Background Two main aims of this animal study were to inspect the possible effects of periodontitis on the structure and functions of the kidneys and the therapeutic effectiveness of melatonin. Methods Twenty‐four male Sprague‐Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: control, experimental periodontitis (Ep), and Ep‐melatonin (Ep‐Mel). Periodontitis was induced by placing 3.0‐silk sutures sub‐paramarginally around the cervix of right‐left mandibular first molars and maintaining the sutures for 5 weeks. Then melatonin (10 mg/kg body weight/day, 14 days), and the vehicle was administered intraperitonally. Mandibular and kidney tissue samples were obtained following the euthanasia. Periodontal bone loss was measured via histological and microcomputed tomographic slices. On right kidney histopathological and immunohistochemical, and on the left kidney biochemical (malonyl‐aldehyde [MDA], glutathione, oxidative stress [OSI], tumor necrosis factor [TNF]‐α, interleukin [IL]‐1β, matrix metalloproteinase [MMP]‐8, MMP‐9, and cathepsin D levels) evaluations were performed. Renal functional status was analyzed by levels of serum creatinine, urea, cystatin‐C, and urea creatinine. Results Melatonin significantly restricted ligature‐induced periodontal bone loss (P <0 .01) and suppressed the levels of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF‐α and IL‐1β), oxidative stress (MDA and OSI), and proteases (MMP‐8, MMP‐9, and CtD) that was significantly higher in the kidneys of the rats with periodontitis (P <0.05). In addition, periodontitis‐related histological damages and apoptotic activity were also significantly lower in the Ep‐Mel group (P <0.05). However, the markers of renal function of the Ep group were detected slightly impaired in comparison with the control group (P >0.05); and the therapeutic activity of melatonin was limited (P >0.05). Conclusion Melatonin restricts the periodontitis‐induced inflammatory stress, apoptosis, and structural but not functional impairments.

It is well known that there are functional differences between right and left brain hemispheres. However, it is not clear whether these functional differences are reflected in morphometric differences. This study was carried out to investigate the right-left asymmetry, and sex and species differences of the brains using the Cavalieri principle for volume estimation. Seventeen lambs, 10 rats and 12 avian brains were used to estimate brain volumes. A transparent point grid was superimposed on the slices of lamb brains directly and the slices of the rat and avian brains were projected onto a screen at 10x magnification. Surface areas of the cut slice faces were estimated by simply counting the points that hit the slices. Mean brain volumes were 37.74 cm3, 598.95 mm3 and 730.38 mm3 and the coefficients of variations were 0.08, 0.05 and 0.05 for lamb, rat and avian brains respectively. The differences between left and right hemispheres did not show statistical significance (P > 0.05). However, the male brain volumes were larger than the females for the lamb and bird (P < 0.05). In light of such findings, it will be necessary to evaluate neuron number of the brain hemispheres to provide more useful data regarding inter-hemispheric brain asymmetry.

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Background and Aim:Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in the liver occurs after a prolonged period of ischemia followed by restoration of hepatic blood perfusion. During the surgery of abdominal aorta, I/R injury causes damage to lower extremities and many organs, especially liver. The antioxidant and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) suppression effects of topiramate (TPM) have been reported in several studies. We evaluated the potential protective effect of TPM on cellular damage in liver tissue during I/R injury.Materials and Methods:Thirty male Wistar albino rats were divided into three groups: Control, I/R, and I/R plus TPM (I/R + TPM) groups. Laparotomy without I/R injury was performed in the control group. After laparotomy, cross-ligation of infrarenal abdominal aorta was applied for 2 h in I/R groups that was followed by 2 h of reperfusion. TPM (100 mg/kg/day) was orally administrated to the animals in the I/R + TPM group for seven consecutive days before I/R procedure.Results:The I/R group's TNF-α and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were significantly higher than those of the control (P = 0.010; P = 0.002) and I/R + TPM groups (P = 0.010; P = 0.002, respectively). Asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA) levels of I/R group were higher than the control (P = 0.015) and I/R + TPM groups. I/R caused serious histopathological damage to liver tissue; however, TPM led to very low histopathological changes.Conclusion:Our data demonstrated that TPM treatment prominently decreases the severity of liver I/R injury. TPM pretreatment may have preventive effects on liver injury via I/R during intra-abdominal surgery.