The Effect of Rheumatoid Arthritis on Middle and Inner Ear Functions.

Objective: To investigate the middle and inner ear functions, and efferent auditory systems in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: Thirty-five RA patients and 40 control subjects participated in the study. Pure-tone audiometry, high-frequency audiometry, multifrequency tympanometry, transient evoked otoacoustic emissions, and contralateral suppression tests were administered to all participants. Results: Pure-tone hearing thresholds of RA patients were significantly higher at all frequencies except for 2000 Hz, 14,000 Hz, and 16,000 Hz in the right ear and 16,000 Hz in the left ear (p<0.05). Resonance frequency values of RA patients were statistically significantly lower than those of the control group (p<0.001). Emission amplitudes obtained with contralateral acoustic stimulation were significantly lower at 1400 Hz frequency in both groups than without contralateral acoustic stimulation (p<0.05). While contralateral suppression was observed at all frequencies in the control group, no suppression occurred at 2800 Hz and 4000 Hz in RA patients. Conclusion: The results obtained in this study demonstrated the presence of hearing dysfunction in patients with RA. When a patient is diagnosed with RA, an audiological evaluation should be made, and the patient should be informed about the possibility of audiological involvement.

Hearing and balance functions in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune disease, characterized by multiple organ involvement, which is seen more often in young females. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the hearing and balance functions in SLE patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four SLE patients, 24 healthy controls underwent pure tone audiometry (0.125-16 kHz), VNG, vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP), and video head impulse test (vHIT). RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was determined between the control group and the SLE group at 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 6.0, 8.0, 10, 12, 14, and 16 kHz frequencies. Sensorineural hearing loss was observed in 37.5% of the SLE group. The pursuit test was pathological at the rate of 25% in the SLE group. No response was obtained in six SLE patients in the oVEMP test and four SLE patients in the cVEMP test. The mean posterior SCC VOR gain values were 0.64 ± 0.2 in the SLE group. A significant difference was determined between the groups with respect to posterior SCC VOR gains. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings show that SLE disease may negatively affect the hearing system and the vestibular system as well. The current study is the first study to comprehensively evaluate SLE patients with VNG, VEMP, and vHIT tests.

Evaluation of Mental Rotation Ability in Patients with Unilateral Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.

BACKGROUND: Our study aims to determine whether there are differences in mental rotation abilities between unilateral benign paroxysmal positional vertigo patients and healthy controls using object-based mental rotation tasks. METHODS: Our study included 17 unilateral posterior canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo patients and 20 healthy adults. Spontaneous nystagmus test, saccade test, and dynamic positional tests with videonystagmography and object-based mental rotation test with 2-dimensional images of cubes rotated at certain angles in 3-dimensional space were performed on the participants. The mental rotation test response time and the number of correct answers were compared between patients and controls. We also evaluated whether there was a relationship between saccade test parameters and mental rotation test parameters in our study. RESULTS: No significant relationship was found between benign paroxysmal positional vertigo patients and controls on any of the dependent measures (P -gt; .05). When we evaluated the relationship between saccadic latency and accuracy and mental rotation test response time and number of correct answers in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo patients, no significant relationship was found (P -gt; .05). CONCLUSION: Our findings show that unilateral, posterior canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo does not affect object-based mental rotation performance. In our study, no correlation was found between saccadic function and mental rotation ability in unilateral benign paroxysmal positional vertigo patients.

The determination of oxidative damage in heart tissue of rats caused by ruthenium(II) and gold(I) N-heterocyclic carbene complexes.

In the present study, we aimed to determine the oxidative damage in rat heart tissue induced by ruthenium(II)-NHC (Ru) and gold(I)-NHC (Au) complexes which have anticarcinogenic effects and not used clinically yet. For this purpose, 35 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 equal groups. In the control group, rats treated with saline, Ru and Au complexes were intraperitoneally given high (10 mg/kg) and low (5 mg/kg) doses as only one administration. The animals were killed, and heart tissues were taken on day 10 of the drug administration for the determination of the biochemical parameters (malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione and catalase levels). It was determined that both Ru and Au complexes treatment significantly caused oxidative damage compared to the control group. Additionally, it was shown that Au treatment caused more adverse effects than Ru treatment. Also, it was clearly found that the occurred effects were generally determined in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, when these compounds synthesized for the treatment of cancer were used, they caused oxidative damage in heart tissue. However, Ru complex could be preferred for cancer treatment in terms of user safety.

Gold(I) complexes of N-heterocyclic carbene ligands containing benzimidazole: synthesis and antimicrobial activity.

Gold(I) N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes were obtained in good yields from the corresponding silver complexes by treatment with [AuCl(PPh3)] following the commonly used silver carbene transfer route. The silver complexes were synthesized from the benzimidazolium halide salts by the in situ reactions with Ag2O in dichloromethane as a solvent at room temperature. All gold complexes have been characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Au-NHC complexes were evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial activity against a variety of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungal species.

1-(1H-Benzimidazol-1-ylmeth-yl)-3-[2-(di-isopropyl-amino)eth-yl]-1H-benzimid-azolium bromide 0.25-hydrate.

The title N-heterocyclic carbene derivative, C(23)H(30)N(5) (+)·Br(-)·0.25H(2)O, was synthesized using microwave heating and was characterized by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy and a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. The structure of the title compound are stabilized by a network of intra- and inter-molecular C-H⋯Br hydrogen-bonding inter-actions. The crystal structure is further stabilized by π-π stacking inter-actions between benzene and imidazole fragment rings of parallel benzo[d]imidazole rings, with a separation of 3.486 (3) Šbetween the centroids of the benzene and imidazole rings. There is also an inter-molecular C-H⋯π inter-action in the crystal structure. The C-N bond lengths for the central benzimidazole ring are shorter than the average single C-N bond, thus showing varying degrees of double-bond character and indicating partial electron delocalization within the C-N-C-N-C fragment. The isopropyl group is disordered over two sites with occupancies of 0.792 (10) and 0.208 (10).

Bromido[1-(η-4-tert-butyl-benz-yl)-3-(2,4,6-trimethyl-benz-yl)benzimidazol-2-yl-idene]chloridoruthenium(II).

A new ruthenium complex, [RuBrCl(C(28)H(32)N(2))], has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, IR-spectroscopy and a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. The Ru atom in this complex is best described as having a considerably distorted octa-hedral coordination environment with the arene occupying three coordination sites. Two further coordination sites are occupied by chloride and bromide ligands, while the sixth site is occupied by the carbene. The carbene portion of the ligand is a benzimidazole ring. This ring is connected to the C(6)H(4)C(CH(3))(3) arene by a CH(2) bridge. This leads to a system with very little apparent strain. The two halogen atoms are disordered between Br and Cl. Two partial Cl atoms share the same sites as two partial Br atoms so that the title compound effectively has one Cl and one Br atom. C-H⋯X (X = Cl, Br) hydrogen bonds help to stabilize the crystal structure.

1-(4-tert-Butyl-benz-yl)-3-(3,4,5-tri-methoxy-benz-yl)benzimidazolium bromide monohydrate.

A novel N-heterocyclic carbene derivative, C(28)H(33)N(2)O(3) (+)·Br(-)·H(2)O, was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, (1)H and (13)C-NMR and IR spectroscopy and a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. Ions of the title compound are linked by π⋯π stacking inter-actions (face-face separation 3.441 Å) and C-H⋯Br and O-H⋯Br inter-actions. Intra- and intermolecular C-H⋯O inter-actions are also present. The C-N bond lengths for the compound [1.329 (3), 1.325 (3), 1.389 (3) and 1.391 (3) Å] are all shorter than the average single C-N bond length of 1.48 Å, thus showing varying degrees of double-bond character.

Eta6-mesityl,eta1-imidazolinylidene-carbene-ruthenium(II) complexes: catalytic activity of their allenylidene derivatives in alkene metathesis and cycloisomerisation reactions.

The reaction of electron-rich carbene-precursor olefins containing two imidazolinylidene moieties [(2,4,6-Me(3)C(6)H(2)CH(2))NCH(2)CH(2)N(R)Cdbond;](2) (2a: R=CH(2)CH(2)OMe, 2 b R=CH(2)Mes), bearing at least one 2,4,6-trimethylbenzyl (R=CH(2)Mes) group on the nitrogen atom, with [RuCl(2)(arene)](2) (arene=p-cymene, hexamethylbenzene) selectively leads to two types of complexes. The cleavage of the chloride bridges occurs first to yield the expected (carbene) (arene)ruthenium(II) complex 3. Then a further arene displacement reaction takes place to give the chelated eta(6)-mesityl,eta(1)-carbene-ruthenium complexes 4 and 5. An analogous eta(6)-arene,eta(1)-carbene complex with a benzimidazole frame 6 was isolated from an in situ reaction between [RuCl(2)(p-cymene)](2), the corresponding benzimidazolium salt and cesium carbonate. On heating, the RuCl(2)(imidazolinylidene) (p-cymene) complex 8, with p-methoxybenzyl pendent groups attached to the N atoms, leads to intramolecular p-cymene displacement and to the chelated eta(6)-arene,eta(1)-carbene complex 9. On reaction with AgOTf and the propargylic alcohol HCtbond;CCPh(2)OH, compounds 4-6 were transformed into the corresponding ruthenium allenylidene intermediates (4-->10, 5-->11, 6-->12). The in situ generated intermediates 10-12 were found to be active and selective catalysts for ring-closing metathesis (RCM) or cycloisomerisation reactions depending on the nature of the 1,6-dienes. Two complexes [RuCl(2)[eta(1)-CN(CH(2)C(6)H(2)Me(3)-2,4,6)CH(2)CH(2)N- (CH(2)CH(2)OMe)](C(6)Me(6))] 3 with a monodentate carbene ligand and [RuCl(2)[eta(1)-CN[CH(2)(eta(6)-C(6)H(2)Me(3)-2,4,6)]CH(2)CH(2)N-(CH(2)C(6)H(2)Me(3)-2,4,6)]] 5 with a chelating carbene-arene ligand were characterised by X-ray crystallography.