Aim of the studyThis study aimed to evaluate 8-OHdG and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1α) levels in patients with hypoactive thyroid nodules (toxic multi-nodular goiter, Graves’ disease, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis), as these parameters may be related to oxidative stress and the pathogenesis of cancer.Material and methodsThe study included patients diagnosed with Graves’ disease (n = 20), toxic multinodular goiter (n = 20), and Hashimoto thyroiditis (n = 20), and 20 healthy controls. HIF-1α levels were measured in blood samples and 8-OHdG levels were measured in urine – both via ELISA.ResultsHIF-1α and 8-OHdG levels were significantly higher in the patient groups than in the control group (p < 0.05). In the Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients a correlation was observed between 8-OHdG and thyroglobulin antibodies (p = 0.03). A significant relation was found between 8-OHdG and HIF-1α in the patient group (p < 0.01). Carcinoma was detected in 7 of 43 female patients, but not in any of the male patients. No difference was observed in 8-OHdG or HIF-1α levels between the patients with and without papillary carcinoma (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in 8-OHdG or HIF-1α levels between the patients with biopsy results that were benign, malignant, and non-diagnostic (p > 0.05).ConclusionsSerum HIF-1α and urine 8-OHdG levels were significantly higher in the patients with thyroid diseases; however, a relationship with cancer was not observed.

The objective of the study was to investigate the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of Methotrexate (MTX)-loaded chitosan (CS) on LNCaP prostate cancer cell line in vitro. For this purpose, CS nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized through ionic gelation method and MTX was loaded into the carrier with encapsulation. SEM images of the CS NPs have revealed that they have size of about 85 nm in mono-disperse manner. Drug loading yield was found to be 95.7 % with 470 μg drug/mg NP loading capacity. In vitro drug release study showed that MTX was released in a controlled manner. Cell viability was detected by using trypan blue dye exclusion test and WST-1 cell proliferation assay was performed to show cytotoxic effects of the CS, the MTX and the MTX-loaded NP. IC50 values of CS, MTX and MTX-loaded NPs were assigned from the cell survival plot and were determined as 67.18 μM, 20.21 μM and 2.94 μM at the 72nd hour, respectively. As for apoptosis analysis results, following to MTX-loaded CS treatment of LNCAP cells, apoptotic cell percent was detected as 39.3 % at the 72nd hour, that is, MTX-loaded CS induces 1.85-fold increase in apoptotic cell percent in comparison with that of MTX- induced apoptosis.