Evaluation of NAFLD fibrosis, FIB-4 and APRI score in diabetic patients receiving exenatide treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

There is a closely relationship between the development and progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and obesity and diabetes. NAFLD fibrosis scores should be routinely used to rule out patients with advanced fibrosis. High scores may help identify patients at higher risk of all causes andliverrelated morbidity and mortality.

Midkine level may be used as a noninvasive biomarker in Crohn’s disease.

Background/aim: Crohn’s disease (CD) is a kind of inflammatory bowel disease. Midkine (MDK) is an endogenous inflammatory marker. We aimed to investigate the relationship between MDK levels and inflammation and hence determine whether MDK can be used as a noninvasive biomarker in active CD.

Boceprevir-induced Herpes Zoster.

Herpes zoster is caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus (VZV), that attacks peripheral or cranial nerves and result in painful cutaneous inflammation. Boceprevir is a protease inhibitor which used as a new therapeutic agent for chronic hepatitis C infection. Boceprevir associated herpes zoster is extremely rare condition.

Liver fatty acid-binding protein is a diagnostic marker to detect liver injury due to chronic hepatitis C infection.

Background And Aims: Liver fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) is a small molecule. The aim of this study was to examine L-FABP levels and to detect its diagnostic value in chronic hepatitis C (CHC).

Methods: We studied 22 patients with CHC and 20 healthy control subjects.

Serum iron parameters in cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis: detailed description.

Background/aims: Serum iron parameters are affected by liver disorders. It is believed that the tests are unreliable in chronic liver disease, and systemic iron overload should be evaluated histologically in these patients. However, the effect of severity of chronic liver disease on serum iron parameters has not been evaluated.

Elevated adenosine deaminase levels in celiac disease.

Celiac disease (CD) is a genetically based chronic inflammatory disorder of the small bowel induced by the dietary gluten and possibly other environmental cofactors. The objective of this study was to investigate the relation of adenosine deaminase (ADA), a cytoplasmic enzyme involved in the catabolism of purine bases, as an index of altered immune response, with adult CD patients. ADA has been shown to increase in several inflammatory conditions, but there is no literature data indicating an alteration in CD.

Effects of pegylated interferon α on fibrinolytic parameters in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Interferon (IFN) interacts with endothelial cells and modulates the functions of these cells. In our study, we aimed to determine the effects of treatment with pegylated IFN-α (peg-IFN-α) on fibrinolytic parameters in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Fifteen patients with chronic hepatitis C were treated with peg-IFN-α once per week plus daily oral ribavirin.

Natural anticoagulant protein levels in Turkish patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Thromboembolism is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to investigate common thrombophilic markers in patients with IBD and to search for a relation between these predisposing factors and activity of disease. Seventy-four patients with ulcerative colitis, 22 patients with Crohn's disease and 20 healthy volunteers were enrolled into the study.

Do scattered white spots in the duodenum mark a specific gastrointestinal pathology?

Objective: To discover whether scattered white spots (SWS) in the duodenum are related to a specific kind of disease. We also scrutinized other upper endoscopic findings which might be associated with SWS.

Methods: Among the patients who were admitted for upper gastrointestinal system endoscopy, those having the endoscopic appearance of SWS in duodenum were enrolled in this study.

Serum α-fetoprotein levels in liver steatosis.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common disorder and becoming a leading cause of cirrhosis in the western world. The monitoring of the disease is challenging and the prognostic importance of α-fetoprotein (AFP) level elevation in NAFLD remains uncertain.

Methods: Eighty-four patients were evaluated in the study.

Plasma transforming growth factor-beta1 level in inflammatory bowel disease.

Background/aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate plasma transforming growth factor-B1 concentration in patients with inflammatory bowel disease at different stages of disease activation and to compare these values with those of healthy controls.

Methods: A total of 70 patients (31 women) evaluated in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinics of TUrkiye YUksek Ihtisas Hospital, Gastroenterology Department, and 20 healthy controls (10 women) were enrolled in the study. Serum samples were obtained from 40 patients with ulcerative colitis (female/male: 18/22, mean age: 41.

Clinical features of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in Turkey.

Background And Aims: This study is aimed at determining the clinical and socio-demographic characteristics of Turkish patients with inflammatory bowel disease who have been treated in a tertiary referral center.

Patients And Methods: The study was conducted between 1993 and 2007 at Ankara Yuksek Ihtisas Hospital, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinics. The clinical and epidemiologic data from this clinic were gathered and analysed.

Preoperative detection of insulinomas: two case reports.

Background: Insulinoma is the most common endocrine tumor of the pancreas. Accurate preoperative detection and localization of insulinomas is essential for the appropriate selection of candidates for surgery. We present two cases with benign pancreatic insulinoma.

Red cell distribution width for assessment of activity of inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Impaired iron absorption or increased loss of iron was found to correlate with disease activity and markers of inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Red cell distribution width (RDW) could be a reliable index of anisocytosis with the highest sensitivity to iron deficiency.

Aim: The importance of RDW in assessment of IBD disease activity is unknown.

Moxifloxacine plus amoxicillin and ranitidine bismuth citrate or esomeprazole triple therapies for Helicobacter pylori infection.

Up to 20% of patients, or even more, will fail to obtain eradication after a standard triple therapy. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of moxifloxacine-containing regimens in the first-line treatment of Helicobacter pylori. One hundred and twenty H.

Homocysteine and fibrinogen changes with L-thyroxine in subclinical hypothyroid patients.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate plasma total homocysteine (Hcys) and serum fibrinogen concentrations in subclinical hypothyroid (SH) and overt hypothyroid patients before and after L-thyroxine (LT4) replacement and to compare them in euthyroid subjects. Fifteen SH and 20 hypothyroid premenopausal women were recruited in the study. We measured fasting plasma levels of Hcys and serum levels of free thyroxine (fT4), free triiodothyronine (fT3), thyrotropin (TSH), folate, vitamin B12, fibrinogen, renal functions, and lipid profiles in patients with SH and overt hypothyroid patients before and after LT4 treatment.

Chronic constipation as a causative factor for development of varicocele in men: a prospective ultrasonographic study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the role of chronic constipation in the etiopathogenesis of varicocele in men.

Methods: In this prospective study, group 1 included 25 male patients who had symptoms of chronic constipation for a mean duration +/- SD of 17.0 +/- 20.

Brucella glomerulonephritis: case report and review of the literature.

The authors present the case of a 17-year-old shepherd who was diagnosed with diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis and diffuse tubulointerstitial nephritis during the course of Brucella infection. The pathogenesis and the mechanism of renal involvement in brucellosis is discussed in light of the pertinent literature.