Özkaya, Yağmur; Hakverdi̇, Gülden

This study examined the relationships among general self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intention, and career stress among pharmacy students and tested whether entrepreneurial intention mediated the relationship between general self-efficacy and career stress. The study was conducted with 282 students enrolled in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 4). The results showed that general self-efficacy was positively and significantly associated with entrepreneurial intention (r = .46, p < .001) and negatively and significantly associated with career stress (r = -.39, p < .001). Entrepreneurial intention was also negatively and significantly associated with career stress (r = -.41, p < .001). According to the mediation analysis, the total effect of general self-efficacy on career stress was significant and negative (B = -.3868, p < .001). When entrepreneurial intention was included in the model, the direct effect of general self-efficacy on career stress decreased but remained significant (B = -.2567, p = .001). In addition, the indirect effect of general self-efficacy on career stress through entrepreneurial intention was significant (B = -.1301, 95% bootstrap CI [-.2175, -.0664]). The findings suggest that entrepreneurial intention partially mediates the relationship between general self-efficacy and career stress. In this context, students with higher levels of general self-efficacy appear to have stronger entrepreneurial intentions, which may, in turn, be associated with lower levels of career stress.

Polat, Eyup Can; Gozcu, Sefa

Herbal products are frequently used to prevent and treat diseases in the community. Although they are considered safe because they are natural, the simultaneous use of herbal products with drugs may cause drug-related problems and negatively affect therapeutic outcomes. Our study aimed to determine the herbal product use rates of patients with chronic diseases and the interactions of the herbal products used with drugs. This study is a cross-sectional survey conducted in a community pharmacy. The study included adult patients with chronic diseases who used regular drugs and had a history of using herbal products within the previous three months. The surveys included questions about patients’ demographics, diseases, drugs, and herbal products. Drug-herbal product interactions were examined through databases, monographs, and books. 93 of 148 patients were using herbal products. Most of the patients were diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes. The use of herbal products was found to be positively correlated with undergraduate educational status, asthma, COPD, diabetes, and anxiety (p<0.05). The herbal product that was most used and had the most drug interactions was garlic. The majority of drug-herbal product interactions were determined by the “drugs.com” interaction checking tool and the WHO monographs. Pharmacists should provide consultancy services to their patients on the use of herbal products. It is advisable for community pharmacists to keep their knowledge on drug-herbal product interactions updated. They can benefit from training programs on drug-herbal product interactions organized by clinical pharmacists. Thus, drug-herbal product interactions that may occur in patients can be reduced.

Güven, Zühal Bayrakçeken; Yuce, Neslihan; Basaran, A. Ahmet

Prunus x domestica L. is a valuable plant that belongs to the Rosaceae family and is distributed worldwide. The aim of this study is to investigate the biological effect of the unripe green fruits of P. domestica, which have only been studied to a limited extent so far. The antioxidant capacity of the fruit extracts and subfractions was investigated by DPPH, TEAC and CUPRAC assays. The antiproliferative effect was investigated against the cell lines L929, CaCo-2 and PC-3. While the highest antiproliferative effect against cancer cell lines was found in the unripe fruit ethyl acetate subfraction, extracts and fractions showed no cytotoxic effect on the healthy cell line L929. The fruit ethyl acetate fraction showed a strong inhibition of the enzyme tyrosinase with an IC50: 51.83 μg/ mL compared to standard compound kojic acid (IC50: 21 μg/mL). It was found that the methanol extract from unripe fruits as well as the ethyl acetate and aqueous subfractions exhibited strong antioxidant activity, showed concentration-dependent cytotoxic activity on PC-3 and CaCo-2 cells, but had no cytotoxic effect on healthy L929 cells. The high antioxidant capacity of the fruits, their selective cytotoxic effect on prostate and colon cancer cells and their strong tyrosinase inhibitory activity suggest that they could be a new, safe and cost-effective source for the pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries.

Bozbey Merde, İrem; Taşkor Önel, Gülce; Türkmenoğlu, Burçin; Gürsoy, Şule; Di̇Lek, Esra

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that is the most common cause of dementia. The risk of developing the disease increases with age. When the histopathology of the disease is examined, senile amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangle formation, synapse-neuron loss, and marked atrophy in the brain are detected. The decrease in the level of choline acetyltransferase, which is responsible for the synthesis of acetylcholine in Alzheimer’s disease, is 58-90%. There is a great need for new drugs that target the basis of the cause of the disease, as existing drugs cannot stop the progression of the disease. In this study, triazole-pyridazinone derivative compounds showing acetylcholinesterase inhibition were synthesized and their inhibitions were investigated. Compound 6e exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect with a Ki value of 0.049 ± 0.014 µM (Tacrine Ki= 0.226 ± 0.025 µM). In addition, in silico studies were applied for all compounds.

Özbek, Hilal; Yuca, Hafize; Gözcü, Sefa; Dursunoğlu, Benan; Özenver, Nadire; Güvenalp, Zühal; Kazaz, Cavit; Önal, Mehmet; Demi̇Rezer, L. Ömür

Diabetes mellitus (DM), characterized by hyperglycemia, is one of the serious metabolic disorders. Inhibiting the key enzymes in digestion of dietary starch such as α-amylase and α-glucosidase, is one of the methods in treatment of DM. Antidiabetic drugs that inhibit carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes have undesired side effects therefore, there is a huge interest in search of medicinal plants. Cotinus coggygria Scop. (Anacardiaceae) is used in Turkish folk medicine to treat DM. Therefore the bioguided fractionation and isolation studies were carried on C. coggygria. The ethyl acetate fraction possessed significative α-glucosidase inhibitory effect with 8.2 µg/mL IC50 value but no meaningful α-amylase inhibitory effect. Gallocatechin (1), methyl gallate (2), myricetin-3-O-α-rhamnoside (3), myricetin-3-O-β-galactoside (4) and 1, 2, 3, 4, 6-penta-O-galloyl-β-glucose (5) were isolated from this active fraction. Compound 5 showed significant α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with 1.5 µg/mL IC50 value, when compared to acarbose (IC50 = 3364.2 µg/mL) which used as positive control.