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Objective: Endometriosis is a gynecological disease associated with chronic pelvic inflammation, pain, and infertility. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a protein that can bind to β-galactosides, which plays an important role in different biological processes according to the stages of the disease in patients with endometriosis. This study aimed to elucidate the importance of Gal-3 in endometriosis, to reveal its potential power as a non-invasive diagnostic biomarker in disease etiopathogenesis. Materials and Methods:The serum concentration of Gal-3 and cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) from whole blood were measured using enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) and an auto-analyzer, respectively. Gal-3 expression was determined by quantitative realtime polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) from peripheral blood. Results:We found significant differences for Gal-3 expression levels between the endometriosis and control groups (p <0.05). Gal-3 levels in the serum of women with endometriosis are also remarkably increased compared with the control group. Conclusion:Galectin-3 can play critical functions in the development and progression of endometriosis, so, further studies are needed in this area.

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Encephalitozoon intestinalis (E. intestinalis) is a parasite that causes opportunistic infections that can cause death in immune compromised patients. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of parasite on genes involved in host cell apoptosis. The CaCo cells were infected with E. intestinalis 50506 (ATCC) strain. Apoptosis was induced in both control and parasite-infected groups after infection. RNA isolation and cDNA extraction were then performed. Changes in the expression of genes involved in apoptotic pathways were evaluated quantitatively (qPCR) by Real-Time PCR. The obtained data were analyzed by 2-ΔΔCt method. E. intestinalis inhibits the CASP6, DR4, DR5, DCR2 genes that regulate the transcription of the genes known as the death gene of cells in CaCo cells. TP53 regulates the transcription of certain genes involved in cell death. DR4, DR5 and DCR2 are inhibited by the introduction of E. intestinalis into the cell. Caspase 6 is one of the caspases that induces apoptosis. As can be seen from the activation of these genes, E. intestinalis inhibits transcription genes in the pro-apoptotic pathway of the cell. We think that this parasite, which is commonly found in cancer patients, should be investigated for the effect of drug resistance in cancer treatment. This study was supported by Erciyes University. Project ID: TCD-2016-7042.