How do vegetable oils (hazelnut and canola) affect the reproductive system in male rats?

OBJECTIVE: Vegetable oils have an important place in our daily diet. This study starts from this point to investigate the effects of canola oil and hazelnut oil in the male reproductive system in rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 30 male rats were used in this 16-week study. The animals were divided into three groups: the animals in group I served as the control group, while the animals in group II and group III were fed with hazelnut and canola oil, respectively. The testes of all rats were excised for histopathologic evaluation and immunohistochemical (IHC) evaluation with a standard method. Blood samples were obtained for determination of serum hormone levels. RESULTS: No significant differences were noted with respect to behavior or weight among the three groups. Rats in the canola oil group (group III) had higher luteinizing hormone (LH) and higher testosterone levels than rats in the control group. Rats who received hazelnut oil (group II) exhibited similar findings, with these levels being higher than they were in the control group. No statistical differences were shown for histopathology or IHC testosterone antibody levels across all treatment groups. Conclussion: Canola oil was shown to have a greater effect on serum LH and testosterone compared to the control group and the group fed with hazelnut oil. Further investigation is required into how these oils affect serum hormone and sperm activity.

Serum fetuin-A levels, QT dispersion and P dispersion in dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to find association of fetuin-A with serum lipids, QT dispersion (QT-d), and P dispersion (P-d) in dialysis patients. METHODS: Fetuin-A serum levels were assessed in 50 dialysis patients. RESULTS: Serum fetuin-A levels were significantly associated with QT-d (r = 0.289, p = 0.044), P-d (r = 0.39, p = 0.005), total cholesterol (r = 0.526, p = 0.000), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (r = 0.456, p = 0.00), triglyceride (r = 0.360, p = 0.011) and highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) (r = -0.347, p = 0.030). In step-wise multiple regression analysis including being on hemodialysis (HD), presence of diabetes mellitus (DM), total cholesterol, LDL-C, triglycerides, hsCRP, only total cholesterol (b = 0.419, p = 0.03), and hsCRP (b = -0.316, p = 0.03) proved to be independent predictors of serum fetuin-A levels. QT-d showed a linear correlation with total cholesterol (r = 0.309, p = 0.029), LDL-C (r = 0.304, p = 0.038), P-d (r = 0.390, p = 0.005), and fetuin-A levels (r = 0.289, p = 0.044). In multiple regression analyses, the independent predictor of QT-d was being on HD (b = -0.417, p = 0.004), whereas total cholesterol, LDL-C, presence of DM, serum fetuin-A levels, and P-d had no independent effect on corrected QT (QT-C). Being on HD and age were important determinants of P-d whereas presence of DM, total cholesterol, LDL-C, fetuin-A, and QT-d had no independent effect on P-d. CONCLUSIONS: Lower fetuin-A levels are associated with high hsCRP and low cholesterol levels in dialysis patients.

NGAL and NT-proBNP levels in diabetic patients with macroproteinuria.

BACKGROUND: In patients with heart failure plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels are correlated to urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels. We prospectively evaluated the relationship among glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR), urine and serum NGAL and NT-proBNP levels in 20 type II diabetic patients with macroalbuminuria at 4-month intervals. RESULTS: Compared with 20 age, gender-matched healthy controls, diabetic patients had higher urine and serum NGAL, serum NT-proBNP and lower eGFR. The eGFR of the patients at the baseline, the 4th and the 8th month were 29.6 ± 12.0, 27.8 ± 13.7 and 22.9 ± 10.4 mL/min/1.73 m(2), respectively. No significant change in urine NGAL levels was detected (p > 0.05), whereas there were significant increases in NT-proBNP, serum NGAL and urine ACR and significant decrease in eGFR as the study progressed (p < 0.05). Both the baseline and the 4th month urine ACR were positively correlated to NT-proBNP levels measured at the same periods (r: 0.451; p: 0.046; r: 0.489; p: 0.029 respectively). In all measurements, urine ACR was negatively correlated to serum albumin levels measured at the same periods (r: -0.792; p: 0.000; r: -0.716; p: 0.000; r: -0.531; p: 0.016 respectively). None of eGFR measurements was correlated with NT-proBNP (p > 0.05). Neither serum NGAL nor urinary NGAL levels are associated with NT-proBNP (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings show an association between NT-proBNP and proteinuria in type II diabetic patients with macroalbuminuria but not with serum and urine NGAL.

Corrigendum to: The Association of Serum Vitamin D Levels with Pseudoexfoliation Glaucoma/Syndrome.

In the Original Article by Dikci et al. "The Association of Serum Vitamin D Levels with Pseudoexfoliation Glaucoma/ Syndrome" (Endocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets. 2019; 19(2):166-170) after publication of the article it has come to the corresponding author's attention that there were some errors in the article. In the introduction section, reference 3 should be changed as reference 2 (paragraph 1, line 4) and references 4-6 should be changed as references 3-6 (paragraph 1, lines 6,7). Reference numbers in the references section should be as follows. References 25-28 should be changed as references 7-10 respectively. References 7-24 should be changed as references 11-28 respectively.

Vitamin D deficiency, insulin resistance, serum adipokine, and leptin levels in peritoneal dialysis patients.

OBJECTIVE: Associations between 25 hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D], adipokines levels, and insulin resistance have been reported. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of cholecalciferol supplementation on vitamin D levels, insulin resistance, leptin, and adiponectin levels in vitamin D-deficient peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. METHODS: In nineteen vitamin D-deficient PD patients, who were treated with cholecalciferol, fasting serum glucose, insulin, adiponectin, leptin, 25(OH)D and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were measured before and after cholecalciferol replacement therapy. Eighteen (94.7 %) PD patients with vitamin D deficiency were receiving active vitamin D compounds (alphacalciferol) for PTH control. Alphacalciferol dosing was kept constant during treatment with cholecalciferol. RESULTS: While mean 25(OH)D significantly increased from (10.2 ± 4.9 ng/ml) to (82.9 ± 56.5 ng/ml) (p < 0.05), mean homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance index significantly decreased from (4.6 ± 3.6) to (2.8 ± 2.0) after cholecalciferol replacement therapy (p < 0.05). Serum leptin levels (12.9 ± 17.6 ng/ml) significantly increased (18.1 ± 19.5 ng/ml) (p < 0.05), while there was no change in serum adiponectin, calcium, and phosphate after vitamin D replacement. Serum PTH levels significantly decreased from 551.9 ± 276.6 pg/ml to 434.0 ± 273.4 ng/ml. CONCLUSIONS: Cholecalciferol replacement therapy significantly decreases PTH levels and insulin resistance. The results of this study need to be confirmed in larger clinical trials.