Objectives: Basal cell carcinoma is the most common malignancy in in the Caucasian race and is a serious health problem with its ever-increasing incidence and high cost. Although the treatment is surgical, some elderly patients do not accept surgical intervention. In this case, non-surgical treatments come into prominence. The Hypericum perforatum (HP) / St. John's Wort plant has been used in the treatment of many diseases for centuries among local people. Here, we aimed to aimed to elucidate the effect and molecular mechanism of the HP plant on BCC cells. Methods: Human BCC cell lines TE 354.T were acquired from ATCC®, then were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium. BCC cells were seeded at a concentration of 2x106cells in each flask (n=12). After incubation, while six of the flasks were applied with a 0.8% HP extract and 99.2% medium for 48 hours, no application was made to the control group. The effects of HP on mitochondrial mediated intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathway agents, cell cycle G2 / M checkpoint kinases and inflammatory mediators were investigated in BCC cancer cells. The expression and activities of these mediators in both groups were evaluated by ELISA test. Results: It was determined that HP extract treatment increased the expression of apoptotic proteins (AIF, GADD153, GRP78, caspase-3, Bax) and cell cycle G2 / M checkpoint kinase (Wee1), though it reduced antiapoptotic protein (Bcl-2) and inflammatory mediators (iNOS, COX-2, cPLA2, NFkB) in BCC cell lines. Conclusion: HP extract can support routine chemotherapy on BCC cells with its apoptotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effect, and may be a beacon of hope in reducing resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of BCC.

Aim: Psoriasis vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory skin disease associated with various comorbidities such as metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease.The disease is affected by many variables.Angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL2) is a proinflammatory cytokine, and increased serum levels are associated with inflammation, obesity, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and atherosclerosis.The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the new variable ANGPTL2 and other atherosclerotic variables for psoriasis, using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis.Material and Methods: The study included 41 psoriasis patients and 43 healthy volunteers.Ultrasound examination of the carotids and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measurements were performed in all participants.Serum ANGPTL2 levels, lipid levels/ratios and anthropometric measurements were recorded.A ROC curve of multivariate statistical methods was used for statistical evaluation.Results: According to the results of the ROC curves, seven diagnostic variables (ANGPTL2, BMI, weight, systolic blood pressure, waist circumference for females, uric acid and LDL-cholesterol) were found to be significant.The highest Area Under the Curve (AUC) value was found for ANGPTL2; AUC=0.721,95% CI: 0.595-0.847,p=0.002.There was no significant difference in the lipid ratios and CIMT measurements between psoriasis patients and healthy controls.Discussion: This study revealed that increased ANGPTL2 levels in psoriasis patients are evidence of the strong relationship between the disease and atherosclerosis.Therefore, the measurement of serum ANGPTL2 level may be a new marker that can be used to determine the risk of early atherosclerosis and metabolic complications in psoriasis patients.

OBJECTIVES: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is a common cancer in Caucasian populations.Treatments registered for high-risk cSCC are still undetermined.Experimental data have demonstrated possibly useful effects of a combined application of beta-blockers in cancer therapy.The goal of this study was to examine the effi cacy of propranolol in the treatment of cSCC and its impact on apoptosis.Thus, we aimed to investigate the apoptotic pathway protein levels and activity in beta-blocker-treated cSCC cells.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was performed on human cSCC cancer cell line culture.One of the cSCC cell lines was treated with propranolol, whereas no treatment was given to the other group.Then, the levels of apoptotic pathway proteins were determined by ELISA test in both groups.RESULTS: The propranolol treatment group exhibited a remarkable difference as compared with the other group.It was found that propranolol treatment enhanced the activity of caspase-3 while the expression of bax, wee1, gadd153, grp78 and AIF decreased bcl-2 which is antiapoptotic protein in cSCC cell lines.CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that propranolol treatment has anti-cancer properties with an effect on various apoptotic pathways in cSCC.These data are important because propronalol may be involved in future cSCC treatment (Tab. 1, Fig. 3, Ref. 22).

Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) is the most commonly diagnosed skin cancer in the world. It can be treated through standard surgical excision in most of the patients, but some patients can not be tolerate surgical procedures; therefore, it should be used non-surgical treatment for these kinds of patients. St. John's worth/Hypericum perforatum (HP) plant has biological active contents and is also used by local people in treatment of some diseases. The content of HP affects apoptosis. Apoptotic pathways are significant in cancer development and chemotherapeutic resistance. Furthermore, it is reported that anti-inflammatory agents are a potential target for cancer. Thus, we studied if HP extract affects apoptotic pathways mediators; caspase-3, bax, bcl-2, gadd153, grp78, AIF and cell cycle G2/M checkpoint kinase; wee 1, and also inflammation mediators; iNOS, COX-2, cPLA2, NFkB expression in treated BCC cells. Human basal cancer cell lines were obtained from ATCC, then were grown on Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM). Cell viability assay and cell homogenization were performed. One of the two BCC cell lines was given HP extract, whereas the other was not given. Then their activity of apoptotic pathways, cell cycle, inflammation mediators were analyzed by ELISA in these cultured cells. The data were analyzed statistically. It was detected that HP extract treatment increased expression of caspase-3, bax, gadd153, grp78, AIF apoptotic proteins and cell cycle G2/M checkpoint kinase- wee 1 although it decreased bcl-2 antiapoptotic protein and iNOS, COX-2, cPLA2, NFkB inflammatory mediators in BCC cells. In this study, it is asserted that HP extract will be able to affect in the treatment of BCC due to characteristic feature of anti-inflammatory and wiping out cancer cells by affecting several intracellular pathways.

Giris: Parotis uzerindeki dev pilomatriksomalar da klinik olarak suphelenilmedigi icin punch biyopside yanlis tanilar konulmaktadir. Punch biyopsi sonucu malign epitelyal tumor tanisi ile gonderilen olgunun degerlendirilmesi amaclanmistir. Olgu Sunumu: Sol yanakta parotis uzerinde, 7x8x8 cm’lik dev pilomatriksoma tanisi konulan hastanin lezyon eksizyonu sonrasinda greftlendi. Sonuclar: Kitle parotis uzerinde oldugundan oncelikle parotis lezyonlari dusunuldu. Fasiyal sinir ve dallari korunarak eksizyon yapildi. Yuzdeki kitlelerin eksizyonu esnasinda pilomatriksoma gibi benign lezyonlarinda gorulebilecegi ve cerrahide patoloji sonucu netlesene kadar fasiyal sinir ve parotis bezinin sakrifiye edilmemesi gerektigi kanatindeyiz.

Angeregt von zahlreichen Pressemitteilungen im Jahr 2013 rundum den osterreichischen Strommarkt sowie fur Konsumenten nachteilige Preisentwicklungen im Stromeinzelhandel entstand die Idee fur diese Master-Arbeit. Insbesondere auf Seiten der E- Control und dem Verband fur Konsumenteninformation besteht die grundlegende Ansicht, dass seit der Liberalisierung des osterreichischen Strommarkts die Preise auf der Einzelhandelsebene kontinuierlich angestiegen sind. Diese Entwicklung sei jedoch nicht gerechtfertigt, da die Preise auf der Groshandelsebene uberwiegend eine abnehmende Tendenz zeigen. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist somit den Zusammenhang zwischen Gros- und Einzelhandelspreise (Borsenpreise und Lieferantenpreise) zu analysieren und in Folge die Existenz einer asymmetrischen Preistransmission zu uberprufen. Wenn durch einen Schock eine Veranderung des Input-Preises hervorgerufen wird und der Output-Preis sich folglich in einem nicht-aquivalenten Ausmas und/ oder zeitlich verzogert anpasst, spricht man von einer asymmetrischen Preistransmission. Typische Ursachen aus der Literatur sind vor allem wettbewerbsunfahige Markte sowie Suchkosten. Neben deskriptiv statistischen Analysen wurden auch Methoden der Zeitreihenanalyse angewandt. Ziel war die Formulierung eines Fehlerkorrekturmodells, jedoch erfullen die vorhandenen Daten die Voraussetzungen hierfur nicht. Anhand des Granger-Kausalitatstests konnte ein zeitlich versetzter Einfluss der Borsenpreise auf einige Lieferantenpreise festgestellt werden. Der (erweiterte) Dickey-Fuller Test uberpruft die vorausgesetzte Instationaritat fur den anschliesenden Kointegrationstest. Die Borsenpreise sind laut Ergebnis hochstwahrscheinlich stationar. Die Ergebnisse des nichtsdestotrotz durchgefuhrten Kointegrationstests deuten daraufhin, dass die Spot- und Lieferantenpreise kointegriert sind. Dies gilt nicht mit Einbezug der Futurepreise. Letzten Endes besteht die Vermutung, dass entweder die Groshandelspreise keinen bedeutenden Einfluss auf die Preisvergabe in der Einzelhandelsebene haben oder die vorhandenen Daten fur okonometrische Analysen untauglich sind.