Stroke is among the leading causes of disability and mortality in many countries of the world. The pathogenic mechanisms of ischemic stroke are very complex and have not been completely understood. The aim of this study was to estimate the amino acid (AA) pool in the brain hemisphere cortex of rats during Subtotal Cerebral Ischemia (SCI).

The article entitled “N,N-Dimethyltryptamine [DMT] attenuates spreading depolarization and restrains neurodegeneration by sigma-1 receptor activation in the ischemic rat brain” by Szabo et al. published recently in Neuropharmacology [1] is the last one in the series of studies on the potential benefits of DMT administration in different clinical forms of ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). The larger scope of the project – initiated and organized by Ede Frecska – is to collect support for a hypothesized biological function of this and related endogenous hallucinogen compounds such as 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT), 5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyl-tryptamine (bufotenine) [2].

Vitamin B12 is one of the most complex non-protein compounds as described by Dorothy Hodgkin, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, who discovered the molecular crystal structure of B12. Cobalamins (vitamin B12 derivatives) contain the rare transition metal, cobalt (Co), positioned in the center of a corrin ring and weakly bound to carbon.  While cobalamins are synthesized only in certain bacteria and archaea, not in mice or humans, they are co-enzymes essential for all life except for plants. For example, in higher vertebrates, methyl-cobalamin and 5’-deoxyadenosyl-cobalamin are essential for the function of methionine synthase and methylmalonyl CoA mutase, respectively.

Objective: Anastomotic insufficiency in colorectal surgery can lead to serious complications and high morbidity and mortality rates. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of tirofiban hydrochloride, an antiplatelet agent, on ischemic colon anastomosis healing.A total of 21 male Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into three groups: Group A (Sham), Group B (Ischemia-Control), and Group C (Ischemia-Tirofiban).