Self-treatment attempt of tobacco use disorder with Melissa officinalis: a case report and brief review of literature.

In the treatment of tobacco use disorder, current approaches focus on pharmacotherapy, nicotine replacement, and psychotherapy. However, traditional treatments have been widely used in societies for the purpose of smoking cessation for years. Although cases using traditional herbs in the self-treatment of addiction have been reported in the literature, studies on this subject are very limited. Research on certain herbs shows that they may be effective in the treatment of tobacco use disorder by different mechanisms, however, there is no evidence that they are safe to consume as cigarettes. This article aims to question the place of traditional herbs in tobacco use disorder treatment through a case who started to smoke Melissa officinalis herb to help his nicotine withdrawal.

Etiology of Increased Referrals for Evaluation of Early Puberty in a Tertiary Care Center in Turkey: True Precocious Puberty, Obesity, or Parental Anxiety and Lack of Knowledge?

There has been a global increase in pediatric endocrinology referrals for the concerns of early puberty. The objective of this study was to determine the reasons behind this increase. A retrospective cross-sectional study was designed to analyze the clinical characteristics of patients seen for the concerns of early puberty in pediatric endocrinology clinic of a tertiary care center (Study A). Additionally, a prospective questionnaire study was designed to assess the knowledge and concerns of the mothers regarding the timing of puberty in girls (Study B). In study A, of the 305 girls, 42.9% were overweight/obese, 68.5% either had normal pubertal development for age or were prepubertal, 1 had non-classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and 2 had central precocious puberty. Of the 36 boys, 56% were overweight/obese, 64% either had normal pubertal development for age or were prepubertal, and 1 had non-classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia. In study B, 95% of the participants thought the girls have been developing earlier, over 10% considered the first sign of puberty to be normal after the age 14 years and 12.4% considered menarche to be normal after age 14 years. The common sources of anxiety for the participants regarding the earlier timing of puberty were psychosocial issues and short final height. In conclusion, many parents had wrong beliefs/information about the normal timing of puberty and were concerned about precocious puberty in girls. Education of parents about the normal timing of puberty may help avoiding unnecessary referrals, parental anxiety, and financial burden to the society.

Polycaprolactone/silk fibroin electrospun nanofibers-based lateral flow test strip for quick and facile determination of bisphenol A in breast milk.

This study aimed to develop a sensitive lateral flow test strip for the detection of bisphenol A (BPA) in breast milk. Conventional nitrocellulose test membrane was coated with the coaxial nanofiber, consisting of the inner polycaprolactone (PCL) and the outer PCL/silk fibroin (SF) mixture, to decrease the flow rate of the breast milk in the lateral flow assay (LFA). The nanofiber was prepared by using coaxial electrospinning, and BPA antibody was immobilized physically to the nanofiber. This nanofiber was used as a test membrane in the LFA. Color changes on the test membrane were evaluated as the signal intensity of the BPA. Breast milk creates a background on surfaces due to its structural properties. This background was detected by comparing the signal intensity with the signal intensity of water. The higher signal intensity was found in water samples when compared to breast milk samples. Although the detection limit is 2 ng/ml in both coaxial PCL/SF nanofiber and nitrocellulose (NC) test membranes, the color intensity increased with the increasing BPA concentration in the coaxial PCL/SF nanofiber. As a new dimension, the coaxial PCL/SF nanofiber provided higher color intensity than the NC membrane. In conclusion, a sensitive onsite method was developed for the detection of BPA in breast milk by using new coaxial PCL/SF nanofiber as a test membrane in LFA.

Melatonin Related Acneiform Lesions: A Case Report and Potential Mechanism.

Melatonin (MLT) is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland according to the circadian rhythm, which is generated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus. The sleep-promoting effect of exogenous MLT is used to treat sleep disorders. The most common side effects reported are headache, somnolence, palpitations, and abdominal pain. Some studies showed dermatological side effects with the use of exogenous MLT, but did not list the specific symptoms. In this article, we describe a case of facial acne occurring after the use of MLT, which is generally known to have protective and healing effects on the skin, and the potential mechanism of this surprising side effect.

The effect of Myrtus communis L. ethanol extract on the small intestine and lungs in experimental thermal burn injury.

Thermal trauma can damage organs away from the skin burn site and lead to multiple organ dysfunction. Following thermal injury, all tissues are exposed to ischemia, and as a result, resuscitation and reperfusion occur during the burning shock. Burn damage starts systemic inflammatory reactions that produce toxins and reactive oxygen radicals that lead to peroxidation. This study aimed to investigate, for the first time, the possible antioxidant effects of Myrtus communis ethanol extract on burn-induced oxidative distant organ injury orally. The thermal trauma was generated under ether anesthesia by exposing the dorsum of rats to 90 °C water bath for 10 s. 100 mg/kg/day Mrytus communis ethanol extract was applied orally for two days. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels, glutatinone-S-transferase (GST), superoxidedismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were determined to detect the possible antioxidant effects of myrtle on small intestine and lung tissues. Burn damage significantly increased MDA levels in lung and small intestine tissues, and significantly decreased GSH levels, CAT and GST activities in the small intestine and lung tissues compared to control group. Mrytus communis ethanol extract decreased MDA level and increased GSH level, SOD, CAT and GST activities significantly in either small intestine or lung tissues. Mrytus communis extract may be an ideal candidate to be used as an antioxidant adjunct to improve oxidative distant organ damage to limit the systemic inflammatory response and decreasing the recovery time after thermal injury.

Effect of Freezing Time on Tissue Factor Activity and Macronutrients of Human Milk.

Human milk proteins are known as vital molecules for infant development and growth. Tissue factor is one of these human milk proteins that its role in human milk has not been cleared yet. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to detect the tissue factor activity of human milk and also was to investigate the effect of extended freezer storage on the milk tissue factor activity. The relationship between the tissue factor activity and macronutrient content and pH of milk was also investigated in this study. Under this aim, mature human milk samples were obtained from 8 healthy women. Collected human milk samples were pooled and divided into aliquots that were stored at - 20 °C until the day to be analyzed. Milk tissue factor activity, protein, fat, lactose, energy, water, density, and pH levels were determined for up to six months. By two months from the freezing, tissue factor activity did not significantly change but significantly decreased at the end of the six months. From the first month to six months from freezing, lactose, protein, fat, and energy levels showed a significant decline. Milk pH did not change with freezing at the end of 6 months. In conclusion, TF activity maintained its first-day activity until the second month after being pumped. The increased interest in breast milk leads us to believe that the gap existing in the knowledge of breast milk bioactive components like TF will be complemented with new research data.

Protective effect of Myrtle (Myrtus communis) on burn induced skin injury.

Thermal skin burns cause local injury as well as triggers acute systemic inflammation response where the imbalance between oxidative and antioxidative system occurs. As an alternative treatment, various medicinal herbs are used to treat burn injuries in many countries. In this study, the possible protective role of oral or topical Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) treatment against burn-induced damage was investigated. The dorsum of the Wistar Albino rats was shaved and exposed to 90 °C water bath in burn group or 25 °C water bath in control group for 10 s under ether anesthesia. Myrtle extract was applied 100 mg/kg/day for 2 days either orally or topically. In skin samples; malondialdehyde and glutathione levels, catalase, superoxide dismutase, nitric oxide and tissue factor activities were determined. Skin tissues were also examined by light microscopy. Severe thermal skin burn injury caused a significant decrease in glutathione level, superoxide dismutase, catalase and tissue factor activities as well as nitric oxide level, which was accompanied with significant increases in skin malondialdehyde level. Myrtle treatment reversed all these biochemical indices except topical Myrtle treated group's nitric oxide level, as well as histopathological alterations, which were induced by thermal trauma. Both oral and topical Myrtle extract treatment was found to have protective role in the burn induced oxidative injury, which may be attributed to the potential antioxidant effect of Myrtle. As a conclusion, Myrtle significantly diminishes burn-induced damage in skin.

Hemoglobin binding to A beta and HBG2 SNP association suggest a role in Alzheimer's disease.

From a normal human brain phage display library screen we identified the gamma (A)-globin chain of fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) as a protein that bound strongly to A beta1-42. We showed the oxidized form of adult Hb (metHb A) binds with greater affinity to A beta1-42 than metHb F. MetHb is more toxic than oxyhemoglobin because it loses its heme group more readily. Free Hb and heme readily damage vascular endothelial cells similar to Alzheimer's disease (AD) vascular pathology. The XmnI polymorphism (C-->T) at -158 of the gamma (G)-globin promoter region can contribute to increased Hb F expression. Using family-based association testing, we found a significant protective association of this polymorphism in the NIMH sibling dataset (n=489) in families, with at least two affected and one unaffected sibling (p=0.006), with an age of onset >50 years (p=0.010) and >65 years (p=0.013), and families not homozygous for the APOE4 allele (p=0.041). We hypothesize that Hb F may be less toxic than adult Hb in its interaction with A beta and may protect against the development of AD.