Merosin-negative congenital muscular dystrophy: magnetic resonance spectroscopy findings.

Congenital muscular dystrophies (CMD) are heterogeneous group of muscle disorders with autosomal recessive inheritance. Merosin deficiency has been identified in some patients with CMD all of whom also had white matter abnormalities on MRI. In postmortem studies, the brain showed extensive myelin pallor with a spongy appearance of white matter and moderate astrocytosis or demyelination.

Acute scrotum -- etiology and management.

Objective: Acute scrotal pain is a common urological emergency. Urgent exploration is the standard means of management, since no investigation can confidently exclude torsion of testis from the differential diagnosis.

Methods: A review of all boys presenting with acute scrotal pain who underwent emergency scrotal exploration between January 1983 and March 2003 was performed.

Medicolegal childhood deaths in Adana, Turkey.

The objective of this study is to determine the characteristics of and changes in the medicolegal childhood deaths that occurred in the provincial center of Adana, and to contribute to the establishment of a database for the development of national and international policies. The study is a retrospective research examining the 1,110 cases in the age group 0 to 18, which were specified as medicolegal deaths in the provincial center of Adana-Turkey between the years 2000-2004. The cases were examined according to age, sex, causes of deaths, the origins and scenes of occurrence.

Systemic markers of lipid peroxidation and antioxidants in patients with nonalcoholic Fatty liver disease.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to examine the systemic parameters of oxidative stress and antioxidants in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and investigate the relationship between these parameters and clinical and biochemical outcomes.

Methods: Fifty-one male patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (group I), 30 age-matched and body mass index (BMI)-matched healthy male subjects, and 30 age-matched male patients with chronic viral hepatitis (group II) were enrolled in the study.

Results: Increased systemic levels of malondialdehyde and depletion of antioxidants such as coenzyme Q10, CuZn-superoxide dismutase, and catalase activity were observed in group I.

Evaluation of the hypoglycemic effect and antioxidant activity of three Viscum album subspecies (European mistletoe) in streptozotocin-diabetic rats.

The acute hypoglycaemic effect of water and ethanolic extracts of three Viscum album subspecies, ssp. album, ssp. austriacum, ssp.

Acute scrotum - Etiology and management.

Objective: Acute scrotal pain is a common urological emergency. Urgent exploration is the standard means of management, since no investigation can confidently exclude torsion of testis from the differential diagnosis.

Methods: A review of all boys presenting with acute scrotal pain who underwent emergency scrotal exploration between January 1983 and March 2003 was performed.

Effect of hypercholesterolemia on inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in a rat model of elevated intraocular pressure.

Purpose: This study was performed to examine the effect of hypercholesterolemia on inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS-2) expression and oxidative tissue injury in an experimental rat model of elevated IOP.

Methods: Wistar rats were maintained on either regular chow or a high-cholesterol diet for 24 weeks. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was elevated in hypercholesterolemic rats by unilaterally cauterizing three episcleral vessels.

Evaluation of in vivo biological activity profile of isoorientin.

Anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory and gastroprotective activities of the known C-glycosyl flavonoid, isoorientin, were studied in rats and mice. For the anti-nociceptive activity assessment the p-benzoquinone-induced writing test, for the anti-inflammatory activity the carrageenan-induced hind paw edema model in mice, and for the gastroprotective activity the EtOH-induced ulcerogenesis model in rats were used. Isoorientin was shown to possess significant anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities at 15 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg doses, without inducing any apparent acute toxicity as well as gastric damage.

Hypoglycaemic activity of Gentiana olivieri and isolation of the active constituent through bioassay-directed fractionation techniques.

Hypoglycemic effect of Gentiana olivieri Griseb. (Gentianaceae) flowering herbs on oral administration were studied using in vivo models in normal, glucose-hyperglycemic and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Through in vivo bioassay-guided fractionation processes isoorientin, a known C-glycosylflavone, was isolated from the ethylacetate fraction by silica gel column chromatography as the main active ingredient from the plant.

Comparison of two methods for the management of appendicular mass in children.

Appendicitis is the most common surgical emergency in pediatric surgery. In the presence of an appendicular mass, surgical management can be difficult. We evaluate the results of appendix mass management both with immediate operation and conservative treatment over a period of 5 years.

Comparison of two different stool antigen tests for the primary diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in turkish patients with dyspepsia.

Aim: To assess the reliability of two different enzyme immunoassays in detecting the Helicobacter pylori status in stool specimens of Turkish patients with dyspepsia.

Materials And Methods: One hundred and fifty-one patients [74 with nonulcer dyspepsia (NUD), 64 with duodenal ulcer (DU) and 13 with gastric cancer] who were admitted to the endoscopy unit of Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy because of dyspepsia were enrolled in the study. Helicobacter pylori infection was confirmed in all patients by histology, rapid urease test and culture.

N-acetyl cysteine, L-cysteine, and beta-mercaptoethanol augment selenium-glutathione peroxidase activity in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient human erythrocytes.

In glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD)-deficient erythrocytes, failure to maintain normal levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) due to decreased NADPH regeneration in the hexose monophosphate pathway results in acute hemolytic anemia following exposure to oxidative insults, such as ingestion of Vicia fava beans or use of certain drugs. GSH is a source of protection against oxidative attack, used by the selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (Se-GSH-Px)/reductase (GR) system to detoxify hydrogen peroxide and organic peroxides, provided that sufficient GSH is made available. In this study, Se-GSH-Px activity was analyzed in G6PD-deficient patients in the presence of reducing agents such as N-Acetyl cysteine, L-cysteine, and beta-mercaptoethanol.

Diagnostic accuracy of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Objective: To correlate serum anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP) levels with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) subtypes and with an erosive disease course.

Methods: The study group comprised 122 children with JIA; 16 were evaluated during both active disease and remission. Nineteen children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 27 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 15 healthy children were also included in the study.

Hypercapnia via reduced rate and tidal volume contributes to lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury.

Appreciating that CO2 modifies the chemical reactivity of nitric oxide (NO)-derived inflammatory oxidants, we investigated whether hypercapnia would modulate pulmonary inflammatory responses. Rabbits (n = 72) were ventilated with approximately 7-ml/kg tidal volume for 6 hours. Animals were randomized to one of the following conditions: eucapnia (Pa(CO2) at approximately 35-40 mm Hg), eucapnia + lipopolysaccharide (LPS), eucapnia + LPS + inhaled NO (iNO delivered at approximately 20 ppm), hypercapnia (Pa(CO2) at approximately 60 mm Hg), hypercapnia + LPS, and hypercapnia + LPS + iNO.

[Adrenoleukodystrophy: single voxel MR spectroscopy findings (case report)].

Adrenoleukodystrophy is a rare genetic disorder. Histopathological features of this disorder include demyelination and axonal loss in white matter. We describe a six-year-old boy with significantly decreased N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA)/Creatin (Cr), increased Choline (Cho)/Cr and Myo-inositol (MI)/Cr in parieto-occipital white matter by MR spectroscopy.

The relationship between arthritis and human parvovirus B19 infection.

In order to evaluate the role of human parvovirus B19 in the etiopathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), synovial fluid and blood specimens were collected at 1-month intervals from 20 patients with early synovitis (ES) and 31 with RA. Blood specimens were also collected from 25 patients with SLE, 25 with osteoarthritis (OA) as the diseased control group, and 50 healthy blood donors (HBD) as the healthy control group. Detection of B19 IgM and B19 IgG were performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay from serum specimens, and B19 DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction from synovial fluid samples.

Magill forceps technique for removal of safety pins in upper esophagus: a preliminary report.

Objective: Foreign body ingestion is not an uncommon problem in children. Children can ingest various foreign objects. One of such objects is safety pin, which is not widely reported in the literature.

Continuity of cytokine activation in patients with familial Mediterranean fever.

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a recessively inherited inflammatory disorder, characterized by recurrent attacks of fever and polyserositis. It has been considered that miscellaneous cytokines take part in the pathogenesis of the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in patients with FMF.

Peripancreatic tuberculous lymphadenitis mimicking carcinoma: report of a case.

Peripancreatic tuberculous lymphadenitis is a rare clinical entity and it usually raises serious diagnostic problems. We report a case of a solitary abdominal tuberculoma. A 45-year old woman was admitted to hospital with obstructive jaundice.

Is there any relationship between Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection and juvenile idiopathic arthritis?

The role of Chlamydophila pneumoniae in the development and exacerbation of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) was investigated. Blood samples were taken from 60 JIA patients during an active disease period and for 4 weeks after. Synovial fluid samples were obtained from 20 of the 60 patients.

Do procalcitonin and C-reactive protein levels have a place in the diagnosis and follow-up of Helicobacter pylori infections?

The aims of this study were to determine the levels of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in Helicobacter pylori-positive (HP+) patients diagnosed with duodenal and gastric ulcer and to evaluate the correlation of PCT and CRP levels with other invasive and non-invasive diagnostic methods for determination of H. pylori eradication in post-treatment follow-up. Thirty-five HP+ patients with dyspepsia were included in this study.

Occupational prolonged organic solvent exposure in shoemakers: brain MR spectroscopy findings.

Our purpose was to investigate, by magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy, the metabolite changes in the brains of subjects in the shoemaking industry who had been chronically exposed to organic solvents. A total of 49 male subjects and 30 age-matched healthy volunteers underwent detailed neurological and psychiatric examinations. All subjects had long-echo [repetition time (TR) 2000 ms, echo time (TE) 136 ms] single-voxel MR spectroscopy.

Guided bone regeneration (GBR) on healing bone defects: a histological study in rabbits.

In this study, the effects of guided bone regeneration (GBR) on the healing of bone defects were evaluated. Resorbable membranes were placed in experimentally formed cavities in the right posterior tibia of 30 rabbits. Decalcified histological sections were evaluated using optical microscopy at 10, 20, and 30 days after GBR.

A rare complication of generalized edema in juvenile dermatomyositis: a report of one case.

Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the muscle, connective tissue, skin, gastrointestinal tract and small nerves. Periorbital and facial edema may also be associated. Although localized edema is a common feature of juvenile dermatomyositis, generalized edema has been reported rarely.

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis with fulminating course: follow-up magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) findings.

The fulminating form of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is an extremely rare condition. Imaging findings are usually not correlated with clinical staging. We describe a 4-year-old girl with severe neuronal loss, demyelination, and gliosis in subcortical white matter by magnetic resonance spectroscopic examination even though she was diagnosed as clinical stage II.