We aimed to examine the growth suppressive effects of quercetin on acute promyelocytic and lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia, and to find out whether the growth suppression is related to the blocking of telomerase enzyme activity. Cytotoxic effects of quercetin were shown by trypan blue analyses. Apoptotic effects of quercetin were examined by acridine orange and ethidium bromide staining by fluorescence microscopy. The effects of quercetin on telomerase enzyme activity were shown by hTERT Quantification Kit. Our results demonstrated that quercetin has antiproliferative and apoptotic effects on T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute promyelocytic leukemia, and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cells. We also showed for the first time by this study that quercetin suppresses the activity of telomerase in ALL and CML cells. The results of this study show the importance of quercetin for its therapeutic potential in treatment of leukemias.

Purpose:To evaluate the radiation dose–volume effects of optic nerves and chiasm by visual psychophysical, electrophysiologic tests, and optical coherence tomography in patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Materials and Methods:A series of visual tests including visual acuity, visual field, contrast sensitivity, visual evoked potential, and optical coherence tomography were administered to 20 patients with locally advanced (T3-T4) nasopharyngeal carcinoma who were treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy. Volume that received 55 Gy (V55), mean dose (D mean), highest dose to 5% of the volume (D5), and maximum dose (Dmax) for optic nerves and chiasm were evaluated for each patient. Cutoff values were identified as V55: 50%, Dmean: 50 Gy, D5: 55 Gy, and Dmax: 60 Gy. The effects of radiation dose–volume on ophthalmologic tests were evaluated.Results:Ophthalmological evaluation revealed optic neuropathy with simultaneous retinopathy in 6 eyes of 4 patients and radiation retinopathy alone in both eyes of 1 patient. Regarding radiation dose–volume effects of the optic nerve, significant detrimental effect of all parameters was observed on visual acuity. Visual field and contrast sensitivity were affected significantly with V55 ≥ 50% and Dmean ≥ 50 Gy. Visual evoked potential latency was affected significantly with Dmean ≥ 50 Gy, D5 ≥ 55 Gy, and Dmax ≥ 60 Gy. For the chiasm, significant detrimental effect of all parameters was observed on visual acuity as well. Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and visual evoked potential amplitude were not affected by any of the dose–volume parameters neither optic nerves nor chiasm.Conclusion:The volume receiving the threshold dose, mean dose, and 5% of the volume receiving the maximum dose are important parameters besides maximum dose to optic nerves and chiasm. A comprehensive ophthalmological evaluation including visual field, contrast sensitivity, visual evoked potential latency, and amplitude should be performed for these patients. Visual evoked potential latency is an objective predictor of vision loss before the onset of clinical signs.

BackgroundTo determine the temperament and character profile of glaucoma patients.MethodsA total of 234 patients (104 with primary open angle glaucoma, and 130 control subjects without any ocular disease) were selected for this prospective, cross-sectional study. All the participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmological examination, including the best corrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure measurement, gonioscopy, and visual field analysis. All the participants were given the Turkish version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). The TCI is a self-reported evaluate, with 240 true/false items measuring four domains of temperament; harm avoidance (HA), persistence (PS), novelty seeking (NS), reward dependence (RD), and three domains of character; self-transcendence (ST), cooperativeness (C), self-directedness (SD).ResultsThe glaucoma patients achieved the higher scores than the controls for the HA and SD dimensions (p < 0.001 and p = 0.033). The glaucoma patients scored lower than the controls for the NS, P and ST dimensions (p < 0.001, p < 0.001 and p = 0.002). There were no differences in the RD and C scores between the patients and the controls (p = 0.944 and p = 0.343). There was no correlation between the duration of illness and the TCI dimensions. Disease severity was positively associated with HA (r = 0,220, p = 0,025) and the anticipatory worry (r = 0.227, p = 0.021) dimension.ConclusionsGlaucoma patients had a different personality profile to healthy individuals. This may affect treatment compliance and is also important when coping with maladaptive patient attitudes.

Purpose CAPE (caffeic acid phenethyl ester) is one of the most valuable and investigated component of propolis which is composed by honeybees. In the current study, we aimed at examining apoptotic effects of CAPE on CCRF-CEM leukemic cells and at determining the roles of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in cell death. Methods Trypan blue and XTT methods were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity. Apoptosis was examined by ELISA-based oligonucleotide and acridine orange/ethidium bromide dye techniques. Loss of mitochondrial membrane potential was evaluated using JC-1 dye by flow cytometric analysis and under fluorescent microscope. Results We detected the time-and dose-dependent increases in cytotoxic effect of CAPE on CCRF-CEM cells. ELISA and acridine orange/ethidium bromide results showed that apoptotic cell population increased significantly in CCRF-CEM cells exposed to increasing concentrations of CAPE. On the other hand, there was significant loss of MMP determined in response to CAPE in CCRF-CEM cells.Conclusion This in vitro data by being supported with clinical data may open the way of the potential use of CAPE for the treatment of leukemia.

Purpose To evaluate the impact of prolonged surgical face mask wearing on dry eye symptoms and tear film break-up time (T-BUT) in health care professionals. Materials and methods A total of 33 health care professionals were included in the present cross sectional prospective study. In addition to a complete ophthalmological examination T-BUT measurements were performed twice for all participants in the morning (8 am) and in the afternoon (5 pm). The subjects also filled-in the ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire twice, before and after wearing the face mask, on the same day. Results Sixty-six eyes of 33 participants (17 female and 16 male) were evaluated. The mean age was 33.6 ± 7.55 (24–48) years and mean total duration with mask on between the two evaluations was 514 ± 12.5 (495–526) minutes. The mean T-BUT was 9.3 ± 1.0 (3–16) seconds at 8 am and 8.3 ± 1.5 (3–14) seconds at 5 pm ( p = 0.01). The mean OSDI score was 20.1 ± 8.3 (0–68.75) at 8 am and 27.4 ± 10.4 (0–81.25) at 5 pm ( p < 0.01). Conclusion Use of a surgical mask for the entire work-day was seen to worsen T-BUT and increase dry eye symptoms in healthy individuals. Ophthalmologists should be aware of the possibility of worsening of dry eye symptoms with the prolonged use of surgical face masks and consider modifications if necessary.