Diurnal ammonia and urea excretion rates in European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax fed diets containing mixtures of canola and cotton seed oil at two different ambient temperature

The knowledge about the combined effects of higher temperature and dietary nutrient quality on the diurnal nitrogenous excretion rates is very limited in farmed fish species including European sea bass. Therefore this study investigated the combined effects of increasing levels (30 vs. 60 %) of dietary fish oil replacement by equal mixture of cotton seed oil (CSO) and canola oils (CO) and two different ambient temperature (24 vs. 30°C) on diurnal total ammonia and Urea-N excretion rates in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Experimental diets were fed to fish three times (08:30-13:30-18:30h) at a fixed rate of 3 % BW.d-1. The daily consumed nitrogen and energy intake of fish were similar during the investigation in different dietary treatments. However, the daily excretion rates of TAN, total nitrogen (TAN+Urea-N) and total nitrogen expressed as a proportion of consumed nitrogen by the European sea bass maintained at 30°C were found to be significantly (P<0.001) higher (40 to 50%) than fish maintained at 24°C in all the dietary treatments suggesting higher rates of deamination of ingested amino acids with increased temperature. Daily urea-nitrogen excretion of fish accounted for between 20-30 % of total ammonia-nitrogen excretion rates for each dietary treatment at 24 and 30°C and appeared to be slightly increased by the temperature but neither the temperature nor the amount of plant oil mixture inclusion in diets or the interaction of these two factors had a significant effect on the urea nitrogen excretion rates of fish in different dietary treatments. However, Urea-N excretion rates in fish fed fish oil only (FO) diet were significantly higher (P<0.05) compared to that of fish fed diets containing increasing amount of plant oil mixture (VOM30 and VOM 60) during the light-on phase of the sampling period at 24°C indicating periodic enhancement of permeability for urea at excretion sites. Further research is needed in order to elucidate the mechanism of nitrogenous excretion in European sea bass fed plant oil containing diets under extreme summer time temperatures employing total dietary fish oil replacement to reveal the possible effects of alteration in cell membrane phospholipid composition on enzymes responsible for nitrogenous excretion and/or detoxification. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.106O195Authors would like to thank the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey for funding of this investigation (Contract No: 106O195 ). Funding that O.T.Eroldoğan received from research fund of Çukurova University ( SUF2010BAP16 ) is also greatly appreciated. Thanks are also extended to AKVATUR and Sibal Black Sea Feed ltd. and Sunar Inc. for kindly supplying fish and raw feed ingredients used in the diet formulation respectively

Thermal tolerance of European Sea Bass Dicentrarchus labrax Juveniles Acclimated to Three Temperature Levels

This study was carried out to determine upper (CTMax) and lower (CTMin) thermal tolerance, acclimation response ratio (ARR) and thermal tolerance polygon of the European sea bass inhabiting the Iskenderun Bay, the most southeasterly part of the Mediterranean Sea, at three acclimation temperatures (15, 20, 25 1C). Acclimation temperature significantly affected the CTMin and CTMax values of the fish. At 0.3 1C min 1 cooling or heating rate, CTMin ranged from 4.10 to 6.77 1C and CTMax ranged from 33.23 to 35.95 1C in three acclimation temperatures from 15 to 25 1C. Thermal tolerance polygon for the juveniles at the tested acclimation temperatures was calculated to be 296.14 1C2. In general, the current data show that our sea bass population possesses acclimation response ratio (ARR) values (0.25–0.27) similar to some tropical species. The cold tolerance values attained for this species ranged from 4.10 to 6.77 1C, suggesting that cold winter temperatures may not pose danger during the culture of European sea bass in deep ponds or high water exchange rate systems. Upper thermal tolerance is more of a problem in the southern part of the Mediterranean as maximum water temperature in ponds may sometimes exceed 33–34 1C, during which underground cool-water should be used to lower ambient water temperature in the mid-summer. For successful culture of sea bass in ponds, temperature should be maintained around 25 1C throughout the year and this can be managed under greenhousing systems using underground well-waters, commonly available in the region

Antituberculosis drug resistance patterns in adults with tuberculous meningitis: results of haydarpasa-iv study

Background: Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to antituberculosis drugs is an increasingly common clinical problem. This study aimed to evaluate drug resistance profiles of TBM isolates in adult patients in nine European countries involving 32 centers to provide insight into the empiric treatment of TBM. Methods: Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cultured from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 142 patients and was tested for susceptibility to first-line antituberculosis drugs, streptomycin (SM), isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RIF) and ethambutol (EMB). Results: Twenty of 142 isolates (14.1 %) were resistant to at least one antituberculosis drug, and five (3.5 %) were resistant to at least INH and RIF, [multidrug resistant (MDR)]. The resistance rate was 12, 4.9, 4.2 and 3.5 % for INH, SM, EMB and RIF, respectively. The monoresistance rate was 6.3, 1.4 and 0.7 % for INH, SM and EMB respectively. There was no monoresistance to RIF. The mortality rate was 23.8 % in fully susceptible cases while it was 33.3 % for those exhibiting monoresistance to INH, and 40 % in cases with MDR-TBM. In compared to patients without resistance to any firstline drug, the relative risk of death for INH-monoresistance and MDR-TBM was 1.60 (95 % CI, 0.38-6.82) and 2.14 (95 % CI, 0: 34-13: 42), respectively. Conclusion: INH-resistance and MDR rates seemed not to be worrisome in our study. However, considering their adverse effects on treatment, rapid detection of resistance to at least INH and RIF would be most beneficial for designing anti-TB therapy. Still, empiric TBM treatment should be started immediately without waiting the drug susceptibility testing

Urinary HSP70 improves diagnostic accuracy for urinary tract infection in children: UTILISE study [Article]

Background: The accuracy of conventional urinalysis in diagnosing urinary tract infection (UTI) in children is limited, leading to unnecessary antibiotic exposure in a large fraction of patients. Urinary heat shock protein 70 (uHSP70) is a novel marker of acute urinary tract inflammation. We explored the added value of uHSP70 in discriminating UTI from other infections and conditions confused with UTI. Methods: A total of 802 children from 37 pediatric centers in seven countries participated in the study. Patients diagnosed with UTI (n = 191), non-UTI infections (n = 178), contaminated urine samples (n = 50), asymptomatic bacteriuria (n = 26), and healthy controls (n = 75) were enrolled. Urine and serum levels of HSP70 were measured at presentation in all patients and after resolution of the infection in patients with confirmed UTI. Results: Urinary (u)HSP70 was selectively elevated in children with UTI as compared to all other conditions (p 0.0001). uHSP70 predicted UTI with 89% sensitivity and 82% specificity (AUC = 0.934). Among the 265 patients with suspected UTI, the uHSP70 > 48 ng/mL criterion identified the 172 children with subsequently confirmed UTI with 90% sensitivity and 82% specificity (AUC = 0.862), exceeding the individual diagnostic accuracy of leukocyturia, nitrite, and leukocyte esterase positivity. uHSP70 had completely normalized by the end of antibiotic therapy in the UTI patients. Serum HSP70 was not predictive. Conclusions: Urine HSP70 is a novel non-invasive marker of UTI that improves the diagnostic accuracy of conventional urinalysis. We estimate that rapid urine HSP70 screening could spare empiric antibiotic administration in up to 80% of children with suspected UTI. Graphical abstract: A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to International Pediatric Nephrology Association.Istanbul ÜniversitesiWe gratefully acknowledge that UTILISE was supported by Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Istanbul University, by the European Society for Pediatric Nephrology (ESPN), by the Society for Children’s Kidney Health, and by Istanbul Faculty of Medicine Foundation. We are also very thankful to children participating in this study, our dedicated chemist Orhan Tepeli, and diligent students of Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine Zeynep Sakur, Sevgi Ipar, and Isıl Gul for their great help and assistance.UTILISE study was supported by Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Istanbul University, by the European Society for Pediatric Nephrology (ESPN), by the Society for Children’s Kidney Health, and by Istanbul Faculty of Medicine Foundation

Cranial imaging findings in neurobrucellosis: results of Istanbul-3 study

Objective Neuroimaging abnormalities in central nervous system (CNS) brucellosis are not well documented. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of imaging abnormalities in neurobrucellosis and to identify factors associated with leptomeningeal and basal enhancement, which frequently results in unfavorable outcomes