Background: Evaluation of the therapeutic effects of calcium dobesilate and diosmin-hesperidin through regulation of apoptosis.
Patients and methods: 56 Patients were divided into four groups; Group 1 consisted of patients (n = 18) with the recent diagnosis of primary varicose disorder who have never used medications, Group 2 consisted of patients (n = 14) who have used diosmin-hesperidin for at least six weeks prior to the operation, Group 3 consisted of patients (n = 14) who have used calcium dobesilate for at least six weeks prior to the operation and finally Group 4 (Control group) consisted of normal saphenous vein biopsies (n = 10). All biopsies were stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin. Tissue samples from 56 patients were immunohistochemically stained with antibodies of anti-bcl-2, anti-bax and anti-p53. Apoptosis was evaluated by TUNEL method.
Results: There were no statistically significant differences among the groups in respect to gender distribution and smoking status. Immunohistochemical evaluation of apoptosis related proteins revealed a statistically significant difference between Group 4 and the other groups with respect to the apoptag staining on venous wall (p = 0.026). There were significant differences in the presence of bcl-2 protein expression between groups 4 and Group 1 (p = 0.0002) and between Group 1 and Group 3 (p = 0.023).
Conclusions: Our study highlights the significance of apoptosis in varicose disorders and suggests that calcium dobesilate, which is used in the treatment of varicose veins, could be of benefit by regulating apoptosis.