In this study, the in vitro effects of vitamin C and selenium on natural killer (NK) cell activity of ss-thalassemia major patients was investigated. At first, significant decreased NK activity was found at E:T ratios of 1:1, 5:1, and 10:1 in whole thalassemia patients. Low-dose selenium treatment enhanced NK activity in patients but there was no change in the control group. High-dose selenium decreased NK activity significantly in splenectomized patients. Different doses vitamin C enhanced NK activity significantly in both splenectomized and unsplenectomized patients. According to these results, selenium dosage should be arranged carefully in thalassemia patients, whereas vitamin C can be used confidently.

In this study, we investigated the effects of peritoneal dialysis on hemorheological and hematological parameters and their relations with oxidant and antioxidant status of uremic patients. Hemorheological parameters (erythrocyte deformability, erythrocyte aggregation, osmotic deformability, blood and plasma viscosity) were measured in patients with renal insufficiency undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) and volunteers. Erythrocyte deformability, osmotic deformability and aggregation in both autologous plasma and 3% dextran 70 were measured by laser diffraction ektacytometry. Enzyme activities of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase were studied in erythrocytes; lipid peroxidation was studied by measuring the amount of malondialdehyde in both erythrocytes and plasma samples. Blood viscosity at native hematocrit was significantly lower in PD patients at all measured shear rates compared to controls, but it was high in PD patients at corrected (45%) hematocrit. Erythrocyte deformability did not show any difference between the two groups. Osmotic deformability was significantly lower in PD patients compared to controls. Aggregation index values were significantly high in PD patients in plasma Catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities in erythrocytes were decreased in PD patients whereas superoxide dismutase activity was increased compared to controls. Malondialdehyde was significantly increased in erythrocytes and plasma samples of PD patients which also shows correlations with aggregation parameters. It has been concluded that erythrocytes in PD patients are more prone to aggregation and this tendency could be influenced by lipid peroxidation activity in patient’s plasma. These results imply that uremic conditions, loss of plasma proteins and an increased risk of oxidative stress because of decreasing levels of antioxidant enzymes affect erythrocyte rheology during peritoneal dialysis. This level of distortion may have crucial effects, impairing the blood flow dynamics and causing inadequate microcirculatory perfusion.

Inhalation of 100% oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber has been accepted as a useful treatment for patients with various pathologies who suffer from hypoxia. The oxidative effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on RBCs have been investigated in animals but there is not enough data on hemorheological parameters in patients following HBO treatment (HBOT).In this study, we investigated the effect of HBO on hemorheological and haematological parameters during treatment. Red blood cell (RBC) deformability and aggregation, blood and plasma viscosity and superoxide dismutase activity were investigated in patients who underwent HBOT. Hematological parameters were determined by an electronic hematology analyzer. A Laser-assisted Optical Rotational Cell Analyzer (LORCA) was used to measure RBC deformability. RBC aggregation was measured for cells in autologous plasma and for cells resuspended in PBS containing Dextran70 (3% ) by using a Myrenne Aggregometer. A Wells-Brookfield cone/plate rotational viscometer was used for viscosity measurements. According to our results, a significant decrement of the hematocrit and the RBC count was observed after the 20th session of HBOT compared to the baseline, but none of the hemorheological parameters changed significantly. Our results showed that HBOT did not cause any significant changes in hemorheological parameters, thereby not representing any problems for the patients.

Öz Amaç: Ani işitme kaybının (AİK) patofizyolojisi hakkında yeterli bilgi olmamakla birlikte, çeşitli yayınlarda, koklear kan akımında azalma, perilenfada oksijenlenmenin azalması gibi nedenler bildirilmiştir. Bu nedenle, ilaç tedavisinin yanında sıklıkla hiperbarik oksijen tedavisi (HBOT) de uygulanmaktadır. Ancak, bu tedavinin sonunda, çoğunlukla işitme geri gelse de bazen kulak çınlamasının devam etmesi, bu hastalarda koklear kan akımını etkileyen başka faktörlerin olabileceğini düşündürmektedir. Bu çalışmada, AİK sendromu ile kan akımı faktörlerinin ilişkisini araştırmak amacı ile bu hastaların hemoreolojik parametreleri incelenmiştir. Gereç ve Yöntem: Bu çalışmaya 14 AİK hastası (yaş: 49.3 ± 12.5) ve diğer bölümlerden 15 normal işitmeli gönüllü (yaş: 46.8 ± 11.1) katılmıştır. Kan ve plazma viskoziteleri, koni / düzlem viskozimetresi (Wells-Brookfield) kullanılarak ölçülmüştür. Eritrosit deformabilite (ED) ve agregasyon (EA) parametreleri ise lazer uyumlu bir Ektasitometre (LO®RCA, Mechatronics) ile ölçülmüştür. İstatistiksel analizler, Student-t ve Mann-Whitney U testleri kullanılarak yapılmıştır. Bulgular: İki grup arasında yapılan analizlerde, agregasyon sonuçları arasındaki farklar (hasta/ kontrol) plazmada: amplitüd [AMP (au)]: 25.49/28.38 (p<0.01); agregasyon indeksi [AI (%)]: 72.38/66.36 (p<0.005) ve yarı süre [t ½ (s)]: 1.6/2.08 (p<0.003), dekstran 70 solüsyonunda ise AMP: 40.11/46.92 (p<0.002) istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bulunmuştur. Viskozite (kan ve plazma) ve deformabilite parametrelerinde ise anlamlı bir fark bulunamamıştır. Sonuç: Verilerimiz, eritrosit agregasyonundaki olumsuz değişikliklerin, mikrodolaşım yolu ile ani işitme kaybının fizyopatolojisine önemli düzeyde katkı yaptığını düşündürmektedir.

An experimental approach to increasing the effectiveness of leukemia treatment with S-phase-specific cytotoxics is to increase the cycling of leukemia cells with growth factors. However, growth factors may have a different relationship with non-cell-cycle-specific agents. The authors examined the effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and interferon-alpha (INF-alpha) on the cytotoxic effects of the alkylating agent busulfan on the erythro-myeloid cell line K562. G-CSF and GM-CSF increased the proliferation and colony-forming ability of K562 cells and protected the cells from busulfan effects. INF-alpha decreased the colony-forming ability and proliferation of the K562 cells and demonstrated a possibly additive effect with busulfan. In the cell line K562, the growth factors G-CSF and GM-CSF protected the cells from the non-cell-cycle-specific alkylating agent busulfan, whereas IFN-alpha demonstrated an additive cytotoxic effect.