Thymoquinone protects end organs from abdominal aorta ischemia/reperfusion injury in a rat model

Introduction

Previous studies have demonstrated that thymoquinone has protective effects against ischemia reperfusion injury to various organs like lungs, kidneys and liver in different experimental models.

Objective

We aimed to determine whether thymoquinone has favorable effects on lung, renal, heart tissues and oxidative stress in abdominal aorta ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Methods

Thirty rats were divided into three groups as sham (n=10), control (n=10) and thymoquinone (TQ) treatment group (n=10). Control and TQ-treatment groups underwent abdominal aorta ischemia for 45 minutes followed by a 120-min period of reperfusion. In the TQ-treatment group, thymoquinone was given 5 minutes. before reperfusion at a dose of 20 mg/kg via an intraperitoneal route. Total antioxidant capacity, total oxidative status (TOS), and oxidative stress index (OSI) in blood serum were measured and lung, kidney, and heart tissue histopathology were evaluated with light microscopy.

Results

Total oxidative status and oxidative stress index activity in blood samples were statistically higher in the control group compared to the sham and TQ-treatment groups (P<0.001 for TOS and OSI). Control group injury scores were statistically higher compared to sham and TQ-treatment groups (P<0.001 for all comparisons).

Conclusion

Thymoquinone administered intraperitoneally was effective in reducing oxidative stress and histopathologic injury in an acute abdominal aorta ischemia-reperfusion rat model.     

Intramembranous bone regeneration differs among common inbred mouse strains following marrow ablation

Various intact and post‐injury bone phenotypes are heritable traits. In this study, we sought to determine if intramembranous bone regeneration following marrow ablation differed among common inbred mouse strains and to identify how early the differences appear. We found a ～four‐fold difference in the regenerated bone volume 21 days after marrow ablation in females from four inbred mouse strains: FVB/N (15.7 ± 8.1%, mean and standard deviation), C3H/He (15.5 ± 4.2%), C57BL/6 (12.2 ± 5.2%), and BALB/c (4.0 ± 4.4%); with BALB/c different from FVB/N (p = 0.007) and C3H/He (p = 0.002). A second experiment showed that FVB/N compared to BALB/c mice had more regenerated bone 7 and 14 days after ablation (p < 0.001), while at 21 days FVB/N mice had a greater fraction of mineralizing surface (p = 0.008) without a difference in mineral apposition rate. Thus, differences among strains are evident early during intramembranous bone regeneration following marrow ablation and appear to be associated with differences in osteogenic cell recruitment, but not osteoblast activity. The amount of regenerating bone was not correlated with other heritable traits such as the intact bone phenotype or soft tissue wound healing, suggesting that there may be independent genetic pathways for these traits. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 33:1374–1381, 2015.     

Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen and Preconditioning on Wound Healing in Colonic Anastomoses

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) and HBO preconditioning (pre-HBO) on experimental wound healing and tensile strength in the colonic anastomosis of rats. Materials and Methods: A total of 21 Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into three random groups of equal numbers: sham operation, pre-HBO, and HBO. Sham group was given standard left colon resection and end-to-end anastomosis; pre-HBO group received HBO as one dose + colonic resection + anastomosis; HBO group was given colonic resection + anastomosis + HBO. HBO was administrated at 24-hr intervals and relaparatomy was performed on the fifth day. Malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), interleukin (IL)-10, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and hydroxy (OH)-proline levels and anastomotic burst pressure were evaluated. Results: Burst pressure and OH-proline levels markedly increased in the HBO group compared with the sham and pre-HBO groups. When compared with the sham group, MDA and MPO levels were significantly decreased in the HBO and pre-HBO groups. In contrast to these findings, SOD and GSH-Px levels were increased in the HBO group as compared with the sham and pre-HBO groups. TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 values were detected at low levels in the HBO group as compared with other groups. Conclusions: HBO administration accelerated wound healing and strengthened the anastomotic tissue. In the light of these results, the HBO administration has beneficial effects and contributed to wound healing in colonic anastomosis. But, as expected, pre-HBO did not alter the results significantly.     

Fear Assessment in Inflammatory Rheumatic diseases (FAIR) questionnaire: a cross-cultural adaptation and validation to the Turkish language

In chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases (CIRD), it is important to understand patients’ fears towards their disease in order to improve patient-physician dialog, to raise the quality of care offered, and to optimize treatment adherence. In this study, we aimed to translate the Fear Assessment in Inflammatory Rheumatic diseases (FAIR) questionnaire into Turkish and evaluate its psychometric properties in patients with CIRD. One hundred fifteen patients filled the provided socio-demographic information form, FAIR-Tr questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Beck’s Hopelessness Scale (BHS). For the analysis of short-term reliability, 50 patients re-filled the FAIR-Tr questionnaire 1 week later. Internal consistency was evaluated with Cronbach’s α coefficient and test-retest reliability was evaluated with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Construct validity analysis was investigated based on the correlation with HADS and BHS. All patients found FAIR-Tr easily understandable and acceptable. FAIR-Tr internal consistency (Cronbach’s α?=?0.93) and test-retest reliability (ICC?=?0.91) were excellent. Psychometric validation was proved upon observing high correlation with HADS (Anxiety, r?=?0.77; Depression, r?=?0.70) and moderate correlation with BHS (r?=?0.65). FAIR-Tr is a questionnaire that has excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The successful correlation with HADS and BHS supported its psychometric validity in terms of evaluating the fear in CIRD cases. We think that FAIR-Tr is a specific scale that can help to evaluate the disease- and treatment-related fears of the Turkish patients with CIRD and may be useful in both routine practice and clinical studies.     

Thyroid Cancers with Benign-Looking Sonographic Features Have Different Lymph Node Metastatic Risk and Histologic Subtypes According to Nodule Size

A decision to perform fine needle aspiration (FNA) on thyroid nodules mainly depends on sonographic features. We investigated if lymph node metastasis (LNM) risk differed by tumor size of thyroid cancers without suspicious sonographic features. Three hundred sixty patients with thyroid cancers with benign looking sonographic features were grouped by nodule size on ultrasonography (US) (≤ or >1 cm). The clinicopathologic parameters were compared between the groups. A multivariate analysis was performed to discover the independent factors predicting the presence of LNM. The nodules greater than 10 mm on US (n?=?157) demonstrated a larger tumor size on histology (17.9?±?14.5 vs. 5.6?±?2.4 mm, P?P?P?P?=?0.007). A multivariate analysis revealed that classical PTC, extrathyroidal extension, and the US nodule size >10 mm were independent predictive factors of LNM after adjusting for age, sex, TSH level, and multifocality. Thyroid cancers larger than 10 mm with benign US features are more likely to be nonclassical PTC than those with smaller diameters. The larger ones also have an increased risk of LNM in classical PTC. These cases require a more aggressive approach to FNA.