Ersoy, Alevtina; Yasar, Hasan; Tanoglu, Ceyda; Yazici, Gulce Naz; Coban, Taha Abdulkadir; Arslan, Yusuf Kemal; Suleyman, Halis

Purpose: Acrylamide is a well-known environmental toxic compound. Taxifolin belongs to the group of flavonoids that have antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties. In this study, we investigated the effect of taxifolin on acrylamide-related oxidative and proinflammatory brain damage. Methods: The experimental animals were divided into three groups: (1) those treated with acrylamide 20 mg/kg p.o., (2) those treated with taxifolin 50 mg/kg p.o. and acrylamide and (3) the control group. At the end of the experiment, the rat brain tissues were examined for the levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA), total glutathione (tGSH), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). A histopathological analysis was performed to detect the morphological changes in the brain. Results: Exposure to acrylamide caused a significant increase in the levels of MDA, TNF-α and IL-1β and a decrease in the values of tGSH, which indicates the presence of oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain tissue. Taxifolin treatment significantly reduced the levels of MDA and TNF-α and brought the mean values of IL-1β and tGSH close to those of the control group. The group that received acrylamide exhibited histopathological changes, such as neuronal degeneration, edema of microglia, dilated and congestive vessels and apoptotic inclusion. The use of taxifolin significantly improved the morphological changes in the brain tissue of the acrylamide-exposed rats. Conclusion: Acrylamide causes brain damage, inducing oxidative stress and inflammation. Due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, taxifolin may be one of the agents that can reduce the neurotoxic effects of acrylamide.

Cinar, Irfan; Gulapoglu, Mine; Suleyman, Halis

Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate the protective effect of thiamine pyrophosphate on methotrexate- induced gastrotoxicity biochemically in rats and to compare it with thiamine. Methods: Rats were divided into four groups as sham (SG), thiamine+ methotrexate (TAMTX), thiamine pyrophosphate +methotrexate (TPMTX) and Methotrexate (MTX) groups. 5 mg/kg methotrexate was administrated to 24 hr-fasted rat groups by oral gastric tube except sham rats. 20 mg/kg thiamine was injected to TAMTX group and 20 mg/kg thiamine pyrophosphate was injected to TPMTX group i.p. 5 min before the methotrexate administration. Equal amount distilled water was injected i.p. to SG and MTX groups. 6 hr after the methotrexate administration, the rats were sacrificed with high dose thiopental anesthesia (50 mg/kg). The stomachs of the rats were extracted and MDA, MPO, GSH and SOD analyzes were performed. Results: Biochemical results were evaluated by comparing among groups. While tGSH and MDA levels and MPO and SOD activities were 4.2 +/- 0.6, 10.0 +/- 0.9, 7.4 +/- 0.8, 5.2 +/- 0.9 mu mol/g in MTX group, these parameters were 11.0 +/- 1.0, 3.4 +/- 0.4, 3.3 +/- 0.5, 13.2 +/- 1.1 mu mol/g in SG group in the gastric tissue. These parameters were measured as 4.8 +/- 0.8, 8.7 +/- 0.8, 5.9 +/- 0.5, 6.1 +/- 0.8 mu mol/g in TAMTX group and 10.8 +/- 0.8, 4.0 +/- 0.5, 3.6 +/- 0.4, 10.5 +/- 0.9 mu mol/g in TPMTX group. Conclusion: The results showed that thiamine pyrophosphate prevented methotrexate induced oxidative damage in the gastric tissue, but thiamine could not prevent.

Sözen, Emel; Hilooğlu, Muhip; Kandemir, Ali

Background and Objective: Teucrium leucophyllum is endemic plant species having considerable narrow distribution in Erzincan (Turkey) Region. The aim of this study was to determine genetic diversity levels of T. leucophyllum in order to obtain data for its conservation. Method: Genomic DNA was isolated from 81 plants using CTAB method. Genetic diversity in four natural populations of T. leucophyllum was investigated by ISSR markers. A binary matrix was produced by scoring each amplified fragment as present (1) or absent (0) from each individual. The matrix was used to produce an input file and analyzed using the software programs; POPGENE 1.32 and GenAlex. Results: Twenty primers amplified a total of 434 bright and discernible bands of 220-3000 bp, of which 431 bands (PPB: 99.31%) were polymorphic in 4 populations. The genetic diversity was high at the species level; the observed number of alleles (Na) was 1.993, the effective number of alleles (Ne) was 1.404, the Nei’s genetic diversity (H) was 0.263, and the Shannon’s information index (I) was 0.418. A high level of gene flow (Nm: 2.208) and low-moderate genetic differentiation (Gst: 0.184) were also observed. Analysis of molecular variance showed that 11% of the total genetic diversity resided among populations, while 89% within the populations. Conclusion: Our results indicated that the conservation efforts should aim to preserve the extant populations of this endangered species in its natural habitat. Seeds could be collected from Kayacik and Bagistas populations for ex situ conservation practices.