Effects of probucol in hyperlipidemic rabbit liver: a preliminary ultrastructural study

Probucol is a lipid-lowering agent with an antioxidant effect; however, its influence on the liver remains unclear. The effects of probucol on hyperlipidemic rabbit liver are investigated to add a structural data on its therapeutical profile. Local albino rabbits were divided into three groups. 1) Hyperlipidemic group: fed with 1% cholesterol (150 g/kg/day) enriched chow for 2 months. 2) Probucol treated group: group 1 + intraperitoneal probucol (10 mg/kg/day) administration for 15 days. 3) Control group fed with normal chow. The blood lipid profile was investigated biochemically. Liver samples were examined electronmicroscopically. Within the parenchymal cells of group 1, the amount of rough surfaced endoplasmic reticulum was increased, its cisterna was dilated displaying a moderately electron dense substance in it and showed close apposition with the condensed mitochondria. In group 2, smooth surfaced endoplasmic reticulum was in extensive amounts filling almost all of the cytoplasm, displayed a reticular, degenerated appearance and was in close relation with the condensed, degenerated mitochondria. Probucol may cause degenerative changes on the liver parenchyme at the subcellular level. It alters the structure of these cells mainly acting on the smooth surfaced endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondria that are known to be involved in cellular detoxification.     

Causes of acute poisoning in adults: a retrospective study, in a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey

Aim  

Acute poisoning is one of the major topics in emergency medicine practices. Despite the recent developments in toxicology, technological advances and changing lifestyles reveal new factors, and poisoning cases remain to be a problem. All poisonings should be considered serious and independent from their clinical presentation at the time of admission. Identifying the cause and prompt initiation of treatment is life-saving. Causes of poisoning vary between countries and different regions of the same country. In the present study, cases admitted to the Emergency Department of Internal Medicine at Haseki Training and Research Hospital were evaluated and causes of acute poisoning were investigated.     

Povidone iodine in the treatment of adenoviral conjunctivitis in infants

Context: Adenoviral conjunctivitis.

Objective: To examine the effects of conjunctival irrigation with povidone iodine in infants with adenoviral conjunctivitis.

Material and methods: An outbreak of adenovirus conjunctivitis occurred between September and December 2012 at the neonatal intensive care unit of our hospital. Forty-three infants with adenoviral conjunctivitis were examined in this study. Thirty-five eyes of 35 infants who had detailed ophthalmological examination and clinical scoring were included. The conjunctiva of 15 infants (Group 1) were irrigated with povidone iodine 2.5% solution and then treated with preservative-free artificial tears and preservative-free antibiotic drops. Twenty infants (Group 2) were treated only with the same drops with the same posology, without conjunctival irrigation with povidone iodine. Patients were examined two times a week until the complete recovery. Lid edema, conjunctival chemosis, fragility of conjunctival vasculature, pseudomembrane formation, and corneal involvement were scored clinically.

Results: Twenty patients (57%) were female and 15 patients (43%) were male and mean age was 3.1 months (ranged from 1 to 4 months). No relation was found between gender and clinical scores. Statistically significant lower clinical scores were obtained from Group 1. The median recovery time was earlier in Group 1 (7?d) than Group 2 (12?d) (p?=?0.001).

Conclusion: Conjunctival irrigation with 2.5% povidone iodine is effective in the treatment of adenoviral conjunctivitis in infants.     

Quantitative assessment of thyroid gland elasticity with shear-wave elastography in pediatric patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

Objective

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is the most common autoimmune thyroid disorder in the pediatric age range. Measurement of thyroid gland size is an essential component in evaluation and follow-up of thyroid pathologies. Along with size, tissue elasticity is becoming a more commonly used parameter in evaluation of parenchyma in inflammatory diseases. The aim of the current study was to assess thyroid parenchyma elasticity by shear-wave elastography in pediatric patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; and compare the elasticity values to a normal control group.

Materials and methods

In this study; thyroid glands of 59 patients with a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis based on ultrasonographic and biochemical features, and 26 healthy volunteers without autoimmune thyroid disease and thyroid function disorders, were evaluated with shear-wave elastography. Patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis were further subdivided into three categories based on gray-scale ultrasonography findings as focal thyroiditis (grade 1), diffuse thyroiditis (grade 2), and fibrotic thyroid gland (grade 3).

Results

Patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (n = 59) had significantly higher elasticity values (14. 9 kPa; IQR 12.9–17.8 kPa) than control subjects (10.6 kPa; IQR 9.0–11.3 kPa) (p < 0.001). Of the 59 patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, 23 patients had focal thyroiditis involving less than 50% of the gland categorized as grade 1, 24 patients had diffuse involvement of the thyroid gland categorized as grade 2, and 12 patients had marked hyperechoic septations and pseudonodular appearance categorized as grade 3 on gray-scale ultrasound. Based on elastography, grade 3 patients had significantly higher elasticity values (19.7 kPa; IQR 17.8–21.5 kPa) than patients with grade 2 (15.5 kPa; IQR 14.5–17.8 kPa) and grade 1 thyroiditis (12.8 kPa; IQR 11.9–13.1 kPa) (p < 0.05). Patients with grade 2 thyroiditis had significantly higher elasticity values than those with grade 1 thyroiditis (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Gray-scale ultrasound findings of heterogeneous echotexture and hypoechoic echogenicity reflect a longer duration of inflammation and may not be found in the initial stages of thyroiditis. Our results indicate that shear-wave elastography could be used to evaluate the degree of fibrosis in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

     

Association of the angiotensinogen M235T and angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion gene polymorphisms in Turkish type 2 diabetic patients with and without nephropathy

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have suggested an association between a deletion variant of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene and diabetic nephropathy. However, this finding has not been confirmed by all investigators. Furthermore, an M235T variant of the angiotensinogen (AGT) gene has been associated with hypertension, an important risk factor for the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We investigated the relationship of the ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) and AGT M235T gene polymorphisms in Turkish patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) with and without diabetic nephropathy. A total of 102 individuals were screened for the presence of the ACE I/D and AGT M235T polymorphism: 46 individuals who had type 2 DM with diabetic nephropathy and, as controls, 56 individuals who had type 2 DM without diabetic nephropathy. Gene polymorphisms were determined by the specific melting temperature (T(m)) values of the resulting amplicons after real-time online polymerase chain reaction and melting curve analysis. RESULTS: The frequencies of the ACE DD, ID, and II genotypes were 34.8%, 37.0%, and 28.3%, respectively, among type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy, and 33.9%, 42.9%, 23.2%, respectively (P=.788), in the control subjects without diabetic nephropathy. On the other hand, the frequencies of the AGT MM, MT, and TT genotypes among the same groups were 26.1%, 52.2%, 21.7% and 26.8%, 57.1%, 16.1%, respectively (P=.758). CONCLUSIONS: There were no differences in the frequencies of the AGT M235T and ACE I/D genotypes between Turkish patients with type 2 DM with and without nephropathy.     

The spectrum of diseases causing fever of unknown origin in Turkey: a multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this trial was to determine the spectrum of diseases with fever of unknown origin (FUO) in Turkey. METHODS: A prospective multicenter study of 154 patients with FUO in twelve Turkish tertiary-care hospitals was conducted. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 42+/-17 years (range 17-75). Fifty-three (34.4%) had infectious diseases (ID), 47 (30.5%) had non-infectious inflammatory diseases (NIID), 22 (14.3%) had malignant diseases (MD), and eight (5.2%) had miscellaneous diseases (Mi). In 24 (15.6%) of the cases, the reason for high fever could not be determined despite intensive efforts. The most common ID etiologies were tuberculosis (13.6%) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (3.2%). Adult Still's disease was the most common NIID (13.6%) and hematological malignancy was the most common MD (7.8%). In patients with NIID, the mean duration of reaching a definite diagnosis (37+/-23 days) was significantly longer compared to the patients with ID (25+/-12 days) (p=0.007). In patients with MD, the mean duration of fever (51+/-35 days) was longer compared to patients with ID (37+/-38 days) (p=0.052). CONCLUSIONS: Although infection remains the most common cause of FUO, with the highest percentage for tuberculosis, non-infectious etiologies seem to have increased when compared with previous studies.     

Ultrastructural Damage in Vascular Endothelium in Rats Treated with Paclitaxel and Doxorubicin

Endothelium is the first physiological barrier between blood and tissues and can be injured by physical or chemical stress, particularly by the drugs used in the cancer therapy. Paclitaxel and doxorubicin are frequently used anticancer drugs and their cardiac side effects are well observed in clinical setting. Their side effects on the endothelium are still not clear enough. There are few investigations assessing the damages elicited by the combination use of chemotherapy agents in animal experimental models. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the side effects of doxorubicin and paclitaxel on endothelium in vivo. The drugs were administered weekly to rats via intraperitoneal injections singly or in combinations. Lastly, aorta endothelium was examined. The most familiar parts of the aorta endothelium are the nucleus, free ribosomes, Weibel-Palada granules, plasmalemmal vesicles, and clear basement membrane. Examination of the endothelium and the related structures revealed some clear degenerative findings. Notably, administration of a paclitaxel and doxorubicin combinations caused the most dramatic change in ultrastructure, which may disrupt many functions of the endothelium.