Turk J Med Sci
-
Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive tumours, resistant to all applied therapy regiments and prone to relapse. Median survival rates are therefore only expressed as months. STING agonists are immunomodulatory molecules that activate type I interferon expression, making them potentially useful in regulating the tumour microenvironment. Since PTEN serves as a critical phosphatase in activating interferon-regulating transcription factors and is frequently mutated in glioblastoma cells, this study aimed to investigate STING activation in glioblastoma cell lines, examining whether they harbour the PTEN protein or not.°. ⋯ Our data offers new evidence suggesting that STING agonists can effectively be used to increase temozolomide response in the presence of PTEN protein. Therefore, increased GBM therapy success rates can be achieved by employing the PTEN expression status as a predictive biomarker before treating patients with a chemotherapeutic agent in combination with STING agonist.
-
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease. Several studies have shown that alterations of microbiota increase the risk of neurodegenerative disorders. We aimed to reveal whether there is a difference in the gut microbiota of patients with ALS. ⋯ Comparison with family members living in the same house is the strength of this study. We found that there were changes in the microbiota of the patients, consistent with the literature. Studies that analyze the composition of the gut microbiota in the predisease period may be needed to understand whether dysbiosis is caused by the mechanisms inherent in the disease or whether it is dysbiosis that initiates the disease.
-
Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in women, emphasizing need for noninvasive blood biomarkers to aid in treatment selection. Previous studies have demonstrated elevated levels of plasma circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) in breast cancer patients. Both ccfDNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are fragments released into the bloodstream. In this study, we investigated effectiveness of ccfDNA and mtDNA as indicators of treatment response and explored their potential as monitoring biomarkers. Additionally, we compared these markers with circulating tumor cell (CTC) data and assessed their relationship with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). ⋯ This study represents the first comprehensive investigation of plasma ccfDNA levels, mtDNAcn, and integrities collectively. Furthermore, it is the first study to explore the relationship between these markers and CTCs, cancer stem cell markers, treatment response, and metastatic status. Our findings suggest that plasma ccfDNA and mtDNA may serve as potential biomarkers for assessing chemotherapy response and can be employed alone or in combination with other biomarkers to monitor treatment efficacy in breast cancer patients.
-
In this study, we aimed to evaluate the self-reported practice of physicians working in primary health care institutions in Elazığ Province about smoking cessation counseling. ⋯ It is seen that the smoking frequency of primary care physicians in Elazığ Province is the same as that of the general population, and the frequency of smoking cessation counseling is far behind the target. Physician population is an important target group that should not be ignored in the fight against smoking. In order to increase the frequency of physicians' smoking cessation counseling practice, there is a need to increase the number of physicians who receive smoking cessation counseling training.
-
Fall risk assessment is crucial for older adults because falls are associated with morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the relationship of gait speed (GS) and handgrip strength (HGS) with falls and assessed whether cognition mediates this causality. ⋯ GS is an efficient and practical assessment tool for identifying older adults at risk of falls regardless of their cognitive status.