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Rosiglitazone is in the thiazolidinedione class of drugs used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It works as an insulin sensitizer by binding to the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. We investigated the effects of prenatally administered rosiglitazone on pyramidal cell numbers and morphologies in the hippocampus at postnatal period using histochemical and stereological techniques, congenital morphological properties and the number of offspring in rats. Eighteen female rats were grouped into control (C), low-dose rosiglitazone (LDR) and high-dose rosiglitazone (HDR). LDR pregnant rats received 2 mg/kg/day of rosiglitazone via oral gavage during the first 16 days of the pregnancy. HDR rats received 5 mg/kg/day. The infants were grouped into newborn (NB), 4 week (4 W) and 12 week (12 W). A side from histopathologic and congenital assessments, stereological analyses were performed using the optical fractionator method. Congenital anomaly was not detected in any of the rosiglitazone treatment groups, and their number of offspring was similar to that of the C group. Stereological counts revealed a significant reduction in the number of hippocampal pyramidal cells in the C and LDR groups but not in the HDR group until birth to 12th week. When NB groups were compared, the number of pyramidal cells in the HDRNB group was less than those in the LDRNB and CNB groups. HDR affected apoptosis or the proliferation and maturation of progenitor cells to the pyramidal neuron during neurodevelopment in the hippocampus, whereas LDR did not adversely affect neuronal development and did not cause congenital anomalies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Human paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is an enzyme related with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The link between genetic polymorphisms of PON1 and hyperlipidemia and increased lipid oxidation may explain these complications in the course of glomerular diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate PON1 192 and PON1 55 polymorphisms in patients with primary glomerulonephritis and healthy individuals. Materials and Methods. Eighty-six patients with biopsy-proven primary glomerulonephritis and 50 healthy controls were included in the study. Clinical characteristics, lipid profile, paraoxonase activity, and PON1 genotypes (PON1 192 and PON1 55) of all of the participants were studied. Results. Histopathological diagnoses of the patients were membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (53.5%), focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (33.7%), and membranous nephropathy (12.8%). The patients had lower PON1 activity levels than the healthy controls. No differences were observed in PON1 192 genotypes between the two groups. However, the controls were more likely to carry PON1 55 LM genotype (odds ratio, 4.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.96 to 8.61; P < .001) and M allele (odds ratio, 3.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.45 to 6.19; P = .003) compared to the patients with primary glomerulonephritis. There was a marked elevation in the frequency of PON1 55 LL genotype in the patients compared to the controls (odds ratio, 0.33; 95% confidence interval, 0.16 to 0.68; P = .003). Conclusions. This preliminary study shows that the LL genotype might be a risk factor for the development of primary glomerulonephritis and the M allele might be a protective factor against its progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effects of open- and self-pollination treatments on genetic estimations and kernel biochemical content in a maize diallel experiment. A 7×7 complete reciprocal diallel set (7 parents and 42 hybrids) was used as plant material. Measured traits were: kernel weight per plant, protein content, oil content and carbohydrate content. General combining ability (GCA), specific combining ability (SCA), maternal effects (MAT), non-maternal effects (NMAT) and heterosis values were compared in open- and self-pollination treatments for measured traits. Results showed that the pollination treatments had a significant effect on all investigated traits. Parental lines and hybrid combinations gave different responses. Parents had relatively higher protein and oil content in self-pollination but hybrids had lower values in self-pollination compared with open-pollination. A considerable number of genotypes showed significant differences for genetic estimations (GCA, SCA, MAT, NMAT) and heterosis between open- and self-pollination treatments. Overall, findings suggest that evaluation of kernel quality traits should be made on selfed ear samples; however, evaluation for yield should be carried out on open-pollinated samples.

Pharmaceuticals as an important group of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are unintentionally discharged into the aquatic environment due to lack of advanced treatment of classical wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Therefore, the detection and monitoring studies of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in an aquatic environment are getting more important as well as the definition of their ecological risks to the aquatic ecosystem. To conduct these studies successfully, it is necessary to develop sensitive, robust, selective, and reliable methods to be able to analyze PPCPs. This study was carried out in the biological WWTP (BWWTP) of Erzurum City, Türkiye, to investigate the treatment efficiency of pharmaceuticals in the plant and to assess the ecological risks for the Karasu River where treated wastewater is discharged into it. For this purpose, a wide range of pharmaceutical classes in influent wastewater (IWW) and effluent wastewater samples taken from Erzurum BBWWTP, Türkiye was simultaneously identified and quantified with liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry following liquid phase extraction for sample preparation. A total of 55 active pharmaceutical groups in 25 general drug groups (29 subgroups) were detected, with the highest average ratios being 82.459%, 7.306%, 4.949%, and 2.145% for analgesic-anti-inflammatory, antiepileptic, diabetic, and antipyretic pharmaceuticals groups, respectively, in IWW. Although flurbiprofen from the analgesic-anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals group was treated with the average efficiency of 66.13% during the 12-month treatment period, it had a high risk quotient due to the very high initial concentration in WWT in the range of 809.01-22,901.10 µg/L., (© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Ultrasonic oxidation provides the degradation of a wide range of water pollutants to the final products defined as carbon dioxide, short-chain organic acids, and inorganic ions, typically less toxic and favorable to biodegradation. In this study, it was investigated the application of novel ultrasonic reactor that allows the several combinations of low (20 kHz and 40 kHz) and high frequency ultrasonic piezoceramic transducer (578 kHz, 862 kHz and 1142 kHz) to degrade two main cyanobacterial toxins, Microcystin-RR (MC-RR) and Microcystin-LR (MC-LR). A plate transducer operating at different frequencies (40 kHz or 578 kHz/862 kHz/1142 kHz) was combined with a probe (20 kHz) as well as two plate transducers 40 kHz and 578 kHz/862 kHz/1142 kHz were combined to provide dual frequency ultrasonic reactor (DFUR). In order to carry out the study successfully, it is necessary to detect and monitor microcystins (MCs) using sensitive, robust, selective and reliable analytical methods. In this work, it was simultaneously identified and quantified with liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) without any phase extraction for sample preparation. Ultrasonic oxidation of MC-RR and MC-LR by DFUR exhibited more suitable degradation rate with second order than a very small difference from first-order reaction. A comprehensive standardization method for ultrasonic sources were considered based on calorimetry, chemical dosimetry, cavitational yield, energy efficiency as well., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Each year, millions face natural disasters, encountering mass fatalities and severe medical issues such as crush injuries and crush syndrome. Crush syndrome, marked by acute kidney injury (AKI) and hyperkalemia, correlates with mortality. This study focuses on presenting epidemiological data on kidney disease resulting from the February 6, 2023 earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaras., Methods: This retrospective analysis included patients diagnosed with crush syndrome after the 2023 Kahramanmaras earthquakes, treated in regional hospitals or referred elsewhere in Turkey. Patient data were documented using the web-based system developed by the Turkish Nephrology Association Renal Disaster Working Group., Results: Of the 1024 analyzed patients from 46 centers, 515 (50.3%) were women. The mean age was 41 ± 16 years, with a median duration of 12 h under rubble, and the median presentation time to the first health facility was 4 h after extrication from the rubble. Upon admission, 79.8% received intravenous fluid therapy, all potassium-free. Initial serum creatinine, K + , and creatinine kinase levels averaged 2.59 ± 2 mg/dl, 5.1 ± 1 mmol/L 38,305 ± 54,303 U/L, respectively. Intensive care unit (ICU) admissions were 53.6%, with mean hospital and ICU stays of 20 and 11 days, respectively. Compartment syndrome occurred in 40.8% of patients, with 75.8% undergoing fasciotomy. Acute kidney injury developed in 67.9% of patients, with 70.3% undergoing hemodialysis, totaling 3016 sessions on 488 patients. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 9.8%., Conclusion: Earthquakes have a significant impact on kidney health. Although our study indicates some progress compared to previous earthquake responses, there remains a crucial need for drills emphasizing post-earthquake initial response, fluid-electrolyte balance management, and emergency dialysis protocols., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethical approval: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine Clinical Research Ethics Committee (Decision date/no: 17.02.2023/04). Human and animal rights: This study does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors. Informed consent: For this type of study, formal consent is not required., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Italian Society of Nephrology.)

This study investigated in-hospital outcomes and related factors in patients diagnosed with postearthquake crush syndrome after the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye. One thousand twenty-four adult patients diagnosed with crush syndrome were analyzed. Data on demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, laboratory values, treatments, and outcomes were collected. A total of 9.8% of patients died during their hospital stay. Nonsurvivors were generally older, more likely to have preexisting chronic kidney disease, and faced more severe injuries and complications, including hypotension-shock, arrhythmias, elevated markers of renal dysfunction, and higher rates of acute kidney injury (AKI) and compartment syndrome. In addition, intensive care unit needs were higher. Multivariate analysis confirmed that age, injury severity, shock, high potassium, uric acid, and lactate levels on admission, development of AKI, compartment syndrome, and intensive care unit admission were significant predictors of mortality. Better disaster preparedness and improved health care infrastructure could be potential explanations for improved in-hospital mortality in the current era, as compared to previous earthquakes., (Copyright © 2024 International Society of Nephrology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever continues to be an important public health problem by expanding its borders. To evaluate the temporal trend, seasonality, and relationship with the climatic factors of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever. Study data included cases treated in two different tertiary healthcare institutions between 2012 and 2021. The demographic characteristics of the cases and the dates of admission to the hospital were determined, and they were matched with the average of the measurements (temperature, cumulative precipitation, relative humidity, wind speed) of two different meteorology stations in the study area. By calculating the crude incidence rates, the trend in years was investigated. Estimates were created by removing the incidence rates, seasonality, and trend components using the additive decomposition technique. The temporal relationship between incidence rates and climatic factors was evaluated with the help of the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Bound Test. Toda Yamamoto test was used for causality verification. The mean age of the cases (n = 974) included in the study was 47.6 ± 17.7 years, and the majority (57.3%) were in the group above 45 years of age. 56.6% of the cases were male and there was a male predominance in all age groups. Incidence rates ranged from 5.5 to 23.1/100,000 over the ten-year period and there was a significant upward trend (R 2 = 0.691, p  = 0.003). Cases of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever that started in March, peaked in July and ended in October, showed a clear seasonality. A cointegration relationship was observed between case incidence rates and air temperature, cumulative precipitation, and relative humidity ( p  < 0.05 for all). Climatic factors can only indirectly affect the occurrence of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever cases. However, climatic conditions that become progressively more favorable for vector ticks lead to the spread of the disease. The control measures to be taken should be prepared by considering the changing climatic conditions and prioritizing the risk groups. There is a need for information and awareness-raising studies about climate change and the growing dangers associated with it, also outside of endemic regions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and the severity of AKI is linked to adverse outcomes. In this study, we investigated the factors associated with in-hospital outcomes among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and AKI., Methods: In this multicenter retrospective observational study, we evaluated the characteristics and in-hospital renal and patient outcomes of 578 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and AKI. Data were collected from 34 hospitals in Turkey from March 11 to June 30, 2020. AKI definition and staging were based on the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes criteria. Patients with end-stage kidney disease or with a kidney transplant were excluded. Renal outcomes were identified only in discharged patients., Results: The median age of the patients was 69 years, and 60.9% were males. The most frequent comorbid conditions were hypertension (70.5%), diabetes mellitus (43.8%), and chronic kidney disease (CKD) (37.6%). The proportions of AKI stages 1, 2, and 3 were 54.0%, 24.7%, and 21.3%, respectively. 291 patients (50.3%) were admitted to the intensive care unit. Renal improvement was complete in 81.7% and partial in 17.2% of the patients who were discharged. Renal outcomes were worse in patients with AKI stage 3 or baseline CKD. The overall in-hospital mortality in patients with AKI was 38.9%. In-hospital mortality rate was not different in patients with preexisting non-dialysis CKD compared to patients without CKD (34.4 versus 34.0%, p = 0.924). By multivariate Cox regression analysis, age (hazard ratio [HR] [95% confidence interval (95%CI)]: 1.01 [1.0-1.03], p = 0.035], male gender (HR [95%CI]: 1.47 [1.04-2.09], p = 0.029), diabetes mellitus (HR [95%CI]: 1.51 [1.06-2.17], p = 0.022) and cerebrovascular disease (HR [95%CI]: 1.82 [1.08-3.07], p = 0.023), serum lactate dehydrogenase (greater than two-fold increase) (HR [95%CI]: 1.55 [1.05-2.30], p = 0.027) and AKI stage 2 (HR [95%CI]: 1.98 [1.25-3.14], p = 0.003) and stage 3 (HR [95%CI]: 2.25 [1.44-3.51], p = 0.0001) were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality., Conclusions: Advanced-stage AKI is associated with extremely high mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Age, male gender, comorbidities, which are risk factors for mortality in patients with COVID-19 in the general population, are also related to in-hospital mortality in patients with AKI. However, preexisting non-dialysis CKD did not increase in-hospital mortality rate among AKI patients. Renal problems continue in a significant portion of the patients who were discharged., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The anti-epileptic drugs phenobarbital and valproic acid have an extremely strong negative effect on cognitive processes such as learning and memory in the developing brain. We examined whether or not curcumin has protective effects on neuronal injury caused by these drugs in the developing rat brain. Young male Wistar rats were studied in two groups, a 7 days old and a 14 days old group (35 rats in each). Both groups were then divided into 7 sub-groups as the control, curcumin, dimethylsulfoxide, phenobarbital, valproic acid, phenobarbital + curcumin, and valproic acid + curcumin groups (n = 5 in each group). At 24 h after the intraperitoneal injection of the compounds, the rats were sacrificed, and the hippocampal tissue was subjected to stereological analysis with the optical fractionation method. Total numbers of neurons in the hippocampus of the 7 days old and 14 days old rats were calculated. It was found that treatment with phenobarbital resulted in a loss of 43% of the neurons, and valproic acid induced a loss of 57% of the neurons in the 7 days old rats. Curcumin prevented this loss significantly with only 19% in the phenobarbital group and 41% in the valproic acid group. In the 14 days old rat groups, phenobarbital was found to reduce the number of neurons by 30%, and valproic acid reduced it by 38%. Curcumin treatment limited neuronal loss to 3% in the phenobarbital + curcumin group and 10% in the valproic acid + curcumin group. These data strongly indicate that curcumin is a protective agent and prevents hippocampal neuronal damage induced by phenobarbital and valproic acid treatment., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Besides its hematopoietic function, erythropoietin (EPO) may protect tissues from degenerative disorders. As such, EPO and its receptors were revealed in nonhematopoietic cells, including stromal and endometrial epithelial cells. However, the role of EPO in endometrial disorders is still unknown. Here, we aimed to examine the role of EPO and its receptor activation in the development of endometriosis in rats., Material and Methods: Animals were treated with EPO, darbepoietin (the synthetic form of EPO) or EPO’s receptor activator, methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta (MIRCERA), after development of endometriosis. Endometriosis was induced by estrogen-administration following surgical attachment of endometrial surface on the inner abdominal wall. Treatments were started 3 weeks after induction of endometriosis and continued for the following 3 weeks. For the analysis of recurrence of endometriosis, additional analyses were conducted 3 weeks after cessation of treatments., Results: As compared with vehicle-treated animals, lesion size was reduced significantly and recurrence of endometriosis was not observed in all treatment groups. Histopathologic examination revealed that EPO and darbepoietin were more effective than MIRCERA- and vehicle-treated animals., Conclusion: Here we provide evidence that EPO is a promising candidate for the treatment of endometriosis. Our histopathologic results in particular indicate that EPO is more effective than its receptor activator MIRCERA in the development endometriosis.

Purpose: The purpose of the current prospective study was to evaluate the effects of low sodium dialysate on oxidative stress parameters, blood pressure (BP) and endothelial dysfunction in maintenance hemodialysis (HD) patients., Methods: After baseline measurements were taken, the dialysate sodium concentration was reduced from 140 to 137 mEq/L. Oxidative stress parameters and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD %) were measured before and after 6 months of HD with low sodium dialysate. Interdialytic weight gain (IDWG) and pre- and post-dialysis BP were monitored during the study., Results: A total of 52 patients were enrolled and 41 patients completed the study. There was a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure at the end of the study [130.00 (90.00-190.00) vs. 120.00 (90.00-150.00), p < 0.001]. Similarly, there were significant improvements in IDWG [2670.00 (1670.00-4300.00) vs. 1986.00 (1099.00-3998.00), p < 0.001] and FMD % [7.26 (4.55-8.56) vs. 9.56 (6.55-12.05), p < 0.001]. Serum MDA levels (p < 0.001) were significantly decreased; serum SOD (p < 0.001) and GPx (p < 0.001) activities were significantly increased after low sodium HD compared to standard sodium HD., Conclusion: Our data seem to suggest a potential role of 137 mEq/L sodium dialysate for improving hemodynamic status, endothelial function and reducing oxidative stress than 140 mEq/L sodium dialysate in maintenance HD patients.

Background: This study aimed at investigating the possible protective effect of erythropoietin beta on experimental diabetic nephropathy (DN) model in rats., Methods: Sprague Dawley rats (n = 32) were allocated into 4 equal groups of 8 each, the control (Group C), diabetes (Group D), erythropoietin beta (Group E), and erythropoietin beta treated DN (Group E + D) groups. Streptozocin (65 mg/kg) was used to induce diabetes in 10-week old rats. Erythropoietin beta was given intraperitoneally at a dose of 500 IU/kg/3 days of a week for 12 weeks. Renal function parameters, intrarenal levels and activities of oxidative stress biomarkers, serum inflammatory parameters and kidney histology were determined., Results: Group E + D had lower mean albumin-to-creatinine ratio (p < 0.001) as well as higher creatinine clearance (p = 0.035) than the diabetic rats (Group D). Intrarenal malondialdehyde levels were significantly lower (p = 0.004); glutathione (GSH) levels (p = 0.003), GSH peroxidase (p = 0.004) and superoxide dismutase (p < 0.005) activities of renal tissue were significantly higher in Group E + D than in Group D. The mean serum levels of interleukin-4 (p < 0.005), interleukin 1 beta (p = 0.012), interferon gamma (p = 0.018) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (p < 0.005) were significantly lower; serum levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (p = 0.018) was significantly higher in Group E + D when compared to Group D. The mean scores of tubulointerstitial inflammation (p = 0.004), tubular injury (p = 0.013) and interstitial fibrosis (p = 0.003) were also lower in Group E + D when compared to Group D., Conclusion: Our data seem to suggest a potential role of erythropoietin beta for reducing the progression of DN in an experimental rat model. This protective effect is, in part, attributable to the suppression of the inflammatory response and oxidative damage., (© 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.)