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OBJECTIVE To determine the difference in serum Elabela level in hypertensive patients with and without nephropathy compared to the healthy control group. Study Desing: Cross-sectional descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Firat University Medical School, Elazig, Turkey between December 2018 and November 2020. METHODOLOGY The cross-sectional descriptive study consisted of 37 patients with hypertensive nephropathy (group 3), 50 hypertensive patients without nephropathy (group 2), and 50 healthy controls (group 1). Hypertensive nephropathy was defined as serum creatinine ≥1.8 mg / dl or GFR

Backround: Elabela (ELA) is a hormone that is secreted at high levels in the kidneys of a healthy adult. This study aims to investigate whether serum ELA levels of patients with Type 2 Diabetes vary with the severity of renal damage. Methods: Our study included 50 healthy control subjects and 100 diabetic patients, who were categorized into groups based on urine albumin/creatinine ratios (ACR). Patients included in the study were assigned to four groups: Group 1 (healthy control), Group 2 (ACR300 mg/g normal or high serum creatinine). Physical examination findings, demographic characteristics of the study group were recorded, and serum ELA levels and other laboratory parameters were assessed using appropriate methods. Results: The results of the study indicated that ELA levels determined in healthy individuals gradually decreased through stages of normal albuminuria, microalbuminuria, and macroalbuminuria. Moreover, ELA had a significant negative corre- lation with LDL-C (r=-0.201, p=0.014), glucose (r=-0.437, P

Introduction: Meteorin-like (Metrnl), also known as subfatin, is a recently discovered adipokine with a favourable effect on insulin sensitivity. Studies have shown lower Metrnl levels in obese patients. However, data on its circulating levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients are contradictory. This study aims to evaluate serum Metrnl levels in T2DM patients and determine the relationship between serum Metrnl levels and insulin resistance in these patients. Material and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 150 participants. The study was carried out between June 2019 and December 2019 at the internal medicine outpatient clinic of a tertiary university hospital. The participants were divided into three groups: group 1 (control group, n = 50), group 2 (newly diagnosed T2DM, n = 50), and group 3 (long-standing diagnosed T2DM, n = 50). An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the serum levels of Subfatin (Metrnl), and the correlations of Metrnl level with anthropometric parameters, HOMA index, and biochemical measurements were assessed. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the gender (p = 0.468) and age (p = 0.067) characteristics of the three groups. The Metrnl (subfatin) levels of the participants were as follows: control group – 20.05 (1.56–103.78); newly diagnosed T2DM group – 2.62 (1.25–103.78); and long-standing diagnosed T2DM group – 2.01 (0.80–19.84) pg/mL. The Metrnl (subfatin) levels of the participants in the control group were higher than in the participants in the newly diagnosed T2DM and long-standing diagnosed T2DM groups (p < 0.001). Subfatin demonstrated a negative correlation with insulin and HOMA-IR in the control group and long-standing diagnosed T2DM group. Conclusions: The subfatin level was found to be higher in the healthy control group than in both diabetic patient groups. Subfatin level showed negative correlation with both insulin level and HOMA index. There was a relationship between subfatin and insulin resistance. Low levels of subfatin in the diabetic patient groups may play a role in the pathogenesis of T2DM by increasing insulin resistance.

Aim: Hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are important health problems that threaten human health. Health care workers are under a major risk for infectious diseases transmitted by blood. Every year more than 35 million health workers in the world, are exposed to injury with contaminated medical devices. Injury with infected cases poses a risk to the health staff. In this study we aimed to investigate the seroprevalences of HBV, HCV and HIV among healthcare workers in Viransehir State Hospital. Material and Method: Serum samples of healthcare workers for HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HCV and anti-HIV markers were measured by ELISA method based on the method of chemiluminescent immunoassay. Results: In a total 247 volunteers were included in the study in which 144 of them were male and 103 female. Mean age was 28.2±7.36. They were grouped according to specialties; 115 nurse/midwife/ health officer, 24 technician, 12 laboratory assistant/biolog, 53 cleaning staff, 35 security personel and 8 cafeteria staff . We found no positivity for anti-HCV ve anti-HIV among health care workers whereas HBsAg 0.8% and anti-HBs was 79.8% positive. Conclusion: Healthcare workers are under risk for HBV, HCV and HIV infections thus this stuff must periodically undergo a check-up, and those who are not immunized yet must be vaccinated for HBV. Health care workers compliance with standard infection control program should be increased and it is important to be constantly trained. Key Words: Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, Seroprevalence, Healthcare Providers

Background: Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a reflection of platelet size, which has been shown to correlate with platelet function and activation. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether MPV, platelet distribution width (PDW) and red blood cell distribution width (RDW) can be used as diagnostic parameters for bronchial asthma. Methods: Patients admitted to our clinic with pulmonary symptoms and diagnosed with asthma, non-smoking healthy subjects and smoking healthy subjects included in the study. Patients were divided into three groups; in the first group non-smoker healthy people (non-smoker), in the second group smoking more than 5 pack-years cigarettes but still healthy people (smokers) and the third group asthmatic subjects but has no other disease (asthmatic subjects). Complete blood count of all subjects were studied within an hour (25-45 minutes) after the blood was taken. The levels for hemoglobin, white blood cell count (WBC), platelet count, MPV, PDW and RDW were recorded for each patient. Results: In a total 200 non-smoking healthy, 200 smoking healthy and 236 asthmatic subjects were included in the study . MPV levels were significantly lower in asthmatic subjects as compared to non-smokers (p Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that MPV may be used as a negative predictor and PDW and RDW may be as positive predictors for asthmatic subjects.

Necrotising pneumonia develops as a result of necrosis of lung parenchyma during the course of community aquired pneumonia. Long-term fever on patient with pneumonia and deterioration of clinical condition should alert suspicion. Course with cavitation, late response to treatment and no isolation with culture causes problems in treatment and differential diagnosis among diseases like tuberclosis. Here we present two cases of necrotising pneumonia which emerged while running from Syrian civil war. The first case is a female at her thirties at whom necrotising pneumonia has emerged after getting wet under rain and received treatment for three months. Second case is a male at his sixties who received treatment for two months. Key words: Cavity, Necrosis, Pneumoni

Objective: Skin prick test (SPT) is used widely to determine the allergens in atopic patients. In this study, we aimed to determine the spectrum of aeroallergen sensitivity of atopic asthmatic subjects in Sanliurfa district. Methods: We evaluated clinical, demographic findings and SPT results of 95 male and 162 female in a total 257 patients who had asthma and allergic symptoms. Results: Most common allergens causing a sensitivity reaction detected in our clinic were as follows; cockroach (56.8%), wheat pollen (53.3%), corn pollen (47.4%), grass pollen (36.5%), poplar tree pollen (26%), house dust mite (19.4%), pepper (16.7%) and cat dander (15.1%). Conclusion: High levels of sensitivity to wheat and corn pollens and relatively low sensitivity levels of cat dander results meet our expectations in the area of agricultural land and where pet ownership is not common. Key words: Atopy, aeroallergens, skin prick test

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an important public health problem and it is associated with systemic inflammation. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is one of the markers indicating platelet activation, and there are different results in different diseases related to inflammation. As for COPD some studies found it to be high whereas others found low results. In this study, we aimed to study parameters like MPV, platelet distribution volume (PDW), red blood cell (RBC), which are studied in the complete blood count testing routinely of patients with COPD, smoking and nonsmoking subjects without chronic diseases. Data of 121 patients with COPD, 101 nonsmoking subjects and 102 smoking subjects were retrospectively enrolled. Results were statistically analyzed. MPV levels were lower in patients with COPD compared with smokers (P

chronic empyema is not established. Yamamoto and associates reported a case of Mycobacterium avium complex infection in a patient with a chronic empyema, which was treated successfully with pleuropneumonectomy. They stated that lung resection might be performed for the surgical treatment of M intracellulare infection with chronic empyema. Pleuropneumonectomy or lobectomy for chronic empyema, however, is very stressful. In our case, the M intracellulare infection was cleared from the sputum after thoracic fenestration, and therefore we performed a thoracoplasty with an intrathoracic muscle flap transposition. This surgical treatment without lung resection in cases not involving M intracellulare in the sputum is preferred because the procedure is less invasive, safer, and less stressful than surgical treatment with lung resection. In our case, we selected a thoracoplasty with an intrathoracic muscle flap transposition. The residual lung changed into a honeycomb lung, which was unable to expand. If the residual lung had the ability to expand, air plombage would have been a better option than thoracoplasty with respect to respiratory function. GRFG glue is a new biologic adhesive agent with a better sealing efficacy. GRFG glue has strong adhesive properties (almost 5 times that of fibrin glue). Several studies have reported the effectiveness of GRFG glue for the treatment of bronchial fistulas. Hasumi and colleagues reported the clinical experience of GRFG glue for acute empyema with bronchopleural fistula. GRFG glue is a useful agent for the treatment of bronchial fistulas.