The diagnosis of malaria and identification of plasmodium species by polymerase chain reaction in Turkey.

More than half of the world's population is exposed to malaria in approximately 100 countries. Rapid diagnosis and correct treatment of cases are the main objectives of control programs in malaria endemic areas. We have developed a PCR method to determine the presence of plasmodium DNA in blood.

[Detection of TT virus DNA by nested-PCR method in non A-E hepatitis cases].

TT virus (TTV) is the unique single stranded circular DNA virus, isolated from humans. Viral DNA is shown to be present not only in patients with hepatitis of unknown etiology but also in apparently healthy populations. TTV's role as a causative agent for non A-E hepatitis is widely questioned.

Rapid purification of pertussis toxin (PT) and filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) by cation-exchange chromatography.

Pertussis toxin (PT) and filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) were purified from culture supernatant of Bordetella pertussis Saadet and Tohama strains, using CM-Sepharose CL-6B cation-exchange chromatography. By the rapid purification method described here, both proteins were separately eluted from the same column in pure forms. The PT and FHA in the extract of culture supernatant were bounded to CM-Sepharose CL-6B cation-exchange column in 50 mM phosphate buffer containing 2 M urea (Buffer A), pH 6.

[Identification of Candida dubliniensis strains using heat tolerance tests, morphological characteristics and molecular methods].

Described in 1995, Candida dubliniensis is a novel Candida species closely related to Candida albicans due primarily to its ability to produce germ tube and chlamydospores. Given these phenotypic similarities between the two species, C. dubliniensis cannot be readily distinguished from Candida albicans by routine laboratory work-up.

[The rate of parasite detection over a 5-year period in the parasitology faculty laboratory at the Hacettepe University].

The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the rate of parasite positivity, in the samples which were sent to Parasitology Laboratory of Hacettepe University Medical School, between 1997-2001. A total of 58.150 specimens collected from subjects of whom 42% were adult and 58% were children, have been evaluated for the presence of parasites.

[Streptococcus pneumoniae strains resistance to macrolide, lincosamide, streptogramin, oxazolidinone and ketolide].

Over the last two decades, antimicrobial resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae has been detected at an increasing rate. There have been several reports of increasing rate of macrolide resistance among the penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae strains.

Rapid detection of rifampin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates by heteroduplex analysis and determination of rifamycin cross-resistance in rifampin-resistant isolates.

Direct heteroduplex analysis and a universal heteroduplex generator assay were performed to detect rifampin resistance rapidly in Turkish Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. Cross-resistance to rifapentine, rifabutin, and rifalazil was investigated. A relationship between specific mutations and resistance patterns, which can guide the choice of an appropriate therapeutic regimen for tuberculosis patients, was identified.