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ABSTRACT.Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of the exfoliation syndrome and its relationship with ocular and cardiovascular diseases in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Methods: This cross-sectional and population-based study was conducted at the Sivas Province among the population aged 40 years and over. The diagnosis of XFS was made when exfoliative material was found on the anterior lens capsule or iris on slit-lamp examination. The subjects were divided into an XFS group and a non-XFS group according to the presence of exfoliative material, and the groups were compared for the presence of glaucoma, cataract, age-related macular degeneration, phacodonesis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, smoking and alcohol-use frequency. Results: XFS was present in 63 subjects consisting of 42 males (8.0%) and 21 females (3.6%) for an overall rate of 5.7% (95% CI: 0.054-0.060). Once we adjusted the values for age, we found a statistically significant relationship of increased age and male gender with the presence of XFS (p = 0.001, p = 0.027, respectively). The relationship between XFS and glaucoma, cataract and phacodonesis was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.001). No relationship was found between exfoliation syndrome and hypertension, diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease. Conclusion: The prevalence of exfoliation syndrome was 5.7% in this population-based study. There was a statistically significant relationship between XFS and advancing age and male gender.

Luteolin, which is structurally classified under the flavonoids, is naturally distributed abundant among medicinal plants, vegetables and fruits. The wound healing effects of Luteolin ointments were evaluated for incision and excision wound models on non-diabetic and Streptozotocin induced diabetic rats by using macroscopical, biomechanical, biochemical and histopathological methods. Two different concentrations (0.5 % and 1 % (w/w)) of the Luteolin ointment were prepared with the mixture of glycol stearate:propylene glycol:liquid paraffin (3:6:1) and 0.5 g of the ointments were applied topically on wounds once daily for 7 and 14 days. During the experiments, wounds were visually observed, photographically documented and wound areas were measured. After 7 and 14 days treatment, animals were sacrificed under anesthesia and hydroxyproline measurement and biomechanical analysis were performed. Histopathology of the wound area was evaluated considering features of re-epithelialization, thickness of the granulation tissue, angiogenesis, presence of inflammation, number of mast cells. Outcomes of this study revealed that Luteolin ointments improved wound healing process of skin tissue both in non-diabetic and diabetic wounds. The best wound healing activity was observed in incision and excision wounds (97.6 %, 96.1 %, respectively) treated with 0.5 % (w/w) Luteolin ointment on day 14 according to macroscopic results.

Objective: In this study, nine commercial Nucleic Acid Amplification Test Systems (NAATs) were evaluated for diagnostic performance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) from smear positive sputum species (SPss) and smear negative sputum specimens (SNss). Methods: Sixty SPss and 55 SNss were examined microscopically by Ehrlich Ziehl Neelsen (EZN) staining method, and also inoculated on Löwenstein Jensen (LJ) medium for culture. The sensitivity and specificity of nine NAATs were calculated according to LJ culture method accepted as gold standard. Results: When LJ culture results were taken as gold standard; the sensitivity rates of method COBAS Amplicor MTB (Method A), GenProbe MTD (Method B), Cobas TaqMan MTB PCR (Method C), iCycler iQ RT PCR (Method D), TaqMan PCR AB 5700 (Method E), TaqMan PCR AB7700 (Method F), LightCycler® 480 RT PCR (Method G), Rotor Gene RT PCR (Method H) and the AdvanSure TB/NTM RT PCR (Method I) for SPss were 98.3 %, 93.3 %, 96.7 %, 100 %, 93.3 %, 100 %, 100 %, 100 % and 100 %, respectively. The sensitivity was 53.84% for the methods A, B, D, E, G and I; 38.46% for the method C and H; 61.5% for the method F for the method I in SNss. There were no statistical significant differences between the nine NAATs (p≥0.05). The specificity was 100% for all nine NAATs in SNss. The positivity rates of methods were 53.8% for methods A, B, D, E, G, I; 38.5% for methods C and H, and 61.5% for method F in SNss. These rates were 100% for D, F, G, H and I; 98.3% for method A; 96.7% for method C; 93,3% for methods B and E in SPss. Statistical analysis showed that there was no statistically significant differences among the nine NAATs (p≥0.05). Conclusion: It is concluded that the nine NAATs might be useful for detecting MTBC from SPss, but not effective for SNss.

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Salvia L., the largest genus of the family Lamiaceae, is composed of many well-known plants of medicinal value. This study provides the first data on micromorphology, myxocarpy, mineral content and in vitro antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities of mericarps of Salvia pilifera, considered to be a vulnerable endemic species from Turkey. The macro-and micromorphological mericarp traits were documented and illustrated via stereo microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Mineral content of mericarps was analyzed using ICP-MS. Ethanol extract of mericarps was tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumannii, Aeromonas hydrophila, Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, and Candida glabrata using broth microdilution method. Antimycobacterial activity was performed against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv using resazurin microtiter plate method. Ampicillin, Ethambutol, Isoniazid, and Fluconazole were chosen as reference drugs. Antiproliferative effect of the extract was tested against A549 human lung cancer cell lines using MTT test. The size of the mericarps was 4.38±0.17 mm in length and 3.28±0.13 mm in width. The general shape was elliptic to widely elliptic. The abscission scar was nearly rounded. The ornamentation pattern of the surface was colliculate with polygonal exocarp cells. Myxocarpy was observed on the surface of the mericarps when they become hydrated. Transparent mucilaginous cells showed a moderate reaction with extensions more than 0.1 mm long. Potassium and calcium were determined as major minerals (80.662±0.234 and 41.892±0.399 µg/g, respectively). The extract showed greater antibacterial activity against A. baumannii compared to Ampicillin (62.5 and 125 µg/mL MIC values, respectively). Cell viability level of the extract (100 μg/mL) was found to be statistically lower than control group against A549 human lung cancer cell lines (P<0.05).