The relationship between serum FGF-23 concentration and insulin resistance, prediabetes and dyslipidemia in obese children and adolescents.

Background Obesity is known to cause metabolic disturbances including insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and alters bone mineralization. The effects of obesity on fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23), which is important in bone mineralization, have not yet been clarified. Our aim was to investigate the association between FGF-23 concentration and obesity-associated dysmetabolism.

Disulfiram, as a candidate NF-κB and proteasome inhibitor, prevents endometriotic implant growing in a rat model of endometriosis.

Objective: Disulfiram (DSF) exerts its therapeutic effects through oxidative, proteasome, and nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-κB) pathways. The study was planned to test the impact of DSF on growing of endometriotic implants in rats with experimentally induced endometriosis.

Patients And Methods: Thirty rats were labeled as the control (n = 8), sham (n = 6), GnRH-agonist (n = 8) and the DSF (n = 8) groups.

Atorvastatin exerts anti-nociceptive activity and decreases serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and tumor necrosis factor-α in a rat endometriosis model.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of atorvastatin in the treatment of experimental endometriosis.

Methods: Endometriosis was induced in 24 female rats. 4 weeks after the procedure dimensions of the foci were recorded.

Nuclear transcription factor-kappa beta-dependent ultrastructural alterations within the placenta and systemic inflammatory activation in pregnant patients with hemolysis, elevated liver functions and low thrombocyte count (HELLP) syndrome: a case-control study.

Objective: Preeclampsia appears to be associated with a higher extent of inflammation than in uncomplicated pregnancies. We aimed to test whether this was the case in patients with hemolysis, elevated liver functions and low platelet count (HELLP) syndrome and to clarify the contribution of placental and systemic inflammatory variables in the development of this syndrome.

Materials And Methods: Thirty healthy pregnant women (control group) and 20 patients with HELLP syndrome (study group) were included in the study.

Amniotic fluid urocortin-1 concentrations for the prediction of preterm delivery.

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze whether urocortin-1 concentration in midtrimester amniotic fluid could serve as an indicative marker of preterm labor.

Material And Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted. Urocortin-1 concentrations in midtrimester amniotic fluid were measured in 22 pregnant women with preterm deliveries and 45 women who delivered at term using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Effect of ovarian stimulation with recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone, gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist and antagonists, on follicular fluid stem cell factor and serum urocortin 1 levels on the day of oocyte retrieval.

Purpose: To compare the serum and follicular fluid (FF) concentrations of stem cell factor (SCF) as well as the serum urocortin 1 (UCN1) concentration in gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist (GnRH-ant) and gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) protocols for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) in IVF patients.

Methods: Follicular fluids and blood samples of 42 infertile women undergoing COH for IVF-embryo transfer with either GnRH agonist (n = 22) or GnRH antagonist (n = 20) protocols from 2010 to 2011 were collected during oocyte retrieval. SCF concentrations of serum and FF were assessed by sandwich enzyme immunoassay using ELISA Kit for SCF kid.

Surgical removal of endometrioma decreases the NF-kB1 (p50/105) and NF-kB p65 (Rel A) expression in the eutopic endometrium during the implantation window.

We aimed to investigate whether the surgical removal of endometrioma alters the nuclear factor-kappa B1 (NF-kB1; p50/105) and NF-kB p65 (Rel A) expression in the eutopic endometrium of infertile women with endometrioma before and after laparoscopic removal of the ovarian endometrioma during the mid-secretory phase. Infertile women with endometrioma (n = 15) were enrolled. Infertile patients with nonendometriotic ovarian cyst (n = 10) and healthy fertile women (n = 10) were recruited as controls.

Longstanding skin ulcers due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a healthy man.

Cutaneous tuberculosis, a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, has a wide variety of clinical presentations and continues to be one of the most important dermatological diseases in developing countries.The sites of predilection are neck, supraclavicular region, axilla, and groin. Single or multiple cutaneous and subcutaneous nodules first appear and breakdown later resulting in undermined ulcers with a purulent discharge, sinuses, and disfiguring scars.

Prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum in pregnant women.

Background: Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum are important opportunistic pathogens implicated in urogenital infections and complicated pregnancy. We aimed to study the role of these pathogens in symptomatic and asymptomatic pregnant women and determine their clinical significance and antibiotic susceptibility.

Methods: One hundred pregnant women were included in the study, 50 symptomatic patients and 50 asymptomatic controls.

The role of ghrelin in weight gain and growth in epileptic children using valproate.

Ghrelin is a major hormone, regulating the energy balance of the body. Weight gain is a significant side effect of valproic acid, which has not been clearly identified pathogenetically. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of valproic acid on ghrelin and its potential effects on weight gain and growth.

Comparison of the Tzanck test and polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis of cutaneous herpes simplex and varicella zoster virus infections.

Background: Although the diagnosis of herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV) infections is usually made clinically, the Tzanck test, electron microscopy, viral culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and serologic tests can be utilized to verify the diagnosis.

Methods: We conducted a study on a total of 98 patients (77 patients with recurrent herpes simplex and 21 patients with herpes zoster) to evaluate the reliability and reproducibility of the Tzanck test in comparison with PCR.

Results: In herpes virus infections, the general positivity rates of the Tzanck test and PCR were 61.

The effect of Na+-K+ ATPase inhibition by ouabain on histamine release from human cutaneous mast cells.

Background: There are controversial reports on the effect of sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na+-K+ ATPase) inhibition on mast cell mediator release. Some of them have indicated that ouabain (strophanthin G), a specific Na+-K+ ATPase inhibitor, inhibited the release, whereas the others have shown that ouabain had no effect or even had a stimulatory effect on the mediator secretion. Most of these studies have utilized animal-derived mast cells.

[Investigation of serum IgG subclass distributions and anti-HBs response in healthy adults after hepatitis B vaccination].

The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution of serum total IgG (tIgG) subtypes before and after hepatitis B vaccinations in young adults and the relationship between anti-HBs titers and tIgG subtypes. Thirty-eight young adults (29 female, 9 male; age range: 18-20 years) who were the students of Malatya Health Care Profession High School were included in the study. Their anti-HBs and total anti-HBc markers' were negative.

The level of endothelin-1 and nitric oxide in patients with chronic viral hepatitis B and C and correlation with histopathological grading and staging.

Background And Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the serum levels of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide (NO) and to analyze the correlation of their levels with histopathological grading and staging of the liver in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and C (CHC).

Methods: Eighty-nine patients who were either HBsAg positive (45 CHB patients, 34 inactive carriers (IC)) or had CHC (10 patients) and 36 healthy volunteers as a control group were included in this study. Fifty patients from the CHB (n=43) or CHC (n=7) groups with elevated serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels underwent a liver biopsy.

Elevated plasma homocysteine levels in patients with isolated coronary artery ectasia.

Objective: Coronary artery ectasia is a variant of coronary atherosclerosis. Hyperhomocysteinemia has emerged as a major, independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The purposes of this study were to determine plasma hyperhomocysteine levels in patients with coronary artery ectasia, and to compare patients with coronary artery ectasia, coronary artery disease, and controls with normal coronary angiogram.

Relationship between cytokines and tumour markers in patients with chronic heart failure.

Aims: Serum levels of some cytokines and tumour markers are elevated in patients with chronic heart failure (HF). We aimed to investigate the relationship between circulating levels of cytokines and tumour markers in patients with HF.

Methods: We included 35 HF patients and 33 normal controls.

The prevalence and molecular typing of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains isolated from diarrheic stools in Malatya, Turkey.

This study was performed from June 2002 to November 2003 year in Malatya, eastern Turkey. Stools of 172 diarrheic patients and 90 healthy controls were analysed for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). Heat-labile (LT) and heat-stable (ST) toxins were investigated by passive latex agglutination and enzyme immunoassay, respectively.

Legionnaire's disease: a nosocomial outbreak in Turkey.

Six nosocomial cases of Legionella pneumophila occurred over a two-week period, with one further case being diagnosed retrospectively after 30 days. Strains isolated from the hospital water system were clonally related to a single sputum isolate. A sero-epidemiological investigation into legionella exposure amongst staff and inpatients was undertaken at the eight-year-old Inonu University Medical Centre in Turkey, which has 600 beds and central air conditioning.

Serum levels of soluble P-selectin are increased and associated with disease activity in patients with Behçet's syndrome.

Behçet's syndrome (BS) is a relapsing, chronic, inflammatory disease characterized by endothelial dysfunction, atherothromboembogenesis, and leukocytoclastic vasculitis with complex immunologic molecular interactions. Generalized derangements of the lymphocyte and neutrophil populations, activated monocytes, and increased PMNLs motility with upregulated cell surface molecules such as ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and E-selectin, which are found on the endothelial cells, leukocytes, and platelets, have all been demonstrated during the course of BS. Our aim is to investigate the association of serum concentrations of soluble P-selectin in patients with BS, and to evaluate whether disease activity has an effect on their blood levels.

The prevalence of fecal colonization of enterococci, the resistance of the isolates to ampicillin, vancomycin, and high-level aminoglycosides, and the clonal relationship among isolates.

The gastrointestinal tract carriage of enterococci was searched in 150 hospitalized patients and 100 outpatients, and clonal relatedness of the isolates and their resistance to ampicillin, vancomycin, and high-level streptomycin and gentamicin were investigated. A stool sample or rectal swab collected from each patient was inoculated into appropriate media within an hour. Enterococcus species were identified by using conventional biochemical tests, API-20 Strep assay, and BBL crystal kit.

Homocysteine, lipid profile, nitric oxide, vitamin B12, and folate values in patients with premature coronary artery disease and their children.

The plasma concentrations of homocysteine and lipoprotein A are independent risk factors for atherosclerotic vascular disease. Nitric oxide (NO) and folate values are also important in atherogenesis. The authors aimed to evaluate these parameters in patients having coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS) before 50 years of age and in their children.

Plasma endothelin-1, homocysteine and serum nitric oxide values in patients with left-to-right shunt.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of pulmonary blood flow and pulmonary hypertension on plasma endothelin-1, homocysteine and serum nitric oxide levels in patients with left-to-right shunt lesions with pulmonary hypertension and also with normal pulmonary arterial pressure.

Methods And Results: Plasma endothelin-1, homocysteine and nitric oxide levels were measured in 44 patients (Group 1) with left-to-right shunt and normal pulmonary arterial pressure (Qp/Qs: 2.1), 65 patients (Group 2) with left-to-right shunt and pulmonary hypertension (Qp/Qs: 2.

Vascular endothelial function and plasma homocysteine levels in Behcet's disease.

The purpose of the present study was to test endothelial function and to determine if plasma homocysteine levels are associated with endothelial injury in patients with Behcet's disease (BD). Flow-mediated dilation in patients with BD was smaller than that of control subjects (p = 0.001), and mean plasma homocysteine levels in patients with BD were significantly higher (p = 0.