Association of calcium antagonist use with lower hemoglobin levels in hemodialysis patients.

Aim: Objective of the present study was to investigate whether calcium antagonist use is associated with lower hemoglobin levels and/or higher erythropoiesis stimulating agent (ESA) requirement in hemodialysis patients.

Methods: A total of 130 adult hemodialysis patients were classified into two groups based on calcium antagonist usage for a period of at least 3 months as calcium antagonist users and calcium antagonist non-users. The two groups were compared cross-sectionally in a retrospective manner in terms of demographics, chronic kidney disease aetiologies, Charlson's Comorbidty Index, blood pressure, type of dialysis access, interdialytic body weight gain, cardiothoracic index, complete blood count, biochemistry, regular medication use and consumption of ESA.

GAS6 intron 8 c.834 + 7G > A gene polymorphism in diabetic nephropathy.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND - AIM: In animal experiments, growth arrest-specific 6 (Gas6) protein plays a key role in the development of mesangial cell and glomerular hypertrophy in the early phase of diabetic nephropathy, and diabetic nephropathy is prevented by warfarin-induced inhibition of GAS6 protein. It was shown that GAS6 intron 8 c.834 + 7G > A polymorphism is protective against type 2 diabetes mellitus, and AA genotype is associated with higher blood levels of GAS6 protein.

Association of calcium channel blocker use with lower hemoglobin levels in chronic kidney disease.

Aim: To search whether calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are associated with lower hemoglobin levels in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients who are not on renal replacement therapy (RRT), vitamin D and anti-anemic treatment.

Patients And Methods: CKD patients were classified into two groups. Patients on CCBs treatment (103 patients) and patients not using CCBs (104 patients) were compared cross-sectionally regarding clinical findings, complete blood count (CBC), biochemistry and regular medication use.

Risk of physical assault against school educators with histories of occupational and other violence: a case-control study.

A case-control study design was used to investigate risks of work-related physical assault (PA) associated with a history of violent victimization among educators. A total of 6,469 state-licensed educators (Kindergarten - Grade 12) worked in the previous 12~months and were eligible to participate. Exposure data were collected from cases (reporting a PA event in previous 12 months, n=290) for the month before PA, and from controls (no work-related PA in previous 12 months; n=867) for a randomly selected working month.

Splenomegaly in primary antiphospholipid syndrome without accompanying portal hypertension or comorbidity.

Objective: To demonstrate the presence of splenomegaly in primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS) patients without accompanying portal hypertension or comorbidity.

Methods: Twelve patients (7 women) aged 23-65 years followed upon the diagnosis of PAPS were enrolled in the study. We documented the identified causes of splenomegaly in patients with PAPS, and searched for the potential causes of splenomegaly in patients with spleen enlargement.