients undergoing upper GI endoscopy and correlated with histopathological findings. Elevated MDA levels were found in all patients with gastritis compared with controls. MDA levels were significantly correlated with the extent of the mucosal inflammation and with disease activity in patients with reactive gastritis.

Ex vivo synergy of arachidonate-enriched serum with ceftazidime and amikacin on multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Three multidrug-resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were incubated ex vivo with sera sampled after a 10 min intravenous infusion of 25 mg/kg of arachidonic acid (AA) in 10 rabbits in the presence of ceftazidime and amikacin. Lipid peroxidation was assessed during bacterial growth. A statistically significant decrease in bacterial cells was found by the interaction of antimicrobials and serum sampled in the middle of infusion and 15 and 30 min after infusion of AA and was accompanied by elevated levels of malonodialdehyde.