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Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses with various clinical symptoms. Although meningitis is not so prevalent, it remains the most serious contagious disease. The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of gene expressions of nitric oxide synthases (NOS) on meningitis patients. Using samples taken from 61 meningitis patients, inducible NOS, endothelial NOS (eNOS), and neuronal NOS mRNA levels were assessed in both blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A control group was constructed of 64 healthy persons. The gene expression analysis was made using real-time polymerase chain reaction method. There was no neuronal NOS expression in either group, whereas inducible NOS expression was detected in 40 blood samples and 12 CSF samples from meningitis patients. However, there were no marked differences between groups (p=0.5104). eNOS expression was detected in all blood and CSF samples, which was markedly higher in patients (p=0.0367). Because the increase in eNOS expression increases NO production, eNOS expression in meningitis patients is of great importance. This increase of eNOS in meningitis patients compared with healthy subjects may lead to novel treatments for reducing the severity of the disease.

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is a useful tool in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules. However, some limitations exist as approximately 25% of the cases cannot be distinguished with this method. Therefore, identification of novel diagnostic markers is very important in improving the papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) diagnosis. microRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory RNA molecules that have been involved in a variety of biological processes, including tumorigenesis. Moreover, determination of miRNAs with prognostic, diagnostic, and therapeutic potential is of a great interest today.In the present study, we evaluated the expression level of miR-30a-5p in serum and FNAB samples of PTC patients.A total of 60 cases were included in the study, with the patients subdivided into four groups; benign, atypical cells of undetermined significance (ACUS), malignant group, including Hurthle cell PTC (HC-PTC), and malignant without Hurthle cell PTC (non-HC-PTC). Peripheral blood and FNAB samples of the cases were collected. The serum and FNAB expression levels of miR-30a-5p among the groups were compared. The miR-30a-5p expression level was determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).According to both pre- and postoperative pathological diagnosis, miR-30a-5p levels were significantly increased in both serum and FNAB samples of HC-PTC and non-HC-PTC groups compared to other groups. This increase was more evident in the non-HC-PTC group (p=0.0245 for FNAB, p=0.0166 for serum).The results of this study suggest that miR-30a-5p might be a novel diagnostic marker candidate in PTC. Further studies are required to investigate this possibility.

Cytokine-induced expression of suppressors of cytokine signalling (SOCS) molecules is important for the negative feedback control of STAT-dependent cytokine signalling. The aim of this study was to investigate possible association between the promoter region polymorphisms of the SOCS3 gene and metastatic colorectal carcinoma in a Turkish population. The DNA samples obtained from 103 patients and 109 healthy individuals were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction/single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP), and nucleotide sequence analysis. Five sets of primers designed for the SOCS3 gene were used, and we did not detect significant differences in genotype frequencies for any of these polymorphisms between the study groups. Only the S3P1 region showed polymorphism and displayed three (1,2,4, 2,3,4 and 2,4) genotypes. Interestingly, 2,3,4 genotype was observed in 3 patients, but not in controls. Moreover, the sequence analysis revealed that the nucleotides positioned at -914 and -1031 nt had the polymorphisms. Nucleotide sequence analysis of SSCP band 1 and band 3 revealed C-914A (rs12953258) and T-1031C (rs111033850) polymorphisms, respectively. The T-1031C polymorphism lies in the border of the STAT-binding site. The T-1031C polymorphism (rs111033850) is a newly identified single nucleotide polymorphism with this study, and we submitted this to the NCBI database. However, these results suggested that there is no marked association between SOCS3 gene promoter region polymorphisms and the risk of developing metastatic colorectal cancer.

Meningitis is an inflammatory disease caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses with various clinical symptoms. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels have been shown to be increased in blood or cerebrospinal fluid of patients with meningitis, but the association of IL-10 gene promoter polymorphisms or gene expression with meningitis has not been evaluated. IL-10 gene promoter polymorphisms A-592C, T-819C, and A-1082G in 61 patients with meningitis and 64 healthy controls were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. mRNA from blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples was extracted, and real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed for IL-10 gene expression. No statistically significant differences were found in the allele and genotypic frequencies between patients and control subjects. Expression of IL-10 in meningitis at mRNA levels was detected in the infiltrating leukocytes. IL-10 gene expression in blood from patients was significantly higher than the control group. Our results suggest that there was no association between promoter polymorphisms of IL-10 and meningitis, but a significant increase of IL-10 gene expression was present in patients with meningitis.