Toll-Like Receptors 2 and 4 Polymorphisms in Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex disorder with multifactorial etiology, caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Innate immunity appears to play a key role in the pathogenesis of AMD. The purpose of this study was to determine whether common variation in the human toll-like receptors (TLRs) 2 and 4 alters the risk of AMD.

Intravitreal ranibizumab therapy for retinal arterial macroaneurysm.

Aim: To evaluate the anatomic and functional results of intravitreal ranibizumab injection for treatment of symptomatic retinal arterial macroaneurysm (RAM).

Materials And Methods: A series of seven patients (seven eyes) who had been diagnosed with symptomatic RAM were assessed by comprehensive ophthalmologic examination, fluorescein angiography (FA), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA). All patients were treated by intravitreal ranibizumab injection within one week of diagnosis and retreated upon evidence of persistent serous detachment or hemorrhage involving the macula on OCT.

Nebivolol Ameliorates Hepatic Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury on Liver But Not on Distant Organs.

Introduction: Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury may occur after large tumor resection and liver transplantation procedures. Nitric oxide was shown to have protective effects on ischemia/reperfusion injury. Nebivolol is a compound that has been reported to improve nitric oxide release.

Renal Transplantation With Size-Matched End-to-End Venous Anastomosis in Children With Inferior Vena Cava Thrombosis.

Due to surgical technical difficulties, inferior vena cava (VCI) thrombosis is contraindicated for renal transplantation in pediatric patients. Of 287 pediatric renal transplantations, 3 patients (9, 12, and 19 kg, respectively) with end-stage renal failure, who had VCI thrombosis at the level of renal vein, underwent end-to-end anastomosis to the proximal aspect of VCI for venous drainage. The latest creatinine values of the patients, who were in the postoperative 56(th), 28(th), and 14(th) months, were 0.

Quantitative analysis of BKV-specific CD4+ T cells before and after kidney transplantation.

Background: BK virus (BKV) is the main infectious cause of renal allograft dysfunction. Although recent studies showed an inverse correlation between BKV-specific T-cell responses and viral load after transplantation, the importance of pre-transplant response in the process of virus reactivation has only been studied once. In this study, we aimed to determine whether pre-transplant CD4+ T-cell response can be used for prediction of BKV reactivation and BKV nephropathy (BKVN), by a method that can practically be used in routine patient monitoring.

Intravenous dexketoprofen vs placebo for migraine attack in the emergency department: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Objective: Migraine is a leading headache etiology that frequently presents to the emergency department (ED). In the present study, we aimed to determine the efficacy of dexketoprofen in aborting migraine headaches in the ED.

Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blind study was conducted in an ED of a tertiary care hospital using allocation concealment.

Effect of harmless acute pancreatitis score, red cell distribution width and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio on the mortality of patients with nontraumatic acute pancreatitis at the emergency department.

Background: Harmless acute pancreatitis score (HAPS), neutrophile/lymphocyte ratio and red blood cell distribution width (RDW) are used to determine the early prognosis of patients diagnosed with nontraumatic acute pancreatitis in the emergency department (ED).

Methods: Patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis (K 85.9) in the ED according to the ICD10 coding during one year were included in the study.

Soluble TRAIL levels decreased in chronic hepatitis C treatment with pegylated interferon α plus ribavirin: association with viral responses.

The molecular mechanisms and pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection are unclear. Innate immune cells such as natural killer (NK) cells and dendritic cells are responsible from molecular mechanism of CHC. NK cell cytotoxicity such as TRAIL expression is important pathway for viral clearance.

Clinical analysis of emergency peripartum hysterectomies in a tertiary center.

Objective: To investigate the incidence, indications, complications, and risk factors associated with increased mortality and morbidity of emergency peripartum hysterectomy (EPH).

Materials And Methods: The authors retrospectively analyzed 48 cases of EPH performed within six-year interval at Ondokuz Mayis University Hospital. EPH was defined as the operation performed for life-threatening hemorrhage which could not be controlled with conservative treatment modalities within 24 hours of a delivery.

Brain malformations associated with Knobloch syndrome--review of literature, expanding clinical spectrum, and identification of novel mutations.

Background: Knobloch syndrome is a rare, autosomal recessive, developmental disorder characterized by stereotyped ocular abnormalities with or without occipital skull deformities (encephalocele, bone defects, and cutis aplasia). Although there is clear heterogeneity in clinical presentation, central nervous system malformations, aside from the characteristic encephalocele, have not typically been considered a component of the disease phenotype.

Methods: Four patients originally presented for genetic evaluation of symptomatic structural brain malformations.

Bleomycin-induced trans lipid formation in cell membranes and in liposome models.

Cell cultures of NTera-2 cells incubated with bleomycin and liposomes as biomimetic models of cell membranes were used for examining some novel aspects of drug-metal induced reactivity with unsaturated lipids under oxidative conditions. In cell cultures, bleomycin was found for the first time to cause the formation of trans fatty acids. The chemical basis of this transformation was ascertained by liposome experiments, using bleomycin-iron complexes in the presence of thiol as a reducing agent that by incubation at 37 °C gave rise to the thiyl radical-catalysed double bond isomerisation of membrane phospholipids.

Unfolded protein response prevents blastocyst formation during preimplantation embryo development in vitro.

Objective: To study the effect of increased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress as a major nongenomic mechanism for arrested blastocyst development.

Design: Cell and animal study.

Setting: The Ohio State University and Yale University.

Defect closure with "8-shaped crisscross tensile suture" technique.

Background: Sutures and suturing techniques compose the basis of the surgery. Although many surgical methods such as the skin grafts or flaps has been described for the closure of large defects, proper primary suturing may sometimes yield very successful results and decrease the need of complicated procedures. In this article, a new combined skin-subcutaneous tissue suturing technique called as "8-shaped crisscross tensile suture (8CTS)" designed for the closure of large skin defects is presented.

Epidural capillary hemangioma: A review of the literature.

Hemangiomas in the spinal epidural area are very rare lesions, and most of these lesions are of the cavernous type. Only seven cases of capillary hemangiomas have been reported in the English literature, and all of these cases occurred in adulthood. Here, we report on a 17-month-old girl who presented with an inability to walk.

Bleomycin induced sensitivity to TRAIL/Apo-2L-mediated apoptosis in human seminomatous testicular cancer cells is correlated with upregulation of death receptors.

The most common solid tumor is testicular cancer among young men. Bleomycin is an antitumor antibiotic used for the therapy of testicular cancer. TRAIL is a proapoptotic cytokine that qualified as an apoptosis inducer in cancer cells.

Mercury poisoning as a cause of intracranial hypertension.

Mercury poisoning is a rare but fatal toxicologic emergency. Neurologic manifestations involving the central nervous system are seen usually with chronic mercury intoxication. The most commonly seen complaints are headache, tremor, impaired cognitive skills, weakness, muscle atrophy, and paresthesia.

A pilot study investigating early postoperative changes of plasma polyunsaturated fatty acids after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Background: This study aimed to determine early postoperative changes of plasma polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).

Methods: Ten obese patients (mean BMI: 51.10 ± 11.

What is the optimal treatment in clinical stage T3N0M0 rectal cancer?

Purpose: Some previous studies suggested that certain rectal cancer patients with stage T3N0 and favorable features may be adequately treated with surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. However, the optimal management of clinical (c) T3N0 rectal adenocarcinoma based on preoperative imaging is unclear. In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency of lymph node metastases in patients clinically staged as T3N0 rectal adenocarcinoma following preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CTR).

Differences in the gut microbiota of healthy children and those with type 1 diabetes.

Background: Intestinal barriers, intestinal flora, and mucosal immunity are the main factors responsible for the development of various allergic and autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the intestinal flora of children and the presence of type 1 diabetes, and to determine if gut microbiota could partly explain the etiology of the disease.

Methods: Fecal flora analysis was done using quantitative cultures on selective and non-selective media with different thermal and atmospheric conditions for bacterial and fungal growth.

Hyperuricemia in pediatric renal transplant recipients.

Objectives: We sought to evaluate the prevalence and confounding clinical variables of hyperuricemia in pediatric kidney transplant patients.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the medical records of 151 pediatric renal transplant recipients who received their grafts at Akdeniz University Medical Faculty in Antalya, Turkey, with a follow-up longer than 6 months. This retrospective, single-center study included 117 pediatric renal transplant recipients, after we had excluded the patients with changes in immunosuppressive treatment and graft loss, who were receiving therapy with allopurinol and furosemide.

Investigation of endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and the association with diastolic dysfunction.

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate endothelial dysfunction (ED) and arterial stiffness (AS) and determine the association with diastolic dysfunction in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods: A total of 42 patients without diabetic complications (mean age: 13.21 years) and 40 healthy (mean age: 13.

Relation of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio with GRACE risk score to in-hospital cardiac events in patients with ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction.

In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score in patients with ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI). We analyzed 101 consecutive patients with STEMI. Patients were divided into 3 groups by use of GRACE risk score.

Circulating endothelial cells in pediatric renal transplant recipients.

Background: An increase in the number of circulating endothelial cells (CEC) indicates endothelial damage and the risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of our study was to investigate the association of CEC with various clinical parameters in pediatric renal transplant recipients.

Methods: CEC, defined as CD45(-)CD146(+), were enumerated by flow cytometry from the peripheral blood of 50 pediatric renal transplant recipients and 20 healthy controls.