With the lack of regional differences and the well-standardized status of test results, the RIs derived from this nationwide study can be used for the entire Turkish population.

None of the preterm infants in this study had normal vitamin D level, which underlined the burden of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women and their offspring. RDS was more common in severely vitamin D-deficient preterms. Determination of vitamin D status of the mothers and appropriate supplementation might be a valuable strategy to reduce RDS, in addition to antenatal steroids. Besides, since vitamin D is a regulatory factor in many organs during fetal development, long-term effects of in utero vitamin D deficiency warrant further studies.

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IntroductionBrain ischemia is still a serious clinical problem that may lead to permanent neurological deficits and serious complications. Contusion, the initial mechanical damage, may cause edema and pressure causes brain cell death and produces permanent damage. If pressure is removed or continues after the primary injury, the capillary permeability of the damaged area and surroundings increases; with the effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammation, more dramatic results may occur due to secondary damage (1). To prevent ischemia and later damage, current studies have been and continue to be conducted on many chemopreventive agents.Polyphenols, naturally found in many plants, have antiinflammatory and immunomodulatory effects and are known to show antioxidant effects, cleaning out ROS formed by cellular damage and oxidative stress. Simonyi et al. (2) showed the neuroprotective effect of polyphenols on cerebral ischemic lesions. Studies on a polyphenolic derivative of benzoic acid (2,3), syringic acid (SA), have shown it to have chemoprotective (4) and antimicrobial (5) activity. In addition, Morton et al. (6) showed that SA was a strong inhibitor of low-density lipoprotein oxidation, supporting the scavenging of free radicals, reducing production of malondialdehyde, and thus slowing atherosclerosis.There are no studies on the effects of SA on brain ischemia found in the literature. The aim of this study was to investigate the preventive effect of the active ingredient in SA, a member of the polyphenol group with known antioxidant properties, on injury due to brain ischemia. SA may provide a novel and promising therapeutic strategy for treatment of human cerebral ischemia via antioxidants and antiapoptotic effects.Background/aim: Brain ischemia and treatment are important topics in neurological science. Free oxygen radicals and inflammation formed after ischemia are accepted as the most significant causes of damage. Currently there are studies on many chemopreventive agents to prevent cerebral ischemia damage. Our aim is to research the preventive effect of the active ingredient in syringic acid, previously unstudied, on oxidative damage in cerebral ischemia. Materials and methods:The rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: control group (no medication or surgical procedure), sham group (artery occlusion), artery occlusion + syringic acid group sacrificed at 6 h, and artery occlusion + syringic acid group sacrificed at 24 h. Obtained brain tissue from the right hemisphere was investigated histopathologically and for tissue biochemistry.Results: Superoxide dismutase and nuclear respiratory factor 1 values decreased after ischemia and they increased after syringic acid treatment, while increased malondialdehyde levels after ischemia were reduced after treatment. Caspase-3 and caspase-9 values increased after ischemia and decreased after treatment; this reduction was more pronounced at 24 h. Conclusion:Our study revealed that syringic acid treatment in cerebral ischemia reduced oxidative stress and n...

Metastasis occurs due to migration of the cells from primary tumor toward other tissues by gaining invasive properties. Since metastatic invasion shows a strong resistance against conventional cancer treatments, the studies on this issue have been focused. Within this context, inhibition of migration and determination of the relationships at the gene level will contribute to treatment of metastatic cancer cases. We have aimed to demonstrate the impact of TGF-β1 and fluvastatin on human breast cancer (MCF-7) and human hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep3B) cell cultures via Real-Time Cell Analyzer (RTCA) and to test the expression levels of some genes (NDRG1, SGK1, TWIST1, AMPKA2) and to compare their gene expression levels according to RTCA results. Both of cell series were applied TGF-β1 and combinations of TGF-β1/fluvastatin. Primer and probes were synthesized using Universal Probe Library (UPL, Roche) software, and expression levels of genes were tested via qPCR using the device LightCycler 480 II (Roche). Consequently, fluvastatin dose-dependently inhibited migration induced by TGF-β1 in both groups. This inhibition was accompanied by low level of SGK1 messenger RNA (mRNA) and high levels of NDRG1 and AMPKA2 mRNA. Thus, we conclude that fluvastatin plays an important role in reducing resistance to chemotherapeutics and preventing metastasis.