Sinan Cavun, after graduating from the Uludag University, Faculty of Medicine in 1993, completed his Doctoral Education in 1999. He has been working in the field of Pharmacology for a total of 17 years. He worked for eight years in Hospital Medicine Management as a Team Leader. He has focused on neuropharmacology, particularly on depression and neuroendocrine regulation. As a result of his work, he has a European patent in this regard (use of Gly-Gln in the treatment of depression).

Statement of the Problem: Depression is the 4th leading cause of disability and death all around the world and it is expected to be be the 2nd cause after 2020. Globally, more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from depression. The high rate of patients who still have not responded to depression treatment makes it necessary to perform preclinical research. The current medications used in depression treatment are also very troublesome drugs in respect of the adverse effects they cause. The risks and adverse effects of antidepressants currently used for depression treatment spread in a large range from sexual problems to death. In the current brain microdialysis studies from our laboratory, it is shown that glycyl-glutamine (Gly-Gln) augments serotonin release in the brain. It is well known that serotonin is a hormone that makes people feel happy, energetic and lively. In this study, we aim to investigate antidepressant effects of Gly-Gln dipeptide because of its enhancing effects on serotonin levels. Methodology: These studies have been performed by the "forced swimming test" method which is the most applied animal model used in antidepressant treatment surveys. Using the swimming test, the dose response study, comparison with Gly-Gln cleavage products and fluoxetine, as well as locomotor activity test was performed. Findings: In this sense, animal studies performed with “glycyl-glutamine” showed that it is tremendously effective against depression. Conclusion: The most important feature of Gly-Gln is being a molecule, which can be synthesized in our body endogenously, and it is comes off while β-endorphin is being burned in the body. Therefore, Gly-Gln is extremely safe with its adverse effects. There isn’t any adverse effect observed during the toxicological studies. This result is important for considering Gly-Gln as a potential antidepressant.

Richard L Summers, MD, FACEP is Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, University of Mississippi Medical Center Billy S Guyton Distinguished Professor and Chair Emeritus Department of Emergency Medicine Previous Lead Scientist for NASA Digital Astronaut Project. Richard L Summers, MD, FACEP is a native of Gulfport Mississippi and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi magna cum laude in mathematics in 1977. He received his medical degree from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1981 after which he entered their residency program in internal medicine. Summers then began graduate studies and completed a research fellowship under Dr. Arthur C Guyton and Dr. Thomas G Coleman in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. Since 1988 he has been a faculty member at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in various roles including Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine. He currently serves as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and holds joint appointments in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Physiology and Biophysics and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians

Statement of the Problem: Clinical studies that examine the outcomes of different treatments have guided the development of standards of care for the practice of medicine. While the evidences of these clinical trials has led to an improved practice of medicine, they focus on the outcome likelihoods for the population of patients as a whole and therefore treatment guidelines have evolved into a one-size-fits-all methodology. Recently, the modern methods of precision/personalized medicine have emerged as the course of medical practice for the future. The discovery of biomarker targets for the pharmacologic strategies of precision medicine will be critical to the development of this practice. Methodology: Developing precision/personalized medicine systems will require an improved capacity to link biologic biomarkers with basic clinical, demographic and socioeconomic phenotypes. Such biomarkers can then be used as targets for patient-specific pharmacologic treatment strategies. A process that back tracks clinical treatment outcomes or adverse events to biologic materials banked in a prospectively instituted biorepository system can be used in the discovery of these potential biomarker targets. Results: A software interface was used to link information from the electronic health record (Epic) and other salient data contained within the enterprise data warehouse with samples in the biobank at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Researchers analyzing the epidemiologic characteristics of the data warehouse can identify cohorts of patients with specific responses to prescribed pharmacologic treatments. The biobanked biologic specimens that are associated with the individuals in these cohorts can then be recovered for an analysis of their pharmacogenetics and other omics as potential biomarker targets. Conclusion: The new precision medicine approach to clinical practice represents a shift in the philosophy of treatment schemes that will require a greater focus on the translation of basic biomedical research to practical patient applications. Linking biobanked specimens to observed outcomes in clinical cohorts will be critical to the discovery of biomarker targets that facilitate decisions regarding precision pharmacologic strategies.

Elodie demonstrates an excellent level of technical skills in fields including neurosurgery, general surgery, and behavioral tests. A graduate in analytical and experimental biology, she has been working for 5 years on the development of drug candidates in neurosciences. For CILcare, she specializes in the in-vivo models of ear inflammation, and carries out efficacy studies, as well as other tasks, from designing protocols to interpreting discovery data, with great talent and dynamism

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in animals that regulates sleep and wakefulness. It is involved in the circadian rhythms synchronization including sleep-wake timing, blood pressure regulation, seasonal reproduction, etc. However, other physiological roles have been described for melatonin such as antioxidant protection of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, anti-inflammatory effect by TNF-α inhibition, etc. Because increasing number of studies demonstrated that antioxidants may serve as effective compounds to block cochlear inflammation and hair cells apoptosis, targeting members of antioxidant pathways could be feasible options for the treatment of several types of hearing loss. For this reason, the aim of this study is to determine the effect of melatonin in the hearing impairment and anxiety induced by acoustic trauma.

Bayçu C is Professor in Histology and Embryology. He has his expertise in toxicological studies in the animal models. Also, he studies on new pathways for improving healthcare. He uses light and electron microscopy and also histochemical and molecular techniques for his studies.

Statement of the Problem: Mercury is an element that is available in batteries, thermometers, barometers, light bulbs by inorganic form and also in pillars; fish, mussels and some seafood by organic form. It is visible in tooth fillings used in dental treatment, in certain vaccinations and also in antiseptic solutions. It is thought that mercury vapor released from all these compounds is harmful for human health. NF-κB is a silent factor in the cytoplasm of all cells and passes to the nucleus only when it is active, where it regulates the immune system growth and inflammation (Figure 1). The object of the study is to detect the immunohistochemical expression levels of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) in the mercury vapor exposed rats and evaluate the possible association between the expression levels and histological structure of the lung. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: In this study, 12 adult Wistar albino rats (12 female, weighing 200 g) were used for the above-mentioned purpose. The rats were placed in specially designed lantern. Following this procedure, subjects were exposed to 1 mg/m3/day of mercury vapor for 45 days. Subjects who did not have any application were used for control group. At the end of the experiment, lung samples obtained from all subjects were followed up according to routine procedure and evaluated histologically at light microscopic levels and immunohistochemically with NF-κB marker. Findings: In the lungs of the subjects exposed to mercury vapor, alveolar edema and enlarged inter alveolar connective tissue septa were found. Erosion of bronchial epithelium and mononuclear cell infiltration on the wall of the conductive structures occurred. The alveoli in these lung specimens were collapsed. In addition, NF-κB immunostaining in lung tissues of exposed to mercury vapor had increased significantly. Conclusion & Significance: Although the mercury element is liquid at normal room temperature, it evaporates after a certain period of time, causing humans to suck up from the lungs as a result of the breathing of the air. In this study, it has been shown that chronic exposure to mercury vapor may cause lung damage and NF-KB pathway may play a role in this damage.

B Zuhal Altunkaynak is a Professor in Histology and Embryology. She has expertise in studies about pathophysiology and neural pathways of obesity and their treatment in the animal models. She uses light and electron microscopy and also histochemical and molecular technics for these studies

Statement of the Problem: Obesity, defined as one of the 10 most risky diseases by the World Health Organization, affects almost all the system and organs in the body. Topiramate (TOP) is an antiepileptic drug which has also been proved to alleviate body weight. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36 amino-acid neuropeptide that is involved in various physiological and homeostatic processes in both the central and peripheral nervous systems (Figure 1).In this study, we aimed to develop an obesity model on adult rats with a high fat diet and to investigate the possible effect of TOP on liver in the high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obese female rats and whether these possible effects are related to NPY levels by histological and morphometric methods. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: For this aim, 24 female Wistar albino rats were randomly divided in four equal groups, viz. control (CONT), obese (OBES), TOP, and OBES+TOP. Following processing and cutting the liver tissue, sections were used for histopathological examination and stereological analyses. Also immunohistochemical analyses were made by NPY marker. Findings: Given the stereological outcomes, total number of hepatocytes was reduced in the OBES+TOP group compared to those of the TOP group. In terms of the mean sinusoid volume, no meaningful difference was distinguished among the groups. Likewise, histopathological findings exhibited mild to severe alterations in the manifestation of liver architectures in experimental rats (OBES, OBES+TOP, TOP). While NPY positivity increased in obese rats, it decreased in TOP administrated groups. Conclusion & Significance: In conclusion, our findings presented that TOP administration associated with obesity decreases body weight by setting the NPY level. For all that, it may have deleterious influence on the liver tissue in the subjects and hepatocyte loss might be derived from the possible side effect of TOP in combination with obesity. Hence, the both are risk factors enhancing hepatotoxicity.

Teodor Angelov is 4th year student in Medical University of Sofia. Since his preclinical years in the University, he took part in many student congress as an active participant. Teodor has got many piblications in bulgarian science journals in bulgarian and english. His interests are concentrated in neurology and neuroophthalmology, cognition sciences and degenerational diseases of the brain, morphology of the human. Teodor finds the participation in the Pharmacology congress for a big expirience in his science bio and wants to create new contacts with students and professors in the Pharmacology area

Introduction: Dirofilariasis is a parasitic disease of domestic and wild animals, that rarely infects humans. The genus Dirofilaria belongs to the family Onchocercidae and subfamily Dirofilariinae of the order Spirurida. It infects different mammals such as dogs, cats, foxes, etc. The parasite replicates in the animal's body and enters circulation in the form of microfilariae. Mircrofilariae are transmitted to humans through biological vectors such as certain species of mosquitoes. In fact Dirofilaria sp. rarely infects humans. The parasite is found in subcutaneous tissue and mucous membranes, rarely affects visceral organs – heart, lungs, eyes, central nervous system. Ophthalmic infection with D. repens is registered all over the world. Ocular involvement may be periorbital, subconjunctival or intraocular. Materials and Methods: We describe a case of subconjunctival dirofilariasis in 64-year-old female patient, hospitalized in the Clinic of Ophthalmology. The 64-year-old patient presented with redness, irritation, intermittent local pain of the left eye. Her complaints dated from 3 months. Results: Ophthalmic examination revealed a thin white live worm under the chemotic and injected bulbar conjunctiva . The parasite was removed surgically under local anaesthesia. It was long 130 mm and wide 0.61 mm. The worm was identified as Dirofilaria repens in The Center of Parasitology, Sofia, Bulgaria. Discussion: Cases of D. repens have been reported in Mediterranean Basin (Greece, Italy, Spain) and Turkey. The first case was published in 1867 by Angelo Pace in Palermo. Most cases present with pain, redness of the eye and swelling. Symptoms appear when worm enters the subconjunctiva – usually weeks after infection. Diagnosis should include: blood smear elavuation for microfilaria, serology, PCR-teston mosquitos to detect microfilarial DNA. In the literature in the biggest part of the described cases , the parasites length is 40-140 mm. In our case the parasite was 130 mm in length. Laboratory tests showed negative blood eosinophilia. Conculsion: Ocular dirofilariasis, caused by Dirofilaria repens is very rare in Bulgaria. Most of the cases were registered in Asia and Africa, rarely in Central and South Europe. There are about 780 cases reported in the literature to date.

Behnam Ghorbanzadeh completed his PhD in Pharmacology at Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences in Iran. He started Research in Pharmacology in 2010 and has a strong research focus on Neuropharmacology and behavior in animal models. He currently works as an Assistant Professor in Pharmacology at the Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Iran

The present study was conducted to evaluate the local antinociceptive actions of fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and the possible involvement of the L-arginine/NO/cGMP/KATP channel pathway in this effect using the formalin test in rats. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, animals were pre-treated with L-NAME, aminoguanidine, methylene blue, glibenclamide, L arginine, sodium nitroprusside, or diazoxide. Local ipsilateral, but not contralateral, administration of fluoxetine (10–300 mcg/paw) dose-dependently suppressed flinching number during both early and late phases of the test, and this was comparable with morphine, also given peripherally. Pre-treatment with L-NAME, aminoguanidine, methylene blue, or glibenclamide dose-dependently prevented fluoxetine (100 mcg/paw)-induced antinociception in the late phase. In contrast, administration of L-arginine, sodium nitroprusside, and diazoxide significantly enhanced the antinociception caused by fluoxetine in the late phase of the test. However, these treatments had no significant effect on the antinociceptive response of fluoxetine in the early phase of the formalin test. Our data demonstrates that local peripheral antinociception of fluoxetine during the late phase of the formalin test could be due to activation of L-arginine/NO/cGMP/KATP channel pathway. The peripheral action of fluoxetine raises the possibility that topical application of this drug (e.g., as a cream, ointment, or jelly) may be a useful method for relieving the inflammatory pain states.