Umit Avsar

Topical effects of nebivolol on wounds in diabetic rats

OBJECTIVE Recently, it has reported that nebivolol might be useful in the treatment of diabetes mellitus foot ulcers. The aim of this study was to examine treatment of the wounds in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats with topical nebivolol. METHODS Two 15 × 15 mm-sized wounds were created in 56 streptozotocin-induced rats. A total of 56 diabetic wounds were studied in eight groups (n=7). No treatment was administered to the first and second groups. The third and fourth groups consisted of diabetic rats that were administered 1:1 mixture of lanolin and vaseline for 7 and 14 days, respectively. Five percent nebivolol plus 1:1 mixture of lanolin and vaseline was administered to rats in the fifth and sixth groups for 7 and 14 days, respectively, and 10% nebivolol plus 1:1 mixture of lanolin and vaseline was administered to rats in the seventh and eighth groups for 7 and 14 days, respectively. On days 7 and 14, wound healing was observed, and the percent of wound healing was determined by measuring its size and histopathologic examination. The ratio was calculated by the formula, healing ratio (%)=100 ×(1-wound area/initial wound area). Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA with Tukeys HSD test and Mann-Whitney U test, using SPSS 15.0 software. RESULTS On days 7 and 14, rates of wound healing in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth groups were 57.42%, 89.16%, 60.80%, and 91.80%, respectively. Multiple comparison showed that rates of wound healing were significantly higher in rats administered 5% and 10% nebivolol than those in rats administered a mixture of lanolin and vaseline and in the untreated group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Topical nebivolol therapy may be useful for wound healing in diabetic rats. Further studies are needed to support these data.

L-carnitine alleviates sciatic nerve crush injury in rats: functional and electron microscopy assessments.

Several studies have demonstrated that L-carnitine exhibits neuroprotective effects on injured sciatic nerve of rats with diabetes mellitus. It is hypothesized that L-carnitine exhibits neuroprotective effects on injured sciatic nerve of rats. Rat sciatic nerve was crush injured by a forceps and exhibited degenerative changes. After intragastric administration of 50 and 100 mg/kg L-carnitine for 30 days, axon area, myelin sheath area, axon diameter, myelin sheath diameter, and numerical density of the myelinated axons of injured sciatic nerve were similar to normal, and the function of injured sciatic nerve also improved significantly. These findings suggest that L-carnitine exhibits neuroprotective effects on sciatic nerve crush injury in rats.

[Knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of people living in rural areas of Erzurum about Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever].

OBJECTIVE After 2002 more and more Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) cases have been reported and it has become a major public health problem in Turkey. In order to fight CCHF, it is important to inform the public and direct them towards appropriatet attitudes and behavior. Therefore assessment of the effectiveness of health education in the community is essential. METHODS A research was carried out for this purpose in the province of Erzurum between May 2010 and September 2010 through a survey. RESULTS The results depicted that the majority of participants have knowledge that CCHF transmitted by ticks and they should be removed as soon as possible from the body through safe methods. However, in terms of correct attitude and behavior, women were found to have a lower level compared with men. CONCLUSION The training of health workers and an increase in the efforts to make the community, especially the women, aware of this problem is ugently needed.