Introduction. Cancer is a leading cause of mortality. Hepatocellular cancer is one of the malignancies associated with poor outcome and resistance to pharmacotherapy. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) contribute to resistance to therapy and hence lead to the treatment failure of tumors. Aim. This study aims to explore the expression of CSCs in response to cisplatin treatment in HepG2 hepatocellular cancer cell line. Material and methods. Cell proliferation test, CCK-8, was used to evaluate the cell proliferation following cisplatin treatment for 72 hours. The expressions of CSC markers CD44, CD90, and CD133 were assessed by flow cytometric analysis. Results. The results showed a dose-dependent decrease in cell proliferation and increased expression of CSC markers CD44 and CD90 in response to cisplatin. Conclusion. Understanding the roles of CSC markers may point to new targets and therapeutic strategies to predict and overcome cisplatin resistance.

Although studies on epileptic seizures occurring during acute asthma attacks are limited, there is widespread belief among families and physicians that salbutamol causes seizures. To investigate whether salbutamol triggers seizures in patients with epilepsy and asthma. A retrospective cohort study. Epilepsy and asthma in patients aged 2-18 years who were admitted to the pediatric emergency department because of asthma attacks between January 2016 and December 2016 in a university hospital were evaluated retrospectively. The inclusion criteria were age 2–18 years, previous diagnosis of epilepsy and asthma, and admission to the pediatric emergency department due to asthma attacks. 276 medical records were evaluated. The seizure group had a longer period of diagnosis for epilepsy than the seizure absent group in the pediatric emergency department (5.4 years and 3.1, respectively). According to the logistic regression analysis, the duration of seizures in the emergency department, duration of asthma diagnosis, duration of epilepsy diagnosis, uncontrolled asthma, and severity of asthma attack in the pediatric emergency department have significantly increased the possibility of having a seizure during an asthma attack in our study population. This study shows that patients using salbutamol have a lower risk of epileptic seizures than those who do not use salbutamol. This result should be verified by studies containing a large number of patients.

Cisplatin, the first platinum compound approved for cancer treatment, is widely used in the treatment of various cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC incidence rates rise globally. Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) is implicated in cancer invasion and metastasis, which are associated with increased mortality. Cisplatin dose might influence cancer invasion and metastatic behavior of the cells. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of low-dose cisplatin treatment on EMT- related changes in HepG2 cells. Following treatment with 4 µM cisplatin, HepG2 cells were evaluated morphologically. Gene expression of E-cadherin, Vimentin, Snail1 was assessed by quantitative PCR. Immunofluorescence analyses of NA-K ATPase were performed. Although the low-dose cisplatin treated cells exhibited a more stretched morphology, no statistical difference was detected in gene expression of E-cadherin, Vimentin, Snail1 and immunofluorescence of NA-K ATPase. Findings on low-dose cisplatin effects in HepG2 might contribute to the knowledge of antineoplastic inefficacy by further understanding the molecular mechanisms of drug action.

Objectives: To investigate drug adherence and lifestyle behaviors affecting the blood pressure (BP) control among hypertensive patients that have uncontrolled and controlled BP. Methods: Seventy-eight uncontrolled BP and 98 controlled BP hypertensive patients matched on age, gender, time since hypertension diagnosis and the number of antihypertensive drugs used were investigated using a standardized questionnaire to evaluate lifestyle behaviors, drug adherence, the use of complementary and alternative medicine, and health related quality of life. Drug-drug interactions were evaluated with an electronic drug reference software. Results: Not taking therapy when feeling better was observed significantly more frequently in the uncontrolled hypertensive group (OR: 0.297, %95 CI: 0.115-0.770). Uncontrolled BP hypertensive patients live more frequently in extended family settings (p = 0.043), they sleep less controlled BP hypertensive patients (OR: 0.749, %95 CI: 0.605-0.929). The groups did not differ statistically in terms of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use (p = 0.795) and informing doctors about the use of CAMs (p = 0.910). The EuroQol five-dimensional 3 level (EQ5D3L) questionnaire Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score was significantly higher in the control group (p = 0.011). In both groups over 70% of patients should be monitored for therapy due to drug interactions evaluation. Conclusions: Our study shows that increasing the drug adherence and sleeping hours and living in the nuclear family is associated with improvement in blood pressure control and health related quality of life. A comprehensive approach and good patient-physician communication and trust are essential for well-managed hypertension.

Amaç: Hepatoselüler karsinom (HCC), tüm dünyada görülme sıklığı giderek artan, en yaygın ölümcül kanser türleri arasında yer almaktadır. Vakaların büyük çoğunluğunda ileri evrede tanı ve ilaç direnci hayatta kalma oranını sınırlayan temel sorunlardır. ATP bağımlı bir efluks (dışa atım) pompası olan P-glikoprotein (P-gp), kanserde çok sayıda ilaç direnci modeli ile ilişkilidir. Rodamin 123 (rh123) floresan bir boyadır ve bir referans P-gp substratı olarak birçok araştırmada P-gp aktivitesini incelemek amacıyla kullanılmaktadır. Sorafenib, HCC tedavisi için onaylanmış ilk sistemik tedavidir. Etkinliğini artırmak ve ilaç direncini azaltmak için farklı ilaçlarla beraber kullanımları araştırılmaktadır. Bu kapsamda, daha önce sorafenib ve antidepresan sertralinin HepG2 hücre proliferasyonu ve ölümü üzerinde sinerjistik etkileri gösterilmiştir. Yöntem: Bu çalışmada, HepG2 hücrelerinde, sorafenib ve sertralinin tek başına veya birlikte uygulanması sonrası, qPCR ve akış sitometrisi ile P-gp gen ekspresyonu ve rh123 birikimi/efluks araştırılmıştır. Bulgular: Sorafenib uygulaması hem P-gp gen ekspresyonu hem de hücrelerde rh123 birikimini anlamlı olarak azaltırken, sertralin tek başına kullanıldığında P-gp mRNA seviyelerini arttırmış, rh123 birikiminde ise anlamlı bir değişikliğe yol açmamıştır. İki ilacın birlikte uygulanması ise, kontrol grubuna kıyasla P-gp gen ekspresyonunda ve rh123 birikiminde herhangi bir değişikliğe neden olmamıştır. Sonuç: Sonuçlar, sorafenib ve sertralinin antiproliferatif sinerjistik etkilerinde P-gp ile ilişkili etkenlerden ziyade farklı mekanizmaların rol alabileceğini göstermiştir.