Effect of clonazepam on Raynaud's phenomenon and fingertip ulcers in scleroderma.

OBJECTIVE: To report the novel finding of a significant improvement in Raynaud's phenomenon symptoms with clonazepam in a patient with systemic sclerosis. CASE SUMMARY: A 45-year-old female with limited scleroderma and chronic renal failure was admitted to our hospital due to hyponatremia (sodium 103 mEq/L). Her hyponatremia was treated by intravenous infusion of NaCl 3%. Clonazepam, which had been prescribed previously for anxiety and insomnia, was discontinued. Three weeks after she was discharged from the hospital, the patient presented with the complaint of increased severity of Raynaud's phenomenon and digital ulcers. She told us that her fingertip ulcers had been healed while she was taking clonazepam and that episodes of Raynaud's phenomenon had increased after discontinuation of the drug. Clonazepam 1 mg twice daily was restarted, and Raynaud's phenomenon and fingertip ulcers resolved within a month. On 2 occasions after that time, we discontinued clonazepam and replaced it with alprazolam, as the patient believed alprazolam was more beneficial in alleviating anxiety. Episodes of Raynaud's phenomenon and new digital ulcers recurred on both of these occasions, and clonazepam was restarted. At the time of writing, no severe episodes of Raynaud's phenomenon or fingertip ulcers have occurred with clonazepam treatment. DISCUSSION: Raynaud's phenomenon and recurrent digital ulcers are a manifestation of vascular disease in patients with systemic sclerosis and lead to pain, impaired function, and tissue loss. Few drugs have previously been shown to affect digital ulcers in the setting of scleroderma. Our patient experienced a significant and sustained improvement in Raynaud's phenomenon and digital ulcers following the initiation of clonazepam. To our knowledge, as of March 2007, this is the first reported use of clonazepam in Raynaud's phenomenon and digital ulcer. While its therapeutic mechanism remains unclear, clonazepam may offer some advantages compared with current agents. CONCLUSIONS: We report a case of Raynaud's phenomenon and digital ulcers responding to clonazepam. Further research is warranted to test the robustness of this preliminary finding

Scleroderma

OBJECTIVE: To report the novel finding of a significant improvement in Raynaud's I phenomenon symptoms with clonazepam in a patient with systemic sclerosis

Classification of mental task EEG records using Hjorth parameters [Mental Aktivitelere ilişkin EEG Kayitlarinin Hjorth Parametreleri ile Siniflandirilmasi]

25th Signal Processing and Communications Applications Conference, SIU 2017 -- 15 May 2017 through 18 May 2017 -- -- 128703The effects of mental activities on brain dynamics is the main field that studied for a long time, but the results of studies have not reached the desired level. The aim of present study was to classify the mental task EEG records by using Hjorth parameters. In this study, EEG signals that recorded from 9 subjects were used. EEG signals were recorded by applying a experimental paradigm which contains five stimuli related to different mental task. These stimuli are defined as condition word mental subtraction spatial navigation right hand motor imagery and feet motor imagery Wavelet packet transform was used to obtain sub-bands of EEG signals. Statistical parameters that consist of mobility, complexity and Mahalanobis distance were applied to sub-bands. Feature vectors were classified by using artificial neural network. When classification performances related to mental activities were examined, the best classification accuracy was obtained as nearly 80% for 'condition word - mental subtraction', ('spatial navigation - feet motor imagery;' and 'spatial navigation - condition word'. The lowest classification accuracy was obtained for 'mental subtraction - right hand motor imagery,', 'condition word - right hand motor imagery' and 'spatial navigation - right hand motor imagery'. The classification accuracies related to all stimuli that classifed among themselves were obtained as 77,61%. © 2017 IEEE

Relationship between osteopenic syndrome and severity of coronary artery disease detected with coronary angiography and Gensini score in men

Bircan Alan,1 Veysi Akpolat,2 Adem Aktan,3 Sait Alan3 1Department of Radiology, 2Department of Biophysics, 3Department of Cardiology, Dicle University Medical Faculty, Diyarbakir, Turkey Background: Many studies have shown that evidence supporting the relationship between low bone mineral density (BMD) and coronary artery disease (CAD) has been increasing. There is a significant increase of myocardial infarction in men with low BMD. Purpose: We aimed to detect the relationship between BMD and CAD in patients whose CAD was detected with coronary angiography, and its severity and prevalence was detected with Gensini score. Methods: A total of 55 patients were selected who were found to have single or multiple infarctions through using coronary angiography in the cardiology clinic. The CAD severity was evaluated by calculating the Gensini score. These patients were divided into two groups: mild CAD and severe CAD groups. Femur bone mineral density (FBMD) was measured with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. T score values were determined to be normal if the values were >-1.0 (n=22, 40%), and osteopenia–osteoporosis (osteopenic syndrome) if the T score values were ≤-1 (n=33, 60%). Results: The FBMD of severe CAD according to the Gensini risk score was found to be significantly lower. FBMD values in patients decreased as their Gensini scores increased. Conclusion: There was a significant relationship between CAD and osteopenic syndrome. FBMD level in men with severe CAD is significantly low when compared with patients who have mild CAD. Keywords: osteopenic sydrome, osteoporosis, osteopenia severity of coranary artery disease, bone mineral densit

Single-strand DNA breaks and oxidative changes in rat testes exposed to radiofrequency radiation emitted from cellular phones

The testes are a sensitive organ to electromagnetic pollution and people are concerned about the harmful effects of the radiofrequency radiation (RFR) emitted from cellular phones. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of long-term exposure to different RFR frequencies on single-strand DNA breaks and oxidative changes in rat testicular tissue. Twenty-eight male Sprague–Dawley rats were divided randomly into four groups. Three groups were exposed to radiation emitted from 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz RF generators, 2 h/day for 6 months. The sham-control group was kept under the same experimental conditions but the RFR generator was turned off. Immediately after the last exposure, testes were removed and DNA damage, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS) and oxidative stress index (OSI) were analyzed. The results of this study indicated that RFR increased TOS, OSI, MDA and 8-OHdG (p < 0.05). TAS levels in the exposed group were lower than in the sham group (p < 0.05). In terms of DNA damage, the tail intensities in the comet assay were higher in the exposure groups (p < 0.05). This study demonstrated that long-term exposure to RFR emitted by cellular phones may cause oxidative stress and oxidative DNA damage in rat testicular tissue and may generate DNA single-strand breaks at high frequencies (1800 and 2100 MHz). Our results showed that some RFR emitted from cellular phones has potential to lead to cell damage in the testes. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the Academy of Forensic Science

Pentoxifylline and electromagnetic field improved bone fracture healing in rats

Yusuf Atalay,1 Nedim Gunes,2 Mehmet Dervis Guner,3 Veysi Akpolat,4 Mustafa Salih Celik,4 Rezzan Guner21Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, 2Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, 3Department of Orthopedics, Medicana Hospitals, Ankara, 4Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, TurkeyBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor pentoxifylline (PTX), electromagnetic fields (EMFs), and a mixture of both materials on bone fracture healing in a rat model.Materials and methods: Eighty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: Group A, femur fracture model with no treatment; Group B, femur fracture model treated with PTX 50 mg/kg/day intraperitoneal injection; Group C, femur fracture model treated with EMF 1.5&plusmn;0.2 Mt/50 Hz/6 hours/day; and Group D, femur fracture model treated with PTX 50 mg/kg/day intraperitoneal injection and EMF 1.5&plusmn;0.2 Mt/50 Hz/6 hours/day.Results: Bone fracture healing was significantly better in Group B and Group C compared to Group A (P&lt;0.05), but Group D did not show better bone fracture healing than Group A (P&gt;0.05).Conclusion: It can be concluded that both a specific EMF and PTX had a positive effect on bone fracture healing but when used in combination, may not be beneficial.Keywords: bones, electromagnetic fields, fracture healing, phosphodiesterase inhibitor, pentoxifylline, rat

Radiofrequency Radiation Emitted from Cell Phone induces DNA Damage and Oxidative Stress in Rat Brain Tissue

[No Abstract Available

Rectal dexmedetomidine in rats: Evaluation of sedative and mucosal effects [Dexmedetomidina retal em ratos: Avaliação dos efeitos sedativos e sobre a mucosa]

Background and objectives: In this study, we investigated the anesthetic and mucosal effects of the rectal application of dexmedetomidine to rats. Methods: Male Wistar albino rats weighing 250-300g were divided into four groups: Group S (n=8) was a sham group that served as a baseline for the normal basal values; Group C (n=8) consisted of rats that received the rectal application of saline alone; Group IPDex (n=8) included rats that received the intraperitoneal application of dexmedetomidine (100 µg kg-1); and Group RecDex (n=8) included rats that received the rectal application of dexmedetomidine (100 µg kg-1). For the rectal drug administration, we used 22G intravenous cannulas with the stylets removed. We administered the drugs by advancing the cannula 1cm into the rectum, and the rectal administration volume was 1mL for all the rats. The latency and anesthesia time (min) were measured. Two hours after rectal administration, 75 mg kg-1 ketamine was administered for intraperitoneal anesthesia in all the groups, followed by the removal of the rats' rectums to a distal distance of 3cm via an abdominoperineal surgical procedure. We histopathologically examined and scored the rectums. Results: Anesthesia was achieved in all the rats in the Group RecDex following the administration of dexmedetomidine. The onset of anesthesia in the Group RecDex was significantly later and of a shorter duration than in the Group IPDEx (p &lt; 0.05). In the Group RecDex, the administration of dexmedetomidine induced mild-moderate losses of mucosal architecture in the colon and rectum, 2 h after rectal inoculation. Conclusion: Although 100µgkg-1 dexmedetomidine administered rectally to rats achieved a significantly longer duration of anesthesia compared with the rectal administration of saline, our histopathological evaluations showed that the rectal administration of 100µgkg-1 dexmedetomidine led to mild-moderate damage to the mucosal structure of the rectum. © 2013 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia

Effect of 900-, 1800-, and 2100-MHz radiofrequency radiation on DNA and oxidative stress in brain

PubMed ID: 30669883Ubiquitous and ever increasing use of mobile phones led to the growing concern about the effects of radiofrequency radiation (RFR) emitted by cell phones on biological systems. The aim of this study is to explore whether long-term RFR exposure at different frequencies affects DNA damage and oxidant-antioxidant parameters in the blood and brain tissue of rats. 28 male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into four equal groups (n = 7). They were identified as Group 1: sham-control, Group 2: 900 MHz, Group 3: 1800 MHz, and Group 4: 2100 MHz. Experimental groups of rats were exposed to RFR 2 h/day for 6 months. The sham-control group of rats was subjected to the same experimental condition but generator was turned off. Specific absorption rates (SARs) at brain with 1 g average were calculated as 0.0845 W/kg, 0.04563 W/kg, and 0.03957, at 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2100 MHz, respectively. Additionally, malondialdehyde (MDA), 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), total antioxidant status (TAS), and total oxidant status (TOS) analyses were conducted in the brain tissue samples. Results of the study showed that DNA damage and oxidative stress indicators were found higher in the RFR exposure groups than in the sham-control group. In conclusion, 900-, 1800-, and 2100-MHz RFR emitted from mobile phones may cause oxidative damage, induce increase in lipid peroxidation, and increase oxidative DNA damage formation in the frontal lobe of the rat brain tissues. Furthermore, 2100-MHz RFR may cause formation of DNA single-strand breaks. © 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.Tıp.16.008This work was supported by the Dicle University [grant number Tıp.16.008]