This study was conducted to develop a scale to measure knowledge about hypertension among Turkish adults. The Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS) was generated based on content, face, and construct validity, internal consistency, test re-test reliability, and discriminative validity procedures. The final scale had 22 items with six sub-dimensions. The scale was applied to 457 individuals aged ≥18 years, and 414 of them were re-evaluated for test-retest reliability. The six sub-dimensions encompassed 60.3% of the total variance. Cronbach alpha coefficients were 0.82 for the entire scale and 0.92, 0.59, 0.67, 0.77, 0.72, and 0.76 for the sub-dimensions of definition, medical treatment, drug compliance, lifestyle, diet, and complications, respectively. The scale ensured internal consistency in reliability and construct validity, as well as stability over time. Significant relationships were found between knowledge score and age, gender, educational level, and history of hypertension of the participants. No correlation was found between knowledge score and working at an income-generating job. The present scale, developed to measure the knowledge level of hypertension among Turkish adults, was found to be valid and reliable.

Renal ischemia and reperfusion injury is the major cause of acute renal failure and may also be involved in the development and progression of some forms of chronic kidney disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether doxycycline, a member of the tetracycline family of antibiotics, protects kidney tissue or not. 36 Sprague-Dawley rats (200-250 g) were used. The animals were divided into three groups: control, ischemia/reperfusion and ischemia/reperfusion+doxycycline group. Rats were subjected to renal ischemia by clamping the left pedicle for 1 h, and then reperfused for 1 h. The ischemia/reperfusion+doxycycline group were pretreated intraperitoneally with doxycycline suspension (10 mg/kg) 2 h before the induction of ischemia. Our results indicate that malondialdehyde, matrix-metalloproteinase-2, interleukin-2, interleukin-6, interleukin-10, interleukin 1-beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels were significantly higher in the ischemia/reperfusion group than those in the control group. Doxycycline administration significantly decreased these parameters. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 levels also increased after ischemia/reperfusion and decreased with doxycycline pretreatment, but these changes were not significantly different. Glutathione levels significantly decreased after ischemia/reperfusion injury when compared with the control group and doxycycline pretreatment significantly increased glutathione levels when compared with the ischemia/reperfusion group. Apoptotic cells and p53 positive cells were significantly decreased in doxycycline treated group. These results suggest that doxycycline reduces renal oxidative injury and facilitates repair. Doxycycline may play a role in a renoprotective therapeutic regimen.

In the study, the effects of relatively high single-dose of Ochratoxin A (OTA) and the antioxidant effects of Melatonin (Mel) and Coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ 10 ) on OTA-induced oxidative damages in rats were investigated. A total of 28 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups of 7 rats each: Control, OTA, Mel+OTA and CoQ 10 +OTA groups. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the plasma and glutathione (GSH) levels in whole blood were measured; kidneys (for histological inspection and for apoptosis detection by TUNEL method) and bone marrow samples (for chromosome aberration and mitotic index) were taken. The rats in the OTA group showed limited degeneration of tubular cells. In some tubules karyomegaly, desquamated cells and vacuolization were observed by light microscopy. Mel and CoQ 10 treatment significantly reduced the severity of the lesions. MDA levels of the OTA group were significantly higher than the control, OTA+Mel and OTA+CoQ 10 groups, while GSH levels were significantly lower than the control, OTA+Mel and OTA+CoQ 10 groups. Higher incidences of apoptotic bodies were observed in the kidneys of the OTA group although OTA administration did not significantly change the incidence of apoptotic bodies when compared to the control and antioxidant administrated groups. Although the percentage of the mitotic index was lowest in the OTA group, no statistical difference was found among the groups. Additionally, OTA had no numerical and structural significant effects on chromosomes. It was observed that single-dose OTA administration caused oxidative damages in rat kidney and Mel or CoQ 10 treatment appeared to ameliorate the OTA-induced tissue injuries.

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The aim of the study was to determine the nickel concentrations of soil and plant specimens taken from a rural area exposed to cement factory emissions and also to determine the blood concentrations and sensitivity conditions observed in humans residing in this rural area. The study was carried out in Cukurhisar, a town in Eskişehir-Turkey, between May 2000 and March 2001. Beside the 108 soil (36 for control) and plant specimens, which were taken from 8 directions from the cement factory, blood samples of the individuals residing in this area were taken from 258 subjects (258 for control) following a physical examination, and patch tests were also applied. The nickel concentrations of the soil and plant specimens taken from different places in different directions of the factory were higher than in the control areas. The physical examination of subjects did not reveal results different from those of the control group except for the diagnosis of contact dermatitis. The analyses of venous blood samples showed that nickel concentrations were found to be within the reference values given for both groups, but higher in the subjects (p < 0.001). According to the results of patch tests, sensitivity to nickel was found to be more frequent for the subject group than the control group (p < 0.05). According to these results, clinical tools revealed no toxic effects for the subjects, except contact dermatitis. However, sensitivity to patch tests showed that this subject group has been affected compared to the control group and that this effect increased with age.

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Ruh sağlığı okuryazarlığı (RSOY) sağlık okuryazarlığının hala gelişmekte olan, bireylerin ruh sağlığı üzerinde belirleyici rolü olan bir bileşeni olup, ruh sağlığı hastalıklarını tanıma, yönetme ve önlemeye yönelik bilgi ve inanç olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Araştırmanın amacı, RSOY-Ölçeği'nin, Türkçe geçerlilik ve güvenilirliğini değerlendirilmektir. Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışma 2018 öğretim yılında Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi öğrencileriyle yapılan metodolojik tipte bir araştırmadır. Çalışma, ölçek madde sayısı göz önüne alınarak 205 öğrencide yapıldı. RSOY-Ölçeği bağımsız iki yabancı dil uzmanı tarafından, çeviri-geri çeviri yöntemiyle Türkçe diline çevrilerek uzman görüşüne sunuldu. RSOY-Ölçeği'nin Kapsam Geçerlilik İndeksi 0.82 bulundu. Çalışmada, RSOY düzeyini belirlemede RSOY-Ölçeği, eşdeğer ölçüt geçerliliğini değerlendirmede Türkiye Sağlık Okuryazarlığı Ölçeği-32(TSOY-32) kullanıldı. Bulgular: Çalışma grubunun, 105'i erkek (%51.2), 100'ü kadın (%48.8), yaş ortalamaları 20.4±1.7 yıl idi. Açımlayıcı Faktör Analizi'nde (AFA) maddelerin faktör yükleri 0.36-0.84 arasında ve Doğrulayıcı Faktör Analizi'nde (DFA) ölçeğin uyumluluk indeksleri kabul edilebilir düzeylerdeydi. RSOY-Ölçeği puan ortancası tıp fakültesi öğrencilerinde diğer öğrencilere göre daha yüksekti. RSOY-Ölçeği ve TSOY-32'nin pozitif yönde korelasyon gösterdiği saptandı. RSOY-Ölçeği'nin Cronbach alfa katsayısı 0.71 bulundu. Test-tekrar test puanları arasında pozitif korelasyon saptandı. Sonuç: Analizler ışığında, RSOY-Ölçeği'nin, ruh sağlığı okuryazarlığını ölçmede yeterli geçerlilik ve güvenilirliği sağladığı söylenebilir.