Turkish Primary Care Patients’ Overviews and Attitudes About Traditional and Complementary Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim:Primary care physicians need to be aware of the types of traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) used by patients to be able to guide patients away from harmful approaches and to aim them toward useful or at least seeming benign approaches. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of the usage of TCM methods in Turkey and the level of knowledge and attitudes of applicants about these methods.Methods:The universe of this cross-sectional study consisted of individuals aged 18 and over who applied to the Family Health Centers and agreed to participate in the study in 12 provinces in different regions of Turkey between July and December 2016. The questionnaires were applied to the volunteer participants by the researchers using face-to-face interview techniques. The questionnaire had 25 questions.Results:80.6% of the participants benefited from TCM, and 86.4% stated they believed in the effectiveness of TCM. Women, university graduates of college who had private insurance used TCM (respectively; p=0.031; p=0.004; p=0.000), and women (83.3%) found TCM more useful than men (p=0.005). The most frequent reason for using TCM was “heard that it was useful”.Conclusion:The results of our study indicated that a large portion of Turkish primary care patients use TCM and recommend it to their relatives. Therefore, health policies and academic knowledge should be developed in this sense

Autophagy and mTOR pathways in mouse embryonic stem cell, lung cancer and somatic fibroblast cell lines

WOS: 000483551100158PubMed ID: 31148273Embryonic developmental stages and regulations have always been one of the most intriguing aspects of science. Since the cancer stem cell discovery, striking for cancer development and recurrence, embryonic stem cells and control mechanisms, as well as cancer cells and cancer stem cell control mechanisms become important research materials. It is necessary to reveal the similarities and differences between somatic and cancer cells which are formed of embryonic stem cells divisions and determinations. For this purpose, mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), mouse skin fibroblast cells (MSFs) and mouse lung squamous cancer cells (SqLCCs) were grown in vitro and the differences between these three cell lines signalling regulations of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and autophagic pathways were demonstrated by immunofluorescence and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Expressional differences were clearly shown between embryonic, cancer and somatic cells that mESCs displayed higher expressional level of Atg10, Hdac1 and Cln3 which are related with autophagic regulation and Hsp4, Prkca, Rhoa and ribosomal S6 genes related with mTOR activity. LC3 and mTOR protein levels were lower in mESCs than MSFs. Thus, the mechanisms of embryonic stem cell regulation results in the formation of somatic tissues whereas that these cells may be the causative agents of cancer in any deterioration.Ege UniversitesiEge University [16-TIP-045]; Ege University Scientific Research Projects coordination unitEge University [16-TIP-045

Talin Is Required Continuously for Cardiomyocyte Remodeling during Heart Growth in <i>Drosophila</i>

<div><p>Mechanotransduction of tension can govern the remodeling of cardiomyocytes during growth or cardiomyopathy. Tension is signaled through the integrin adhesion complexes found at muscle insertions and costameres but the relative importance of signalling during cardiomyocyte growth versus remodelling has not been assessed. Employing the <i>Drosophila</i> cardiomyocyte as a genetically amenable model, we depleted the levels of Talin, a central component of the integrin adhesion complex, at different stages of heart growth and remodeling. We demonstrate a continuous requirement for Talin during heart growth to maintain the one-to-one apposition of myofibril ends between cardiomyocytes. Retracted myofibrils cannot regenerate appositions to adjacent cells after restoration of normal Talin expression, and the resulting deficit reduces heart contraction and lifespan. Reduction of Talin during heart remodeling after hatching or during metamorphosis results in pervasive degeneration of cell contacts, myofibril length and number, for which restored Talin expression is insufficient for regeneration. Resultant dilated cardiomyopathy results in a fibrillating heart with poor rhythmicity. Cardiomyocytes have poor capacity to regenerate deficits in myofibril orientation and insertion, despite an ongoing capacity to remodel integrin based adhesions.</p></div

Bevacizumab plus Capecitabine as Maintenance Therapy after Initial Bevacizumab plus XELOX Treatment in Previously Untreated Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Phase Ill 'Stop and Go' Study Results - A Turkish Oncology Group Trial

WOS: 000329268000003PubMed ID: 24247559Objective: It was the aim of this study to evaluate maintenance therapy with bevacizumab + capecitabine following induction with bevacizumab + capecitabine + oxaliplatin (XELOX) versus bevacizumab + XELOX until progression as first-line therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Methods: Patients received either bevacizumab (7.5 mg/kg) + XELOX (capecitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) twice daily on days 1-14 + oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2 on day 1 every 3 weeks) until disease progression (arm A) or the same doses of bevacizumab + XELOX for 6 cycles followed by bevacizumab + capecitabine until disease progression (arm B). The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS); secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR) and safety. Results: One hundred and twenty-three patients were randomized. Treatment compliance was similar in both groups. Median PFS was significantly longer for arm B than for arm A (11.0 vs. 8.3 months; p = 0.002). There was no significant difference between the two arms for ORR (66.7 vs. 59.0%; p = 0.861) or median OS (23.8 vs. 20.2 months; p = 0.100). Tolerability was acceptable in both treatment arms; the most frequent grade 3/4 treatment-related adverse events (arm B vs. arm A) were fatigue (6.6 vs. 16.1%), diarrhoea (3.3 vs. 11.3%), anorexia (3.3 vs. 11.3%), and neuropathy (1.6 vs. 8.1%). Conclusions: Maintenance therapy with bevacizumab + capecitabine can be considered an appropriate option following induction bevacizunnab + XELOX in patients with mCRC instead of continuation of bevacizumab + XELOX. (C) 2013 S. Karger AG, BaselF. Hoffmann-La RocheHoffmann-La RocheFunding for the study and support for third-party writing assistance for the manuscript were provided by F. Hoffmann-La Roche

Cardiomyocytes do not re-connect after transient reduction of Talin function.

<p>In a wildtype adult, 6 days after eclosion, phalloidin labeled contractile fibres encompassed the entire heart, and integrin concentrated at cell insertions and the midline (arrowhead, A). This morphology was not altered after a further 6 weeks of aging (arrowhead, F). Talin was transiently depleted during larval, pupal or adult stages as shown by the coloured schema at the bottom of each panel, and stages labeled in (A). <i>UAS-talin RNAi; Hand-Gal4</i>, <i>tub- Gal80</i>^<i>ts</i> flies were at 18°C during grey timeline, and Talin levels were normal., Hearts express the RNAi transgene, and deplete Talin levels at 29°C during the green timeline. Depletion during L1 created large gaps in myofibril coverage seen in the adult (B). Depletion during L2 created small gaps, filled with a broadened zone of integrin adhesion to the heart ECM (C). Depletion during pupal stages only generated an intermediate phenotype (D), comparable to depletion during L2, L3 and pupal stages combined (E). Depletion of Talin for 6 weeks of adulthood triggered small changes in the width of integrin labeled insertions (G). In contrast, gaps triggered in L2 persisted in 6 week old adults (H). Confocal projections of immunolabled adult heart dissections.</p

Ultrastructure of Talin depleted larval hearts reveal dilation of the lumen.

<p>The wildtype LIII dorsal aorta (segment A4) was completely encompassed with myofibrils (A, B). Arrows mark Z lines of myofibrils. Extensions of a valve cell line the left and ventral lumen (asterisk, A). After continuous Talin depletion in UAS-dsTalinRNA; Hand-GAL4, the aorta lumen was dilated (C). The aorta wall had zones with myofibril (white arrowhead, C and E) and without (black arrowhead, C and D). Cell processes covered the perimeter of the aorta, and Z-lines are evident (arrowhead, D). Heart cardiomyocytes (cm) retract completely in a severely affected LIII (Segment A6) heart (asterisk, F), exposing naked fibrils of the heart ECM (arrowheads, F, G) The heart in (F) is flanked by fat cells (f). Scale 10 μm (A,C,F) and 1μm (B,D,E,G).</p