Association of serum ADMA, SDMA and L-NMMA concentrations with disease progression in COVID-19 patients.

Introduction: This study determines and compares the concentrations of arginine and methylated arginine products ((asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), n-monomethyl-1-arginine (L-NMMA) and homoarginine (HA)) for assessment of their association with disease severity in serum samples of COVID-19 patients.

Materials And Methods: Serum arginine and methylated arginine products of 57 mild-moderate and 29 severe (N = 86) COVID-19 patients and 21 controls were determined by tandem mass spectrometry. Moreover, the concentrations of some of the routine clinical laboratory parameters -neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), C-reactive protein, ferritin, D-dimer, and fibrinogen measured during COVID-19 follow-up were also taken into consideration and compared with the concentrations of arginine and methylated arginine products.

Holotranscobalamin Levels in Children with Helicobacter pylori Infection.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between vitamin B12 levels and Helicobacter Pylori infection and to examine the clinical usefulness of holotranscobalamin (holoTC) measurement in children.

Materials And Methods: Thirty patients between 6 and 15 years of age, who were diagnosed as H. pylori infected by C(14) urea breath test, and 26 controls were enrolled in the study.

Evaluation of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant system in healthy iron-replete infants receiving iron prophylaxis.

Objective: Iron supplementation is commonly recommended for infants; however, there are some reports that it causes oxidative damage. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential effects of iron supplementation at 4 mo of age, for a period of 2 mo, on lipid peroxidation and free radical scavenging enzymes.

Methods: Twenty-seven healthy 4-mo-old infants chosen randomly and given iron supplementation (ferrous sulfate, 10 mg of elemental iron per day) constituted the study group and 26 healthy 4-mo-old infants who were chosen randomly and not given iron supplementation constituted the control group.

Importance of plasma N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide, epicardial adipose tissue, and carotid intima-media thicknesses in asymptomatic obese children.

This study aimed to analyze the variations of N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide, epicardial adipose tissue thickness, and carotid intima-media thickness in childhood obesity. The study participants consisted of 50 obese children in the study group and 20 nonobese children referred for evaluation of murmurs who proved to have an innocent murmur and were used as control subjects. All the subjects underwent transthoracic echocardiographic examination for determination of left ventricular systolic function and mass index, myocardial tissue rates, and myocardial performance index.

Trace and toxic element patterns in nonsmoker patients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, impaired glucose tolerance, and fasting glucose.

Project: Noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus is supposed to be associated with fluctuations in the plasma levels of several trace elements. There is accumulating evidence that the metabolism of several trace elements is altered in patients with noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus and that these nutrients might have specific roles in the pathogenesis and progression of this disorder.

Procedure: The aim of the present study is to compare the levels of essential trace and toxic elements including lead (Pb), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), vanadium (V), manganese (Mn), barium (Ba), silver (Ag), and mercury (Hg) in patients with noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (n = 31), impaired glucose tolerance (n = 20), impaired fasting glucose (n = 14), and healthy controls (n = 22).

Chromium, cadmium, and lead levels in urine of children with autism and typically developing controls.

Although potentially harmful effects of heavy metals are well known, limited numbers of studies exist regarding their relationship with autism. The aim of this study was to investigate urine levels of some heavy metals such as of chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) in children with autism and healthy subjects. Urine levels of Cr, Cd, and Pb were measured by atomic absorption spectrometry in 30 children with autism and compared with 20 healthy controls.

Platelet aggregation in children with Helicobacter pylori infection.

This study was performed to investigate the platelet aggregation alterations in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) samples of children with Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection. Platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen, ristocetin, or epinephrine was studied with photometric aggregometry in 30 patients before and after eradication therapy and in a control group including 15 children. The pretreatment mean maximum aggregation values and slope were significantly lower (P < .

The effects of perindopril on aortic elasticity and inflammatory markers in hypertensive patients.

Background: Inflammation plays an important role in hypertension and in atherosclerosis. Inflammatory changes induced even in prehypertensive subjects can lead to increased arterial stiffness. The effects of perindopril on both inflammatory and aortic elasticity markers were tested in hypertensive patients.

The relation between coronary lesion distribution and risk factors in young adults.

Objective: In this cross-sectional, case-controlled study, we aimed to evaluate classical and novel risk factors in young patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), and the relation between coronary risk factors and coronary lesion distribution.

Methods: Fifty-three patients under age of 45 years with severe coronary artery stenosis on angiography (group A) and age matched sixty patients having normal or non-critical stenosis on coronary angiography (group B) comprised the study groups. Conventional (smoking, family history, diabetes, hypertension) and novel risk factors (lipoprotein (a), homocysteine) were compared between the groups.

Conventional and non-conventional coronary risk factors in male premature coronary artery disease patients already having a low Framingham risk score.

Background: Individual risk factors and, more importantly, global risk assessment tools such as the Framingham risk score have been used successfully for risk prediction especially in older patients. However, there is paucity of data about the coronary heart disease prediction in premature coronary artery disease patients with a low Framingham risk score.

Methods And Results: We recruited 102 consecutive young patients without hypertension and diabetes mellitus in the study.

Increased serum chitotriosidase activity following restoration of euthyroidism in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism.

Objective: Whether to treat subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) remains controversial. Serum chitotriosidase activity, a marker of activated macrophages, predicts new cardiovascular events. Chitotriosidase activity (ChT) is a new cardiovascular risk marker and is independent of C-reactive protein.

Decreased oxidation susceptibility of plasma low density lipoproteins in patients with Gilbert's syndrome.

Background And Aim: The association of hyperbilirubinemia in Gilbert's syndrome (GS) with a decrease in prevalence of coronary artery disease is a well-known phenomenon. In this study, the state of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation which has been postulated to be a significant determinant at the etiopathogenesis of atherosclerotic disorders was investigated among individuals with GS.

Methods: For this purpose, serum cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, apolipoprotein A and B, bilirubins, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, and the sensitivity of LDL oxidation levels, as well as serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotranserfase, gamma glutamyl transferase, and alkaline phosphatase activities, were determined in 17 patients with Gilbert's syndrome and 15 healthy adults.

Trace element levels in hashimoto thyroiditis patients with subclinical hypothyroidism.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the serum copper, zinc, magnesium, and selenium levels in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism in the iodine-rich region of Ankara, Turkey. The effects of hormone replacement therapy on these elements were also studied in these patients. Basal levels of selenium and iron in patients were significantly lower than control group (67.

Retrieval of zona-free immature oocytes in a woman with recurrent empty follicle syndrome: a case report.

Background: Different ovulation trigger methods such as gonadotropin releasing hormone-agonist (GnRH-a) and recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin (r-hCG) plus rescue oocyte retrieval might reveal oocytes in patients with recurrent empty follicle syndrome.

Case: Endogenous luteinizing hormone was triggered with a GnRH-a (Buserelin [Suprefact pro-injection, Aventis-Pharma, Turkey], 250 microg subcutaneously) in a GnRH antagonist (Cetrorelix [Cetrotide 0.25, SeronoTurkey], 0.

The altered autonomic nervous system activity in iron deficiency anemia.

Autonomic function is impaired in anemic patients with various etiologies such as vitamin B12 deficiency, sickle cell trait, and thalassemia major. However, there are insufficient data about autonomic functions in patients with iron deficiency anemia, the leading cause for anemia in the general population. In the present study we aimed to investigate the autonomic status in iron deficiency anemia by analyzing the heart rate variability (HRV).

Evaluation of plasma adiponectin levels in young men with coronary artery disease.

Objective: In this study, we investigated the relation between plasma adiponectin levels and other risk factors in a young patient population.

Material And Results: We enrolled consecutively 69 young patients (< 45 years) with coronary artery disease in the study group. he patient enrollment period was between February 2003 and November 2004.

Left ventricular function in male patients with secondary hypogonadism.

Background: In addition to the effects on ventricular repolarization, testosterone could also affect left ventricular performance. The enhancement of left ventricular contractility in testosterone-deficient rats following testosterone replacement implies to the possible testosterone effect.

Objectives: The aim of the current study is to reveal the alterations of left ventricular functions, if any, in secondary hypogonadal male patients.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome-related disorders in a large adult population in Turkey.

Background: There are few existing large population studies on the epidemiology of metabolic syndrome-related disorders of Turkey. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome-related disorders in the Turkish adult population, to address sex, age, educational and geographical differences, and to examine blood pressure, body mass index, fasting blood glucose and serum lipids in Turkey.

Methods: This study was executed under the population study "The Healthy Nutrition for Healthy Heart Study" conducted between December 2000 and December 2002 by the Health Ministry of Turkey.

Effect of macro-creatine kinase and increased creatine kinase BB on the rapid diagnosis of patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction in the emergency department.

Although there are more sensitive and earlier diagnostic markers for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), measurement of creatine kinase (CK) MB isoenzyme (CKMB) using the immunoinhibition method is still widely used in stat laboratories. In this study, 3,290 patients with the prediagnosis of AMI underwent physical examinations, electrocardiography, and repetitive measurements of CK, CKMB activity, and CKMB mass, and 304 of them were diagnosed as having AMI. Electrophoresis of CK and CKMB mass was performed for the samples from 415 patients whose CKMB activity values were found to be increased and were not correlated with total CK levels.

Evaluation of platelet parameters in healthy apheresis donors using the ADVIA 120.

Platelet apheresis is accepted as a safe procedure and no clinically important change is observed after apheresis. The ADVIA 120 provides both an accurate platelet count and parameters describing platelet morphology and function. We studied the changes in platelet parameters of 35 healthy apheresis donors using the ADVIA 120.

Diagnostic approach to prostate cancer using total prostate specific antigen-based parameters together.

This prospective study investigated the value of serum total prostate specific antigen (tPSA)-based parameters in the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa). Serum tPSA, free to tPSA ratio (f/tPSA), PSA density (PSAD), and PSA transition zone (PSAT) were evaluated in 110 patients with histologically confirmed benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and 98 patients with PCa. Once the serum tPSA was elevated (greater than 4 ng/ml) or digital rectal examination (DRE) was suspicious, transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsies were recommended.