contribution of nitric oxide on the relaxation effects of diethylstilbestrol

To evaluate the contribution of nitric oxide NO on the relaxation effects of diethylstilbestrol on rat uterus. Uterine rings from 8 nonpregnant Wistar Albino rats 300-350g in the pro-estrous phase were suspended in an organ bath and electrical field stimulation applied for recording isometric tension. The influence of NO on contractile responses of rat uterine rings was investigated. The effects of NO precursor L-arginine 10-7-10-4M concentration and NO synthase inhibitor L-nitro-arginine-methyl ester 10-7-10-4M concentration and a combination of them on contractile responses were studied in the presence and absence of diethylstilbestrol 2x10-4M concentration. The study was carried out at the Department of Pharmacology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey. Totally, 30 samples were investigated n=6 for each group, 5 groups. Diethylstilbestrol inhibited contractile responses 64.2 +/- 4.5% n=6, p<0.05. Contractile responses decreased in the presence of L-arginine n=6, p<0.05 and this inhibition was abolished in the presence of L-nitro-arginine-methyl ester n=6, p<0.05. The inhibition on contractile responses to diethylstilbestrol was potentiated in the presence of L-arginine under similar conditions n=6, p<0.05. The contractile responses to electrical field stimulation in the presence of diethylstilbestrol were not affected by L-nitro-arginine-methyl ester n=6, p>0.05. These data provide evidence that NO may potentiate the inhibitory effects of diethylstilbestrol by different mechanisms on the electrically induced contractions of the non-pregnant rat uterus

Determination of osteoporosis risk factors using a multiple logistic regression model in postmenopausal Turkish women

To determine the risk factors of osteoporosis using a multiple binary logistic regression method and to assess the risk variables for osteoporosis, which is a major and growing health problem in many countries. We presented a case-control study, consisting of 126 postmenopausal healthy women as control group and 225 postmenopausal osteoporotic women as the case group. The study was carried out in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey between 1999-2002. The data from the 351 participants were collected using a standard questionnaire that contains 43 variables. A multiple logistic regression model was then used to evaluate the data and to find the best regression model. We classified 80.1% [281/351] of the participants using the regression model. Furthermore, the specificity value of the model was 67% [84/126] of the control group while the sensitivity value was 88% [197/225] of the case group. We found the distribution of residual values standardized for final model to be exponential using the Kolmogorow-Smirnow test [p=0.193]. The receiver operating characteristic curve was found successful to predict patients with risk for osteoporosis. This study suggests that low levels of dietary calcium intake, physical activity, education, and longer duration of menopause are independent predictors of the risk of low bone density in our population. Adequate dietary calcium intake in combination with maintaining a daily physical activity, increasing educational level, decreasing birth rate, and duration of breast-feeding may contribute to healthy bones and play a role in practical prevention of osteoporosis in Southeast Anatolia. In addition, the findings of the present study indicate that the use of multivariate statistical method as a multiple logistic regression in osteoporosis, which maybe influenced by many variables, is better than univariate statistical evaluation