The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a hydroalcoholic extract from Galinsoga parviflora herb (GP) in some aspects of the endothelial cell function necessary for anti-inflammatory activity and wound healing and relate these to the GP phytochemical profile. This study demonstrated that the GP extract caused a dose-dependent reduction of IL-6 secretion on IL-1β-stimulated endothelial cells. The IL-6 release was decreased to 33% ± 9% while this did not influence the IL-6 secretion without stimulation. Additionally, the GP extract exhibited an anti-hyaluronidase activity (IC50 = 0.47 mg/mL), which was evidently stronger than the positive control kaempferol (IC50 = 0.78 mg/mL) as well as a moderate and concentration-dependent, antioxidant activity. The results of the scratch assay showed that exposure of the endothelial cells to GP induced complete healing of the damage after 12 h of the study. The phytochemical profile of the extract was studied by using spectrophotometric (total amount of polyphenols and flavonoids) and UPLC (phenolic acids) methods. The main compound in the GP extract was a chlorogenic acid (2.00 ± 0.01 mg/g by UPLC). The total content of polyphenols was 98.30 ± 0.14 mg of chlorogenic acid equivalent/g of the dry herb and content of flavonoids amounted to 6.15 ± 0.41 mg quercetin equivalent/g of the dry herb. Moreover, the presence of flavonoids in G. parviflora was provided after their isolation and identification by spectroscopic methods. In conclusion, it demonstrated that application of GP in the treatment of skin lesions gives possibility of wound healing based on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hyaluronidase-inhibiting activities of G. parviflora herb extract.

Being rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) is thought to be able to decrease lipid levels and dampen inflammation. In this pilot study, we aimed to determine whether flaxseed supplementation could improve the profiles of lipids and inflammatory mediators in patients with severe hyperlipidemia resistant to conventional lipid-lowering pharmacotherapy and requiring lipoprotein apheresis. To this end, six patients received, blindly—in addition to their normal lipoprotein apheresis regimen—a 10-week dietary supplementation with flaxseed (28 g/d) administered in biscuits. This was followed by a 10-week washed out-period and a 10-week supplementation phase with whole wheat placebo. Blood samples were collected at the end of each phase, before the lipoprotein apheresis session. The primary endpoint was the lipid profile and the secondary endpoints were the concentrations of inflammatory mediators and tolerability. Flaxseed supplementation was well-tolerated and resulted in a consistent and significant decrease in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels. The median (and range) percentage decrease was 11.5% (0–18.8) and 7.3% (4.4–26.6), for cholesterol (p = 0.015) and LDL-C (p = 0.003), respectively. On the other hand, there was no significant effect of flaxseed on lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)), C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) concentrations. These observations indicate that flaxseed can produce a cholesterol- and LDL-lowering effect in patients treated with lipoprotein apheresis. Thus, flaxseed supplementation may help to control cholesterol in this patient population. The flaxseed supplementation protocol applied may be of use for further adequately-powered studies to validate and extend our findings.

IntroductionSaliva has been increasingly used as a diagnostic medium for disease detection and monitoring. The aim of this observational, prospective, pilot study was to investigate whether salivary concentrations of CRP and IL-6 correlate with those in serum and with the clinical course of a rheumatic disease.Materials and methodsNineteen patients with rheumatic disease newly scheduled for anti-TNFα therapy were included. Patients received anti-TNFα treatment (adalimumab, certolizumab, golimumab or infliximab) as per standard protocols. CRP and IL-6 were measured with high-sensitivity immunoassays before and after 12 weeks of therapy, according to standard regimens. The data were analyzed with nonparametric statistics.ResultsConcentrations of CRP in saliva correlated significantly with those in serum (R = 0.62; p < 0.0001) and decreased markedly after successful response to treatment. In patients with a limited response to treatment salivary CRP levels increased. In contrast to CRP, the salivary concentrations of IL-6 did not change significantly over the course of therapy and they did not correlate with serum IL-6 concentrations. Salivary levels of neither CRP nor IL-6 corresponded to parameters of oral health and hygiene.ConclusionsSalivary CRP but not IL-6 could be of potential use for monitoring the rheumatic disease activity.

The properties of the saliva of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are poorly recognized. Likewise, the diagnostic potential of saliva for differentiating various forms of IBD is largely unexplored. Therefore, we compared the concentrations of several parameters in unstimulated whole mixed saliva collected in a standardized manner from patients with active IBD unresponsive to conventional therapy. The samples were received from 27 patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), 24 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 51 healthy individuals. Compared to the controls, the salivary concentrations of S100A8/calprotectin, myeloperoxidase, and IgA were significantly decreased in both CD and UC patients. In addition, patients with UC had decreased levels of TNF-R1 and decreased catalase activity. Interestingly, the concentrations of myeloperoxidase and TNF-R1 showed a high differentiation potential for CD and UC (AUC = 0.690 and 0.672, respectively). All these findings are discussed in the context of host defense in the oral cavity, patients’ prior treatment regimens, and smoking habits.

Direction and magnitude of changes in serum-induced endothelial cell proliferation identifies patients with the greatest weight loss in response to modest calorie restriction.

The study aimed to determine if oral hygiene influences not only oral health but also potentially metabolic disorders such as overweight or obesity. Participants were 94 patients: 40 with increased body mass and 54 with normal body mass. The methods included dental examination, a questionnaire concerning hygienic habits and an assessment of selected salivary inflammatory markers. The new parameter named “cleaning index” (describing the interaction between average time of tooth brushing in minutes and its frequency per day) significantly correlated with Body Mass Index (RSpearman = 0.300). The multivariate regression model incorporating cleaning index, approximal plaque index, receptor 1 for tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα-R1) and interleukin-15 (IL-15) had a high power to predict overweight or obesity (AUC = 0.894). Patients with poor oral hygiene (approximal plaque index >40%) were more than eight times more likely to suffer from obesity than patients with good oral hygiene. Cleaning index higher than 4 decreased the odds by about 85%. Oral hygiene habits, adjusted by salivary concentrations of selected inflammatory markers may allow predicting effectively overweight or obesity risk. Early proper dental prophylaxis and treatment could lead to the better prevention of metabolic disorders.

The existence of seasonal changes in secretion of stress hormones and inflammatory mediators by humans is not certain. Here, we aimed to determine whether concentrations of cortisol and IL-6 displayed seasonal rhythmicity. The study was performed in Poznań, Poland (52°N, 16°E) in 7 healthy female volunteers (age 22.6 ± 0.8 yr). Samples of whole mixed unstimulated saliva were collected in winter (February) and summer (June) at 2-h intervals over a 24-h period and analyzed for cortisol and IL-6 by immunoassays. During each season, the subjects answered questionnaires related to their sleeping habits, food intake, physical activity, and perceived seasonality. It turned out that salivary concentrations of cortisol followed a daily rhythm both in winter and summer, as determined by a cosine analysis. However, compared with the winter season, a midline-estimating statistic of rhythm in the summer was significantly higher. Moreover, the rhythm acrophase occurred ~4 h later in the summer than in the winter, whereas the amplitudes did not differ. These fluctuations did not correspond to sleeping habits, food and fluid intake, physical exercise, and the self-assessed chronotype. However, the individuals with higher scores on the seasonal affective disorder scale showed a tendency toward lower relative cortisol amplitude in the summer. In contrast to cortisol, salivary IL-6 concentration did not display daily rhythmicity, and its concentrations did not differ significantly between the seasons. In conclusion, in the summer, cortisol level in saliva is elevated, and its circadian pattern of secretion is shifted. The causes for these alterations do not seem to be related to lifestyle and thus remain to be established.

StreszczenieWstęp: Duża zmienność biologiczna raka płuca powoduje, że mimo określonego typu histologicznego i stopnia zaawansowania raka wg klasyfikacji TNM przebieg choroby jest trudny do przewidzenia. Dlatego poszukuje się molekularnych i biochemicznych czynników mających znaczenie prognostyczne i pomocnych w kwalifikacji chorych do pooperacyjnej chemioterapii. Jednym z takich czynników mogą być zaburzenia zawartości DNA w komórkach nowotworowych, choć opinie na temat rokowniczego znaczenia ploidii są wśród badaczy podzielone. Celem pracy była ocena wpływu nieprawidłowej ilości DNA w komórkach raka na wyniki odległe (10-letnie) leczenia chirurgicznego raka płaskonabłonkowego płuca. Materiał i metody: Analizie poddano grupę 110 chorych leczonych operacyjnie z powodu raka płaskonabłonkowego płuca w latach 1995-1997. W badanej grupie było 95 mężczyzn i 15 kobiet w wieku 34-77 lat (średnia 60 lat). U 52 chorych wykonano lobektomię, u 47 pneumonektomię, a u 11 inne resekcje. Większość chorych operowano w stadium IB (35 chorych), IIB (26 pacjentów) i IIIA (22 chorych). Badany materiał stanowiły preparaty parafinowe, w których metodą cytometrii przepły-wowej zbadano zawartość DNA w komórkach raka. W każdym przypadku oznaczono indeks DNA, a ilość DNA w komórkach nowotworowych zilustrowano w postaci histogramów. Analizę statystyczną przeprowadzono przy użyciu program komputerowy Statistica 10.0 i oraz StatXact 8. Wyniki: Odsetek przypadków aneuploidalnych (z nieprawidło-wą ilością DNA) wyniósł 44,5%. Nie stwierdzono korelacji mię- AbstractBackground: The biological variability of lung cancer is one of the causes of the unpredictable clinical outcome of the disease. Many investigators have devoted a lot of effort to finding molecular and biochemical prognostic factors that may prove helpful in the qualification of patients for postoperative chemotherapy. Notwithstanding various previous studies attempted to associate DNA quantification in cancer cells with the prognosis for lung cancer, there is a divergence of opinion about its value. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of aneuploidy on late (10-year) survival in a group of patients treated surgically for squamous cell lung cancer. Material and methods: We analyzed a group of 110 patients surgically treated for squamous cell lung cancer between 1995 and 1997. The group consisted of 95 men and 15 women, aged between 34 and 77 years (the average age being 60). We performed lobectomy in 52 cases, pneumonectomy in 47 cases, and other resections in 11 patients. Most of the patients were in IB (35 cases), IIB (26 patients) and IIIA (22 cases