Changes In Biological Markers Research Articles

Association between biological markers and somatic pain

Pain, as one of the major clinical and social problems, still lacks effective objective evaluation indicators. At present, nearly one in five adults suffer from different types and different parts of pain. An important feature of clinical pain is persistent pain, in addition to sensory discrimination processes, it involves a range of brain regions involved in top-down cognitive and emotional processing. However, clinical pain is often affected by multiple factors and is difficult to assess objectively. Recently, blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, and biopsy tissue have been identified using novel, sensitive, and specific protein analysis methods in an attempt to detect changes in biological markers associated with different pain types. This paper will summarize the biological markers related to different parts of pain in the latest relevant studies at home and abroad and focus on the application prospect of such biological markers in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis evaluation of the pain.

Sleep Disturbance as a Predictor of Accelerated Human Aging

Introduction. One of the main predictors of aging is sleep disturbance, the study of the role of which in the development of the accelerated aging process is recognized as an urgent problem for the medical community.The aim of the work is to analyze modern data on age-related aspects of sleep status and describe known markers of early aging associated with somnological disorders.Materials and methods. The search and selection of literary sources was carried out in the databases PubMed, eLibrary, CyberLeninka, Google Scholar. Search depth — 17 years, from 2007 to 2024. The total number of publications included in the review was 80.Results and discussion. Aging refers to a general pathological process that affects all human physiological systems. Differences between the terms biological and chronobiological age are established. The role of somnological disorders in the accelerated aging process has been determined. It has been established that as age increases, changes in the electrophysiological pattern of sleep are observed. It was found that changes in biological markers of aging are positively correlated with sleep disturbance. The importance of neuroimaging methods in determining the accelerated rate of aging in people with sleep disorders is shown.Conclusion. Sleep disturbance is defined as a significant indicator of accelerated aging of the body. Further research into changes in the structure and quality of sleep may change the understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms of aging and contribute to the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in the field of anti-aging medicine.

Changes in biological markers during and after percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Changes in biological markers during and after percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Phytochemical, Antidiabetic, Antioxidant, Antibacterial, Acute and Sub-Chronic Toxicity of Moroccan Arbutus unedo Leaves.

Moroccan Arbutus unedo is an essential medicinal plant; however, little is known about the biological properties of its leaves mentioned in Moroccan traditional medicine. Various standard experiments were performed to evaluate the phytochemical, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antibacterial, and acute and sub-chronic toxicity characteristics of A. unedo leaves. Phytochemical screening led to the identification of several phytochemical classes, including tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids, and anthraquinones, with high concentrations of polyphenols (31.83 ± 0.29 mg GAEs/g extract) and flavonoids (16.66 ± 1.47 mg REs/g extract). Further, the mineral analysis revealed high levels of calcium and potassium. A. unedo extract demonstrated significant antioxidant and anti-diabetic activities by inhibiting α-amylase (1.350 ± 0.32 g/mL) and α-glucosidase (0.099 ± 1.21 g/mL) compared to the reference drug Acarbose. Also, the methanolic extract of the plant exhibited significantly higher antibacterial activity than the aqueous extract. Precisely, three of the four examined bacterial strains exhibited substantial susceptibility to the methanolic extract . Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC)/minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values indicated that A. unedo harbor abundant bactericidal compounds. For toxicological studies, mice were administered with A. unedo aqueous extract at single doses of 2,000 and 5,000 mg/kg. They did not exhibit significant abnormal behavior, toxic symptoms, or death during the 14-day acute toxicity test and the 90-day sub-chronic toxicity test periods. The general behavior, body weight, and hematological and biochemical status of the rats were assessed, revealing no toxicological symptoms or clinically significant changes in biological markers observed in the mice models, except hypoglycemia, after 90 days of daily dose administration. The study highlighted several biological advantages of A. unedo leaves without toxic effects in short-term application. Our findings suggest that conducting more comprehensive and extensive in vivo investigations is of utmost importance to identify molecules that can be formulated into pharmaceuticals in the future.

Psycho-neuro-biological Correlates of Beta Activity

Chronic stress and anxiety in everyday life can lead to sympathetic hyperactivity. This can be observed as behavioral, chemical, and neurological changes, including increased rumination, anxiety, and depression, and chemical changes in biological markers like homocysteine. In the EEG, increased beta (13–30 Hz) wave activity, especially high beta (> 20 Hz) has long been noted in anxiety states. However, recent research indicates that low beta waves (13–20 Hz) may play a role as well. The current paper presents a pilot study that assessed the Neurocycle’s efficacy as a nonpharmacological mind-management therapy for people who struggle with anxiety and depression. We assessed psychometrics, blood-serum homocysteine levels, and quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG). Efficacy of the Neurocycle was demonstrated by improved psychometric self-assessment over the study. We observed a positive correlation between subject’s low beta relative power and homocysteine levels. The findings validate the Neurocycle’s efficacy for improving mental health as measured by behavioral, chemical, and neurological measures. Altogether, these findings support low beta’s role in stress/anxiety manifestation given that its modulation significantly correlated with stress biomarkers in patients’ blood samples and stress and anxiety self-assessments. Future work should expand these findings with larger datasets to confirm the ranges of healthy and maladaptive low beta.

Plasma and fecal zonulin are not altered by a high green leafy vegetable dietary intervention: secondary analysis of a randomized control crossover trial

BackgroundZonulin is observed in animal models to regulate intestinal permeability and influenced by dietary intake, gut microbiota, and inflammation. We conducted a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled crossover trial (NCT03582306) in individuals with a BMI greater than 30 kg/m2 and high habitual red meat intake and low habitual green leafy vegetable (GLV) intake.MethodsParticipants were provided with frozen GLV during the first or last four weeks (immediate or delayed intervention) of the twelve-week trial. Biological and anthropometric measures were taken at the beginning and at each four-week interval. A subset of 20 participants was selected for this secondary analysis of the intestinal permeability and inflammation-related biomarkers: serum and fecal zonulin; serum lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP), Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein 1 (ORM-1), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and C-reactive protein; 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8OHdG) and plasma Vitamin K1 as a marker of protocol adherence. Nutrient and food group intake from two-24-h dietary recalls collected at each time point were assessed. Fecal microbiota was measured by 16 s rRNA PCR sequencing. Changes in biological markers, dietary factors, and microbial taxa were assessed with Wilcoxon Sign Ranks Tests. Exploratory analyses of the relationship between changes in outcome variables were conducted with Spearman correlations.ResultsNo changes in serum and fecal zonulin and serum LBP were observed. Plasma Vitamin K (p = 0.005) increased, while plasma 8OHdG (p = 0.023) decreased during the intervention compared to the control. The only dietary factors that changed significantly were increases during intervention in Vitamin K and Dark GLV (p < 0.001 for both) compared to control. Fecal microbiota did not change significantly across all times points; however, change in serum zonulin was associated with change in Proteobacteria (ρ = − 0.867, p = 0.001) in females and Bifidobacterium (ρ = − 0.838, p = 0.009) and Bacteroidaceae (ρ = 0.871, p = 0.005) in men.ConclusionsA high GLV dietary intervention increased serum zonulin levels and had no effect on fecal zonulin. Lack of concordance between several inflammation-associated biomarkers and zonulin corroborate recent reports of limited utility of zonulin in obese adults free of lower gastrointestinal disease.Trial Registration information: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03582306 (NCT03582306) registered on 07/11/2018.

Blood Biomarkers Variations across the Pre-Season and Interactions with Training Load: A Study in Professional Soccer Players.

Simple SummarySports training may impact the variations of biomarkers in soccer players. Twenty-five professional soccer players were assessed twice in the season for their hematology and biochemical status, while training loads were monitored over the season. Relationships between changes in biomarkers and accumulated training loads were tested. Results revealed that that intense training in the pre-season period leads to decreases and increases in different hematological and biochemical markers.Background: Pre-season training in soccer can induce changes in biological markers in the circulation. However, relationships between chosen hematological and biochemical blood parameters and training load have not been measured. Objective: Analyze the blood measures changes and their relationships with training loads changes after pre-season training. Methodology: Twenty-five professional soccer players were assessed by training load measures (derived from rate of perceived exertion- known as RPE) during the pre-season period. Additionally, blood samples were collected for hematological and biochemical analyses. Results: For hematological parameters, significant increases were found for platelets (PLT) (dif: 6.42; p = 0.006; d = −0.36), while significant decreases were found for absolute neutrophils count (ANC) (dif: −3.98; p = 0.006; d = 0.11), and absolute monocytes count (AMC) (dif: −16.98; p = 0.001; d = 0.78) after the pre-season period. For biochemical parameters, there were significant increases in creatinine (dif: 5.15; p = 0.001; d = −0.46), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (dif: 12.55; p = 0.001; d = −0.84), C-reactive protein (CRP) (dif: 15.15; p = 0.001; d = −0.67), cortisol (dif: 2.85; p = 0.001; d = −0.28), and testosterone (dif: 5.38; p = 0.001; d = −0.52), whereas there were significant decreases in calcium (dif: −1.31; p = 0.007; d =0.49) and calcium corrected (dif: −2.18; p = 0.015; d = 0.82) after the pre-season period. Moreover, the Hooper Index (dif: 13.22; p = 0.01; d = 0.78), and all derived RPE measures increased after pre-season period. Moderate-to-very large positive and negative correlations (r range: 0.50–0.73) were found between the training load and hematological measures percentage of changes. Moderate-to-large positive and negative correlations (r range: 0.50–0.60) were found between training load and biochemical measures percentage of changes. Conclusions: The results indicated heavy physical loads during the pre-season, leading to a decrease in immune functions. Given the significant relationships between blood and training load measures, monitoring hematological and biochemical measures allow coaches to minimize injury risk, overreaching, and overtraining.

Impacts of ambient air pollution on glucose metabolism in Korean adults: a Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey study

BackgroundExposure to air pollution was reported to affect glucose metabolism, increasing the risk of diabetes mellitus. We conducted an epidemiological study on glucose metabolism and air pollution by exploring the levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) with changes in ambient air quality, depending on the characteristics of the susceptible population.MethodsWe carried out a cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative sample of 10,014 adults (4267 in male and 5747 in female) from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2012 and 2013 along with data from the Korean Air Quality Forecasting System. The analysis was performed using a generalized linear model stratified by sex, age, and presence of diabetes. We assessed the changes in FBG and HbA1c associated with exposures to particulate matter (PM10), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) after controlling for confounders.ResultsThere were 1110 participants with diabetes (557 in male and 553 in female). Overall, the FBG level increased by 7.83 mg/dL (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.80–12.87) per interquartile range (IQR) increment of NO2, 5.32 mg/dL (95% CI: 1.22–9.41) per IQR increment of PM10 at a moving average of 0–6 days, and 4.69 mg/dL (95% CI: 0.48–8.91) per IQR increment of PM2.5 at a moving average of 0–5 days. HbA1c increased by 0.57% (95% CI: 0.04–1.09) per IQR increment of PM10 at a moving average of 0–60 days and 0.34% (95% CI: 0.04–0.63) per IQR increment of PM2.5 at a moving average of 0–75 days. The change in FBG and HbA1c increased more in the diabetic group, especially in males aged 65 years or more. There was a strong association between elevation in diabetes-related parameters and exposure to air pollution.ConclusionsOur study provides scientific evidence supporting that short- and mid-term exposure to air pollution is associated with changes in biological markers related to diabetes. This finding suggests that the impact of air pollution should be reflected in chronic disease management when establishing local health care policies.

Athlete Biological Passport: Need and Challenges

The Athlete Biological Passport programme was initiated in 2009 by the World Anti-Doping Agency for making the anti-doping programme more effective and stronger. There are three modules in this ABP programme: haematological, steroidal and endocrinological. Currently, the first two modules have been implemented. The newer products such as recombinant human erythropoietin, recombinant proteins, and peptides are similar to those produced naturally. Hence, detection of these substances even with advanced techniques is difficult. Therefore, the concept of ABP came into existence which is based on longitudinal monitoring of biological markers and their variations over a period of time. The ABP does not rely upon the detection of a particular prohibited substance but it reflects the changes in biological markers collated over an athlete's career. Hence, athletes can be monitored through constant interpretation of the passport data. There are many advantages with the implementation of this programme; however, there are various issues which may lead to false interpretation of passport data that must be taken into consideration.

Detection of post-vaccination enhanced dengue virus infection in macaques: An improved model for early assessment of dengue vaccines.

The need for improved dengue vaccines remains since the only licensed vaccine, Dengvaxia, shows variable efficacy depending on the infecting dengue virus (DENV) type, and increases the risk of hospitalization for severe dengue in children not exposed to DENV before vaccination. Here, we developed a tetravalent dengue purified and inactivated vaccine (DPIV) candidate and characterized, in rhesus macaques, its immunogenicity and efficacy to control DENV infection by analyzing, after challenge, both viral replication and changes in biological markers associated with dengue in humans. Although DPIV elicited cross-type and long-lasting DENV-neutralizing antibody responses, it failed to control DENV infection. Increased levels of viremia/RNAemia (correlating with serum capacity at enhancing DENV infection in vitro), AST, IL-10, IL-18 and IFN-γ, and decreased levels of IL-12 were detected in some vaccinated compared to non-vaccinated monkeys, indicating the vaccination may have triggered antibody-dependent enhancement of DENV infection. The dengue macaque model has been considered imperfect due to the lack of DENV-associated clinical signs. However, here we show that post-vaccination enhanced DENV infection can be detected in this model when integrating several parameters, including characterization of DENV-enhancing antibodies, viremia/RNAemia, and biomarkers relevant to dengue in humans. This improved dengue macaque model may be crucial for early assessment of efficacy and safety of future dengue vaccines.

Prognostic value of magnetic resonance spectroscopy in patients with diffuse axonal injury: a systematic literature review

Introduction: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is an imaging technique that provides spectroscopic information about changes in biological markers. Studies suggest that MRS can be helpful in determining the prognosis of patients with diffuse axonal injury (DAI).Methods: The PubMed and Scopus databases were systematically searched in June 2015 using following search strategy: (“Magnetic resonance spectroscopy” OR MRS OR “MR spectroscopy”) AND [(“Diffuse axonal injury” OR DAI] AND Prognosis) to find relevant articles in which the prognostic value of MRS had been investigated in patients with traumatic DAI. All relevant information was extracted from the identified articles and used to synthesize the data for the purpose of this study.Result: In total, 19 articles were found in PubMed and 151 in Scopus. Of these, eight documents were selected for further data extraction following the application of the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The total number of patients who participated in the research studies described in the selected documents was 197. All of the selected documents showed that MRS can be used to quantitatively assess metabolite changes in patients with DAI.Discussion: The results of the studies indicate that MRS imaging as a sensitive method can quantitatively determine even small variations in metabolites. Any changes in the metabolite level of the brain after traumatic injury may be a useful predictor of a patient’s outcome; therefore, if the sensitivity of MRS is proven, this method can have prognostic value when employed with patients with DAI.Conclusion: Based on the results of this systematic review, MRS is a sensitive tool that is helpful in determining the prognosis of patients with DAI.

An Assessment of the Spatial and Temporal Variability of Biological Responses to Municipal Wastewater Effluent in Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) Collected along an Urban Gradient.

Municipal wastewater effluent (MWWE) and its constituents, such as chemicals of emerging concern, pose a potential threat to the sustainability of fish populations by disrupting key endocrine functions in aquatic organisms. While studies have demonstrated changes in biological markers of exposure of aquatic organisms to groups of chemicals of emerging concern, the variability of these markers over time has not been sufficiently described in wild fish species. The aim of this study was to assess the spatial and temporal variability of biological markers in response to MWWE exposure and to test the consistency of these responses between seasons and among years. Rainbow darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) were collected in spring and fall seasons over a 5-year period in the Grand River, Ontario, Canada. In addition to surface water chemistry (nutrients and selected pharmaceuticals), measures were taken across levels of biological organization in rainbow darter. The measurements of hormone production, gonad development, and intersex severity were temporally consistent and suggested impaired reproduction in male fish collected downstream of MWWE outfalls. In contrast, ovarian development and hormone production in females appeared to be influenced more by urbanization than MWWE. Measures of gene expression and somatic indices were highly variable between sites and years, respectively, and were inconclusive in terms of the impacts of MWWE overall. Robust biomonitoring programs must consider these factors in both the design and interpretation of results, especially when spatial and temporal sampling of biological endpoints is limited. Assessing the effects of contaminants and other stressors on fish in watersheds would be greatly enhanced by an approach that considers natural variability in the endpoints being measured.

Detecting Clinically Meaningful Biomarkers with Repeated Measurements: An Illustration with Electronic Health Records

Data sources with repeated measurements are an appealing resource to understand the relationship between changes in biological markers and risk of a clinical event. While longitudinal data present opportunities to observe changing risk over time, these analyses can be complicated if the measurement of clinical metrics is sparse and/or irregular, making typical statistical methods unsuitable. In this article, we use electronic health record (EHR) data as an example to present an analytic procedure to both create an analytic sample and analyze the data to detect clinically meaningful markers of acute myocardial infarction (MI). Using an EHR from a large national dialysis organization we abstracted the records of 64,318 individuals and identified 4769 people that had an MI during the study period. We describe a nested case-control design to sample appropriate controls and an analytic approach using regression splines. Fitting a mixed-model with truncated power splines we perform a series of goodness-of-fit tests to determine whether any of 11 regularly collected laboratory markers are useful clinical predictors. We test the clinical utility of each marker using an independent test set. The results suggest that EHR data can be easily used to detect markers of clinically acute events. Special software or analytic tools are not needed, even with irregular EHR data.

Perceived appearance judgments moderate the biological stress effects of social exchanges

Social relationships are generally thought of as beneficial. However, the present study set out to test the hypothesis that for individuals who perceive others to judge their appearance negatively, daily social interactions can also be a source of stress. Indeed when assessing 38 young adults, we found that both more incidences of negative exchanges reported during the past month as well as perceived negative appearance judgments by others were associated with more self-reported stress. Interestingly, however, for individuals with low attribution body esteem, higher numbers of positive social exchanges during the past month were related to health-relevant changes in biological markers of chronic stress as well. The same was true for individuals with high attribution body esteem who reported to experience only very few positive exchanges. As such, these findings go beyond the initial focus on low body esteem and negative social exchanges and introduce high body esteem as well as daily positive exchanges as potential health risk factors.

THU0040 Serum IFN Alpha, but not IFN Beta or IFN Omega, Correlates with IFN Signature in SLE Patients

BackgroundInterferon-α-kinoid (IFN-K) elicits a polyclonal antibody response against IFNα in humans. In a previously reported study, we found that administration of IFN-K to SLE patients induces significant changes in biological...

Oxidative stress, hematological and biochemical alterations in farmers exposed to pesticides

In this study, a cohort of farmers from the Mateur region in the North of Tunisia, were interviewed and examined for the biochemical effects of pesticides. We studied their haematological profile, lipid parameters, serum markers of nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity. We also evaluated the activities of Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and thiolactonase-paroxonase (PON). Moreover, lipid peroxidation and activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were determined. The duration of pesticide use and the farmers’ age were considered in the analysis. Our results revealed significant differences in some haematological parameters, in liver and kidney functions, in the lipidic status of the pesticide-exposed group. We also reported an increase in the index of incidence of cardiovascular risk in farmer populations. A significant decrease in AChE, BChE and PON levels was found among farmers. Lipid peroxidation, however, increased. The activities of SOD and CAT were remarkably elevated in farmer populations. There was a significant relation between changes in biological markers, the duration of pesticide use and the farmers’ age. This study indicates that a long-term exposure to pesticides may play an important role in the development of vascular diseases via metabolic disorders of lipoproteins, lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress, inhibition of BChE and decrease in thiolactonase-PON levels.

Lower limb orthopaedic surgery results in changes to coagulation and non-specific inflammatory biomarkers, including selective clinical outcome measures

BackgroundWith an aging society and raised expectations, joint replacement surgery is likely to increase significantly in the future. The development of postoperative complications following joint replacement surgery (for example, infection, systemic inflammatory response syndrome and deep vein thrombosis) is also likely to increase. Despite considerable progress in orthopaedic surgery, comparing a range of biological markers with the ultimate aim of monitoring or predicting postoperative complications has not yet been extensively researched. The aim of this clinical pilot study was to test the hypothesis that lower limb orthopaedic surgery results in changes to coagulation, non-specific markers of inflammation (primary objective) and selective clinical outcome measures (secondary objective).MethodsTest subjects were scheduled for elective total hip replacement (THR) or total knee replacement (TKR) orthopaedic surgery due to osteoarthritis (n = 10). Platelet counts and D-dimer concentrations were measured to assess any changes to coagulation function. C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were measured as markers of non-specific inflammation. Patients were monitored regularly to assess for any signs of postoperative complications, including blood transfusions, oedema (knee swelling), wound infection, pain and fever.ResultsTHR and TKR orthopaedic surgery resulted in similar changes of coagulation and non-specific inflammatory biomarkers, suggestive of increased coagulation and inflammatory reactions postoperatively. Specifically, THR and TKR surgery resulted in an increase in platelet (P = 0.013, THR) and D-dimer (P = 0.009, TKR) concentrations. Evidence of increased inflammation was demonstrated by an increase in CRP and ESR (P ≤ 0.05, THR and TKR). Four patients received blood transfusions (two THR and two TKR patients), with maximal oedema, pain and aural temperatures peaking between days 1 and 3 postoperatively, for both THR and TKR surgery. None of the patients developed postoperative infections.ConclusionsThe most noticeable changes in biological markers occur during days 1 to 3 postoperatively for both THR and TKR surgery, and these may have an effect on such postoperative clinical outcomes as oedema, pyrexia and pain. This study may assist in understanding the postoperative course following lower limb orthopaedic surgery, and may help clinicians in planning postoperative management and patient care.

Changes in the biologic markers between primary tumor and ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence after breast conserving surgery: Discordance and prognosis.

1116 Background: Changes in biological markers due to recurrence are clinically experienced in breast cancer. However, the clinical significance is still uncertain, especially after breast conserving surgery. The changes in biological markers between primary tumor and ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) and their correlations with prognosis were investigated, retrospectively. Methods: A total of 117 consecutive patients with IBTR without distant metastases were enrolled in this study. All patients were examined for ER, PgR, HER2 and Ki-67 in both the primary and recurrent tumors. The cases were categorized into 3 groups: patients with Ki-67 values &lt;20%, &lt;50% and ≥50%, and divided into 2 groups according to the IBTR site, same quadrant(SQ)and different quadrant(DQ) from the initial sites. The distant disease-free survival (DDFS) was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and evaluated by the log-rank test and multivariate analyses using Cox proportional hazards model. The median follow-up period was 4.8 years after IBTR. Results: The PgR positive rate from the primary tumor to IBTR decreased from 57% to 39% and the Ki-67 values increased significantly from a mean of 17% to 23%. The concordance rate of the subtype was 62%. In the SQ group, the PgR positive rate significantly decreased and the mean Ki-67 values significantly increased, whereas there was no significant difference in the DQ group. In terms of changes by category due to relapse, the discordance rate in Ki-67 was high in the SQ group, and HER2 was high in the DQ group. Regarding DDFS by a change in the categorization, the cases with discordance in Ki-67 values had significantly lower DDFS in the SQ group(5-year DDFS: 75% vs 52%, p=0.04). However, a clear difference was not found in the DQ group. Conclusions: The PgR positive rate decreased while the mean Ki-67 values increased due to IBTR in the SQ group. The categorical discordance in the Ki-67 values was significantly associated with lower DDFS, especially in the SQ group. These findings suggest that the recurrent site and change in the biological markers were clinical significant in the evaluation of the characteristics and treatment in cases with IBTR.

Changes in biologic markers of oxidative stress and plasma endotoxin levels in gynecologic cancer patients treated with pelvic radiotherapy: a pilot study

ObjectiveWe conducted a pilot study to evaluate the effects of pelvic radiotherapy on biologic markers of oxidative stress and plasma endotoxin levels, and to assess the relationship between the changes of such factors and radiotherapy-related complications.MethodsTwelve gynecologic cancer patients who were treated via pelvic radiotherapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy were enrolled in this study. Biologic markers of oxidative stress, such as glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG), as well as endotoxin levels, were measured weekly during treatment. Subjective symptoms were assessed using the Korean version of the EORTC QLQ-C30 at the baseline and on the 5th week of radiotherapy.ResultsNo changes were noted in the level of GSH in whole blood, but the GSH/GSSG ratio was reduced dramatically after the initiation of radiotherapy. The mean plasma endotoxin for all patients tended to increase and persisted during radiotherapy, and the number of patients who evidenced clinically significant endotoxin levels (defined as >0.005 EU/mL) also increased. Nausea/vomiting and diarrhea were significantly changed (p=0.019 and p<0.001, respectively). A significant relationship was noted to exist between the changes in the endotoxin level and nausea/vomiting (p=0.001). However, such symptoms did not correlate with the changes of oxidative stress markers.ConclusionPelvic radiotherapy oxidized the GSH redox system and increased plasma endotoxin. Further investigations containing interventional and longitudinal studies will be required to assess the effects of the changes in oxidative stress markers and endotoxin on radiotherapy-related adverse events.

Changes in biological markers, particularly hormone receptors, due to pre-operative chemotherapy (epirubicin/docetaxel) in operable breast cancer

We investigated the correlation between biological markers prior to pre-operative chemotherapy with epirubicin and docetaxel (ET therapy) and the effect of treatment as well as the clinically significant changes in biological markers before and after chemotherapy. Since April 2002, 52 patients with tumors ≥3 cm in diameter or lymph node metastases have received pre-operative ET chemotherapy. The items investigated were ER/PgR, proliferative activity (MIB-1), etc. The correlation of changes in these factors between pre- and post-treatment status and the clinical and pathological responses was investigated. Clinical response was 82%, BCS rate was 67%. Pathological response was 31.4%. The ER/PgR positive cell rate significantly decreased from 48%/32% to 37%/14%. The MIB-1 decreased from 48% to 27%. The pathological response was significantly high in patients with low ER/PgR-positive rates and those with high MIB-1 values.