Effect of different doses of pregabalin on skeletal muscle ischaemia-reperfusion injury in rats

AIM/INTRODUCTION

Analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of pregabalin have been shown previously. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of different doses of pregabalin on skeletal muscle IR injury in rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

24 rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (Control, Ischaemia-Reperfusion (IR), IR-Pregabalin 50 mg, IR-Pregabalin 200 mg). Following IR, serum Ischemia Modified Albumin (IMA) and tissue Paraoxonase (PON) were studied and gastrocnemius muscle tissue was removed for histopathologic examination.

RESULTS

Interstitial inflammation was higher in the IR group than in the control and Pregabalin 200 mg groups (p = 0.037, p = 0.037, respectively). Congestion was higher in the IR group than in the control, Pregabalin 50 and 200 mg groups (p = 0.001, p = 0.004, p = 0.004, respectively). PON was lower in the IR group than in the Control, Pregabalin 50 and 200 mg groups (p = 0.001, p = 0.007, p = 0.015, respectively). IMA was higher in the IR group than in the Control, Pregabalin 50 and 200 mg groups (p < 0.0001, all).

CONCLUSION

We think that administration of pregabalin, more prominent at 200 mg, can reverse the injury that occurs in the skeletal muscle of IR-induced rats. Pregabalin can be safely used for analgesia in cases of IR (Tab. 2, Fig. 9, Ref. 41).

Effects of intravenous ibuprofen and lornoxicam on erythrocyte deformability in rats undergoing hind limb ischemia reperfusion injury

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Acute hind limb ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury is a common consequence of abdominal aorta cross‑clamping during aortic surgery. Erythrocyte deformability is affected by I/R process and may lead to increased tissue and organ injury. Lornoxicam and intravenous ibuprofen are becoming commonly used as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) for postoperative analgesia. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of lornoxicam (2 mg/kg iv) and intravenous ibuprofen (30 mg/kg iv) on erythrocyte deformability in I/R model in rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four study groups, each containing 6 Wistar rats were created. Laparotomy was performed in all groups under general anesthesia with ketamine and xylazine. In all groups except sham group, ischemia and reperfusion were achieved by clamping and declamping the infrarenal abdominal aorta for 120 minutes. Rats in Group IR+L received intravenous infusion of lornoxicam (2 mg/kg) while rats in Group IR+I received intravenous infusion of ibubrofen (30 mg/kg) following 2 hours of ischemic period. At the end of reperfusion period, erythrocyte packs were prepared from heparinized blood samples. Erythrocyte suspensions with hematocrit at a concentration of 5% in a phosphate‑buffered saline (PBS) were used in order to perform deformability measurements. The value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Relative resistance has increased in ischemia reperfusion group when compared to control group (p < 0.0001). Lornoxicam or ibuprofen intravenous treatments did not change the erythrocyte deformability during ischemia reperfusion period in rats (p=0.851, p=0.690).

CONCLUSION

Intravenous ibuprofen or lornoxicam administrations during ischemia reperfusion period in rats have no negative effect on erythrocyte deformability. The findings of the study should be supported with more detailed and extensive clinical/experimental studies in the future (Fig. 1, Ref. 18).

The Effects of Calcium Channel Blockers are not Related to their Chemical Structure in the Collar Model of the Rabbit

Placing a silicone collar around the rabbit carotid artery induces intimal thickening, an early stage in atherosclerosis and restenosis. We investigated whether treatment with oral pranidipine, a new potent, long-lasting dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker (CCB), inhibited collar-induced intimal thickening in addition to the changes in vascular reactivity usually observed in this model. Pranidipine treatment did not inhibit collar-induced intimal thickening. Placing the collar around the carotid artery resulted in the characteristic changes in vascular reactivity, such as increased sensitivity to 5-hydroxytryptamine. Treatment with Nω-nitro-l-arginine (100 μM) and pranidipine, however, did not affect collar-induced changes in vascular reactivity. From results of this and previous studies, we conclude that pranidipine does not prevent collar-induced intimal thickening or collar-induced changes in vascular reactivity. Not all CCBs prevent collar-induced intimal thickening, suggesting that the effects of these agents are not related to their chemical structure and/or their calcium channel-blocking actions.

Impact of glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) polymorphisms in Turkish patients with metabolic syndrome

BACKGROUND

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is characterized by a cluster of metabolic factors, including insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes, abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and microalbuminuria. Impaired glucocorticoid receptor (GR) activity also plays an important role in the etiology of MetS. The objective of our study is to evaluate the effects of GR gene polymorphisms (BclI, N363S, TthIII1 and ER22/23EK) in Turkish patients with MetS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Seventy subjects with MetS and 185 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. PCR-RFLP analysis was used for genotyping. Results for each polymorphism have been verified by allele-specific oligonucleotide analysis.

RESULTS

BclI GG genotype was significantly associated with an increased risk of MetS (p = 0.02). Also, only in women, the G allele carriers were significantly associated with higher C-peptide. T allele carriers of TthIII1 polymorphism were significantly associated with higher C-peptide, triglyceride, insulin and C-reactive protein (CRP, p value 0.048, 0.022, 0.005 and 0.022, respectively), and lower fasting blood glucose (FBG, p = 0.02). The combined carriers of BclI polymorphism G allele and TthIII1 polymorphism T allele were significantly associated with higher diastolic blood pressure in all patients, and lower FBG and postprandial blood glucose in only men. All the ER22/23EK polymorphisms coexisted with polymorphic variant of TthIII1 (p = 0.0058).

CONCLUSION

The presence of homozygote polymorphic variant of BclI might be good predictive markers for the disease susceptibility. The BclI and the TthIII1 polymorphism are associated with sex-specific clinical parameters. Our findings also suggest that the combination of BclI and TthIII1 polymorphisms may play a protective role in blood glucose.

Effect of alprostadil on erythrocyte deformability in ischemia reperfusion injury

BACKGROUND

Ischemia reperfusion injury (I/R) in lower extremity is a frequent and important clinical phenomenon. Protective effect of alprostadil on local and distant organ injury due to I/R has been well-documented but its effect on erythrocyte deformability needs further investigation. Our aim was to investigate the effect of alprostadil on erythrocyte deformability in infrarenal aorta of rats undergoing I/R.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Our study was conducted with 18 Wistar albino rats. Rats were divided into 3 groups; randomized control group (group C; n=6), I/R group without alprostadil (group I/R; n=6) and I/R group with alprostadil 20 mcg.kg(-1), intraperitoneal (group I/R-A; n=6). Packs of erythrocytes were prepared from heparinized blood samples and deformability measurements were done.

RESULTS

Comparisons of the control and I/R-A groups revealed similar results (p=0.240). The values of the IR group were significantly higher than those of the control and IR-A groups (p=0.009, p=0.026, respectively).

CONCLUSION

In our study, we detected unfavourable effects of I/R on erythrocyte deformability, which may lead to disturbance in blood flow and hence tissue perfusion in infrarenal rat aorta. We also found that alprostadil had beneficial effects by reversing undesirable effects of I/R (Fig. 1, Ref. 22).

Effect of levosimendan on erythrocyte deformability during myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder accompanied by an increase in oxidative stress. Ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) injury is a cascade of events initiated by tissue ischaemia. The cellular damage produced by reperfusion leads to an active inflammatory response. Erythrocyte deformability and plasma viscosity are of crucial importance for the perfusion of tissues and organs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of levosimendan on erythrocyte deformability during IR myocardial injury in diabetic rats.

METHODS

Twenty-four Wistar albino rats were included in the study after streptozocin (55 mg/kg) treatment for 4 weeks to observe the existence of diabetes. The animals were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups. In Group C and DC (sham-control group), the coronary artery was not occluded or reperfused in the control rats. Myocardial IR was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min, followed by 2 h of reperfusion in the diabetes-IR (DIR) and diabetes-IR-levosimendan (DIRL) group. Deformability measurements were performed in erythrocyte suspensions containing Htc 5 % in a phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) buffer.

RESULTS

The deformability index was significantly increased in the diabetic rats. It was similar in Group DC and DIRL It was significantly increased in the DIR group compared to Group C, DIRL and DC. The relative resistance was increased in the IR models.

CONCLUSION

Erythrocyte deformability was decreased in rats with diabetes and IR injury. This injury might lead to further problems in microcirculation. Levosimendan may be useful in enhancing the adverse effects of this type of injury (Fig. 2, Ref. 41).

KEYWORDS

erythrocyte deformability, myocardial ischaemia reperfusion, experimental diabetes, levosimendan, rat.

Effect of dexmedetomidine on erythrocyte deformability during ischaemia-reperfusion injury of heart in diabetic rats

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine on erythrocyte deformability during IR heart injury in diabetic rats.

METHODS

Eighteen Wistar Albino rats were included in the study after streptozocin (55 mg/kg) treatment for four weeks. In the Group C and DC (sham-control group), the coronary artery was not occluded or reperfused in the control rats. In the Group DIR, a branch of the left coronary artery was occluded for 30 minutes followed by two hours of reperfusion to produce IR. In the Group DIRD, a branch of the left coronary artery was occluded for 30 minutes followed by two hours of reperfusion to produce IR, and dexmedetomidine was administrated via 100 µg/kg IP route 30 minutes before ligating the left coronary artery. Deformability measurements were performed in erythrocyte suspensions containing Htc 5 % in a PBS buffer.

RESULTS

The deformability index was significantly increased in diabetic rats; however, it was similar in the Group DC and DIRD. It was significantly increased in the Group DIR when compared to the Group C, DIRD and DC. The relative resistance was increased in IR models.

CONCLUSION

Erythrocyte deformability was decreased in rats having diabetes and IR injury. This injury might lead to further problems in microcirculation. It was shown that dexmedetomidine might be useful in enhancing the adverse effects of this type of injury (Fig. 1, Ref. 39).

The protective effects of dexmedetomidine on liver injury-induced myocardial ischemia reperfusion

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine (100 µg/kg-ip) on liver injury-induced myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (IR) in rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty-four Wistar Albino rats were separated into four groups. There were four experimental groups (Group C (Control; n = 6), Group IR (ischemia-reperfusion, n = 6), Group D (Dexmedetomidine; n = 6) that underwent left thoracotomy and received ip dexmedetomidine without IR administered via 100 µg/kg ip route 30 minutes before ligating the left coronary artery, and Group IR-D (IR-Dexmedetomidine; n = 6). A small plastic snare was threaded through the ligature and placed in contact with the heart. To produce IR, a branch of the left coronary artery was occluded for 30 min followed by two hours of reperfusion. However, after the above procedure, the coronary artery was not occluded or reperfused in the control rats. At the end of the study, liver tissue was obtained for histochemical and immunohistochemical determination.Some part of tissue samples were stained with Masson-trichrome for the evaluation of ultrastructural changes and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression was evaluated in other part of samples for immunohistochemical examination.

RESULTS

Histopathological changes were detected in Group IR when compared with Group C. iNOS expression was found to be increased and stronger particularly in the vascular wall, perisinusoidal space and hepatocytes around vena centralis in this group compared to the control group. Perivascular oedema was detected to be decreased in Group IR-D compared to Group IR. It was also observed that the impairment in the radial arrangement of hepatocytes significantly recovered in Group IR-D. The immunoreactivity was found to be significantly decreased in the assessment of iNOS expression in the same group when compared with Group IR.

CONCLUSION

Administration of dexmedetomidine ameliorates liver injury induced by myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (Fig. 8, Ref. 33).

Comparison of results after fluoroquinolones and combination therapies in type IIIA chronic prostatitis

PURPOSE

We investigated retrospectively the clinical outcomes of the patients with type iii inflammatory chronic prostatitis, who were treated with fluoroquinolones with and without an α-blocker between 2009-2011.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Diagnosis was established with medical history (symptoms presented longer than 3 months within previous 6 months), physical examination, Meares-Stamey test and the questionnaire of the NIH-CPSI. The responses to the treatment were assessed with uroflowmetry test and the questionnaire of NIH-CPSI at initial and after 4 weeks of the treatment. The patients with incomplete data and treatment and who treated with α-blockers and/or antibiotics in the period 4 weeks prior to the therapy started in our clinic and had any surgery of lower urinary tract previously were excluded. The patients were classified under 6 groups; group1=ciprofloxacin, group2=ofloxacin, group3=levofloxacin, group4=ciprofloxacin+tamsulosin, group5=ofloxacin+tamsulosin, group 6=levofloxacin+tamsulosin. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks and Kruskal Wallis test were used for comparison of results. Mann Whitney U test with Bonferroni correction made was used as posthoc (P<.05).

RESULTS

The median scores of NIH-CPSI decreased significantly in all groups (P<.05). Levofloxacin reduced the median total scores of NIH-CPSI more than ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin monotherapies. The combination therapies were better than antibiotic therapies alone and best result was obtained in levofloxacin+tamsulosin combination.

CONCLUSION

Tamsulosin+fluoroquinolone (especially tamsulosin+levofloxacin) combinations yielded better results in both NIH-CPSI scores and peak flow rates.

Brain diffusion-weighted imaging in diabetic patients with retinopathy

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to detect whether there is any change in apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) levels in different sites of the brain, particularly in areas associated with the vision, in diabetic patients with retinopathy by measuring diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and DWI of the brain were obtained from 45 diabetic patients (15 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (group 1), 15 patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (group 2), 15 diabetic patients without retinopathy (group 3) and from 15 age-matched healthy volunteers (group 4). ADC values of visual cortex, cingulate gyrus, orbitofrontal, dorsomedial and dorsolateral frontal, corona radiate, and thalamus were obtained.

RESULTS

The ADC values of visual cortex, cingulate gyrus and orbitofrontal cortex significantly increased in groups 1 and 2 compared to groups 3 and 4 (p < 0.001). The ADC values of visual cortex significantly increased in group 1 compared to group 2 (p < 0.001). The duration of disease and value of HbAlc positively correlated with ADC values of the visual and orbitofrontal cortexes, and cingulate gyrus.

CONCLUSIONS

We found an increase in ADC values supporting the neuronal loss in some regions, especially in visual center by DWI in the diabetic patients with retinopathy. This result supports the association between diabetic retinopathy and brain injury.

Immunohistochemical localization of transforming growth factor β1 and β2 in mouse testes during postnatal development

We examined age-related changes in the expression of transforming growth factor-β(1) (TGF-β(1)) and transforming growth factor-β(2) in mouse testes. The mice were assigned to three age groups: 35, 50, and 75 days old. Paraffin embedded testis sections were processed for the standard streptavidin biotin peroxidase complex immunohistochemistry method. TGF-β(1) expression increased in aging round spermatids over the time studied. There was no expression in 35-day-old Leydig cells, whereas strong expression of TGF-β(1) was observed in 50-day-old Leydig cells. Expression decreased in 75-day-old Leydig cells. TGF-β(2) expression was weak in 35- and 50-day-old mouse spermatids, but expression was greater in 75-day-old elongated spermatids. In Leydig cells, TGF-β(2) expression was strong in both 35- and 50-day-old mice, whereas the expression of TGF-β(2) was less in 75-day-old Leydig cells. Our results suggest that TGF-β(1) and TGF-β(2) may play significant roles in testicular functions and germ cell development in mice.

Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of officials of religion about organ donation in Kahramanmaras, an eastern Mediterranean city of Turkey

OBJECTIVE

To establish the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of the officials of religion, a group with potentially powerful influence on the society, in particular regarding organ donation.

METHODS

This study, performed in Kahramanmaras Province, Turkey, included 416 of 641 officials of religion (64.9%): 295 of 492 imams (59.9%) and 121 of 149 Koran course educators (81.2%).

RESULTS

The mean (SD) age of the study group was 37.2 (8.2) years. Only 1.4% had stated that carried organ donation cards. Of participants who had not donated organs asked whether they thought of donation, 14.1% answered yes, 17.1% answered no, and 68.8% were undecided. Of the study group, 88.2% considered organ donation appropriate according to their religion. The imams compared with Koran course educators, and men compared with women demonstrated higher rates of considering organ donation appropriate according to their religion (P < .05). Among participants who stated they had knowledge about organ donation, the 3 leading information sources were television, newspapers or journals, and in-service training by the Directorate of Religious Affairs. The 3 primary organs the study group stated they were aware of being transplanted were kidneys, liver, and heart.

CONCLUSION

Although 88.2% of religious officials in the present study stated that organ donation was appropriate according to their religion, only 1.4% agreed to donate organs. Officials of religion hold an important place in society, and should be well informed and educated about organ donation via in-service training courses, and encourage organ donation by members of society.

Cord entanglement in monochorionic monoamniotic twins

Monochorionic monoamniotic twin gestations have been associated with perinatal mortality rates as high as 28% to 47%. Umbilical cord entanglements and knots, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, congenital anomalies, prematurity and intertwin locking during labor are responsible for their high perinatal morbidity and mortality. We report here two cases of cord entanglements: One of them was associated with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome with gross vascular anastomoses and a massive cord entanglement. The other one was associated with cesarean section due to dystocia of cord entanglement of the second fetus after vaginal birth of the first one. There is still no consensus in literature for the management and the mode of delivery of these rarely encountered cases (Fig. 3, Ref. 13).