👤 Hulya Yazici

Schinus molle L. (Anacardiaceae) has been traditionally used for conditions related to the nervous system and emotional well-being, often through aromatic preparations. However, its cognition-specific effects have not yet been investigated. To assess the cognitive effects of the fruit-derived essential oil of Schinus molle L. (SMEO), administered via oral and inhalation routes, in a rat model of scopolamine-induced amnesia. SMEO was obtained by hydrodistillation and characterised by GC-MS/GC-FID. Amnesic rats received SMEO for 14 days by inhalation (1% or 3%) or oral gavage (100 or 200 mg/kg). Cognition was assessed by Morris water maze (MWM), passive avoidance (PA), and novel object recognition (NOR) tests; locomotion was measured by activity-meter. Hippocampal BDNF and GFAP immunoreactivity were assessed by immunohistochemistry. SMEO was dominated by α-phellandrene (48.7%). Scopolamine impaired cognition, whereas SMEO attenuated deficits with efficacy comparable to piracetam. Key behavioural and immunohistochemical findings (main omnibus statistical effects) were as follows: In the MWM, treatment and time effects on escape latency were significant (both p < 0.001), and probe performance improved (p < 0.001). PA retention was restored (p < 0.001) and the NOR index improved (p < 0.001), without locomotor changes (all p > 0.05). Scopolamine reduced hippocampal BDNF immunoreactivity in CA1 and DG (p < 0.01) and CA3 (p < 0.001), which was restored by SMEO via both routes. GFAP immunoreactivity was reduced in CA1/CA3/DG (all p < 0.001) and was rescued selectively after inhalation. These findings provide preclinical evidence consistent with an ethnopharmacological rationale for SMEO and support further translational work to clarify its relevance beyond this experimental paradigm. Show less

An impaired epithelial barrier integrity in the gastrointestinal tract is important to the pathogenesis of many inflammatory diseases. Accordingly, we assessed the potential of biomarkers of epithelial barrier dysfunction as predictive of severe COVID-19. Levels of bacterial DNA and zonulin family peptides (ZFP) as markers of bacterial translocation and intestinal permeability and a total of 180 immune and inflammatory proteins were analyzed from the sera of 328 COVID-19 patients and 49 healthy controls. Significantly high levels of circulating bacterial DNA were detected in severe COVID-19 cases. In mild COVID-19 cases, serum bacterial DNA levels were significantly lower than in healthy controls suggesting epithelial barrier tightness as a predictor of a mild disease course. COVID-19 patients were characterized by significantly elevated levels of circulating ZFP. We identified 36 proteins as potential early biomarkers of COVID-19, and six of them (AREG, AXIN1, CLEC4C, CXCL10, CXCL11, and TRANCE) correlated strongly with bacterial translocation and can be used to predict and discriminate severe cases from healthy controls and mild cases (area under the curve (AUC): 1 and 0.88, respectively). Proteomic analysis of the serum of 21 patients with moderate disease at admission which progressed to severe disease revealed 10 proteins associated with disease progression and mortality (AUC: 0.88), including CLEC7A, EIF4EBP1, TRANCE, CXCL10, HGF, KRT19, LAMP3, CKAP4, CXADR, and ITGB6. Our results demonstrate that biomarkers of intact or defective epithelial barriers are associated with disease severity and can provide early information on the prediction at the time of hospital admission. Show less

Retinoblastoma (Rb) is the most prevalent intraocular pediatric malignancy of the retina. Significant genetic factors are known to have a role in the development of Rb. Here, we report the mutation status of 4813 clinically significant genes in six patients with noncarrier of RB1 gene mutation and having normal RB1 promoter methylation from three families having higher risk for developing Rb in the study. A total of 27 variants were detected in the study. Heterozygous missense variants c.1162G > A (p.Gly388Arg) in the FGFR4 gene; c.559C > T (p.Pro187Ser) in the NQO1 gene were identified. The family based evaluation of the variants showed that the variant, c.714T > G (p.Tyr238Ter), in the CLEC7A gene in first family; the variant, c.55C > T (p.Arg19Ter), in the APOC3 gene and the variant, c.1171C > T (p.Gln391Ter), in the MUTYH gene in second family; and the variant, c.211G > A (p.Gly71Arg), in the UGT1A1 gene in the third family, were found statistically significant (p < 0.05). This study might be an important report on emphazing the mutational status of other genes in patients without RB1 gene mutations and having high risk for developing Rb. The study also indicates the interaction between the retinoic acid pathway and Rb oncogenesis for the first time. Show less