Cognitive assessment of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate cognitive performance for the first time in participants with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

Participants And Methods: In total, 70 participants with NAFLD and 73 age-matched and sex-matched healthy participants were enrolled in this prospective cross-sectional study. The diagnosis of NAFLD was made on the basis of abdominal ultrasonography findings.

The association between gallstone disease and plaque in the abdominopelvic arteries.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the atheromatous plaque, in the abdominopelvic arteries as a marker of cardiac risk in patients with or without gallstone disease (GD).

Materials And Methods: A total of 136 patients were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Forty-eight patients had GD and the remaining 88 patients did not.

Telbivudine attenuates gentamicin-induced kidney injury in rats.

Nephrotoxicity has been associated with nucleos(t)ide analogues other than telbivudine (LdT). This study investigated the potential effects of LdT and lamivudine (LAM) on renal function in an experimental rat model of gentamicin-induced acute nephrotoxicity. A total of 28 healthy Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into four experimental groups: negative control; positive control (PC); LdT; and LAM.

Serum Visfatin Levels in Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: Previous studies have suggested that adipokines play a role in inflammatory bowel disease by inducing proinflammatory cytokines, but it is uncertain whether visfatin is causally involved in ulcerative colitis (UC). We evaluated visfatin levels in patients who presented with UC flares before and after treatment.

Methods: In this cohort study, we assessed 31 patients with UC in the activation period and remission in the same patients after treatment, and a healthy control group, consisting of 29 persons, at a single academic medical centre between 2010 and 2013.

Effects of balanced propofol sedation on QT, corrected QT, and P-wave dispersion on upper endoscopy.

Objective: Combined sedation with propofol and benzodiazepines, known as balanced propofol sedation (BPS), was developed to increase patient comfort during endoscopy. However, the effects of BPS on P-wave dispersion (Pwd), QT interval, and corrected QT (QTc) interval after endoscopy have not been investigated.

Methods: The study population consisted of 40 patients with BPS and 42 without sedation who were scheduled to undergo upper endoscopy in this cross-sectional prospective study.

Red blood cell distribution width as a non-invasive marker for the assessment of inflammation in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Background/aims: The aim of this study was to assess the association between red cell distribution width and inflammation in biopsy proven non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Methodology: Fifty four subjects with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and thirty nine controls were enrolled for the study. Liver biopsy specimens were scored by using non-alcoholic fatty liver disease activity score by a single experienced liver pathologist.

Iliac arteriovenous fistula presenting with ascites.

Arteriovenous fistula presents rarely with ascites. Diagnosis, with an elusive clinical presentation, is often incidental or delayed. A 35-year-old woman presented with ascites and cardiac decompensation.

Association between liver fibrosis and coronary heart disease risk in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is being increasingly recognized as the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. It has been shown that NAFLD in adults is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Because of the limitations of liver biopsy, noninvasive scoring indexes such as the NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) were developed.

Circulating microRNAs in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Aim: To identify novel non-invasive biomarkers for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Methods: Twenty patients with histologically proven NAFLD and 20 controls were included. All NAFLD cases were scored using the NAFLD activity score.

Decreased serum vitamin D levels are associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy in a rural area of Turkey.

Data examining the association between vitamin D and diabetic peripheral neuropathy are limited. This study investigated the serum levels of vitamin D, vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP), and vitamin D receptor (VDR) in diabetics in the Yozgat region of Turkey, and assessed their relationships with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. 69 diabetic patients and 49 age- and sex-matched control subjects were enrolled in this clinical prospective study.

The Serum S100B Level as a Biomarker of Enteroglial Activation in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis.

Objective. Recent studies have demonstrated that enteric glial cells (EGC) participate in the homeostasis of the gastrointestinal tract. This study investigated whether enteroglial markers, including S100B protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), can serve as noninvasive indicators of EGC activation and disease activity in UC patients.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in patients with migraine.

Evidence suggests that migraine is associated with metabolic syndrome, which is also implicated in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Reported for the first time, we aimed to investigate the relationship between migraine and NAFLD in patients with migraine. A total of 90 consecutive migraine patients were enrolled in this cross-sectional study.

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in patients with familial Mediterranean fever.

Background: Blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (N/L) ratio is an indicator of the overall inflammatory status of the body, and an alteration in N/L ratio may be found in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). The aim of this study was to investigate the interrelationship between N/L ratio and FMF.

Methods: One hundred and fifteen patients and controls were enrolled in the study.

Do platelet indices have a role in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo?

Objectives: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a frequently encountered condition that can severely affect quality of life. Present study was undertaken to investigate whether the platelet (PLT) indices, including mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), and platelet crit (PCT), could serve as diagnostic tools in patients with BPPV.

Methods: Consecutive 45 BPPV patients and age- and sex-matched 40 control subjects were enrolled in this cross-sectional prospective study.

Peripartum genital tuberculosis presenting with ascites.

Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis may affect multiple sites within the body. The symptoms vary widely and diagnosis requires a high clinical suspicion. In rare cases, tuberculosis may be manifest in the genitalia, initially presenting as infertility.

Functional gastrointestinal disorders in patients with familial Mediterranean fever.

Aim: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive autoinflammatory disease characterised by recurrent episodes of fever and polyserositis. To date, insufficient data regarding the prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia (FD) have been reported in patients with FMF. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders in patients with FMF.

Prolonged Cholestatic Jaundice Associated With Flurbiprofen.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely consumed drugs throughout the world for pain relief. Although the adverse effects of NSAIDs to the liver are well known, flurbiprofen-induced liver cholestasis is extremely rare. Herein, we present a patient with prolonged icterus that is associated with the use of flurbiprofen without causing ductopenia.

S100B as a glial cell marker in diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Evidence suggests that acute and chronic hyperglycemia can cause oxidative stress in the peripheral nervous system which, in turn, can promote the development of diabetic neuropathy. Recent studies have found increased expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and S100B, both of which are indicators of glial reactivity, in the neural and retinal tissues of diabetic rats. For the first time in the literature, the serum levels of GFAP and S100B were assessed in patients with diabetes to evaluate the potential of these factors to serve as peripheral glial biomarkers of diabetes and to investigate their relationship to diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Noninvasive assessment of liver damage in chronic hepatitis B.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of the aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index (APRI) and neutrophil-lymphocyte (N/L) ratio to predict liver damage in chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

Methods: We analyzed 89 patients diagnosed with CHB by percutaneous liver biopsy and 43 healthy subjects. Liver biopsy materials were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Masson's trichrome.