96th-hour impact of scalding burns on end organ damage, systemic oxidative stress, and wound healing in rats treated with three different types of dressings.

In this study, we investigated the effects of three different burn dressing treatments, including experimental, silver, and modern dressing materials, on systemic oxidative stress in rats with severe scald burns within the first 96 h. The rats were divided into five groups: a burn group (n = 10), a polylactic membrane (PLM) group (n = 10), a silver sulfadiazine (SSD) group (n = 10), a curcumin group (n = 10), and a control group (n = 10), consisting of equal numbers of female and male rats. In the first four groups, 30% of the rats' total body surface area was scalded at 95°C. The burn group was not treated. Each group was treated with group-name dressing material. The control group was neither treated nor burned. The rats were sacrificed, and blood and tissue samples were obtained at the 96th hour when severe effects of oxidative stress developed postburns. Systemic inflammatory biomarkers and oxidative stress parameters were examined. In addition, apoptosis and organ damage in liver, kidney, lung, and skin tissues were evaluated biochemically and histopathologically. When the parameters were statistically analyzed, we found that systemic levels of oxidative stress and inflammatory damage to liver, kidney, and lung tissues were lower in the three treated groups than in the burn group. We believe that the dressing material's efficacy in the treatment of severe burns may be dependent on its ability to combat oxidative stress and inflammation.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric appendicitis hospital admission time and length of hospital stay.

BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is one of the most common surgical emergencies among children. In this retrospective clinical study, we attempted to determine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic period on hospital admission time and length of hospital stay (LOS) in pediatric appendicitis cases. METHODS: We retrospectively compared pediatric appendectomies from the date of the first reported COVID-19 case to June 1, 2020, which is considered as the start of the normalization process, with pre-pandemic pediatric appendectomies of the same number of days in terms of age, gender, hospital admission time, LOS, parental educational level, laboratory values, and histopathological findings. RESULTS: There was an average increase of 2 days in the time from the onset of symptoms to hospital admission in pediatric appen-dicitis patients in the COVID-19 period (p=0.001). Furthermore, C-reactive protein value was statistically significantly higher in the COVID-19 period (p=0.018). Given the LOS, it was calculated as an average of 5 days in the pre-pandemic period and 4 days in the COVID-19 period, and this difference was statistically insignificant (p=0.273). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of histopathological findings (p=0.176). The parental educational level had no effect on the admission time. CONCLUSION: The hospital admission time of pediatric appendicitis patients is significantly prolonged in the COVID-19 pandemic, but this prolongation had no histopathological effect. During the pandemic, the recovery of patients who required urgent treatment during the 'stay-at-home' period was also negatively affected. Notwithstanding, we are of the opinion that the absence of an increase in the LOS may be due to the willingness of both families and physicians to keep the LOS as short as possible. Despite the increase in hospital admission time in pediatric appendicitis during the Covid 19 pandemic process, the lack of increase in the rate of complicated appendicitis may be an indicator of the importance of other factors in the development of complicated appendicitis.

Ultra-structural and histopathological features of liver biopsy taken during laparotomy to confirm the diagnosis of biliary atresia.

Background: Neonatal cholestasis is caused by a group of diseases that cause jaundice, which can be encountered in the neonatal period. Biliary atresia (BA) and idiopathic neonatal hepatitis (INH) are among neonatal cholestasis diseases. Aims: The aim of this study was to perform histopathological and ultra-structural examinations of liver biopsy tissue samples from BA and INH patients with liver biopsies taken during laparotomy to confirm the diagnosis of biliary atresia. Settings and Design: A total of patients undergoing Kasai surgery before the age of 60 days were included in an "early" group (n = 7), whereas patients undergoing surgery after the age of 60 days were included in a "late" group (n = 11). The control group (n = 11) included INH patients. Materials and Methods: For histopathological examinations, liver tissue samples obtained intra-operatively were subjected to routine histopathological procedures after being stained with caspase-3 and cytokeratin-7 antibodies. Ultra-structural evaluations were also performed. Statistical analysis used: For comparisons between the groups, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used for continuous variables. Results: Histopathological findings reflected the specific liver pathologic findings seen in biliary atresia. Although there was no significant difference between the BA groups, these parameters were not detected in the control group. The histopathological evaluations revealed no significant differences in the findings of liver parenchyma damage between the early, late, and control groups. Electron microscopic examinations showed that the patients in the late group had more severe signs of intra-cellular damage to the liver. Conclusions: Although the histopathological examination revealed no significant differences in liver damage between the three groups, in ultra-structural evaluation, intra-cellular damage was found to be less in groups with better prognosis. Electron microscopy evaluations of intra-cellular damage may be more useful in this respect.

Global gene expression profiling in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) patients.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is an anomaly characterized by a defect in the diaphragm, leading to the passage of intra-abdominal organs into the thoracic cavity. Herein, the presented work analyzes the global gene expression profiles in nine CDH and one healthy newborn. All of the patients had left posterolateral (Bochdalek) diaphragmatic hernia, operated via an abdominal approach, and stomach and bowels in the thorax cavity. Some patients also had additional anomalies. A total of 560 differentially regulated genes were measured. Among them, 11 genes showed significant changes in expression associated with lung tissue, vascular structure development, and vitamin A metabolism, which are typical ontologies related to CDH etiology. Among them, SLC25A24 and RAB3IL1 are involved in angiogenesis, HIF1A and FOXC2-AS1 are related with the alveolus, MAGI2-AS3 is associated with the diaphragm, LHX4 and DHH are linked with the lung, and BRINP1, FZD9, WNT4, and BLOC1S1-RDH5 are involved in retinol. Besides, the expression levels of some previously claimed genes with CDH etiology also showed diverse expression patterns in different patients. All these indicated that CDH is a complex, multigenic anomaly, requiring holistic approaches for its elucidation.

Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, S-100 Protein and Synaptophysin Expression in Biliary Atresia Gallbladder Tissue.

PURPOSE: Biliary atresia (BA) is a disease that manifests as jaundice after birth and leads to progressive destruction of the ductal system in the liver. The aim of this study was to investigate histopathological changes and immunohistochemically examine the expression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), synaptophysin, and S-100 protein in the gallbladder of BA patients. METHODS: The study included a BA group of 29 patients and a control group of 41 children with cholecystectomy. Gallbladder tissue removed during surgery was obtained and examined immunohistochemically and histopathologically. Tissue samples of both groups were immunohistochemically assessed in terms of GDNF, S-100 protein, and synaptophysin expression. Expression was classified as present or absent. Inflammatory activity assessment with hematoxylin and eosin staining and fibrosis assessment with Masson's trichrome staining were performed for tissue sample sections of both groups. RESULTS: Ganglion cells were not present in gallbladder tissue samples of the BA group. Immunohistochemically, GDNF, synaptophysin, and S-100 expression was not detected in the BA group. Histopathological examination revealed more frequent fibrosis and slightly higher inflammatory activity in the BA than in the control group. CONCLUSION: We speculate that GDNF expression will no longer continue in this region, when the damage caused by inflammation of the extrahepatic bile ducts reaches a critical threshold. The study's findings may represent a missing link in the chain of events forming the etiology of BA and may be helpful in its diagnosis.