An Association Between the Intestinal Permeability Biomarker Zonulin and the Development of Diabetic Retinopathy in Type II Diabetes Mellitus.

Objectives: Increased intestinal permeability (IP) and gut microbiota dysbiosis have been implicated in low-grade chronic inflammation, which is an important factor in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This study aims to demonstrate the relationship between the IP biomarker zonulin and DR in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Materials and Methods: This study was conducted with a total of 89 T2DM patients, including 33 non-DR, 28 with non-proliferative DR (NPDR), and 28 with proliferative DR (PDR), and 32 healthy controls. Zonulin levels were determined from blood samples using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Results: There was no difference between the four groups in terms of age (p=0.236), gender (p=0.952), and body mass index (p=0.134) of the participants. Zonulin levels were significantly higher in the PDR group compared to the other three groups, as well as in the non-DR and NPDR groups compared to the control group. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, zonulin was found to be an independent predictor of DR (odds ratio: 1,781, 95% confidence interval: 1,122-2,829, p=0.014). Conclusion: Our study showed that elevated zonulin levels may play a significant role in the development of DR, particularly during the transition to the proliferative stage. This suggests that regulation of IP could be one of the targets of DR treatment. More studies are needed to determine whether a eubiotic gut microbiota and IP have a direct relationship with DR.

Prenatal exposure to diclofenac sodium changes the morphology of the male rat cervical spinal cord: a stereological and histopathological study.

Diclofenac sodium is one of the most commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It may cause alteration in the nervous system during neuronal development. However, there is no investigation concerning its role in the cervical spinal cord. Pregnant rats were divided into two groups, namely drug-treated and control (saline-injected) groups. To obtain the offspring of the drug-treated group, a dose of 1mg/kg daily diclofenac sodium (Voltaren, 75 mg/3 ml ampoule, Novartis) was injected into the pregnant rats beginning from the 5th day after mating to the 20th day of the pregnancy. To obtain the control group of offspring, serum physiological at a 1 ml/kg daily dose was injected into the pregnant control rats during the same period. Male offspring were obtained after delivery and each group was divided into two subgroups: 4-week-old and 20-week-old. The total neuron number in diclofenac sodium-treated rats was significantly lower than in the control group animals. The total volume of the cervical spinal cord segments (C1-C4) was also estimated. There was a significant difference between the volumes of the two groups, especially in the 20-week-old subgroup. This may suggest that development of neurons and volume of cervical spinal cord are affected in prenatal animals after administration of diclofenac sodium.