Evaluation of elevated urinary enolase I levels in patients with endometriosis.

Objective: The aim of this study is to validate and investigate the clinical value of urinary enolase I in patients with endometriosis.

Methods: Urine samples of 39 patients with histologically confirmed endometriosis and 20 patients without endometriosis were collected. Western blot analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to detect the increase of enolase I in patients' urine.

Kisspeptin, leptin, and retinol-binding protein 4 in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objectives: To compare plasma kisspeptin, serum leptin, and serum retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) levels in women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and to correlate these among each other and with clinical, hormonal, and metabolic parameters.

Methods: Ninety women, including 54 women with PCOS and 36 without PCOS, participated in this study. For all patients, history and physical examinations were performed and blood samples were collected between days 3 and 8 of a spontaneous bleeding episode in the PCOS group and during normal menses of controls.

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its soluble receptor-1 in endometriosis.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its soluble receptor (sFlt-1) in peritoneal fluid (PF), peritoneal endometriotic lesions and eutopic endometrial tissues of patients with endometriosis. Peritoneal fluid, peritoneal endometriotic lesions and eutopic endometrial samples from patients with endometriosis, and peritoneal fluid, peritoneal tissue and endometrial samples from patients without endometriosis were obtained during an operative laparoscopy. The mean PF concentrations of VEGF and sFlt-1 were significantly higher in patients with endometriosis than in the controls.

Urinary vitamin D-binding protein is elevated in patients with endometriosis.

Background: Recently, proteomic technologies have demonstrated that several proteins are differently expressed in various body fluids of patients with endometriosis compared with those without this condition. The aim of this study was to investigate proteins secreted in urine of patients with endometriosis using proteomic techniques in order to identify potential markers for the clinical diagnosis of endometriosis.

Methods: Urine samples were collected from women undergoing laparoscopy for different indications including pelvic masses, pelvic pain, suspicious endometriosis, infertility and diagnostic evaluation.

Usefulness of MS-MLPA for detection of MGMT promoter methylation in the evaluation of pseudoprogression in glioblastoma patients.

Pseudoprogression is a major diagnostic dilemma in current treatment protocols for malignant gliomas that involve concurrent chemoradiotherapy. We hypothesized that methylation-specific multiplex ligation probe amplification (MS-MLPA), an assay that permits semiquantitative evaluation of promoter methylation, may be used to diagnose pseudoprogression based on the quantification of the methylation status of the O(6)-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter. We examined the methylation ratio of the MGMT promoter with MS-MLPA in 48 samples from glioblastoma patients.

Gomisin N isolated from Schisandra chinensis significantly induces anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in hepatic carcinoma.

Lignans isolated from Schisandria chinensis have been prescribed as anti-cancer and anti-hepatitis treatments in Chinese medicine. To investigate the applications of lignans isolated from Schisandria chinensis in hepatic carcinoma therapy, their apoptotic ability was screened using a cell proliferation assay. Compared to the other lignans, gomisin N induced high apoptotic levels in hepatic carcinoma.

ERK activation induced by selenium treatment significantly downregulates beta/gamma-secretase activity and Tau phosphorylation in the transgenic rat overexpressing human selenoprotein M.

Selenium reportedly contribute to the modulation process of protein phosphorylation to regulate various cellular functions including growth, differentiation, proliferation and development. The aim of this study was to investigate whether selenium and Selenoprotein M (SelM) affects the mechanism of Alzheimer's disease. To achieve this, we determined the change of the MAPK pathway, secretase activity, and Tau phosphorylation in the transgenic rat overexpressing human selenoprotein M.

Overexpression of human selenoprotein M differentially regulates the concentrations of antioxidants and H2O2, the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and the composition of white blood cells in a transgenic rat.

Selenoprotein is associated with a variety of serious diseases, including infectious diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer and cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to produce a new transgenic (Tg) rat expressing human selenoprotein M (SelM) in order to examine the protective function of the antioxidant status in vivo. To achieve this, a new lineage of Tg rats was produced by the microinjection of pCMV/GFP-hSelM constructs into a fertilized rat egg.