Protective effect of ursodeoxycholic acid and resveratrol against tacrolimus induced hepatotoxicity.

Tacrolimus (TAC) is a potent and well-tolerated immunosuppressive drug, but serious side effects including nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity have been reported. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and resveratrol (RSV) exhibit hepatoprotective effects in liver diseases. We investigated the hepatoprotective effect of UDCA and RSV against TAC induced hepatotoxicity. We divided 40 male rats into five equal groups: A) control group, B) TAC group, C) TAC + UDCA group, D) TAC + RSV group, E) TAC + UDCA + RSV group. We administered 0.5 mg/kg TAC once daily, 25 mg/kg UDCA twice daily and 10 mg/kg RSV once daily. The drugs in the experimental groups were given by gavage from the first day of the study and continued for 21 days. Histopathologic and biochemical analyses were performed on day 22. In group B, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF), interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), total oxidative status (TOS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were higher compared to group A, and catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels and total antioxidant status (TAS) were lower compared to group A. Severe cellular swelling, degeneration and focal necrosis were more evident in group B than in groups C-E. Histopathological improvement was observed in groups C-E, where UDCA and RSV were combined, compared to group B. We found that UDCA and RSV, together or separately, protected the liver against oxidative stress damage caused by TAC.

Insulin and Heparin Therapies in Acute Pancreatitis due to Hypertriglyceridemia.

OBJECTIVE: To compare insulin infusion and heparin infusion, used to treat hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis in terms of efficacy. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Department of Gastroenterology, Division of Internal Disease, Sivas Cumhuriyet University Hospital, Sivas, Turkey, from 1st January 2013 to 1st  January 2020. METHODOLOGY: Patients who presented with abdominal pain and were found to have edematous pancreatitis on computed tomography imaging were retrospectively reviewed. Thirty-six patients with hypertriglyceridemia were included. Eighteen of the patients were given insulin infusion, while the other 18 were given heparin infusion therapy. The patients' gender, age, admission amylase values, AST, ALT, total cholesterol, glucose, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), CRP, leukocyte, pre-treatment and post-treatment first, second, and third-day triglyceride levels were recorded from the files. RESULTS: The post-treatment third-day triglyceride levels of the insulin therapy group were statistically significantly lower compared to the heparin therapy group (432.5; 984, p<0.001, respectively).   Conclusion: Insulin infusion, in addition to fluid therapy and electrolyte imbalance, was more effective than heparin therapy in patients with hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis. Key Words: Hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis, Insulin therapy, Heparin therapy.

New anti-viral drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 instead of favipiravir.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a major problem in the world right now. Currently, all the attention of research centers and governments globally are focused on the investigation of vaccination studies and the discovery of small molecules that inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the treatment of patients. The goal of this study was to locate small molecules to be used against COVID19 instead of favipiravir. Favipiravir analogues were selected as drug candidates from the PubChem web tool. The RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) protein was selected as the target protein as favipiravir inhibits this protein in the human body. Initially, the inhibition activity of the studied compounds against RdRp of different virus types was investigated. Then, the inhibition properties of selected drug candidates and favipiravir were examined in detail against SARS-CoV-2 RdRp proteins. It was found that 2-oxo-1H-pyrazine-3-carboxamide performed better than favipiravir in the results of molecular docking, molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PSBA) calculations, and ADME analyses.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Some descriptive characteristics of a new goat breed called Honamli in Turkey.

This study has been carried out in the Western Mediterranean Region of Turkey on seven different Honamli goat flocks. The aim of this study was to determine the growth characters, survival rate (till weaning, 105th day), some reproductive characteristics and marketable milk yield. The data were collected from 516 does and 210 kids (125 buckling and 85 doelings). The results indicate that the numbers of multiple birth and litter size were 32.8 % and 1.35 respectively. Survival rates of kids at the 30th, 90th, and 105th days were 98.5, 97.2, and 97.2 %, respectively. The average birth weight for the buckling and doelings was 4.1 and 3.7 kg, respectively. The average weaning weights for buckling and doelings were 26.9 and 23.4 kg, respectively. The effects of dams' age, on sex and birth type on the growth of Honamli kids were statistically significant (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, and p < 0.001). While the diameters of erythrocytes of Honamli goats are smaller, the density of hemoglobin in the erythrocytes is more than Asian, Indian, and American caprine breeds. The average lactation length and marketable milk yield was assessed to be at 210.3 days and was 89 L, respectively. The growth characteristics of Honamli kids at weaning age were assessed to be higher than most of the other goat breeds in Turkey. The results further indicated that there is a significant variation in the production traits among the different Honamli goat flocks. Production traits of Honamli goats at different breeding conditions should further be investigated to come to a definite conclusion.