Volumetric measurements of the subcortical structures of healthy adult brains in the Turkish population.

BACKGROUND: The interest in the morphological development of brain structures during childhood and adolescence arises from discussions on subcortical anomalies and sexual dimorphism, from adolescent changes in cognitive functions supported by cortical and subcortical structures to a wide range of childhood neuropsychiatric diseases. This study aims to investigate the subcortical structures regarding age/gender changes in the healthy adult human brain using web-based volBrain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 303 normal healthy adults (males and females) were examined using a 1.5 T unit with a 20-channel head coil. RESULTS: The volumes of white matter, grey matter, total brain, cerebrospinal fluid, and total intracranial volume were significantly higher in males than those in females. Our analysis revealed a significantly larger accumbens volume in females. With the age of less than or equal to 50 years, older males were found to have higher total lateral ventricle, putamen, thalamus, amygdala, cerebrum, white matter and grey matter volumes than females. In the age group of 50 years and older mean total volumes of thalamus, globus pallidus and accumbens were higher in females than those in males. Right hemisphere volumes in younger and older age groups were higher except for caudate volume in the older age group; the mean of caudate was significantly higher in females than those in males. CONCLUSIONS: These conclusions might be important for the explanation of the effects of gender and age in cross-sectional structural magnetic resonance imaging studies. Also, knowing the volume changes of the subcortical structures can provide convenience about the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of various neuromental disorders.

Effects of ciprofloxacin on fetal rat liver during pregnancy and protective effects of quercetin.

Urinary tract infections are common in pregnant women and ciprofloxacin frequently is used as a broad spectrum antibiotic. It has been suggested that ciprofloxacin causes liver damage in fetuses. Quercetin is a flavonoid with antioxidant properties. We investigated the efficacy of quercetin treatment for preventing fetal liver damage caused by ciprofloxacin. Pregnant rats were divided into four groups: untreated control group (C), 20 mg/kg quercetin for 21 days group (Q), 20 mg/kg twice/day ciprofloxacin for 10 days group (CP), and 20 mg/kg, ciprofloxacin + quercetin for 21 days group (CP + Q). Fetal livers were removed on day 21 of gestation to measure antioxidants and for histological observation. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels, and superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities were measured in tissue samples. GSH-Px, SOD and CAT activities were significantly lower in the CP group compared to group C. A significant increase in MDA was observed in the CP group compared to group C. There was no significant difference in GSH levels in any group. MDA levels were lower and CAT, SOD and GSH-Px enzyme activities were higher in the CP + Q group compared to group CP. Liver samples of the CP group exhibited central vein dilation, portal vein congestion, pyknotic nuclei and cytoplasmic vacuolization in some hepatocytes. Histological changes were less prominent in the rats treated with quercetin. Use of ciprofloxacin during pregnancy caused oxidative damage in fetal liver tissue. Oxidative stress was ameliorated by quercetin. Quercetin supports the antioxidant defense mechanism and it is beneficial for treating fetal liver damage caused by ciprofloxacin.

The effects of montelukast against amikacin-induced acute renal damage.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The therapeutic and protective effects of montelukast against amikacin-induced acute renal damage were investigated. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 35 Wistar albino female rats were divided into 5 groups as follows: Group I: Control; Group II: Control+montelukast; Group III: Amikacin; Group IV: Amikacin+montelukast; Group V: Montelukast+amikacin. At the end of the experiment, the kidney tissues and the blood of rats were collected. Malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were determined from kidney tissues. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr), TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta levels were assessed in the serum. In addition the kidney tissues were examined histologically. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The MDA, MPO, BUN, and Cr levels of group III significantly increased when compared to groups I and II. These parameters of group IV decreased when compared to group III. In addition, GSH levels significantly increased when compared to the first three groups. MDA, BUN and Cr levels of group V did not reach significant level in comparison with the control group. The most significant histological damage was observed in the group III followed by the groups IV and V. Immunohistochemically, group III showed a significantly increased apoptotic staining. In group IV, it was observed that montelukast treatment reduced the expression of apoptotic cells. CONCLUSIONS: Montelukast treatment after amikacin injection could reduce the amikacin-induced kidney damage.

Anthrax as the cause of preseptal cellulitis and cicatricial ectropion.

A 54-year-old female farmer with anthrax infection of the eyelids is presented. She was initially managed with high dose intravenous penicillin G treatment. Following complete healing of the eyelid lesions, significant cicatricial ectropion resulted. Her right lower eyelid ectropion was corrected by surgical reconstruction using full thickness skin graft after a period of 6 months during which the cicatrization process stabilized. Satisfactory cosmetic and functional improvement was achieved. Anthrax of the eyelid must be considered in the differential diagnosis of preseptal or orbital cellulitis and any reconstructive procedure should be attempted only after the cessation of the healing process.

The penetration of ofloxacin into human aqueous humor given by various routes.

This study was designed to measure the concentration of ofloxacin in aqueous humor after topical, oral and intravenous administration in 50 patients undergoing cataract extraction. In Group 1, ofloxacin 0.3% eyedrops were topically instilled ten times and the aqueous humor concentration was 2.73 +/- 0.88 microg/ml. In Group 2, ofloxacin 0.3% eyedrops were topically instilled six times and the aqueous humor concentration was 0.84 +/- 0.61 microg/ml. Aqueous humor concentration 12 hours after 200 mg oral dose in Group 3, was 0.38 +/- 0.12 microg/ml. In Group 4, patients were given ofloxacin as a single intravenous 200 mg dose and the aqueous humor concentration 2 hours after the end of infusion was 0.45 +/- 0.11 microg/ml. Concentrations were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. There was a significant difference between Group 1 and the other groups, but not between Group 2 and Groups 3, 4. It was concluded that ofloxacin penetrates the corneal and the blood-aqueous barriers and can achieve good aqueous levels when given topically and systematically. Ofloxacin can be applied topically for external bacterial infections such as conjunctivitis and keratitis. Systematically administered ofloxacin reached higher levels than the MIC for some bacteria which cause endophthalmitis.

Determination of ofloxacin in human aqueous humour by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of ofloxacin in human aqueous humour; the method involves fluorescence detection (excitation at 290 nm; emission at 500 nm) after direct injection of samples. The method utilized a 100 mm x 8 mm i.d. cartridge column packed with 4 microns Novapak C18 with a mobile phase methanol-acetonitrile-0.4 M citric acid (3:1:10, v/v/v) and a flow rate of 1 ml min-1 at ambient temperature. The retention times for the internal standard pipemidic acid and for ofloxacin were 4.82 and 7.32 min respectively. The mean recovery (+/- ISD) from human aqueous humour was 103.24 +/- 4.45% for ofloxacin at 1 microgram ml-1 (n = 6). The within-day and day-to-day RSDs at 0.1 microgram ml-1 and 1 microgram ml-1 were less than 6.71% (n = 6) and the lower limit of reliable determination corresponding to a signal-to-noise ratio of 2.5:1 was 20 ng ml-1. The assay was shown to be suitable for measuring ofloxacin levels in human aqueous humour samples after topical, oral and intravenous administration.