Hatice Ozbilge

Cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sanliurfa: epidemiologic and clinical features of the last four years (1997–2000)

Background Sanliurfa is located in south‐east Anatolia, the region with the largest focus of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Turkey. The present study was designed to determine the epidemiological and clinical patterns of cases of CL in the Sanliurfa area over a period of 4 years (1997–2000).

Environmental pollution with soil-transmitted helminths in Sanliurfa, Turkey

Soil transmitted helminth (STH) infection are endemic in developing countries. A study was carried out of sewage farms, streams and vegetables to determine the sources and routes of STH infection in Sanliurfa, Turkey. Stool samples from farmhouse inhabitants as well as soil and vegetable samples from the gardens were collected and examined. In addition, water samples from streams and vegetable samples from the city market were collected and examined. One hundred and eighty-seven (59.5%) of a total of 314 samples, including 88.4% of the stool samples, 60.8% of the water samples, 84.4% of the soil samples and 14% of the vegetable samples, were found to be positive for STH eggs. These results indicate that the water, soil and vegetables are heavily contaminated, and suggest a vicious circle between humans and the environment. Improving environmental sanitation is imperative for the control of soil-transmitted helminthiasis in Sanliurfa.

Melatonin protects from ischemia/reperfusion‐induced renal injury in rats: this effect is not mediated by proinflammatory cytokines

Abstract:  The pathophysiologic mechanisms leading to acute ischemic renal failure are not completely understood. Melatonin, a compound with well‐known antioxidant properties, reduces IR‐induced renal injury. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the changes in levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, IL‐β, and IL‐6 in postischemic reperfused renal tissue, and to determine whether the protective effect of melatonin is related the modulation of the production of these inflammatory molecules. Male Wistar albino rats were unilaterally nephrectomized and subjected to 1 hr of renal pedicle occlusion followed by 2 hr or 24 hr of reperfusion. Melatonin (10 mg/kg, i.p.) or vehicle was administrated at 10 min prior to ischemia. After 24 hr of the reperfusion, following decapitation, kidney samples were taken both for histologic examination and for the determination of malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total oxidative stress (TOS), creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). These were measured in serum samples. TNF‐α, IL‐β, and IL‐6 were measured in kidney samples after 2 hr of reperfusion. IR caused a significant increase in renal MDA, MPO, TOS, creatinine, and BUN while decrease TAC without any change in TNF‐α, IL‐β, and IL‐6 levels. Melatonin treatment reduced the biochemical indices without any change in the cytokine levels and ameliorated histopathologic alterations induced by IR. The protective effect of melatonin on IR‐induced renal injury is related to its antioxidant properties but not to proinflammatory cytokines.

Medical application of information gain-based artificial immune recognition system (IG-AIRS): Classification of microorganism species

In this paper, we have made medical application of a new artificial immune system named the information gain-based artificial immune recognition system (IG-AIRS) which is minimized the negative effects of taking into account all attributes in calculating Euclidean distance in shape-space representation which is used in many artificial immune systems. For medical data, microorganism dataset was applied in the performance analysis of our proposed system. Microorganism dataset was obtained using Cyranose 320 electronic nose. Our proposed system reached 92.35% classification accuracy with five-fold cross validation method. This result ensured that IG-AIRS would be helpful in classification of microorganism species based on laboratory tests, and would open the way to various microorganism species determine support by using electronic nose.

Evaluation of oxidative stress in cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Oxidative stress occurs when there is excessive free‐radical production or a low antioxidant level. The role of free radicals in the pathogenesis and in the progression of many diseases has often been discussed, but it has not been widely investigated in leishmaniasis. However, measurement of oxidants and antioxidants in the serum seems to be of great value. In this study, we aimed to determine lipid peroxidation levels as markers of oxidative stress in the serum of patients suffering from cutaneous leishmaniasis, which is a common health problem in our region of Southern Anatolia, Turkey. Forty patients aged between 5–50 years and forty controls aged between 5–50 years were included in the study. The LPO levels of the patients with active cutaneous leishmaniasis were significantly higher (p<0.001) than those of healthy controls. As a result, it is possible to conclude that patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis are affected by oxidative stress, which may contribute to the progression of the disease.

Effectiveness of Topical Taurolidine versus Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin, and Fortified Cefazolin in a Rabbit Staphylococcus aureus Keratitis Model

Purpose. Taurolidine is a broad-spectrum, nonantibiotic antimicrobial agent, not previously tested against the common causes of bacterial keratitis. This study, employing an experimental rabbit model of Staphylococcus aureus keratitis, investigated the effectiveness of topical taurolidine in reducing the number of bacteria, and its effectiveness was compared with topical ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and 5% cefazolin.Methods. The right corneas of all rabbits were intrastromally injected with 100 colony-forming units of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC strain 25923. The animals were divided into the following seven groups: Group 1 (6 rabbits) received taurolidine, group 2 (6 rabbits) received ciprofloxacin, group 3 (6 rabbits) received ofloxacin, group 4 (6 rabbits) received cefazolin, group 5 (5 rabbits) received polyvinylpyrrolidone (vehicle), group 6 (4 rabbits) received sterile water, and group 7 (4 rabbits) was left untreated (control group). The eyes were topically treated every 30 min with the above-mentioned substances from 4 to 9 h postinjection. One hour after the last drop administration (at 10 h postinjection), signs of inflammation were scored in a masked fashion by slit-lamp examination. Then, their corneas were processed. The number of colony-forming units (cfu) per cornea in all eyes was also determined.Results. All antimicrobial (taurolidine, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and cefazolin) treatments significantly reduced cfu numbers and slit-lamp examination scores compared with untreated eyes, eyes that received the vehicle, or eyes with sterile water (all p values < 0.05). Regarding cfu numbers, although taurolidine therapy was significantly less effective than ciprofloxacin or ofloxacin, there was no significant difference between taurolidine and cefazolin groups. However, taurolidine had similar clinical examination scores with the other antimicrobials, while it had lower scores than the vehicle, sterile water, or untreated eyes. Conclusions. The results obtained in this study suggest that topical taurolidine is an effective, novel ocular chemotherapeutic agent for the therapy of rabbit experimental Staphylococcus aureus keratitis. This drug may be a useful and promising ocular antimicrobial.

Effects of melatonin on the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and tissue injury after renal ischemia reperfusion in rats

Abstract We investigated the changes in the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6, the pro-inflammatory cytokines, and the possible effect of melatonin on the modulation of these inflammatory molecules after renal ischemia reperfusion (IR). The study was carried out in the laboratory of Department of Pharmacology. Forty-six male Wistar albino rats were divided into five groups as control (n = 6), positive control (n = 4), sham (n = 12), renal IR (n = 12), and renal IR melatonin (n = 12). After 1 h renal pedicle occlusion, the blood samples were taken for the measurement of cytokine levels at second hour of the reperfusion. The rats were sacrificed after 24 h of reperfusion for histopathological evaluation. Melatonin or vehicle was administrated to IR rats. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was administered to the positive control group and the blood was taken at fourth hour. Serum TNF-α levels increased significantly in renal IR and LPS groups. Serum IL-6 levels were not different from control except the LPS group. There was no significant correlation between the serum TNF-α levels and the histopathological score after renal IR. Melatonin treatment reversed the increase of serum TNF-α levels and histopathological injury in renal tissue after renal IR. Melatonin may have a protective effect by reducing the serum level of TNF-α in renal IR.

Antimicrobial activity of Pelargonium endlicherianum Fenzl. (Geraniaceae) roots against some microorganisms.

Pelargonium endlicherianum Fenzl. (Geraniaceae) is one of the important species of Pelargonium growing in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of P. endlicherianum roots on medically important microorganisms. The antimicrobial activities of 11% ethanol and 70% methanol P. endlicherianum extracts against various bacteria and yeast were studied using the agar dilution method at concentrations ranging from 0.375 to 30.00 mg/ml. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of P. endlicherianum extracts against some microorganisms was determined. The highest inhibition was exhibited against Staphylococcus aureus by the 70% methanol extract of P. endlicherianum at 1.38 ± 0.36 mg/ml. The results of this study suggest that P. endlicherianum extracts possess antimicrobial activity against some of the tested microorganisms.

Modulation of Inflammation by Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation in Peritoneal Dialysis in Rats

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation on the peritoneal morphology and inflammation markers in rat models of peritoneal dialysis (PD). Materials and methods: Wistar albino rats were divided into two groups: control (C) (n = 8) and experimental groups (n = 50). PD solution was given to the experimental group during 6 weeks. Then, experimental group was divided into three groups as PD, MSC, and placebo (P) groups. MSC group was treated with MSC (1.5 × 106 cells/kg) and P group was treated with phosphate buffer solution via intraperitoneal injection. Evaluation was performed to C and PD groups at the end of 6 weeks and to MSC and P groups at second and third week of the treatment (MSC-2, P-2, MSC-3, and P-3 groups). Results: The submesothelial area was significantly thickened in PD and P groups compared to C and MSC groups. Peritoneal fibrosis was seen in P-3 group but not in MSC group. There were no significant differences between the MSC-3 and C groups according to morphological findings. Levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were significantly increased in MSC-2 group compared to the other groups (p-values ranged from 0.0001 to 0.04). TNF-α and IL-6 levels in MSC-3 and P-3 groups were lower than PD and C groups (p < 0.0001 for TNF-α and p = 0.0001–0.002 for IL-6). Conclusion: Giving MSC may protect the peritoneal membrane from the deleterious effect of PD and extend the life of the peritoneal membrane. Our study is the first on this issue and more detailed studies are needed.

THE EFFECTS ON IMMUNE RESPONSE OF LEVAMISOLE TREATMENT FOLLOWING INFECTION OF U-937 MACROPHAGES WITH CANDIDA ALBICANS

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on the immune response of levamisole alone and in conjunction with Candida albicans stimulation in human macrophage cell culture by determining the alterations in the levels of cytokine release. Levamisole treatment was performed before, during and after infecting U-937 human macrophage cells with C. albicans. In cell supernatants, interleukin (IL)-1b, IL-12, IL-18, tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels were measured by ELISA. In vitro levamisole treatment accompanied by C. albicans stimulation significantly increased IL-12, IL-1β and IL-18 production in macrophage cells (p < 0.05). It was observed that when administered before C. albicans infection, levamisole significantly increased IL-12 and IL-1β production in macrophage cells (p < 0.05). Another finding was that when applied to macrophage cells simultaneously with C. albicans infection, or before infection with C. albicans, levamisole suppressed the TNF-β production stimulating effect of C. albicans (p < 0.05). These results indicated that levamisole could be useful in treating patients infected with C. albicans or in protecting individuals under the risk of being infected with this pathogen. There is a need for further experimental and clinical studies on this hypothesis.