Sema Ketenci, Nazife Gökçe Acet, Gökçe Elif Sarıdoğan, Banu Aydın, Hülya Cabadak, Mehmet Zafer Gören. Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci 2020;18:219-30. https://doi.org/10.9758/cpn.2020.18.2.219

Summary: Objective: Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg (GAERS) show a resistance to secondary generalization of focal limbic seizures evoked by kindling. The substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNR) is involved in the propagation and modulation of seizures in kindling. We first examined the role of the SNR_anterior and SNR_posterior subregions in the resistance to the development of kindling in GAERS. Subsequently, to determine whether kindling resistance relates to differential sensitivity of γ‐aminobutyric acid γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic or dopaminergic SNR neurons to kindling, we studied the effects of kindling‐inducing stimulations on parvalbumin (PRV; GABAergic neuron marker) or tyrosine hydroxylase (TH; dopaminergic neuron marker) immunoreactivity (ir), respectively, in GAERS and in nonepileptic control (NEC) Wistar rats that lack kindling resistance.Methods: Adult male GAERS were implanted with a stimulation electrode in the amygdala, and bilateral injection cannulas for lidocaine or saline injection (30 min before each kindling stimulation until the animals reached three stage 5 seizures or the 22 stimulations) into the SNR_anterior or SNR_posterior. In another experiment, PRV‐ir in SNR_anterior and SNR_posterior and TH‐ir in SNR_posterior only were densitometrically compared in GAERS‐SHAM, NEC‐SHAM GAERS‐STIM, and NEC‐STIM animals (6 kindling stimulations).Results: Bilateral SNR_posterior infusions of lidocaine eliminated the kindling resistance and resulted in stage 5 generalized motor seizures in all kindled rats. Bilateral lidocaine infusions in the SNR_anterior failed to alter the kindling resistance in GAERS. PRV‐ir in the SNR_posterior was unaltered in GAERS‐STIM but increased in NEC‐STIM group. Cellular TH‐ir in the SNR_posterior significantly increased by kindling stimulations in both NEC‐STIM and GAERS‐STIM groups.Significance: The kindling resistance in GAERS is mediated by the SNR_posterior in a lidocaine‐sensitive manner. The insensitivity to kindling stimulation of PRV‐ir in SNR_posterior of GAERS but not NEC rats, implicate GABAergic SNR_posterior neurons in kindling resistance. In contrast, the observed stimulation‐specific increase in TH‐ir in the SNR_posterior is unrelated to kindling resistance.

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the presence and effects of hematological and biological parameters in the diagnosis of the disease by performing blood tests on COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).Results: Biochemical parameters from the blood samples of 279 patients who were confirmed to have COVID-19 and met the criteria for admission to the ICU were compared between discharged and deceased patients. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed in terms of mortality and probability of being discharged. The predictive value of serum C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), lymphocyte, neutrophil, leucocyte, and platelet (PLT) levels was evaluated by measuring the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC).Comparisons made according to deceased and survival patients results revealed that while no statistically significant difference was observed between test groups lymphocyte and platelet-lymphocyte ratio values, statistically significant difference was found between the test groups regarding platelet, leukocyte, neutrophil, PCT, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and thrombocyte count × neutrophil count/lymphocyte count (SII) values.Conclusions: This study showed that biochemical parameters examined are important in determining the prognosis of the disease and may be useful in determining the direction of the treatment process and predicting the risk of discharge or death after the initial evaluation of the patients in the ICU.