Protective effects of ascorbic acid, dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate, and sodium selenate on ethanol-induced liver damage of rats.

In this study, the effect of a combination of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin E (DL-alpha-tocopherol acetate), and selenium (sodium selenate) on ethanol-induced liver damage in rats was investigated, morphologically and biochemically. The ethanol-induced injury was produced by the administration of 1 mL of absolute ethanol to each rat. Animals received vitamin C (250 mg/kg), vitamin E (250 mg/kg), and selenium (0.5 mg/kg) (ViCESe) for 3 d 1 h prior to the administration of absolute ethanol. In the liver of the animals given ethanol, the degenerative changes such as extreme hyperemia, vacuolization in cells of portal areas, a dilation in sinusoids, mononuclear cell infiltration, a swelling in cisternae of granular endoplasmic reticulum and in mitochondrial cristae, an increase in smooth endoplasmic reticulum, many lipid vacuoles were observed both light and electron microscopically. A similar structure was usually distinguished when compared with control animals, in rats given ethanol + ViCESe. In this group, the findings indicating cellular damage were either not observed at all or were decreased. In the group administered ethanol, a reduction of the blood glutathione (GSH) level and increases in serum values of alanine aminotranserase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activities were observed, whereas in the control group, the reverse was found to occur. On the other hand, in the group in which ethanol + ViCESe was administered, it was observed that the blood GSH value and serum ALP and ALT activities increased and serum AST, LDH, and GGT activities decreased. As a result, the present study indicates that ViCESe because of their antioxidant activity against ethanol damage have a protective effect on the liver

MST2 kinase suppresses rDNA transcription in response to DNA damage by phosphorylating nucleolar histone H2B

The heavily transcribed rDNA repeats that give rise to the ribosomal RNA are clustered in a unique chromatin structure, the nucleolus. Due to its highly repetitive nature and transcriptional activity, the nucleolus is considered a hotspot of genomic instability. Breaks in rDNA induce a transient transcriptional shut down to conserve energy and promote rDNA repair; however, how nucleolar chromatin is modified and impacts on rDNA repair is unknown. Here, we uncover that phosphorylation of serine 14 on histone H2B marks transcriptionally inactive nucleolar chromatin in response to DNA damage. We identified that the MST2 kinase localises at the nucleoli and targets phosphorylation of H2BS14p in an ATM-dependent manner. We show that establishment of H2BS14p is necessary for damage-induced rDNA transcriptional shut down and maintenance of genomic integrity. Ablation of MST2 kinase, or upstream activators, results in defective establishment of nucleolar H2BS14p, perturbed DNA damage repair, sensitisation to rDNA damage and increased cell lethality. We highlight the impact of chromatin regulation in the rDNA damage response and targeting of the nucleolus as an emerging cancer therapeutic approach

Opinions of high school students in central Elazig about elderliness

A Ferdane Oguzoncul,1 Murat Aygen,2 Yasemin Acik,1 S Erhan Deveci,1 B Canan Demirbag,3 Edibe Pirincci1 ¹Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey; ²Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey; ³Department of Public Health, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey Methods: Students attending five different types of high schools in central Elazig (a city in Turkey) during the 2009–2010 school year constitute the study population. One class was randomly selected from each high school. Out of 650 students, 640 participated in the study. The data were evaluated by using the SPSS program; percentage, mean, and chi-square analyses were used.Findings: Of all the students, 41.7% defined the elderly as those who are 60 years of age or older. When asked the question “What does elderliness mean to you?”, the majority of the students, 27.2%, responded “peace and resting”. The second most common answer, given by 23.6% of students, was “sickness/tiredness”; 16.6% responded “wisdom/experience”. Many students (30.3%) stated that the most difficult thing about living with the elderly was their interference in everything; 30.6% of students stated that there was no difficulty at all. According to 42.7% of the students, the greatest problem that the elderly face is health. Of all of the students, 58.3% stated that they feared growing old.Conclusion: Our study has concluded the following: 1) High school students have a conventional perception of elderliness and 2) They embrace the elderly and think that perspectives on elderliness will change through education. Keywords: old age, elderly, high school students, opinio

Dickkopf-1 levels in Turkish patients with bladder cancer and its association with clinicopathological features

Background: Evidence indicates that Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) levels may be a biomarker for cancer risk. The aim of this study was to assess DKK-1 and its correlation with clinic-pathological features in patients with bladder cancer. Materials and Methods: DKK-1 levels were determined in serum samples from 90 patients with bladder cancer before transurethral tumor resection. The concentrations of DKK-1 were determined by using enzyme linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Elevated preoperative DKK-1 levels were associated with tumor stage (p<0.001), grade (p<0.001) and histological grade (p<0.001). Conclusions: The results of our study demonstrated that the level of serum DKK-1 is correlated with both disease progression and increase in the tumor grade. Preoperative serum DKK-1 elevation may thus represent a novel marker for the determination of bladder cancer and the detection of patients with a likely poor clinical outcome