M. Kemal Irmak

Erdosteine prevents doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in rats.

The clinical use of doxorubicin (Dxr) is limited by its cardiotoxic effects which are mediated by oxygen radicals. The purpose of this study was to investigate in vivo protective effects of erdosteine, an antioxidant agent because of its secondary active metabolites in vivo, against the cardiotoxicity induced by Dxr in rats. Three groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats (60 days old) were used. Group 1 was untreated group used as control; the other groups were treated with Dxr (single i.p. dosage of 20 mg kg(-1) b.wt.) or Dxr plus erdosteine (10 mg kg(-1) day(-1), orally), respectively. Erdosteine or oral saline treatment was done starting 2 days before Dxr for 12 days. The analyses were done at the 10th day of Dxr treatment. The protein carbonyl content, the activities of myeloperoxidase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and creatine kinase (CK) as well as heart rate and blood pressures were significantly increased in Dxr group in comparison with the other groups. However, pulse pressure was decreased in Dxr group. The body and heart weights were decreased in both Dxr administered groups in comparison with control group. Disorganization of myocardial histology, picnotic nuclei, edema, and increase in collagen content around vessels were seen in the slides of Dxr group, whereas normal myocardial microscopy was preserved in Dxr plus erdosteine group. Collectively, these in vivo hemodynamic, enzymatic and morphologic studies provide an evidence for a possible prevention of cardiac toxicity in Dxr-treated patients.

Effects of electromagnetic radiation from a cellular telephone on epidermal Merkel cells

The number of reports on the effects induced by electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from cellular telephones in various cellular systems is still increasing. Until now, no satisfactory mechanism has been proposed to explain the biological effects of this radiation except a role suggested for mast cells. Merkel cells may also play a role in the mechanisms of biological effects of EMR. This study was undertaken to investigate the influence of EMR from a cellular telephone (900 MHz) on Merkel cells in rats. A group of rats was exposed to a cellular telephone in speech position for 30 min. Another group of rats was sham‐exposed under the same environmental conditions for 30 min. Exposure led to significantly higher exocytotic activity in Merkel cells compared with the sham exposure group. This finding may indicate the possible role of Merkel cells in the pathophysiology of the effects of EMR.

Blood pressure changes in young male subjects exposed to a median altitude

ObjectiveResidence at high altitude has been associated with elevation in systemic blood pressure (BP), but few studies have been done on the time course and the effects of a median altitude. Moreover, there exist population differences in the reactions given to altitude and the mechanism is unknown. This study was therefore designed to determine the effects of a median altitude on resting BP and heart rate (HR) in a group of 15 healthy, young, Turkish male subjects.MethodsAfter basic measurements were carried out in Bursa (155 m), subjects were transported to a mountain hotel (altitude 1,860 m), where the measurements were repeated once every 15 days during a 10-month period.ResultsMean BP and diastolic BP increased on Day 4 and then remained above first values throughout the study. Compared with control measurements, high altitude increased systolic blood pressure (SBP) in all subjects, but in Month 4 and Month 6, SBP returned to control values, and remained elevated thereafter. HR continued to decrease in parallel with time and significant decrease occurred after Month 5.InterpretationOur findings imply that moderate-altitude living results in a significantly greater BP and lower HR over equivalent low-altitude measurements and we conclude that chronic exposure to hypobaric hypoxia at a median altitude causes increased parasympathetic and sympathetic tone in healthy, young, Turkish males.

Multifunctional Merkel cells: Their roles in electromagnetic reception, finger-print formation, Reiki, epigenetic inheritance and hair form

Merkel cells are located in glabrous and hairy skin and in some mucosa. They are characterized by dense-core secretory granules and cytoskeletal filaments. They are attached to neighboring keratinocytes by desmosomes and contain melanosomes similar to keratinocytes. They are excitable cells in close contact with sensory nerve endings but their function is still unclear. In this review, following roles are attributed for the first time to the Merkel cells: (1) melanosomes in Merkel cells may be involved in mammalian magnetoreception. In this model melanosome as a biological magnetite is connected by cytoskeletal filaments to mechanically gated ion channels embedded in the Merkel cell membrane. The movement of melanosome with the changing electromagnetic field may open ion channels directly producing a receptor potential that can be transmitted to brain via sensory neurons. (2) Merkel cells may be involved in finger-print formation: Merkel cells in glabrous skin are located at the base of the epidermal ridges the type of which defines the finger-print pattern. Finger-print formation starts at the 10th week of pregnancy after the arrival of Merkel cells. Keratinocyte proliferation and the buckling process observed in the basal layer of epidermis resulting in the epidermal ridges may be controlled and formed by Merkel cells. (3) Brain-Merkel cell connection is bi-directional and Merkel cells not only absorb but also radiate the electromagnetic frequencies. Hence, efferent aspects of the palmar and plantar Merkel nerve endings may form the basis of the biofield modalities such as Reiki, therapeutic touch and telekinesis. (4) Adaptive geographic variations such as skin color, craniofacial morphology and hair form result from interactions between environmental factors and epigenetic inheritance system. While environmental factors produce modifications in the body, they simultaneously induce epigenetic modifications in the oocytes and in this way adaptive changes could be passed onto the next generations. Merkel cells are multisensorial cells that can receive almost all environmental stimuli including electromagnetic and ultraviolet radiations, temperature, humidity and food type and they seem to transfer the environmental information to oocytes by affecting nuclear receptors in oocytes. (5) Hair form is categorized as straight, wavy and spiral. Merkel cells found at the bulge region of hair follicles may determine the hair form with their different paracrine secretions related to hair cycle producing variations between populations. In conclusion, Merkel cells are multifunctional cells which may close the gap between orthodox medicine and complementary medicine such as acupuncture and Reiki.

Self-fertilization in human: Having a male embryo without a father

Chimeras are the result of fusion of two zygotes to form a single embryo, producing an individual with genetically different kinds of tissue. If the fused zygotes are of different sex, the individual develops both ovarian and testicular tissues. The majority of these people are best reared as females and many pregnancies with living offspring have been reported in persons reared as females, and several cases has fathered a child. During ovulation, a negative pressure occurs in the lumen of the oviduct and it produces a vacuum effect which has made several pregnancies possible in subjects lacking an ipsilateral ovary by allowing the transperitoneal migration of oocyte from the contralateral gonad. Self-fertilization was reported in many flowering plants, in a kind of fish and in a case of rabbit. They have both eggs and sperms in their body and at fertilization, one sperm cell fuses with oocyte to form an embryo. Self-fertilization may also occur in human. A scenario is presented here for a woman to have a son without a father: she is a chimera of 46,XX/46,XY type resulting from the fusion of two zygotes of different sex types and she develops both ovary and testis in her body. Since XX cells tend to gather on the left side while XY cells on the right, she develops an ovary on the left side with a oviduct and a testis on the right side located in an ovarian position with no duct. Müllerian duct regression on the right side is mediated by the antimüllerian hormone derived from the ipsilateral testis and testosterone secreted from Leydig cells does not prevent the regression of the Wolffian duct. Therefore, neither an oviduct nor an epididymis and vas deferens is present next to the testis on the right side, and lumens of a well-developed rete testis have an open access to the abdominal cavity allowing the sperms to be picked-up by the contralateral oviduct. Both gonads are functional and produce spermatozoa and oocyte respectively after puberty. At the time of ovulation, estrogens increase the motility of the oviduct on the left side which results in a negative pressure in the tube and oocyte and sperms are picked-up into the tube with the help of this vacuum effect, taking both gametes to the fertilization site in the oviduct. Since the sperm contains a Y chromosome, this fertilization gives rise to a XY male embryo.

Antiviral activity of salivary microRNAs for ophthalmic herpes zoster

Ophthalmic herpes zoster is a common ocular infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Viral mRNA transcripts play a major role in the replicative cycle of the virus and current antiviral agents have little effect in preventing and treating the complications. Therapeutic use of saliva for certain painful ocular diseases such as ophthalmic herpes zoster is a well-known public practice in our region. We thought that antiviral activity of saliva may stem from salivary microvesicles and we aimed to look for molecules with antiviral activity in these vesicles. As a possible candidate for antiviral activity, salivary microvesicles contain at least 20 microRNAs (miRNAs), small noncoding RNAs, which suppress the translation of target mRNAs. miRNAs not only participate in maintenance of normal cell functions, but are also involved in host–virus interactions and limit the replication of certain virus types. Thus, miRNA gene therapy by targeting mRNAs required for VZV survival may find a niche in the treatment of ophthalmic herpes zoster. But, how could salivary microvesicles reach into the corneal cells to demonstrate their antiviral activity. We suggest that human salivary microvesicles can be effective carriers of miRNA for corneal cells, because they contain a molecular machinery for vesicle trafficking and fusion allowing them to be endocytosed by target cells. After binding to the plasma membrane, microvesicles seem to enter into the corneal cells through the clathrin-mediated endocytosis. In the cytosol, human salivary miRNAs base-pair with specific viral mRNAs and inhibit their translation, thus limiting the replication of the virus.