Development of pseudotyped VSV-SARS-CoV-2 spike variants for the assessment of neutralizing antibodies.

Serological studies with pseudotyped viruses offer a safer alternative to live SARS-CoV-2 in evaluating neutralizing antibodies, enabling research in standard labs. The SARS-CoV-2 Spike pseudotyped vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) pseudoviruses were generated using Spike of Wuhan strain and two variants (B.1.

Evaluation of the Diagnostic Performance of a SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A/B Combo Rapid Antigen Test in Respiratory Samples.

This study aimed to evaluate the performance characteristics of a rapid antigen test developed to detect SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), influenza A virus (IAV), and influenza B virus (IBV) (flu) compared with those of the real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) method. One hundred SARS-CoV-2, one hundred IAV, and twenty-four IBV patients whose diagnoses were confirmed by clinical and laboratory methods were included in the patient group. Seventy-six patients, who were negative for all respiratory tract viruses, were included as the control group.

One-Year Post-Vaccination Longitudinal Follow-Up of Quantitative SARS-CoV-2 Anti-Spike Total Antibodies in Health Care Professionals and Evaluation of Correlation with Surrogate Neutralization Test.

Numerous vaccines have been generated to decrease the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19. This study aims to evaluate the immunogenicity of the heterologous boosts by BioNTech against homologous boosts by CoronaVac at three-month intervals in two health care worker (HCW) cohorts, with or without prior COVID-19, for one year post-vaccination. This is a prospective cohort study in which the humoral responses of 386 HCWs were followed-up longitudinally in six main groups according to their previous COVID-19 exposure and vaccination status.

Novel SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants in İstanbul; Rapid Preponderance of BA.2 and BA.5.

Objective: In Turkey, the fourth wave of SARS-CoV-2 started in December 2021 and peaked in mid-January 2022. Afterward, peaks were seen in the number of COVID-19 cases because of Omicron BA.2 and BA.

Higher antibody responses after mRNA-based vaccine compared to inactivated vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in Behcet's syndrome.

There are limited data about humoral response to vaccine in Behçet's syndrome (BS). We compared SARS-CoV-2 antibody response after two doses of inactivated (Sinovac/CoronaVac) or mRNA (Pfizer/BioNTech) vaccines in patients with BS and healthy controls (HCs). We studied 166 (92M/74F) patients with BS (mean age: 42.

Development of novel spectroscopic and machine learning methods for the measurement of periodic changes in COVID-19 antibody level.

In this research, blood samples of 47 patients infected by COVID were analyzed. The samples were taken on the 1st, 3rd and 6th month after the detection of COVID infection. Total antibody levels were measured against the SARS-CoV-2 N antigen and surrogate virus neutralization by serological methods.

[Evaluation of the Diagnostic Performance of SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Tests in COVID-19 Patients].

The gold standard in the definitive diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) due to their high sensitivity and specificity in detecting viral ribonucleic acid. However, while leaving two years behind in the pandemic, resources have come to the point of exhaustion in terms of both the economy and the manpower working in the field of health services. Therefore, the need for rapid, simple and accurate tests to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection continues.

Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and Neutralizing Antibody Levels in Patients with Past COVID-19 Infection: A Longitudinal Study.

Background: Monitoring the longevity of immunoglobulin G (IgG) responses following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections is vital to understanding the role of antibodies in preventing infection.

Aims: To determine the quantitative IgG responses specific to the Spike-S1 (S1) receptor-binding domain (S1/RBD) region of the virus in serum samples taken between 4 weeks and 7 months after polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positivity in patients who are diagnosed with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).

Study Design: A longitudinal study.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Upper Respiratory Swap Samples by Pooling Method.

Background: Widespread and effective use of molecular diagnostic tests is indispensable for protecting public health and containing the severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. More than 1 year into the pandemic, as resources have reached a point of depletion, grouping samples in pools of certain sizes appears to be a reasonable method to reduce both the costs and the processing time without necessitating additional training, equipment, or materials.

Aims: To assess whether the pooling strategy that was used in past outbreaks and is used in blood tests prior to transfusion for screening large populations can also be used in SARS CoV-2 tests.

Inactive SARS-CoV-2 vaccine generates high antibody responses in healthcare workers with and without prior infection.

Background And Objectives: Healthcare workers (HCWs) were among the first groups to be vaccinated in Turkey. The data to be obtained by the vaccination of HCWs would guide wide spread vaccination programs.

Materials And Methods: The study included 330 HCWs working at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Hospital and vaccinated with inactive CoronaVac (Sinovac Life Sciences, China) SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in two doses (28 days apart).

[Evaluation of the Diagnostic Performance of Different Principles of SARS-CoV-2 Commercial Antibody Tests in COVID-19 Patients].

Following the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS CoV-2) and using only PCR for diagnosis, antibody tests have been rapidly developed by various commercial companies. There are differences between the sensitivity and specificity of these tests due to the usage of different viral target proteins and antibody subclasses. In order to evaluate the diagnostic use of these tests, we aimed to examine the diagnostic performance, especially sensitivity and specificity, of SARS-CoV-2 IgM, IgA and IgG tests of various companies (Abbott, Roche, Euroimmun, Dia.

[Investigation of Regulatory T Cells and Secreted Immunomodulatory Cytokine IL-10 Levels in Patients with Hepatitis B].

Hepatitis B infection is still among the most important public health problems worldwide, even great improvements have been made in the treatment strategies. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) replicates itself by entering the liver cells and simultaneously with the antigen release, many antagonistic immune responses are induced by the regulatory cells including T cell (Treg), T helper 17 (Th17), T helper 1 (Th1) and T helper 2 (Th2) cells. The main function of Treg cells is to develop an appropriate immune response against infection and to suppress the immune response if it is not required.

Influence of ozone application in the stepwise excavation of primary molars: a randomized clinical trial.

Objectives: The aim of this randomized, controlled, three-arm parallel-group, double-blinded clinical trial was to investigate the clinical and microbiological effects of the ozone application in stepwise excavation of primary molars.

Materials And Methods: This study was conducted in in vivo conditions with 105 lower primary molars that had deep caries lesions. The teeth were randomly divided into three groups: (I) control group, conventional stepwise excavation with no disinfectants; (II) CHX (positive control) group, 2% chlorhexidine digluconate; and (III) experimental group, ozone application.

Effectiveness of the ozone application in two-visit indirect pulp therapy of permanent molars with deep carious lesion: a randomized clinical trial.

Objectives: The aim of this randomized, three-arm parallel, single-blinded clinical trial was to evaluate the clinical and microbiological effectiveness of the ozone application in two-visit indirect pulp therapy.

Materials And Methods: One hundred five lower first molar teeth with deep caries lesion were included and randomly assigned three groups to apply the two-visit indirect pulp therapy. Treatment procedure was applied without any disinfectant (control), with 60-s 2% chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX) or 60-s ozone application.