Short term effects of experimental gastric outlet obstruction and truncal vagotomy on gut hormones.

Gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) is caused mainly by pyloric or duodenal blockage; gastric surgery and vagotomy are effective treatments. We investigated the short term effects of experimental GOO and truncal vagotomy (TV) on gut hormone levels. We used 8-week-old male Wistar rats divided randomly into four groups: control, GOO, TV, and GOO + TV. At the end of the experiment, blood and tissue samples of the pylorus and fundus were obtained for biochemical and immunohistochemical analysis. Gastric motility decreased in the TV group, but there was no difference in food intake compared to the control group; water consumption and urine output were increased. Feces excretion and food intake decreased due to loss of food movement from the stomach of GOO and GOO + TV rats. Levels of insulin and ghrelin were lower than for the control group, but levels of cholecystokinin were higher. Leptin and glucagon-like peptide 1 levels were increased in the GOO group, while somatostatin was decreased. Leptin immunostaining levels were decreased in the GOO + TV group. Gastrin and neuropeptide Y levels were lower in the GOO and GOO + TV groups compared to the other groups. We found that both gut hormone levels related to gastric motility and metabolism, and immunohistochemical staining of the stomach tissue were altered by TV and GOO. Measuring changes in gut hormones following gastric surgery could be useful for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment.

Anticonvulsive and behavior modulating effects of sophoretin and rutoside.

INTRODUCTION: Seizures are the hallmarks of most types of epilepsies. Behavioral and cognitive impairments coincide with interictal periods even though it is not clear whether these impairments spring out of the seizure itself or accompanying sociopsychological burden of the disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we investigated behavioral and cognitive consequences of a single GABA receptor-related seizure in mice, and examined the potential anticonvulsive and behavior-modulating properties of sophoretin (quercetin) and rutoside (rutin). RESULTS: The study demonstrated that sophoretin and rutoside, common flavonoids of the human diet, delay the seizure onset and reduce the seizure stage. Moreover, they exerted an antidepressant-like effect, which was independent of the seizure. Neither treatments nor seizure altered recognition and spatial memory performances of the mice. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioral or cognitive disturbances that are evident in epileptic patients did not appear following a single seizure. In addition, we suggest that both sophoretin and rutoside successfully alleviate the seizure severity without interfering in the behavioral stability and cognitive performance. Hence, these flavonoids may be of use as adjuncts to the current treatment options.

Systemic side effects of locally used oxymetazoline.

OBJECTIVES: The object of the study is to experimentally investigate the possible systemic side effects of Oxymetazoline including its nasal spray which has been in use for a long time both by the physicians and patients. There is no study in the literature to address the damages of oxymetazoline on the end organ. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study conducted on 2 groups of rat. Group 1 (n = 8): Control; and Group 2 (n = 8): Oxymetazoline. During 4 week, the control group was applied with 2 drops of saline water on each nasal cavity 3 times a day and the other group was applied with 2 drops of oxymetazoline HCl 3 times a day. At the end of experiment, samples from mandible, parotid and tails of the rats were taken in 10% formalin for histopathological investigations. RESULTS: In histopathological experiments, when compared with the control group, the oxymetazoline group showed significant increase in many of the histopathological parameters (ischemic changes: P = 0.0001; congestion: P = 0.0006; arterial thrombosis: P = Ns; PNL accumulations: P = 0.001; necrosis: P = 0.0001; and ulceration: P = 0.014). The results of histopathologic tests on the samples taken from mandible and parotid gland, in comparison with the control group, showed no significant increase (focal inflammation: P = Ns; and lymphocyte aggregation: P = Ns). CONCLUSION: Due to the damage that the long-term use of nasal spray including oxymetazoline, it may cause injury on the end organ, which we revealed in our histopathological experiments. We believe that it's essential for the physicians to provide information on the side effects of the medicine to their patients who use for a long term.

Ameliorating effect of quercetin on acute pentylenetetrazole induced seizures in rats.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study to elicit effects of pure quercetin in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) and picrotoxin induced seizures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Each animal group was divided into six groups and composed of six rats. Rats were assigned to the following experiments and groups (G): (G1) PTZ 45 mg/kg + DMSO; (G2) PTZ 45 mg/kg + 5 mg/kg quercetin; (G3) PTZ 45 mg/kg + 10 mg/kg quercetin; (G4) PTZ 45 mg/kg + 20 mg/kg quercetin; (G5) PTZ 45 mg/kg + 40 mg/kg quercetin; (G6) Picrotoxin 5 mg/kg + DMSO; (G7) Picrotoxin 5 mg/kg + 10 mg/kg quercetin; (G8) Picrotoxin 5 mg/kg + 20 mg/kg quercetin. In all groups quercetin were injected 30 min before PTZ and picrotoxin applications. RESULTS: Compared to PTZ, quercetin significantly prolonged onset of the seizure in 10 mg/kg (P < 0.05) and reduced the seizure stage in 10 mg/kg quercetin injected group (P < 0.01). Compared to PTZ, quercetin also declined the generalized seizure duration at 10 mg/kg (P < 0.01) and 20 mg/kg (P < 0.05) doses. At the doses of 5 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg quercetin there were no significant changes in seizure parameters. Development of picrotoxin induced seizures is slower than in PTZ. Quercetin was found to be unable to prevent seizure in picrotoxin induced seizures. Surprisingly, quercetin also significantly reduced the onset of seizures at the dose of 20 mg/kg (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: quercetin (at doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg i.p) prevented seizures in PTZ (45 mg/kg i.p) induced seizures. Especially, 10 mg/kg PTZ prolonged onset of seizures, reduced the seizure duration and seizure severity score in comparison with control group. At a higher (40 mg/kg) dose quercetin failed to prevent PTZ induced seizures. In addition 20 mg/kg quercetin significantly reduced the onset of seizures that suggest a preconvulsive effect. 20 mg/kg quercetin reduced the onset of picrotoxin induced seizures. In picrotoxin model, it may be claimed that quercetin at higher doses accelerate the epileptic activity owing to its antagonistic effect on GABAA. Further investigations are needed to explore the mechanisms of the antiepileptic and preconvulsant effects of quercetin.

Gradual detorsion of torsioned rat testis attenuates ischemia reperfusion injury.

AIM: This study was designed to investigate effect of gradual detorsion on testicular ischemia reperfusion injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 21 male rats were divided into 3 groups, each containing 7 rats. Torsion was created by rotating the left testis 720 degrees in a clockwise direction. Group 1 underwent sham operation. Group 2 (sudden detorsion) served as a torsion/detorsion group, receiving 2 hours torsion and 2 hours detorsion. In group 3, 360 degrees detorsion was done for 20 minutes after 720 degrees torsion for 2 hours. Then, testis was done full detorsion for 100 minutes. At the end of the experiments (fourth hour), left orchiectomy was performed to measure the tissue levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase and to perform histologic examination in testes. RESULTS: The MDA levels of testis tissues were significantly increased in the sudden detorsion group as compared with the sham group. We found decrease of the MDA level in gradual detorsion group, but it was not a statistically significant amount. Significant decrease was found in the superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities in the sudden detorsion group as compared with the sham and gradual detorsion groups. Histologic examinations were in accordance with the testicular tissue MDA levels. CONCLUSION: In the light of our biochemical and histopathologic findings, we can say that gradual detorsion has a trend to decrease the degree of testicular reperfusion injury in the rat torsion/detorsion model.