Essential oil extract of Bergamot orange (BO) was investigated for its hepatoprotective effect on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Six different groups were established. Silibinin was used as the reference agent. BO significantly reduced the serum ALT level when compared to CCl4 group while it did not affect the serum AST level. The histopathological findings did not show any significant difference between the BO and CCl4 groups. The results suggest that BO has a weak hepatoprotective effect in carbon tetrachloride induced acute liver toxicity.

In this study we planned to investigate the differences of the Candida species in the newborns’ and adults’ mouth flora, their slime production and antimicrobial susceptibility. They were identified with conventional methods (germ tube production) and carbohydrate fermentation characteristics were evaluated by Api 20 C AUX (bioMerieux-France) kits. Stock solution of fluconazole was used for antibiotic susceptibility test. A total of 18 Candida isolates; 14 C. albicans, 2 C. tropicalis, 1 C. kefyr and1 C. lusitaneae were isolated from newborns and 18 Candida strains consisting of 13 C. albicans, 4 C. tropicalis and 1 C. ciferii were isolated from the adults with decayed teeth. Slime production and fluconazole susceptibility tests were performed on these strains. As a result, 4 of 18 (22%) Candida species from newborns and 2 of 18 (11%) strains from adults teeth were observed to be potent slime producer. None of the Candida strains isolated were resistant to fluconazole.

Prosthetic mitral valve thrombosis is a lifethreatening complication. Data on complications and outcome are limited. The purpose of this study was to review the clinical experience with the thrombolytic therapy and surgical management of prosthetic mitral valve obstruction in our hospital. Between the January 2001 and April 2005, twelve patients with obstructed prosthetic mitral valve were admitted to our hospital. There were 8 female and 4 male patients ranging in age from14 to 60 years, with a mean age of 34±12 years. In all patients, the diagnosis of prosthetic valve thrombosis was confirmed by echocardiography including transesophageal echocardiography. All patients showed absence or muffering of prosthetic valve sounds. Two of 12 patients received thrombolytic therapy by using streptokinase. In the remaining 10 patients, operations were performed on an emergency basis with median sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass techniques using antegrade-retrograde combinated isothermic blood cardioplegia and moderate hypothermia. The principal risk factors of prosthetic valve thrombosis are inadequate anticoagulation or fluctuation in anticoagulation levels. Its treatment is either surgical or with thrombolytics. Although both treatment methods are effective, the latter is gaining favor. However, surgery is often required due to large thrombi and a presence of pannus formation.

Papillary carcinoma is diagnosed mainly by its classical papillary structures and nuclear changes. However similar structural and cytological features may also be seen in other lesions of thyroid. Immunohistochemical staining methods help in these circumstances that cytological features do not suffice for differential diagnosis. In this study we stained 112 parafin-embedded blocks with thyroidal lesions (60 papillary carcinoma and 52 other benign or malignant thyroidal lesions) with HBME-1, CK-19, S-100 and EMA. Papillary carcinomas were stained 8.3% weakly, 90% moderately and strongly with HBME-1; 11.7% weakly, 88.3% moderately and strongly with CK-19; 50% weakly, 50% moderately and strongly with EMA; 26.6% weakly, 48.4% moderately and strongly with S-100. Other thyroid lesions were stained 36.5% weakly, 5.8% moderately with CK-19; 26.6% weakly, 15.4% moderately with EMA; 7.7% weakly, 1.9% moderately with S-100. None of the thyroid lesions, but papillary carcinoma, were stained with HBME-1. Papillary carcinoma cases had significantly higher staining with all four markers. However, HBME-1 and CK-19 were considered more valuable in differential diagnosis for papillary carcinomas, since they showed moderate and strong staining. Also high sensitivity and specificity of HBME-1 makes it a good marker for the diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer.

The continual occurrence of occupational lead exposure remains a serious problem worldwide despite awareness of its adverse health effect. Blood lead Level (BLL) in a group of 31 male non smoking industrial workers was determined. Then possible relationships between BLL and health condition of workers , employment years, and fatigue and chronic bone pain symptom were investigated. Workers Blood lead level (BLL) were determined by GTA_AA-220 and hematology parameters were determined by Sysmex-K1000. The workers age mean and employment years mean were 38± 8 years and 12±7.0 years respectively and BLL ranged from 15.50 µg/dL to 59.99 ug/dL with mean=34.80±12.90 µg/dL. The pearson product moment test indicated no correlations between BLL and Hgb (r =-0.09 & p=0.62 ) and BLL & Hct ( r = -0.14 & p=0.46 ). However, BLL & employment years correlated (r = 0.37 & p= 0.04). To investigate the effect of BLL on fatigue and bone pain, we used independent t-sample test and results indicated 23/31 workers with fatigue and bone pain had higher BLL than those (8/31) without the symptoms ( mean= 38.41µg/dL vs mean= 20.44µg/dL, t= 6.06,p=0.00). Furthermore, they had many years of employment (mean=13.4 years vs mean=8.8 years , t= 2.07, p=0.04 ). In our study 74% of the exposed workers complained of fatigue and chronic bone pain with BLL ( mean=38.41 µg/dL) and employment ( mean=13.4 years). We conclude that occurrence of fatigue and chronic bone pain symptom may associate with high blood lead level and thus complementary to routine BLL measurement and screening, bone lead measurement can be an important tool in the study of chronic lead exposure among non-smoker and industrially lead exposed workers as well .

We aimed to investigate antinociceptive activity and median lethal dose (LD50) of water extract of Ballota glandulosissima Hub.-Mor&Patzak in mice. In this study, water extract of Ballota glandulosissima was investigated for antinociceptive activity using acetic acid-induced “writhing” and “tail-flick” tests. Acetyl salicylic acid and morphine were used as the reference drug. Mice were injected Ballota glandulosissima extract intraperitoneally in doses of 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg, respectively. The extract of Ballota glandulosissima caused dose related inhibition in the acetic acid-induced ab dominal stretching response in mice. The extract of Ballota glandulosissima also showed significant changes in the nociceptive threshold of the tail-flick test. The motor coordination of mice treated with the water extract was evaluated by using the “rotarod” test and was found to be not impaired in comparison with that of control mice.The results obtained in the present study indicate that the water extract of Ballota glandulosissima has promising antinociceptive activity. The LD50 of Ballota glandulosissima was determined as 8.885 g/kg.