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Objective: Methotrexate (MTX) is a chemotherapeutic agent that causes testicular toxicity used in the cure of various types ofcancer. The anti-oxidant and anti-cancer effects of Panax ginseng (PxG) have been reported in both experimental and clinical studies. This study aims to examine the healing effect of PxG on testicular damage induced by MTX.Materials and Methods: Sprague Dawley male rats (8-week-olds) were used in the study. A single dose ofMTXdissolved in saline(20 mg/kg) was given to MTX and MTX+PxG groups by intraperitoneal injection. PxG dissolved in saline (100 mg/kg) was given by orogastric gavage once a day for 5 days to the MTX+PxG group. Saline was given to the control and MTX groups orally during the experiments. After decapitation, the testis sampleswere obtained. Seminiferous tubules and basement membranewere evaluated histopathologically. Seminiferous tubule diameter and germinal epithelium thickness were measured. Furthermore, oxidative stress parameters such as malondialdehyde, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione-S-transferase were measured.Results: MTX treatment caused seminiferous tubule degeneration with a decrease in Johnsen’s score, the seminiferous tubule’sdiameter, and the germinal epithelium’s thickness. Parallel with the histopathological results increased testicular oxidative stress with an increase in malondialdehyde level and a decrease of endogenous anti-oxidant activity with a decrease in glutathione level and glutathione-S-transferase and superoxide dismutase activities. PxG treatment improved these histological and biochemical parameters in MTX-induced testis cytotoxicity.Conclusion: MTX treatment causes testicular damage via the oxidative processes. PxG treatment ameliorates MTX-inducedtesticular damage by inhibiting oxidative stress.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the potential effects of ghrelin on wound healing. Materials and Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups: Control (n = 8), wound-saline (W+S, n = 16), and wound-ghrelin (W+Gr, n = 16). A wound was created on the cervical back region of rats using an 8 mm biopsy punch tool in the W+S and W+Gr groups. Either saline (1 mL/kg) or ghrelin (10 ng/kg) was administrated intraperitoneally each day to the rats in the non-control groups after the onset of the wound. Rats from the W+S and W+Gr groups were euthanized on the 7th (n = 8 from each group) and 14th day (n = 8 from each group) of the experiment. The histopathological score was evaluated statistically using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s multiple comparison tests. Results: The rats euthanized from the W+S group on day 7 (subgroup W+S7) showed degenerated epidermis, no hair follicles, presence of granulation tissue, inflammatory cell infiltration, vasocongestion, and increased collagen fibers in dermis. However, all these histopathological findings significantly decreased in the rats euthanized from the W+Gr group on day 7 (subgroup W+Gr7) compared to the W+S7 group (p < 0.05). The W+S14 group showed thick epidermis, a few hair follicles, angiogenesis, and increased collagen fibers in the dermis. Additionally, the histopathological findings decreased significantly in the W+Gr14 group compared to W+S14 group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Based on the statistical analysis of the histological findings, the ghrelin treatment appears to have a beneficial effect on wound healing. Keywords: Wound healing, ghrelin and histology

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı cerrahi olarak menopoz oluşturulan sıçanların böbrek ve karaciğerlerinde gözlenen histopatolojik ve fonksiyonel değişiklikleri ve östrojen veya egzersizin ya da östrojen-egzersiz kombinasyonunun oksidan hasar üzerine etkilerini araştırmaktır.Materyal ve Metot: Anestezi altında Sprague Dawley dişi sıçanlara (n=32) bilateral overiektomi uygulandı ve tüm sıçanlar rastgele olarak iki gruba ayrıldı. Sıçanların yarısına normal içme suyu, diğer yarısının içme sularına östrojen (1mg/kg/gün) eklendi. İki hafta sonra gruplar kendi içlerinde sedanter ve egzersiz (5 gün/hafta, 30 daki-ka, 8 hafta) gruplarına ayrıldı. Deney protokolünün sonun-da serum, karaciğer ve böbrek örnekleri biyokimyasal ve histopatolojik incelemeler için alındı. Femurda da histopa-tolojik değerlendirme yapıldı.Bulgular: Cerrahi olarak menopoz oluşturulan sıçan-larda östrojenin böbrek dokusunda nötrofil infiltrasyonunu ve reaktif oksijen türlerinin üretimini baskılayarak koruyu-cu etki gösterdiği, kemik kütlesinde hafif düzeyde artışa neden olduğu, ancak karaciğerin antioksidan glutatyon düzeyinde azalmaya yol açtığı belirlenmiştir. Buna karşın, östrojen uygulaması menopozda yapılan egzersiz nedeniy-le karaciğerde oluşan oksidan stresi engellemiştir. Egzer-sizle veya egzersize östrojen tedavisinin eklenmesiyle böbrek fonksiyonları önemli ölçüde etkilenmezken, kemik yapısında tek başına östrojene kıyasla daha olumlu deği-şiklikler gözlenmiştir.Sonuç: Östrojen replasmanı kemik dokusundaki olum-lu etkilerinin yanı sıra karaciğer ve böbrekte oksidan stresi azaltmakta ve özellikle karaciğerde egzersize bağlı gelişen oksidan stresi baskılayarak koruyucu etki göstermektedir. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of estrogen or exercise or estrogen-exercise combi-nation on oxidant damage and histopathological and func-tional changes observed in kidney and liver of rats with surgical menopause.Materials and Methods: Bilateral ovariectomy was performed on female Sprague Dawley rats (n=32) under anesthesia and all rats were randomly divided into two groups. Half of the rats were given normal drinking water, and the other half had estrogen (1mg/kg/day) added to their drinking water. Two weeks later, the groups were divided into sedentary and exercise (5 days/week, 30 mi-nutes, 8 weeks) groups. At the end of the experimental protocol, serum, liver and kidney samples were taken for biochemical and histopathological examinations. Femur was also examined histopathologically.Results: In ovariectomized rats, estrogen showed a protective effect by suppressing neutrophil infiltration and production of reactive oxygen species in kidney tissue, causing a slight increase in bone mass, with a decrease in hepatic antioxidant glutathione level. On the other hand, estrogen application prevented the oxidant stress in the liver due to the exercise performed in menopause. While kidney functions were not significantly affected by exerci-se or the addition of estrogen therapy to exercise, more favorable changes were observed in bone structure compa-red to estrogen alone.Conclusion: In addition to the positive effects of estro-gen replacement on bone tissue, estrogen reduces oxidant stress in the liver and kidney and shows a protective effect by suppressing the oxidant stress that develops especially in the liver due to exercise.

Background: Bile duct obstruction, which results in cholestatic liver injury, is also the major cause of acute pancreatitis. Phoenixin (PNX) was originally defined as a hypothalamic peptide associated with a wide range of physiological processes and exerts antioxidant and antiinflammatory effects. PNX is expressed in several peripheral organs including pancreas and liver. We aimed to evaluate possible therapeutic effects of PNX on hepatic and pancreatic damage induced by biliary or pancreaticobiliary duct obstruction. Methods: In male Sprague Dawley rats, bile duct ligation (BDL; n=16) or pancreaticobiliary duct ligation (PBDL; n= 16) was performed under ketamine anesthesia, while control rats (n=8) had sham-surgery. Either PNX-14 (50 µg/kg/day) or saline was subcutaneously injected immediately after surgery and in the following 2 days. On the post-operative 3rd day, hepatic and renal blood flow was measured using laser Doppler flowmeter under anesthesia and the rats were then euthanized. In the liver and pancreas samples, levels of malondialdehyde, antioxidant glutathione and myeloperoxidase activity were measured by spectrophotometry, while luminol- and lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) levels were measured to assess formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Tissue samples were stained by hematoxylin-eosin to calculate microscopic damage scores. Statistical analyses were made by one-way ANOVA. Results: Increased microscopic damage scores in the pancreas of saline-treated PBDL (p

Background and Aims: Dapagliflozin (DAPA) is a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) as a monotherapy or combination therapy with other antidiabetic medicines. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved DAPA to minimize the risk of hospitalization due to heart failure in patients with T2DM because of its antihypertensive and antihyperglycemic activities. However, further study of DAPA is necessary to ensure the safety of patients.Methods: T2DM was induced by streptozotocin (STZ) injection (35 mg/kg b.w. i.p.) in male rats that were fed a high-fat diet for two weeks before STZ injection. The diabetic rats were exposed to 10 mg/kg DAPA by oral gavage during sub-acute treat- ment. Total cholesterol levels and oxidative stress parameters were evaluated. Heart tissues were histologically examined, and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) levels were measured.Results: DAPA has the potential to inhibit diabetes-induced oxidative stress and morphologic damage to heart tissue, and increased cTnT levels of the heart, which is important for cardiac contractility.Conclusion: DAPA might have a protective effect on the heart at a 10 mg/kg oral dose; however, further experimental and clinical studies are required to clarify the cardio-protective potential of DAPA.