Metin Balduz

RESISTANT CYCLIC VOMITING SYNDROME SUCCESSFULLY RESPONDING TO CHLORPROMAZINE

Cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) is a disorder characterized by recurrent, stereotypic episodes of nausea, vomiting, and other symptoms, separated by intervals of comparative wellness. These episodes carry on for hours or days. The patient is healthy between the episodes and has no clinical finding. For the treatment of the CVS, antiemetic, antimigraine and sedative medications were used. However, in some cases CVS treatment is very difficult. We report about a young patient, who did not respond to many agents, but was succesfully treated with chlorpomazine.

Association between sequence variations of the Mediterranean fever gene and the risk of migraine: a case–control study

Migraine pathogenesis involves a complex interaction between hormones, neurotransmitters, and inflammatory pathways, which also influence the migraine phenotype. The Mediterranean fever gene (MEFV) encodes the pyrin protein. The major role of pyrin appears to be in the regulation of inflammation activity and the processing of the cytokine pro-interleukin-1β, and this cytokine plays a part in migraine pathogenesis. This study included 220 migraine patients and 228 healthy controls. Eight common missense mutations of the MEFV gene, known as M694V, M694I, M680I, V726A, R761H, K695R, P369S, and E148Q, were genotyped using real-time polymerase chain reaction with 5′ nuclease assays, which include sequence specific primers, and probes with a reporter dye. When mutations were evaluated separately among the patient and control groups, only the heterozygote E148Q carrier was found to be significantly higher in the control group than in the patient group (P=0.029, odds ratio [95% confidence interval] =0.45 [0.21–0.94]). In addition, the frequency of the homozygote and the compound heterozygote genotype carrier was found to be significantly higher in patients (n=8, 3.6%) than in the control group (n=1, 0.4%) (P=0.016, odds ratio [95% confidence interval] =8.57 [1.06–69.07]). However, there was no statistically significant difference in the allele frequencies of MEFV mutations between the patients and the healthy control group (P=0.964). In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that biallelic mutations in the MEFV gene could be associated with a risk of migraine in the Turkish population. Moreover, MEFV mutations could be related to increased frequency and short durations of migraine attacks (P=0.043 and P=0.021, respectively). Future studies in larger groups and expression analysis of MEFV are required to clarify the role of the MEFV gene in migraine susceptibility.

Protective effects of L-glutamine against toxicity of deltamethrin in the cerebral tissue

Background Deltamethrin (DLM) is a broad-spectrum synthetic dibromo-pyrethroid pesticide that is widely used for agricultural and veterinary purposes. However, human exposure to the pesticide leads to neurotoxicity. Glutamine is one of the principal, free intracellular amino acids and may also be an antioxidant. This study was undertaken in order to examine the neuroprotective and antioxidant potential of l-glutamine against DLM toxicity in female Wistar albino rats. Materials and methods The rats were divided into the following groups (n=10): Group I: control (distilled water; 10 mL/kg, po one dose), Group II: l-glutamine (1.5 g/kg, po one dose), Group III: DLM (35 mg/kg, po one dose), and Group IV: DLM (35 mg/kg, po one dose) and l-glutamine (1.5 g/kg, po one dose after 4 hours). Total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 levels and apoptosis were evaluated in brain tissue. Results DLM-treated animals had a significant increase in brain biochemical parameters, as well as TOS and TAS. Furthermore, the histopathological examination showed neuronal cell degeneration in the cerebral tissue. l-Glutamine treatment decreased the elevated brain levels of TOS and neuronal cell degeneration. There was no difference in tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels between the groups. Conclusion l-Glutamine may reduce the toxic effects of DLM in the cerebral tissue through antioxidant properties.