Cortisol and hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis hormones in follicular-phase women with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome and effect of depressive symptoms on these hormones

We investigated abnormalities of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis and cortisol concentrations in women with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) who were in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle, and whether their scores for depressive symptoms were related to levels of these hormones. A total of 176 subjects participated – 46 healthy volunteers, 68 patients with fibromyalgia, and 62 patients with CFS. We examined concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol, progesterone, prolactin, and cortisol. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Cortisol levels were significantly lower in patients with fibromyalgia or CFS than in healthy controls (P < 0.05); there were no significant differences in other hormone levels between the three groups. Fibromyalgia patients with high BDI scores had significantly lower cortisol levels than controls (P < 0.05), and so did CFS patients, regardless of their BDI scores (P < 0.05). Among patients without depressive symptoms, cortisol levels were lower in CFS than in fibromyalgia (P < 0.05). Our study suggests that in spite of low morning cortisol concentrations, the only abnormalities in hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis hormones among follicular-phase women with fibromyalgia or CFS are those of LH levels in fibromyalgia patients with a low BDI score. Depression may lower cortisol and LH levels, or, alternatively, low morning cortisol may be a biological factor that contributes to depressive symptoms in fibromyalgia. These parameters therefore must be taken into account in future investigations

Correlation between hippocampal levels of neural, epithelial and inducible NOS and spatial learning skills in rats

In the present study, to better understand the role of different nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms in hippocampus-dependent forms of learning, we examined the expression of neural, endothelial, and inducible NOS in the hippocampus of young-adult rats classified as "poor" and "good" learners on the basis of their performance in the partially baited 12-arm radial maze. Taking into consideration strain-dependent differences in learning skills and NOS expression, experiments were performed on two different lines of laboratory rats: the inbred Wistar (W) and the outcrossed Wistar/Spraque-Dawley(W/S) line. The hippocampal levels of NOS proteins were assessed by Western Blotting. In the present study, genetically more homogenous W rats showed a slower rate of learning compared to the genetically less homogenous outcrossed W/S rats. The deficient performance in the W rat group compared to outcrossed W/S rats, and in "poor" learners of both groups compared to "good" learners was due to a higher percentage of reference memory errors. The overall NOS levels were significantly higher in W group compared to outcrossed W/S rats. In both rat lines, the rate of learning positively correlated with hippocampal levels of nNOS and negatively correlated with iNOS levels. Hippocampal eNOS levels correlated negatively with animals' performance but only in the W rats. These results suggest that all 3 NOS isoforms are implemented but play different roles in neural signaling

A NEW EARLY MIOCENE HERPETOFAUNA FROM KILCAK, TURKEY

###EgeUn###The fauna of amphibians and reptiles (except turtles) from the early Miocene localities of the Kilcak section (Turkey) is described here. The herpetofaunal assemblage of the Kilcak localities is the best documented early Miocene herpetofauna in Anatolia. The following taxa are revealed: Salamandra sp., Latonia sp., Eopelobates sp., Crocodylia indet., Lacertidae indet. (morphotypes A and B), Ophisaurus sp., Anguinae indet., Eoanilius cf. oligocenicus, Bavarioboa sp., Falseryx sp., and Texasophis sp. Among them, Latonia represents the oldest published record of this frog in Anatolia. Its maxilla is sculptured, extending the occurrence of the Latonia lineage with ornamented maxillae to the earliest Miocene, and demonstrating the long coexistence of the Latonia lineages (with smooth and ornamented maxillae), for almost the entirety of the Late Cenozoic. The genera Eopelobates, Eoanilius, and Falseryx are described from Anatolia and Asia for the first time. The booid fauna, being poorly known from this time interval (i.e., the so called "Dark Period" of booid snakes), significantly adds to our knowledge of early Miocene snake assemblages. The snake material from Kilcak indicates a transition from "ancient" late Oligocene to "modern" early-middle Miocene fauna. The widely distributed European taxa recovered in Kilcak, indicate that Anatolia had close faunal links to Europe during the late Oligocene - early Miocene.Russian Foundation for Basic ResearchRussian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) [19-04-00514, AAAA-A19-119020590095-9]; Ege UniversityEge University [TTM /001/2016, TTM/002/2016]; international bilateral research of TUBITAK-RFBRTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [111Y192]; University of Torino [SYNTHESYS ES-TAF-5910, SYNTHESYS AT-TAF-5911, SYNTHESYS HU-TAF-6145]; National Scholarship Program of the Slovak Republic (SAIA)Roman Rakitov (Borissiak Paleontological Institute RAS, Moscow, Russia) is thanked for assistance with SEM microscopy. Alexey Tesakov (Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences) and Andrej Eeroansky (Comenius University in Bratislava) are thanked for fruitful comments. Lars van den Hoek Ostende (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) is thanked for providing literature. This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research under No. 19-04-00514, and the government theme under No. AAAA-A19-119020590095-9 (EVS). Authors also were supported by Ege University (TTM /001/2016) and (TTM/002/2016) research grants as well as the international bilateral research of TUBITAK-RFBR 111Y192 during his visits in Russia. GLG acknowledges travel support from the University of Torino, SYNTHESYS ES-TAF-5910 (MNCN, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain), SYNTHESYS AT-TAF-5911 (NHMW, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria), and SYNTHESYS HU-TAF-6145 (HNHM, Hungarian Museum of Natural History, Budapest, Hungary) and funding from the National Scholarship Program of the Slovak Republic (SAIA)-the curators of MNCN, NHMW, and HNHM (Marta Calvo Revuelta, Heinz Grillitsch and Silke Schweiger, and Judit Voros, respectively) are highly acknowledged. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments and corrections

Comparison and efficacy of two different sheep pox vaccines prepared from the Bakirkoy strain against lumpy skin disease in cattle

Purpose: Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a highly contagious and economically important viral infection of cattle, which leads to financial losses in the livestock industry of affected countries. Vaccination is the most effective control measure to prevent the disease. Heterologous sheep pox (SP) vaccine was used against LSD in Turkey. In this research, it was aimed to adapt SP Bakirkoy vaccine strain attenuated in lamb kidney cells to Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cells to provide better protection than commercial SP vaccine in cattle

Functional independence measure scores of patients with hemiplegia followed up at home and in university hospitals

[Purpose] Our purpose was to create awareness among of social rehabilitation at the university and in local governments, to identify gaps in social rehabilitation, and to increase the effectiveness of social rehabilitation. [Subjects and Methods] This study included stroke patients undergoing physical rehabilitation from the stroke outpatient clinic (43 patients) and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Home Care Service (101 patients); face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect patient information regarding nutritional status. In addition, baseline functional independence measure (FIM) scores at baseline and during three months of follow-up were also compared. [Results] The average FIM motor scores at three months did not differ significantly between the home and hospital treatment groups. However, there were significant differences in baseline FIM motor and cognitive scores and three-month follow-up scores as well as average FIM total baseline scores between groups. In addition, month-to-month analysis of changes in FIM values between the two groups also revealed significant differences. [Conclusion] The results of our study were concordant with those of previous studies of stroke patients receiving rehabilitation, in demonstrating improved patient functional and cognitive capacity

Development and preclinical evaluation of virus-like particle vaccine against COVID-19 infection

Background Vaccines that incorporate multiple SARS-CoV-2 antigens can further broaden the breadth of virus-specific cellular and humoral immunity. This study describes the development and immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 VLP vaccine that incorporates the four structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2. Methods VLPs were generated in transiently transfected HEK293 cells, purified by multimodal chromatography, and characterized by tunable-resistive pulse sensing, AFM, SEM, and TEM. Immunoblotting studies verified the protein identities of VLPs. Cellular and humoral immune responses of immunized animals demonstrated the immune potency of the formulated VLP vaccine. Results Transiently transfected HEK293 cells reproducibly generated vesicular VLPs that were similar in size to and expressing all four structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2. Alum adsorbed, K3-CpG ODN-adjuvanted VLPs elicited high titer anti-S, anti-RBD, anti-N IgG, triggered multifunctional Th1-biased T-cell responses, reduced virus load, and prevented lung pathology upon live virus challenge in vaccinated animals. Conclusion These data suggest that VLPs expressing all four structural protein antigens of SARS-CoV-2 are immunogenic and can protect animals from developing COVID-19 infection following vaccination