While circulating ADMA is higher, NO is lower in COPD and both show a strong correlation to the degree of airflow limitation. ADMA seems to be a possible new marker of prognosis of COPD and can be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of COPD.

Exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) reduce quality of life and are associated with a more rapid deterioration of the disease. Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is a novel candidate exacerbation biomarker. In this study, we aimed to assess GDF-15 as a biomarker of acute exacerbation of COPD (AE-COPD). Lung function parameters, arterial blood gas analysis, and circulating levels of GDF-15, C-reactive protein (CRP), and fibrinogen were assessed in 29 patients on admission to the hospital for AE-COPD, in 29 age-, gender-, and body mass index (BMI)-matched patients with stable COPD, and 29 matched controls with normal lung function. Patients with AE-COPD had higher circulating concentrations of GDF-15 (p < 0.001), CRP (p < 0.001), and fibrinogen (p < 0.002) compared with patients with stable COPD and healthy controls. GDF-15 levels correlated with systemic inflammatory marker CRP in patients with AE-COPD (r = 0.677, p < 0.001) and with stable COPD (r = 0.417, p = 0.024). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed GDF-15 (odds ratio 18.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.51-134.32; p = 0.005) as an independent predictor of AE-COPD. In receiver operating characteristic analysis, GDF-15 achieved an area under the curve of 0.78 for the identification of AE-COPD. In conclusion, GDF-15 is a novel blood biomarker of AE-COPD that is more sensitive than that of CRP. GDF-15 may offer new insights into the pathogenesis of AE-COPD.

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Radiotherapy is an important treatment method for a wide variety of malignancies. Ionizing radiation (IR) is known to generate free radicals in irradiated tissues.¹ Mammalian cells have both enzymatic and non-enzymatic cleansing systems to remove reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), respectively.² An imbalance favoring the prooxidants and disfavoring the antioxidants, potentially leading to damage, has been called "oxidative stress."³ Efforts to reduce the toxicity of irradiation to normal tissues, organs, and cells have led to the investigation of cytoprotective agents.⁴ Many dietary components may have either direct antioxidant activity, such as flavonoids, melatonin, nigella sativa oil (NSO), and thymoquinone(TQ),⁵ or indirect antioxidant activity, such as zinc,⁶ manganese, and selenium.⁷ NSO is commonly known as 'black seed' and has strong antioxidant properties against oxidative damage.⁸ Many studies have reported that it has various pharmacological properties, including