Sener, Sila Ozlem; Kanbolat, Seyda; Ulas Colak, Nevin; Badem, Merve; Aliyazicioglu, Rezzan; Ozgen, Ufuk; Kandemir, Ali

Obesity, defined as New World Syndrome, causes global health problems and big economic losses. Natural products have gained increasing importance because of their antiobesity potency. The genus Jurinea Cass. with approximately 200 described species worldwide has been traditionally used as a therapeutic agent for colic, fever, gout and rheumatism. The aim of this study was to analyze the volatile components, to determine phenolic compounds and to evaluate α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and lipase inhibitory activities of the endemic plant species Jurinea brevicaulis Boiss. The widely used solid-phase microextraction technique (SPME) was employed for Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis of the volatile components. Quantitative analysis of phenolic compounds was performed using Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC). A total of 19 volatile components were specified and o-cymene (10.60 %), β-bisabolene (9.30 %), and sesquicineole (57.5 %) for different terpenes were described as major components. According to the RP-HPLC analysis, sinapic acid, p-coumaric acid and quercetin were determined for the species. IC50 values of the species were determined as 36.59 ± 2.37 μg/mL and 42.56 ± 2.83 μg/mL for α-amylase and α-glucosidase assays, respectively. IC50 value was found as 50.31 ± 3.75 μg/mL with the lipase inhibition analysis. In conclusion, it has been determined that J. brevicaulis included diverse volatile components, three phenolic compounds with antiobesity effect potential, which highlights J. brevicaulis as the up-and-coming candidate of natural product source to be used against obesity.

Ersöz, Çağla; Altun Çolak, Deniz

In human body, which is exposed to number of chemicals and physical agents in daily life, malfunctions may occur from time to time in detoxification mechanisms that will prevent the harmful effects of genotoxic agents, whose negative effects cannot be eliminated. In this study, the genoprotective effects of bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) seed and fruit extracts against the genotoxic potential of the antineoplastic agent cisplatin and the antiepileptic drug valproic acid in 72±4 hours old transheterozygous larvae of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster Meigen were determined by the Somatic Mutation and Recombination Test (SMART). The results showed that the mutation frequencies approached the negative control values by inhibiting the formation of chemical agent-induced mutant clones in all doses in the experimental groups in which plant extracts were applied at doses of 1.25, 2.5 ve 5 mg/mL, while the mutation frequency increased only in the groups that applied cisplatin and valproic acid. These results show that co-administration of cisplatin and valproic acid reduces the genotoxic effect of M. charantia.

Dogan, Sibel; Dogan, Salih; Zeytun, Erhan

Deutonymph of Stigmaeus kumalariensis Akyol & Koc (Acari: Stigmaeidae) is herein described and illustrated based on specimens collected from litter and soil from Eksisu marsh, Erzincan (Turkey). This is the first record of deutonymphal stage of S. kumalariensis. In addition, variations in the number of aggenital setae and structure of the median zonal shields in some adult specimens of the species are reported.

Bingül, Meryem; Doğan, Salih; Doğan, Sibel

In this study, asymmetric variations in dorsal and ventral body setae in some adult females in three species of thegenus Raphignathus Dugès; R. gracilis (Rack), R. hecmatanaensis Khanjani & Ueckermann and R. kuznetzovi Doğan &Ayyıldız were given and photographed. Records on asymmetric variations in Raphignathus species found in the literature werealso reviewed.