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Global climate change, especially global warming, is affecting olive production efficiency as well as its product quality. The size and water content of fruit varies depending on the olive fruit yield along with the region, climate, and geographical position as well as agricultural applications. Anthropogenic activities also affect its ecology to a great extent. The plant prefers areas with mild winters and short rainy seasons but is facing long and dry summers, sunny habitats, well drained dry, poor, loamy, clayey-loamy, slightly calcareous, pebbly and nutrient-rich soils, with a pH around 6–8. It is resistant to drought but suffers much from harsh winters and air pollutants, which affect its production. Although the olive plant tolerates temperatures between −7 °C to 40 °C, the optimum temperature demanded for growth, development, and fruit yield is 15–25 °C. The annual precipitation demand lies between 700–850 mm. An important part of the composition of its fruit consists of water and oil or the “liquid gold”. Main ingredients are additionally fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, organic sugars, and phenolics. Phenolic substances are responsible for many beneficial health effects as well as the taste and aroma of olive fruit. Oleuropein stands out due to its inhibition of oxidation of low density lipoproteins and its hypoglycemic and cholesterolemic effects. It is also a component that protects the olive tree against various parasites and diseases, one of the reasons why olive is recorded as the “immortal tree”. Olive trees are cultivated in different regions of Turkey. A series of changes occur in morphological, physiological, and biochemical features to overcome different types of stress. In this review, information about the botanical aspects, eco-physiology, and pharmaceutical features of the oil, fruit, and leaves has been evaluated.

Son yıllarda insan sağlığına yönelik kullanılan ilaçların etkinliğinin azalması, yan etkilerinin ortaya çıkması ve artması, ekonomik kayıpların meydana gelmesi gibi birçok olumsuzluğun sonucu olarak doğal ürünlere giderek artan bir yönelim oluşmaya başlamıştır. Bu yönelimin en çok yaşandığı grupların başında arı ürünleri gelmektedir. Arı ürünleri antibakteriyel, antioksidan, antifungal, antiinflamatuar, antitümör, antiseptik özellikleri nedeniyle tıp, ilaç ve gıda sektörü başta olmak üzere kamuoyunda oldukça ilgi görmektedir. Dünya'nın pek çok ülkesinde arı ürünleri ile tedavi (apiterapi) uygulamaları yapılmakta ve önemli tıbbi destek olarak saygın bilim otoritelerince kabul görmektedir. Ülkemizde ise son zamanlarda gündeme gelen apiterapi ve arı ürünleri tüketiciler tarafından takip edilmekte ve yeni bir pazar oluşmaktadır. Arı ürünlerinde en yoğun çalışmalar "doğal antibiyotik" olarak kabul edilen propolisin üzerinde yürütülmektedir. Bu derlemede, propolisin insan sağlığı üzerine etkilerine yönelik yapılmış çalışmaların bir kısmı belli başlıklar altında verilerek, sağlık üzerine etkisi vurgulanmaya çalışılmış, konu ile ilgili farkındalığın artırılması ve konuya yönelik potansiyel çalışmalara ışık tutması hedeflenmiştir., In recent years, tendency on natural products are increasing due to lots of problems such as decline in efficiency of medicines, appear of side effects, and economic losses. Bee products are one of the most important groups in this tendency. Bee products draws public attention for antibacterial, antioxidant, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antiseptic effects especially in medical, medicine and food industry. In most of the countries in the world, treatment with bee products (apitherapy) are practiced, and they are accepted as a medical support by scientific authorizes. Nowadays, apitherapy and bee products come up to consumers' attention in our country and a new market is developing. The most intensive researches are being conducted on propolis called as "natural antibiotic". In this review, some of the researches on the effect of propolis on human health are given under various headings. Its effect of health are tried to be emphasized, and it is aimed to raise the awareness about the subject and shed light on new potential researches.

Glycyrrhiza glabra is one of the most popular medicinal plants and it has been used in traditional herbal remedy since ancient times (Blumenthal et al. in Herbal medicine: expanded commission E monographs. Integrative Medicine Communications, Newton, 2000; Parvaiz et al. in Global J Pharmocol 8(1):8–13, 2014; Altay et al. in J Plant Res 129(6):1021–1032, 2016). Many experimental, pharmacological and clinical studies show that liquorice has antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antihepatotoxic, antioxidant, antiulcer, anti-hemorrhoid antihyperglycemic, antidiuretic, antinephritic, anticarcinogenic, antimutagenic, anticytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, and blood stopper activity.

An evaluation of the characteristics for ecological sustainability makes medicinal, aromatic, and other economically important plants more important. It is not possible to place a price on these services, but need to be protected as economic indicators (Costanza and Farber in Ecol Econ 41:367–373, 2002, Farber et al. in BioScience 56:121–133, 2006). The work on the conservation of the economically important medicinal and other plants in this context has big priority. It is also necessary in the conservation efforts to look for the scope of cooperation for these plants with the local people. A protection of genetic resources in this direction is the most urgent question (Svetlana et al. in Genetic resources, chromosome engineering, and crop improvement. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 207–220, 2012, Ozturk et al. in Drug discovery from herbs—approaches and applications. DAYA Publishing House, New Delhi-India, pp 327–367, 2017a). Sustainable conservation of genetic resources from our natural wealth and for future research is also very important (Ozturk et al. in Sabkha ecosystems vol IV cash crop halophytes biodiversity & conservation. Tasks for vegetation science series, Springer, NY, USA, pp 247–272, 2014, Ozturk et al. in Halophytes for food security in dry lands. Elsevier, 2016).

Liquorice is a plant with a rich ethnobotanical history, and used throughout the world as a drug in traditional folk medicine. The vast range of biological effects such as anti-inflammatory, antiallergic, antioxidant, antiviral of the phytochemicals present in the extract has been of immense importance in phytotherapeutics. There is an immense need to modify the natural Glycyrrhiza constituents like glycyrrhizin to reduce these side effects, thereby generating the advanced versions of the bioactive compounds to be used as drugs in future medical applications (Sharma and Agrawal in Mintage J Pharm Med Sci 2:15–20, 2013). The screening for a particular activity can be achieved using automated high-throughput assay system to arrive to a “lead” molecule suitable for the development into a new drug (Eldridge et al. in Anal Chem 74:3963–3971, 2002). Glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, glabridin, and isoliquiritigenin hold a strong promise in designing future drugs. Derivatives of these compounds are being generated to evaluate their pharmacological purposes for future drug use. The advances in drug discovery with tools like the high-throughput system, proteomics, genomics, and informatics (Bio/chem. and pharmaco) have further enhanced the evaluation of these newly generated compounds for their future medical applications (Sharma and Agrawal in Mintage J Pharm Med Sci 2:15–20, 2013). Many studies demonstrate that liquorice has beneficial effects for treatment of severe diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis, immunodeficiency, hormone deficiency, and viral, skin, and respiratory diseases. However, further studies are necessary to confirm these effects on the face (Asl and Hosseinzadeh in Licorice (Glycyrrhiza species). CRC Press, LLC, Taylor & Francis, USA, pp 935–958, 2012).

The aim of this study was to develop aprotinin-loaded microemulsion (MA) for intravenous administration and evaluate the biodistribution and therapeutic potential of developed formulation in acute pancreatitis models in rats. Phase diagrams were constructed to identify microemulsion region and the optimal microemulsion was evaluated for physicochemical properties and treatment effect in rats, and comparisons made with the solution of aprotinin (SA). To evaluate the biodistribution of the drug by gamma scintigraphy aprotinin was radiolabeled with (99m)Tc radionuclide. Mild and severe acute pancreatitis was induced in rats by subcutaneous injections of cerulein and introductal infusion of 3% sodium taurocholate into the bile-pancreatic duct, respectively. In addition, serum amylase and pancreatic tissue myeloperoxidase activities were measured to evaluate the pancreatic damage. According to gamma scintigraphy and biodistribution studies, accumulation times and distribution of (99m)Tc-MA and SA were different. While MA was highly uptake by reticuloendothelial system, SA was mostly excreted by kidneys and bladder. Compared with the mild acute pancreatitis group, treatment with MA significantly decreased the serum amylase activity and pancreas myeloperoxidase activity. Furthermore, the protease inhibitor molecule aprotinin has therapeutic potential in acute pancreatitis. Finally, MA may be suggested as a promising alternative for treatment of acute pancreatitis.

Fethi Tevetoğlu: Atatürk’le Samsun’a Çıkanlar, Ankara, 1971, s.14 Hikmet Gerçekçi: İstanbul’dan Samsun’a Cehennemi 215 saat, Hayat Dergisi, Sayı 21i 1969, s.6 Fethi Tevetoğlu: A.g.e., s.14 Latife Hanım, Atatürk’ün Eşi (1898 İzmir-12 Temmuz 1975 İstanbul) 29 Ocak 1923’de İzmir’de evlenmişler, 5 Ağustos 1925’de ayrılmışlardı. Utkan Kocatürk: A.g.e., 1999, s.394-385; Rasim Ünlü: Atatürk’ün Hamidiye Savaş Gemisi ile Karadeniz Seyahati (11-24 Eylül 1924) Altıncı Askeri Tarih Semineri Bildirileri II, Ankara 1919, s.549-555 Raşit Metel: Atatürk ve Donanma İstanbul, 1966, s.110 Raşit Metel: A.g.e., s.212

Objective: Obstructive airway disease, bronchiectasis, non-specific parenchymal infiltration and bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia are seen occasionally in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. In the present study, we evaluated ulcerative colitis (UC) patients for latent pulmonary involvement. Methods: Fifteen patients (nine females, six males, mean age 44 years) were admitted into the study. All patients were free of respiratory symptoms. Ulcerative colitis was active in nine patients and all patients were using anti-inflammatory treatment. Pulmonary function tests (PFT), high resolution computed tomography of thorax (HRCT) and bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and transbronchial biopsy (TBLB) were carried out in all subjects. Results: Mild airways obstruction was found in 1 of 13 patients. High resolution CT was abnormal in 4 of 15 patients. Ground glass appearance suggestive of an interstitial lung disease was present in three patients. Radiolucency and pneumocysts were present in the fourth patient suggesting obstructive small airway disease. High resolution CT findings correlated with disease activity (P < 0.05). Fiberoptic bronchoscopy was performed in 10 patients. A mixed type alveolitis was detected in BAL fluid in five patients. In eight patients, TBLB showed alveolar septal thickening by connective tissue, lymphocytic accumulation in the septal area and minimal septal fibrosis, suggesting subclinical pulmonary parenchymal involvement linked to UC. Conclusions: Our data suggest that latent interstitial pulmonary involvement may occur during the course of UC, despite an absence of symptoms of lung disease.

Organizmada, oksijen kullanımı sırasında eşlenmemiş elektron içeren atom veya moleküller oluşur. Serbest radikaller adı verilen bu moleküller hayati öneme sahip hücre elemanlarından elektron çalarak eşlenir, böylece hücre zarı ve hücre yapısını bozar. Serbest radikallerin oluşumu, yağlı diyetler, sağlıksız beslenme, sigara, ilaç tedavileri, alkol tüketimi, radyasyon, böcek ilaçları ve çevre kirliliği gibi nedenlerle başlamakta ve artmaktadır. Serbest radikaller bağışıklık sistemi zayıflatarak çeşitli hastalıklara yol açarlar ve erken yaşlanmaya katkıda bulunurlar. Antioksidanlar yardımıyla hücre koruyucu tedavi, dejeneratif hastalıklardan korunmada önemlidir. Pek çok araştırma antioksidanların serbest radikalleri nötralize ederek hücrelerin zarar görmesine engel olduklarını ortaya koymuştur. Fotosentetik mikroalg hücreleri antioksidan özelliklere sahip yararlı pek çok metabolitin önemli bir kaynağıdır. Yüksek oranda protein, vitaminler, yağ asitleri ve diğer pek çok kıymetli besinleri içeren mikroalgler, insanlar tarafından sağlıklı gıda desteği olarak tüketilmekte ve bu neden ile dünya pazarlarında önemli bir arza sahiptir. Son yıllarda yürütülen araştırmalar daha çok alglerden kıymetli algal metabolitlerin elde edilmesine yönelmiştir. Örneğin siyanobakteriler ve kırmızı alglerden elde edilen fikobiliproteinler, anti-kanser ajanlar, Chlorella ve Dunaliella'dan elde edilen beta-karoten, diatome'lerden elde edilen ksantofiller, gene diyatomeler ve kriptofitlerden elde edilen PUFA'lar (EPA, DHA, ARA, LA), Haematococcus'dan elde edilen astaksantin gibi kimyasallar ve farmasötikleri kıymetli algal metabolitler arasında sayabiliriz. Mikroalgler tarafından üretilen bu bileşiklerin metabolizma üzerinde güçlü antioksidan etkiye sahip olması ve insan sağlığına olan olumlu etkileri, bu ürünlerin değerini arttırmaktadır. Bu çalışmada serbest radikallerin insan vücudunda yarattığı zararlı etkiler değerlendirilmiş, bu etkileri önleyen antioksidanların ve özellikle de algal antioksidanların önemi vurgulanmıştır., In organisms, atoms or molecules that contain unpaired electrons are formed in the course of oxygen utilization. These molecules called "free radicals" are paired stealing electrons from vital cell components by which the cell membrane and cell composition are harmed. The formation of free radicals begins and accelerates with some factors such as fatty diets, unhealthy nourishment, smoking, medicine cure, alcohol, radiation, insecticides, and environmental pollution. Free radicals cause a variety of diseases getting vulnerable the immune system, and contribute to aging. Cell-protective cure by antioxidants is vital with respect to the protection of the cells against degenerative diseases. Many researches bring up that antioxidants prevent cell-damage neutralizing free radicals. Photosynthetic microalgal cells are substantial sources of many beneficial metabolites having antioxidant properties. Microalgae containing high levels of protein, vitamins, fatty acids and many other valuable products are consumed as health food by humans, and a highly demanded product all over the world in the markets. Recent studies, in general, tended to produce valuable algal metabolites. For instance, phycobiliproteins and anti-cancer agents from cyanobacteria and red algae, beta-carotene from Chlorella and Dunaliella, xantophylls from diatoms, PUFAs (EPA, DHA, ARA, LA) from diatoms and cryptophytes, astaxanthin from Haematococcus can be considered to be valuable algal metabolites. The powerful antioxidant and positive effects of the metabolites produced from microalgae increase the market value of the products stated above. In this study, the harmful effects of free radicals on human body were evaluated, and the importance of antioxidants, especially the algal antioxidants, which have the capacity to prevent these harmful effects, were emphasized.

TO THE EDITOR: We read with interest the article by Graham et al.(1) regarding garlic or jalapeno peppers for treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. We had previously investigated the efficacy of garlic oil capsules on H. pylori infection (2). Twenty H. pylori-positive dyspeptic patients (15 female, aged between 21 and 61 yr) with endoscopic erythemateous gastritis and/or bulbitis were included in the study. Four biopsies were taken from the antrum and corpus of the stomach. Two of the biopsy specimens from both localization were analyzed by histology after hematoxylin and eosin and toluidine blue staining. The other two biopsies were used for urease test. H. pylori infection was diagnosed when both of the tests were positive for H. pylori. Gastric mucosal inflammation was graded histologically as follows: normal mucosa were classified as grade 0, mucosa showing only a mild increase in mononuclear cells in the lamina propria as grade 1, mucosa with expansion of the lamina propria by increased numbers of mononuclear cells as grade 2, and grade 3 combined features of grade 2 with acute inflammatory cells in the epithelium (active chronic gastritis). For semiquantitative grading of presence of H. pylori, the following criteria were used: grade 0: no bacteria was detected; grade 1: sporadic bacteria observed; grade 2: many bacteria seen in most microscopic fields at high power magnification (400); and grade 3: clusters of microorganisms were found in the superficial mucus layer in all fields examined. Patients were randomized to receive either garlic oil 275 mg capsules, which contains 800 g allicin (Ortis Laboratories, Elsenborn, Belgium), t.i.d. (n = 10) (group I) or garlic oil caps. t.i.d. plus omeprazole 20 mg caps (Astra, Sodertalje, Sweden) b.i.d. (n = 10) (group II) for 2 wk. Written informed consent was provided from each patient. Dyspeptic symptoms (epigastric pain, heartburn, nausea, burping, and meteorism) were also scored numerically from 0 to 4, where 0 indicates absence of the symptom and 4 severe and incapaciting symptoms. All cases were reassessed 1 month after the end of treatment. H. pylori eradication was assumed if both histology and urease test were negative for H. pylori. The Wilcoxon rank paired test was used for statistical analysis.