Investigation of temporal illicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco trends in Istanbul city: Wastewater analysis of 14 treatment plants.

Wastewater-based drug monitoring is a complementary tool that has been used worldwide in recent years, and many cities have periodically reported monitoring results. However, this study is the first to analyze drugs in wastewater in a single city with a high population during four periods simultaneously from 14 treatment plants. The aim was to estimate the consumption of conventional illicit drugs [amphetamine (AMP), methamphetamine (METH), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), cannabis, cocaine, and heroin], tobacco, and alcohol in 2019 for quarterly periods in Istanbul city, which has a population of almost 20 million, to aid in implementing evidence-based measures. Additionally, the seasonal variations among the 14 wastewater treatment plants and their weekday/weekend comparison of drug use patterns and consumption per substance were examined. Solid phase extraction was followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and a previously validated method was enhanced by adding new parameters (morphine, cotinine, and ethyl sulfate), and satisfactory results were obtained. In this study, alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis had the highest estimated per capita consumption with mean values of 29655.3 mL/1000 inh/day, 5507.6 mg/1000 inh/day and 3607.0 mg/1000 inh/day, respectively. These results were followed by heroin and cocaine consumption with mean values of 557.0 and 200.9 mg/1000 inh/day, respectively, whereas AMP-type stimulants had the lowest values among the targeted substances. METH and cannabis were also highly consumed drugs when compared with the results of other metropolitan cities, whereas heroin consumption was remarkably high owing to Turkey's location on a possible heroin trafficking route. Because Istanbul is the business center of the country and has the potential to attract tourists in all four seasons, meaningful seasonal consumption differences were not observed for all substances.

Comparison of Emla cream and lidocaine injection for local anaesthetic before radiofrequency reduction of the inferior turbinates.

We compared the effectiveness of local anaesthetic with Emla cream with that of an injection of lidocaine for radiofrequency reduction of the inferior turbinates. We studied 98 consecutive patients with hypertrophied inferior turbinates, 46 of whom were given Emla cream and 52 lidocaine injection. The procedure began five minutes after the injection of lidocaine and 10minutes after the Emla cream had been applied. Patients were asked to indicate on a visual analogue scale (VAS) the degree of perioperative pain, anxiety, sensation of choking, and discomfort on swallowing that they felt after the procedure. Patients treated with Emla had significantly lower VAS scores for discomfort on swallowing than those treated with lidocaine (p=0.001), but there were no other significant differences between the two groups. We conclude that Emla cream is an efficacious alternative to infiltration of lidocaine for radiofrequency reduction of the inferior turbinates.

Chicken amyloid arthropathy: serum amyloid A, interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and nitric oxide profile in acute phase (12th hour).

Acute phase response (APR) is part of the early defense system, which is triggered by different stimuli including, infection, trauma, stres, inflammation and neoplasia. The APR complex is a reaction which induces homeostasis and recovery. In this research, serum amyloid A (SAA), interlaukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured 12 hours following injection. For this purpose, Thirty-two 5 weeks old laying chicken were allocated into four groups and intra-articular injections of Freund's adjuvant were used to induce amylod arthropathy in Groups II, III and IV. Vitamin A in group II, and methylprednisolone in group IV were added to enhance and to reduce the severity of amyloidosis, respectively. At the end of the research, it was observed that TNF-alpha and NO increased significantly (P < 0.05) in vitamin A and methylprednisolone groups whereas SAA decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in all groups. It was also observed that IL-6 increased (P < 0.05) in vitamin A group and decreased in all other gorups however, IL-1beta decreased in vitamin A and methylprednisolone groups, while it was increased in the control group. The results of this study suggest that there is a positive correlation between serum TNF-alpha levels in acute and chronic phase in chickens with amyloid arthropathy.

Effect of glucocorticoids on nasal polyposis, with detection of inflammatory response by measurement of nitric oxide levels in nasal polyp tissue.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate endoscopic staging, and nitric oxide levels in the polyp tissue, in patients with nasal polyposis undergoing glucocorticoid therapy. METHODS: Nasal polyposis was evaluated using endoscopic staging and measurement of polyp tissue nitric oxide levels (chemiluminescence method). Forty-five nasal polyposis patients received either nasal therapy (n = 15), oral therapy (n = 15) or combined therapy (n = 15). Pre-treatment and post-treatment staging and nitric oxide levels were evaluated. RESULTS: Endoscopic grading indicated significant post-treatment staging improvements in the oral (p = 0.016) and combined (p = 0.016) groups. Post-treatment staging differed significantly between the three groups (p = 0.041), with greater improvements in the oral and combined groups. All groups showed significantly lower post-treatment nitric oxide levels, compared with baseline, but post-treatment levels did not differ significantly between groups. A significant association was found between treatment response and nitric oxide level alteration. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the favourable effects of glucocorticoids on nasal polyposis, and alteration in nitric oxide tissue levels post-treatment. Nitric oxide level in nasal polyp tissue could be an indicator of treatment response, and may aid surgical decision-making by detecting cases that probably will not respond to medical treatment.

Effect of a rosemary and oregano volatile oil mixture on performance, lipid oxidation of meat and haematological parameters in Pharaoh quails.

1. This study was conducted to determine the utility of a volatile oil (VO) mixture in quail diets as a natural growth promoter. Different levels of VO mixtures, derived from rosemary and oregano, were added to a basal diet to determine the effects of the mixture on live weight (LW), live weight gain (LWG), feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcase yield (CY), lipid oxidation level in thigh meat samples, and blood constituents. 2. A total of 880 one-day-old Pharaoh (Coturnix coturnix Pharaoh) quails, including both males and females, were divided into 4 groups containing 220 quails and treated as follows: (1) a control treatment with 0 mg VO/kg of diet; (2) 100 mg/kg rosemary VO plus 100 mg/kg oregano VO (50:50%); (3) 140 mg/kg oregano VO plus 60 mg/kg rosemary VO (70:30%); and (4) 60 mg/kg oregano VO plus 140 mg/kg rosemary VO (30:70%). The diets were prepared fresh for each treatment. The experiment was carried out for 42 d. 3. The results of the study showed that the highest concentration of rosemary oil (140 mg/kg) caused a significant increase in live weight, live weight gain and carcase yields during the growing and finishing periods. However, feed intake and FCR were not significantly influenced by treatments. 4. The quails fed with rations containing the VO mixture derived from rosemary and oregano had reduced thiobarbituric acid levels (TBA) in raw breast meat samples at different storage times. There is possibly a synergistic effect between oregano and rosemary volatile oils in preventing lipid oxidation in stored meat. 5. In this study, the haemoglobin (PCV) and haematocrit values and the heterophile/lympohocyte (H/L) ratio increased in the blood samples taken from Treatment 2. 6. In conclusion, a volatile oil containing a mixture of rosemary and oregano oils could be a potential natural growth promoter for quails, depending on the plants from which the VOs were extracted, the dosage and the synergetic effects of the mixture.