Lyme borreliosis is a tick-borne, multi-systemic infectious disease that is thought to be wide spread in Turkey even though studies on its seroprevalence are limited. To determine the seroprevalence of Lyme borreliosis in part of north-eastern Tur-key (in the city of Trabzon), and to identify possible relationships between seropositivity and various factors such as location, gender, age group, occupation, income, and educational level. Retrospective cross-sectional study. A total of 884 blood samples collected from provincial and district health centers serving a population of about 800,000 were included in this study. ELISA was used to determine the anti-Borrelia IgG antibody levels in the samples. Samples that yielded positive results by ELISA were further subjected to western blot (WB). IgG antibodies were found in 128 samples (14.5%). Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between age groups and educational levels in terms of the incidence of seropositivity, whereas location, gender, occupational group and income level had no effect (p<0.001, p<0.001, p=0.948, p=0.645, p=0.131, p=0.080 respectively). The risk of contracting Lyme borreliosis in Trabzon is high, and necessary measures need to be taken to avoid the spread of disease.

The goal of the work is to determine the bioactive pharmaceutical metabolites produced by the Fusarium oxysporum YP9B isolate. Ten new natural compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the F. oxysporum YP9B strain. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods using 1D and 2D NMR, UV, FT-IR, and mass spectra (LC-QTOF MS and GC-FID/MS). Identified compounds were named as; (1-benzyl-2-methoxy-2-oxoethyl)-2-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoate (1), 2-oxo-8-azatricyclo[9.3.1.13,7]-hexadeca-1(15),3(16),4,6,11,13-hexaen-10-one (2), 2,3-dihydroxypropanoic, hexadecanoic anhydride (3a), 2,3-dihydroxypropanoic (9Z)-octadecenoic anhydride (3b), 2,3-dihydroxy-propanoic (9Z,12Z)-octadecadienoic anhydride (3c), 2,3-dihydroxypropanoic (11Z)-octadecenoic anhydride (4a), 2,3-dihydroxypropanoic, (9E,12E)-octadecadienoic anhydride (4b), 3-hydroxy-1,2,6,10-tetramethylundecyl hexzadecanoate (5a), 3-hydroxy-1,2,6,10-tetramethylundecyl (9E)-octadecaenoate (5b), and 3-hydroxy-1,2,6,10-tetramethylundecyl octadecanoate (5c). Antimicrobial activities of the isolates obtained from the YP9B strain were determined. Cytotoxic and antiviral activities were tested for the isolates against VERO, MCF-7, PC-3, and A549. Compounds 5a-c, 1, and 3a-c showed bacteriostatic activity at low concentrations, and 4a-b and 2 were found to be bactericides. MIC and MBC values against Mycobacterium smegmatis for the compounds 5a-c and 1 were determined to be ​​ <0.5 µg/mL and 0.46 µg/mL, respectively. The experimental result showed that compounds 2, 5a-c and 1 have strong cytotoxic (7.51±1.38 and 19.13± 0.68 (µM) IC50) activity. The antiviral activity against HSV type-1 was determined to be 1.25 µM for compounds 4a-c and 0.312 µM for compound 1.

Elaeagnus umbellata, known as Autumn olive and growing widely in Asia and Southern Europe, is a shrub tree used in the traditional treatment of many diseases, including cancer. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the several biological effects of methanol extract of E. umbellate. The activity of the extract on 11 microorganisms was determined by the agar well diffusion technique. The anti-quorum sensing activity of the extract was tested using Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC 12472. The anti-biofilm and anti-swarming activities were tested using Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Cytotoxic effect of the extract against pancreatic tumoral cell line (AR42J), breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231), lung adenocarcinoma cell line (A549), and normal epithelial cell line (Vero), and antiviral effect of the extract against herpes simplex virus type 1 was analyzed using the MTT method. It was determined that the extract was moderately effective against 6/11 microorganisms and showed anti-quorum sensing activity. While the extract did not have a cytotoxic effect on cancer cell lines, it was found to have a cytotoxic effect on Vero cells at concentrations of 100 µg/mL and above. However, no anti-biofilm, anti-swarming, and antiviral activity of the extract was observed. The study shows that E. umbellata fruit has limited biological activity.

İnsan ve hayvanlardaki enfeksiyonların tedavisinde ve endüstride çeşitli amaçlarla yer alan antibiyotiklerin kullanımının artması çevresel ortamlarda antibiyotiğe dirençli bakterilerin ve direnç genlerinin daha sık tespit edilmesine neden olmaktadır. Su kenarındaki yerleşim yerlerinde atık sular arıtma işleminden sonra yakındaki sulara boşaltılmaktadır. Bunun sonucunda, sular patojen ve dirençli mikroorganizmalarla kirlenerek insan sağlığı için büyük bir tehlike oluşturmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, Trabzon şehir merkezinden alınan atık su örneklerinden Gram negatif bakteriler izole edilerek antibiyotik direnç profillerinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Atık sulardan alınan örnekler triptik soy agar ve eozin metilen mavisi besiyerlerine ekim yapılarak üreyen mikroorganizmalar analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmaya Gram negatif 36 bakteri izolatı dahil edilmiştir. Bakterilerdeki direnç disk difüzyon yöntemi ile araştırılmıştır. Antimikrobiyal direnç saptanan mikroorganizmalar MALDI-TOF MS ve BD Phoenix otomatize mikrobiyoloji sistemi ile tanımlanarak otomatize sistem ile direnç profilleri çıkarılmıştır. Dirençli bakterilerde blaSHV, blaTEM, blaOXA, blaCTX-M, integraz 1, integraz 2 ve integron varlığı PZR yöntemi ile araştırılarak bu genlerin aktarım mekanizmaları transformasyon ve konjugasyon deneyleri ile incelenmiştir. Ayrıca, antibiyotiklere dirençli izolatlarda Genişlemiş Spektrumlu Beta Laktamaz (GSBL) üretimi çift disk sinerji testi ile araştırılmıştır. Sonuç olarak bu çalışmada 14 izolatta antibiyotik direnci olduğu, bir izolatta GSBL ve blaoxa varlığı tespit edilmiştir. İki izolatın plazmit taşıdığı ve bir izolatın ampisilin direncinin konjugatif plazmitle, kanamisin direncinin ise konjugatif olmayan bir plazmitle transforme olduğu belirlenmiştir. Direnç taşıyan bazı izolatlarda plazmit varlığının tespit edilmesi; antibiyotik direncinin atık sularda bulunan bakteriler arasında yayılabileceğini ve canlılar üzerinde olumsuz etkiler olabileceğini düşündürmektedir.

The leaves and fruits of Laurus nobilis L. are used in pharmaceutical applications with their various activities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. In current study, it was aimed to investigate antimicrobial, antiquorum sensing, cytotoxicity and antiviral activity of Laurus nobilis L. leaf and fruit extract prepared by %70 ethanol. This study was carried out in the Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, with Laurel leaves and fruits collected from Trabozon province in the Black Sea region. Antimicrobial activity was investigated by the agar well method. Gram negative, Gram positive bacteria and 2 fungi were used. Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC 12472 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 strains were used for antiquorum sensing, antibiofilm and anti swarming activities. The cytotoxic effect of ethanol extract prepared from the leaf and fruit of Laurus nobilis L. plant on Vero, A549 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines was investigated by MTT method. The antiviral effect of the extracts on HSV-1 was investigated by MTT method. Antimicrobial and quorum sensing activity was determined to be moderate. It was understood that the leaf and fruit extracts of Laurus nobilis L. used in the study showed antiproliferative and antiviral effects in a dose-dependent manner. Laurel plant needs to be investigated in more detail using different solvents.