Orexin a levels of adolescents with major depressive disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines orexin A levels in adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD). METHODS: Serum orexin A levels of adolescents with MDD (n = 40) were compared to healthy controls (n = 38) using ANCOVA test. In addition, the relationship between orexin A levels and MDD symptom severity (i.e., child depression inventory) was investigated in the MDD group using correlation and linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Orexin A levels of the subjects with MDD were similar to controls while controlling for age, gender, body mass index, and anxiety levels of the subjects. In addition, correlation and regression analyses did not reveal any relationship between orexin A and MDD symptoms. DISCUSSION: Adolescent MDD is not associated with orexin A according to the findings of this study. Future studies considering the effect of stress on this relationship would improve our understanding of this issue.Key PointsAdult studies exploring the relationship between orexin A and major depressive disorder reported contradictory findings.This study showed no relationship between serum orexin A levels and depressive symptom severity among adolescents with major depressive disorder.Orexin A levels of the subjects with major depressive disorder are not significantly different from healthy adolescents.

Serum osteopontin can improve papillary thyroid cancer risk assessment of Bethesda III thyroid nodules: a preliminary study.

Objective: Thyroid cancer can be detected in 5-10% of patients with thyroid nodules. Management may be a challenge if fine-needle aspiration biopsy yields Bethesda III findings. Most of these cases undergo surgery and are ultimately found benign. Our aim was to evaluate whether serum osteopontin can accurately estimate thyroid cancer risk in cases with cytologically Bethesda III thyroid nodules and, thereby, decrease the number of unnecessary surgical interventions. Design and Methods: We obtained blood samples of cases with repeated cytologically Bethesda III thyroid nodules before surgery, and followed up the pathology results after thyroidectomy. We evaluated serum osteopontin from 36 patients with papillary thyroid cancer and compared them with 40 benign cases. Results: Serum osteopontin levels in patients with papillary thyroid cancer are significantly higher than in benign cases (mean serum osteopontin: 10.48 ± 3.51 ng/mL vs6.14 ± 2.29 ng/mL, P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.851, suggesting that serum osteopontin could have considerable discriminative performance. Conclusions: In our preliminary study, high serum osteopontin levels can predict the risk of papillary thyroid cancer in thyroid nodules with Bethesda III cytology. Further studies are necessary to confirm these findings.

Effects of Nigella sativa oil on ovarian volume, oxidant systems, XIAP and NF-kB expression in an experimental model of diabetes.

We investigated the effects of Nigella sativa oil on ovary volume, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) expression, and serum malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant status (TAS) and total oxidant status (TOS) levels in diabetic rats. We divided 21 adult female rats into three groups: controls, diabetics and diabetics + N. sativa oil. The diabetics + N. sativa oil group was given 0.2 mg/kg/day N. sativa oil 6 days/week for 4 weeks. NF-κB and XIAP expression was assessed in ovarian sections using immunohistochemistry. The right and left ovary volumes were calculated using stereology. We also measured serum MDA, SOD, TAS and TOS levels. We found that N. sativa oil reduced hyperglycemia, but not to control levels. N. sativa oil also exhibited antioxidant properties as demonstrated by reduced serum TOS and MDA levels, and increased SOD and TAS levels compared to controls. We found no significant difference in total ovarian volume, XIAP or NF-κB expression among the groups, which may be due to the short study period. Our findings suggest that N. sativa oil may be useful for reducing blood glucose levels and elevated oxidant activity in diabetic patients.

Effects of mandatory salt iodization on breast milk, urinary iodine concentrations, and thyroid hormones: is iodine deficiency still a continuing problem?

PURPOSE: To investigate whether mandatory use of iodized salt in Turkey, since 1999 has sufficient effects on pregnant women and their newborns' urinary iodine concentrations (UIC), maternal and newborns' thyroid function tests and breast milk iodine concentrations (BMIC). METHODS: This cross-sectional analytical-type study was conducted in an obstetrics and gynecology hospital in Konya, Turkey. One hundred and seven pregnant women and their 107 full-term newborns were included into the study. Levels of pregnant women and their newborns' UIC, thyroid-stimulated hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (fT3), free thyroxine (fT4), thyroglobulin (Tg), and BMIC were studied. RESULTS: Of 107 women with term pregnancy, mean TSH value and hypothyroidism frequency were found as 2.34 ± 1.33 mIU/L and 18.7%, respectively. Cord blood TSH level was found higher (≥ 10 mIU/L) in five newborns. Accordingly, the incidence of transient congenital hypothyroidism was 4.7% (5/107). Tg levels were observed to be higher in 50.5% of newborns and 22.4% of pregnant women. Frequency of iodized salt use in pregnancies was detected as 96.3% in general population, 97.5% in urban, and 92.9% in rural areas. Of pregnancies and newborns, 57.9 and 53.3% were found to have deficient urinary iodine, respectively, and BMIC deficiency was detected as 52.0%. There was a significant positive correlation between pregnant women's UIC, and newborns' UIC and BMIC. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the effective struggle with iodine deficiency and salt iodination control program in Konya, we concluded that iodine deficiency still persists as a significant problem in pregnancies.

Does remifentanil attenuate renal ischemia-reperfusion injury better than dexmedetomidine in rat kidney?

BACKGROUND: Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is a common cause of patient morbidity and mortality in the perioperative period. Patients undergoing long-lasting, abdominal, and urogenital surgeries with risk factors such as advanced age, peripheral artery disease, diabetes mellitus, renovascular disease, and congestive heart failure are candidates for acute kidney injury (AKI) due to impaired renal perfusion and decreased functional renal reserve. Pharmacological agents with multiple functions and anti-oxidative and anti-inflammation properties may be promising preventative strategies for AKI. Recently, dexmedetomidine (dex) has been postulated to have renoprotective effects. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the protective effects of an intravenous anesthetic remifentanil in renal I/R injury in the rat in comparison with dex. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 30 Sprague Dawley adult rats were randomly assigned into five groups: the control group (group C, n=6), the sham group (group Sh, n=6, saline-infused rats without I/R injury), the saline group (group S, n=6, saline-infused rats with I/R injury), the remifentanil-treated group (group REM, n=6), and the dexmedetomidine-treated group (group DEX, n=6). The infusions (saline, remifentanil, and dex) were started after anesthesia induction and right nephrectomy and continued until the end of the surgical procedure. In I/R injury groups, the left renal artery and vein were occluded together by a clamp for 30 minutes and reperfusion lasted for 30 minutes. The rats were sacrificed after reperfusion, and the left kidney tissue was harvested. Blood samples were drawn from all animals to evaluate plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) at the beginning, 15 minutes after ischemia, 15 minutes after reperfusion, and 6 hours after the surgical procedure (T0, T1, T2, and T3, respectively). RESULTS: The plasma NGAL levels exhibited increase at T1, T2, and T3 compared to the levels at T0 in group S (P<0.05). In group REM, there was a significant increase in plasma NGAL levels at T3 in comparison to those at T0, T1, and T2. The plasma NGAL levels at T2 in group S were significantly higher than those at T2 in group DEX (P<0.05). The groups S and REM showed significantly higher plasma NGAL levels at T3 compared to those at T0 (P<0.05). Upon histological examination, there was no difference among the study groups when left kidneys were evaluated (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The NGAL levels and histopathological findings reflected protection by dex against renal I/R injury. However, the same exact results could not be mentioned for remifentanil depending on our study results.

Alterations of the thioredoxin system during subarachnoid hemorrhage-induced cerebral vasospasm.

BACKGROUND: The exact underlying pathogenic mechanisms and effective preventive or therapeutic interventions for cerebral vasospasm remain obscure. The thioredoxin (Trx) system performs important functions in the central nervous system including neurotrophic and neuroprotective actions. There is no study directly investigating the effects of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) induced cerebral vasospasm on the Trx system in the literature. METHODS: Sixteen male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into two groups of eight rabbits each: a control group and a SAH group. The control group, (n = 8) was a sham surgery group in which SAH was not induced. In the SAH group, (n = 8), the SAH protocol was used to induce cerebral vasospasm. The brain and brainstem were removed and each brainstem was cut coronally into two pieces: an anterior part that contains basilar artery and a dorsal part that contains brainstem tissue. The brainstem tissue thioredoxin-1(Trx1), thioredoxin-2 (Trx2), thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), thioredoxin reductase-1 (TrxR1), thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) levels were investigated. Total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), malondialdehyde levels (MDA) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) levels were investigated for determining the oxidative-antioxidative status of the related brain tissues. Basilar artery segments were investigated for cross-sectional area and wall thickness measurements. RESULTS: SAH statistically significantly reduced the tissue levels of Trx1 (p < 0.01) and TrxR (p < 0.01). Trx2 levels were not significantly altered after SAH (p > 0.05). SAH significantly reduced the expression of TrxR1 (p < 0.01) and significantly increased the expression of TXNIP (p < 0.01) when compared with controls. TOS levels and MDA levels significantly increased after SAH (p < 0.01) and TAS levels significantly reduced after SAH (p < 0.01). TNF-alpha levels significantly increased after SAH (p < 0.01). SAH-induced cerebral vasospasm significantly (p < 0.05) increased the wall thickness and reduced the mean cross-sectional area of the basilar artery (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The Trx system seems to be negatively affected by the simultaneously interrelated enzymatic alterations during cerebral vasospasm.

Clinical significance of elevated antinuclear antibody test in patients with Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a single center experience.

AIM: There is an increased risk of lymphoma subsequent to autoimmune conditions. Autoimmune disorders may occur in the course of lymphomas. In this study, the association of autoimmunity and related autoantibodies within non-Hodgkin's (NHL) and Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients has been investigated. METHODS: The study enrolled 119 patients affected by NHL and 60 patients affected by HL for the presence of autoantibodies and autoimmune diseases. Afterwards, the results between the two lymphoma groups have been confronted. RESULTS: Autoimmune diseases were diagnosed in eight (6.7%) patients with NHL and three patients with HL (5%) (P=0.651). Thirty-four (28.5%) patients with NHL and 14 (23.3%) patients with HL displayed autoantibody positivity (P=0.083). As regards HL cases, antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were detected in 12 (20%) and anti PM-Scl in two patients (3.3%). None the patients had anti Jo-1, anti Scl-70, anti Sm, anti nRNP/Sm, anti single-stranded DNA (anti-ssDNA), anti double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA), antihistones, antinucleosomes, anti SS-A, anti SS-B or anti CENP-B autoantibodies. In patients affected by NHL ANA was detected in 16 (13.4%), anti SS-A and anti SS-B in two (1.7%), anti CENP-B in eight (6.7%) and anti PM-Scl in eight patients (6.7%). None of the patients had anti Jo-1, anti Scl-70, anti Sm, anti nRNP/Sm, anti ssDNA, antihistones or antinucleosome antibodies. There was a statistically significant difference between patients with HL and NHL in terms of anti CENP-B positivity (P=0.040). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, ANA and related autoantibodies can frequently be detected during lymphoma treatment. However, the majority of lymphoma patients with positive ANA did not display autoimmune diseases, demonstrating the lack of a strict correlation between the presence of ANA and autoimmune diseases.

Homogeneous blue pigmentation in dermatofibroma simulating a blue naevus.

A case with a pigmented skin lesion that was diagnosed as a blue naevus on clinical and dermoscopic grounds and histopathologically confirmed as a dermatofibroma is presented. By means of this case, we define dermatofibroma as a new exception for 'homogeneous blue pigmentation' on dermoscopy.

Non-dermatophytic molds as agents of onychomycosis in Izmir, Turkey - a prospective study.

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of causative non-dermatophytic filamentous fungi in onychomycosis. Totally 1,222 (1,222 x 3 = 3,666) samples of nail scrapings from 1,146 patients (from 76 patients two specimens: both from finger- and toe-nails) with prediagnosis of onychomycosis sent to the Mycology Laboratory from the Clinic of Dermatology, Ege University Hospital, Izmir, Turkey, July 2001-December 2003, were prospectively studied with conventional mycological procedures. The set criteria for the diagnosis of onychomycosis due to non-dermatophytic molds were: (1) Observation of fungal elements in 15% KOH-preparations made from nail scrapings, (2) growth of the same mold in all three consecutive cultures of the specimens taken three times from the same patient with one-week intervals, (3) no growth of a dermatophyte or yeast in three consecutive cultures. As agents of onychomycosis molds were detected in 33 (9%), dermatophytes in 175 (48%), yeasts in 150 (41%), and mixed (two different fungi) in 8 (2%) patients. In cases of mold onychomycosis, 11 (33%) had finger-nail and 22 (67%) toe-nail infection; 25 (76%) were female and 8 (24%) male; and 27 (82%) were above 40 years of age. The agents of mold onychomycosis, in order of frequency, were Aspergillus niger (7), Acremonium spp. (6), Fusarium spp. (6), Ulocladium spp. (4), sterile mycelia (2), Alternaria sp. (1), Aspergillus flavus (1), Aspergillus fumigatus (1), Aspergillus terreus (1), Cladosporium sp. (1), Paecilomyces spp. (1), Scopulariopsis sp. (1) and Trichoderma sp. (1). In conclusion, this study showed that non-dermatophytic molds were responsible for nearly 10% of onychomycoses cases attending the dermatology outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Izmir, Turkey. Since molds are common contaminants in the laboratory, cultures from consecutively taken nail scrapings should be made and carefully evaluated in order to diagnose a "mold onychomycosis".

The effects of ochratoxin A on lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes: a protective role of melatonin.

Various studies indicate that the mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) is a carcinogenic, genotoxic, teratogenic, immunotoxic, and nephrotoxic agent. In the present study, the activities of some enzymes in the serum and liver of rats with ochratoxicosis and the effects of melatonin on these enzymes were investigated. Rats were divided into three equal groups, each consisting of eight rats; control, OTA (289 microg/kg per day) and OTA + melatonin groups for this study. In the OTA treated group, the level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were increased in the liver and serum in comparison with the control group. The activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were significantly changed in the serum when compared with controls. Our results showed structural tissue damage in the liver in OTA-treated rats. Melatonin decreased the OTA-induced damage to support the antioxidant defense system and/or with free radical scavenger action.

In vivo changes in antioxidant systems and protective role of melatonin and a combination of vitamin C and vitamin E on oxidative damage in erythrocytes induced by chlorpyrifos-ethyl in rats.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) may be involved in the toxicity of chlorpyrifos-ethyl (CE) [O,O-diethyl-O-(3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl)phosphorothioate]. We have, therefore, examined the in vivo effects of CE on the rat erythrocyte antioxidant system and evaluated the ameliorating effects of melatonin and a combination of vitamin E and vitamin C on the oxidative damage induced by CE. The experimental groups were: (1) control group, (2) CE-treated group (CE), (3) vitamin E plus vitamin C treatment group (Vit), (4) melatonin-treated group (Mel), (5) vitamin E plus vitamin C plus CE treatment group (Vit + CE), and (6) melatonin plus CE treatment group (Mel + CE). Vitamin E and vitamin C were administered intramuscularly once a day for 6 consecutive days at 150 and 200 mg/kg, respectively, in the Vit and Vit + CE groups. Melatonin was administered intramuscularly at 10 mg/kg per day for 6 consecutive days in the Mel and Mel + CE groups. At the end of the fifth day, the rats of CE, Vit + CE and Mel + CE groups were treated orally with the first of two equal doses of 41 mg/kg CE, the second oral dose being given 21 h later. Blood samples were taken 24 h after the first CE administration. Levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), antioxidant defence potential (AOP), and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and catalase (CAT) were determined in erythrocytes. In comparison with the control group, oral administration of CE significantly (P < 0.05) stimulated TBARS activity while significantly (P < 0.05) inhibiting AOP and the activities of SOD and CAT. However, GSH-Px activity remained unchanged by CE treatment. Treatment with melatonin and vitamins E plus C significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the CE-induced increase of TBARS, and overcame the inhibitory effect of CE on SOD and CAT, but not on AOP. Melatonin treatment significantly (P < 0.05) increased only GSH-Px activity, irrespective of the effect of CE. These results suggest that CE treatment increases in vivo lipid peroxidation and decreases antioxidant defence by increasing oxidative stress in erythrocytes of rats, and melatonin and a combination of vitamin E and vitamin C can reduce this lipoperoxidative effect.

The role of the antioxidative defense system in papulopustular acne.

Acne vulgaris frequently occurs in the second decade of life. The pathogenesis of the disease is multifactorial. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of reactive oxygen species in inflammation of acne by determining the activity of antioxidant defense enzymes in leukocytes. Fifty-two patients with papulopustular type acne vulgaris and 36 healthy controls were enrolled. The severity of the disease was examined by the Global Acne Grading System, and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT) enzymes as well as the level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) were detected in leukocytes. The activities of SOD and GSH-Px were significantly decreased in the acne group. CAT activity and TBARS level were higher in patients than controls. Only a poor correlation was detected between GSH-Px activity and severity of the disease. Antioxidative defense enzymes are impaired in papulopustular acne, and drugs with antioxidative effects might be valuable in treatment.