The use of food additives in food production is inevitable in this modern world. Although only a safe amount of food additives is approved, their safety has always been questioned. To our knowledge, the effects of food additives on microbiota have not been investigated in a detailed manner in the literature so far. In this review, the effects of artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, emulsifiers, food colorants, flavor enhancers, thickeners, anticaking agents, and preservatives on microbiota were reviewed. Even though most of the results illustrated negative outcomes, few of them showed positive effects of food additives on the microbiota. Although it is difficult to obtain exact results due to differences in experimental animals and models, said the findings suggest that nonnutritive synthetic sweeteners may lead to glucose intolerance by affecting microbiota and a part of sugar alcohols show similar effects like probiotics.

In living organisms, there is a balance between the oxidant and antioxidant systems. Reactive products continuously formed by exogenous and endogenous sources are rendered harmless by the antioxidant system. Oxidative stress is an etiological factor in aging and the development of various diseases. In the present study, the aim was to investigate the effects of meal frequency and calorie restriction on oxidant-antioxidant systems in rat serum and tissue. Nine adult male Wistar Albino rats were used for the pilot study, and another 24 adult male Wistar Albino rats, also weighing 200 to 250 g each, were included in the main study. The rats were divided into 3 groups based on nutrition: the ad libitum group (AL) (n=8), the 2-meal group (TM) (n=8), and the 2-meal with calorie restriction group (TM-CR) (n=8). Following the 4-week pilot study, nutrition regulation was performed in all groups for 20 weeks, 7 days a week, with 60 minutes allotted per meal. Serum and tissues of rats were isolated at the end of the experiment. Total antioxidant status (TAS) and total oxidant status (TOS) were determined using the Erel method. Oxidative stress index (OSI) was calculated using the formula OSI = TOS/TAS. Liver tissue was examined histopathologically. Statistical analyses were performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) program. There were significant differences between the AL and TM, and the AL and TM-CR groups in adipose tissue TOS and OSI, and between the AL and TM groups in the liver TAS of the rats (p<0.05). Calorie restriction and sparse meal frequency can increase the activity of antioxidants and can reduce oxidative stress. Thus, many diseases caused by oxidative stress may be prevented with the correct regulation of feeding.

Viscum album (VA) is a species of mistletoe in the family Santalaceae that is thought to have therapeutic properties for several diseases, including diabetes. In the present study, conventional experimental rat model was used with diabetes induced with streptozotocin (STZ) to evaluate effect of VA on lipid peroxidation and antioxidant system. Total of 32 adult, male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups of 8 rats: Control group, STZ group, VA group, and group administered VA+STZ. VA extract was 100 mg/kg preparation delivered once a day by oral gavage for 10 days. Single dose of 55 mg/kg STZ citrate buffer (0.1 M, pH 4.5) was administered intraperitoneally to induce diabetes. Fasting blood glucose level was measured and recorded. Animals were sacrificed, and catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA), and protein present in liver and kidney tissue samples were measured. Activity of CAT, an antioxidant enzyme, was studied according to the Aebi method. MDA, a product of lipid peroxidation, was analyzed using Draper and Hadley spectrophotometric procedure. Protein level was determined using supernatant and extract of tissue homogenates according to Lowry method. Data were assessed using one-way analysis of variance and pairwise comparisons between groups. Post-hoc analysis included Dunnet test, Duncan test, and least significant difference test. P<0.05 was considered significant probability value. Oxidative stress is associated with diabetic complications. VA administered to diabetic rats reduced oxidative stress and improved their general condition. Further studies are needed to enhance understanding of potential antidiabetic and antioxidant effects of VA.

Aim: Gastric ulcers are the most common gastrointestinal disease, due to several factors in the industrialized world. They may also occur after many pharmacological agents, combined with gastroprotective agents such as proton pump inhibitors (PPI) or anti-acids, are used as a preferred approach to maintaining gastrointestinal health. Unexpected adverse effects in these combinations make natural products an important alternative option. Methods: Therefore, the main aim of this study is to investigate one natural compound, the Tarantula cubensis extract (TCE), in the experimental peptic ulcer model which was created by a single administration of indomethacin (40 mg/kg, body weight) to fed state Wistar-albino rats. The animals were pre-treated with two-doses of the TCE (0.2 ml/kg) before the indomethacin administration. After six hours, they were euthanized and the stomach tissue was isolated for biochemical and immunohistochemical analysis. Total antioxidant status/total oxidant status (TAS/TOS), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) levels were determined with ELISA in tissue homogenates. Caspase-3, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), were visualized with immunohistochemistry in intact tissues. Results: Pre-treatment with TCE increased PGE2 levels and decreased total oxidative status (TAS/TOS). Additionally, TCE alleviated the increase of (NF-κB) levels due to the indomethacin administration. Histopathological and immunostaining results showed that TCE mitigated elevated immunoreactivity of the caspase-3, COX-2, iNOS, and TNF-α which were the results of the indomethacin administration. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that pre-TCE treatment ameliorated indomethacin-induced peptic ulcers via antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions.

Introduction: Specific learning disorders (SLD) are some of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. The aim of this study is to determine the potential relationship between children with SLD and zinc, copper, paraoxonase 1 (PON1), arylesterase (ARY), ischemia-modified albumin, thiol balance, oxidative stress index, total antioxidant status, total oxidant status, and routine biochemical parameters. Methods: All participants were assessed with the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children. Total oxidant status, total antioxidant status, thiol balance, ischemia modified albumin, paraoxonase 1 activity, arylesterase activity, zinc and copper levels were measured by the spectrophotometric methods. Results: Compared to the control, the SLD group had statistically significantly lower values for PON1 antioxidant enzyme activity (p=.045), ARY antioxidant enzyme activity (p<.001), 25 OH Vitamin D (p=.005), reduced thiol ratio (p=.028), thiol oxidation reduction ratio (p=.01), native thiols (p=.024) and significantly higher values for total oxidant status (p=.017), oxidized thiol ratio (p=.028). Conclusion: The relationship between oxidative stress and SLD diagnosis in our results will be very important if it is supported by further new studies. In this case, evaluation of vitamin D, oxidative stress, antioxidant status and thiol balance may come to the agenda in the diagnosis and treatment of SLD.

En tr The novel coronavirus which is known as SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 emerged in China with the first clinical case in December 2019, and afterwards, it has turned into a global problem very fast. Iran is a crowder Middle Eastern country with a population of 82531700. Until 31.03.2020, the number of cases in Iran reached 44605, and 2898 patients lost their lives. This study aimed to simulate the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran with modified mathematical modelling established based on the information that the time-dependent change (spreading rate) in the number P of the individuals who has caught a contagious disease is proportional to the multiplication of the numbers of those who have caught the disease and those who have not. If the precautions are increased a little bit, as its reflection on the progression of the disease would be “exponential”, it seems possible for the number of cases to decrease down to around 120 thousand and for the deaths to be around 8 thousand or even lower. According to our modified mathematical modelling results, in order to change the course of the pandemic in Iran, effective individual and public precautions should definitely be taken urgently. The most effective individual precautions may be listed as paying maximal attention to hygiene, having a natural and healthy diet, increasing mobility and exercise and paying attention to social isolation. SARS-CoV-2 veya COVID-19 olarak bilinen yeni koronavirüs, Çin’de Aralık 2019’daki ilk klinik vaka ile ortaya çıktı ve daha sonra çok hızlı bir şekilde küresel bir soruna dönüştü. İran, nüfusu 82531700 olan bir kalabalık Ortadoğu ülkesidir. 31.03.2020 tarihine kadar İran’daki vaka sayısı 44605’e ulaştı ve 2898 hasta hayatını kaybetti. Bu çalışmada, genel anlamda bulaşıcı hastalığa yakalanmış bireylerin P sayısının zamana göre değişim (yayılma) hızı; hastalığa yakalanmış olanların sayısı ile yakalanmamış olanların sayısının çarpımı ile orantılı olması bilgisinden yola çıkarak oluşturulan yeni bir modifiye özgün matematiksel modelleme üzerinden COVID-19 pandemisinin İran’daki gidişatının simüle edilmesi amaçlandı. Önlemler biraz artarsa, hastalığın ilerlemesi üzerine yansıması “üstsel” olacağı için, vaka sayısının 120 bine düşmesi ve ölümlerin 8 bin civarında olması bile mümkün görünmektedir. Modifiye matematiksel modelleme sonuçlarımıza göre, İran’daki pandeminin seyrini değiştirmek için etkili bir şekilde bireysel ve kamusal önlemler mutlaka acilen alınmalıdır. En etkili bireysel önlemler hijyene azami önem vermek, doğal ve sağlıklı beslenmek, hareketliliği ve egzersizi arttırmak ve sosyal izolasyona dikkat etmek olarak sıralanabilir.