Quality of life assessment in Turkish patients with schizophrenia and their relatives.

Quality of life of first-degree relatives living in the same household with patients having schizophrenia has not been sufficiently explored. 30 patients with schizophrenia (16 women, 14 men), diagnosed using DSM-IV criteria, 31 of their relatives (15 women, 16 men), and 34 control subjects (21 women, 13 men) were included in the study. The mean age of the patients, their relatives, and the control subects were 39.

Peripheral blood T cell expansions in patients with Behcet's disease.

Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic multisystemic inflammatory disorder characterized mainly by recurrent oral and genital aphthous ulcerations and uveitis. Etiology and pathogenesis of BD remain unknown. T cell receptor (TCR) V alpha/V beta gene product expression as well as Jbeta gene segment expression in peripheral blood of BD patients were analysed to investigate the possible role of T lymphocytes in the etiopathogenesis of BD.

History and development of Behçet's disease.

I have tried to outline the history and development of Behçet's disease, which was first described in 1937 by Hulûsi Behçet, a Turkish Professor of Dermatology. The clinical picture is a triple symptom complex consisting of relapsing aphthous ulcers in the mouth and over the genitalia, and hypopion iritis. I have divided the developmental history of Behçet's disease into three periods: pre-Behçet, Behçet, and post-Behçet.

Antibodies reactive with HIV-1 antigens in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Antibodies reactive with retroviral gag proteins have been detected in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We investigated the immune responses against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 1 antigens in the sera of 44 Turkish patients with SLE. Serum samples were tested by using two different commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kits and by Western blotting.

Immunohistology of skin pathergy reaction in Behçet's disease.

The immunophenotypic characteristics of the skin pathergy reaction (SPR) at 48 h in Behçet's disease (BD) were investigated in 12 patients with BD and in five controls. The findings in 11 positive and one negative SPR lesions of patients with BD were evaluated in comparison with those of normal adjacent skin and with the negative pathergy biopsies from the controls. Positive SPR biopsies showed variable epidermal thickening and cell vacuolization, as well as subcorneal pustule formation.

Comparative study of the skin pathergy test with blunt and sharp needles in Behçet's disease: confirmed specificity but decreased sensitivity with sharp needles.

Objective: To compare the specificity and sensitivity of the skin pathergy test performed with blunt and sharp needles in patients with Behçet's disease.

Methods: The skin pathergy test was performed using the simultaneous four needle prick method with blunt and sharp, thick and thin needles in 92 patients with Behçet's disease, 64 healthy controls, and 128 patients without Behçet's disease. The test was evaluated at 48 hours.

Overproduction of monocyte derived tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL) 6, IL-8 and increased neutrophil superoxide generation in Behçet's disease. A comparative study with familial Mediterranean fever and healthy subjects.

Objective: The etiopathogenesis of Behçet's disease (BD) has not yet been clarified but might involve immune dysfunction. As cytokines are involved in the regulation of immune responses and inflammatory reactions, we investigated whether they may play a role in the pathogenesis of BD.

Methods: We investigated spontaneous and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha), interleukin (IL) 1, IL-6, IL-8 and granulocyte monocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by peripheral blood monocytes from 21 patients with BD, 10 healthy controls and 10 patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), another chronic inflammatory disease.

Behçet's disease associated with amyloidosis in Turkey and in the world.

The association of amyloidosis with Behçet's disease has infrequently been reported in published works. Twenty four such cases have been observed in the world, of which 12 are from Turkey, including eight of ours. In all our eight cases renal biopsy showed amyloidosis of type AA.