Anzel Bahadir

Omentin serum levels and omentin gene Val109Asp polymorphism in patients with psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease of uncertain pathogenesis. Omentin is a new adipokine with anti‐inflammatory properties; however, the relationship between psoriasis and omentin has not been fully established yet.

Association of anxiety, sleepiness, and sexual dysfunction with restless legs syndrome in hemodialysis patients

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterized by unpleasant sensations, pain in the legs along with irresistible urges to move the legs when at rest. It is often accompanied by sleep disturbance. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of anxiety and sleepiness with sexual function in hemodialysis patients with and without RLS. Sociodemographic parameters, laboratory data of hemodialysis patients from three dialysis centers were collected prospectively. Anxiety, sleepiness, sexual function, and presence of RLS symptoms were assessed with standardized questionnaires as the RLS Diagnosis and Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Arizona Sex Experiences Scale (ASEX). Univariate, regression tree method were used for statistical analysis. RLS was observed in 45.9% (n = 113) of hemodialysis patients (n = 246). The mean age of patients and duration of hemodialysis were 59.7 ± 14.0 and 4.9 ± 4.2 years, respectively. The correlation between Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) and sociodemographic features was significant (P < 0.0001). Patients with RLS had higher scores for anxiety (9.4 ± 7.8 with RLS and 6.8 ± 6.0 without), higher ESS (ESS, 6.6 ± 5.2 with RLS and 4.6 ± 4.0 without), and higher ASEX (24.6 ± 5.7 with RLS and 22.5 ± 6.8 without) than did those without RLS. The presence of RLS symptoms in hemodialysis patients was associated with sleepiness, anxiety, and sexual dysfunction. A regression tree method, which is a different statistical method, can help physicians estimate patients ASEX, RLS, ESS, and anxiety scores.

Is the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio indicative of inflammatory state in patients with obesity and metabolic syndrome?

Objective: Obesity causes subclinical inflammation. Leukocyte count and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are used to indicate inflammation in clinical practice. Also, inflammatory markers are evaluated as important indicators of cardiovascular risk in patients with obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). We aimed to investigate the usage of the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as an inflammatory marker in obese patients with and without MetS. Methods: The study included a total of 1267 patients. The patients were assigned groups according to degree of obesity and status of MetS. Metabolic and inflammatory markers were compared between groups, and correlation analysis was performed. Results: Leukocyte count and hs-CRP were significantly different (p<0.001), but NLR was not different between body mass index (BMI) groups (p=0.168). Both lymphocyte and neutrophil counts were significantly increased with increased degree of obesity (p<0.001, p=0.028, respectively). Leukocyte, neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts and hs-CRP level showed a significant correlation with BMI (r=0.198, p<0.001; r=0.163, p<0.001; r=0.167, p<0.001; r=0.445, p<0.001, respectively), whereas NLR was not correlated with BMI (r=0.017, p=0.737). Only a significant association between a MetS severity of 5 and 4 with hs-CRP level was observed (p=0.028), whereas there was no statistically significant association for leukocyte count and NLR (p=0.246; p=0.643, respectively). Conclusion: NLR was not a good indicator of inflammation, while leukocyte and hs-CRP were more useful biomarkers to indicate inflammation in non-diabetic patients with obesity and MetS.

Does the MTHFR C677T gene polymorphism indicate cardiovascular disease risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

Objective: Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We investigated the relationship among biochemical and cardiac risk parameters with the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T genotype in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Methods: One hundred seven T2DM subjects with severe CVD diagnosed by angiography were included consecutively in this cross-sectional study. Biochemical and clinical parameters were obtained from patients who were not positive for nephropathy and retinopathy. MTHFR C677T genotypes were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methods. Normally and abnormally distributed continuous variables were analyzed using student t- and Mann-Whitney U tests. Categorical variables were analyzed using chi-square test. Results: In the study, 31 T2DM subjects had the CC (29.0%), 62 had the CT (57.9%), and 14 had the TT (13.1%) genotypes. There were no significant differences between subjects with wild-type (677CC) and with mutant (677CT+677TT) alleles in terms of diabetes duration, visceral fat area, total cholesterol, triglyceride, fasting plasma glucose, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, homocysteine (Hcy), and carotid intima-media thickness values. Conclusion: This study suggests that MTHFR gene polymorphisms can not be used as a marker for the assessment of cardiovascular risk in T2DM patients.

Argyrophilic nucleolar organizing region associated protein synthesis for cytologic discrimination of follicular thyroid lesions

Abstract Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of the thyroid gland is an important tool for preoperative diagnosis; however, its benefit is limited for follicular lesions. Nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) are ribosomal gene regions that stain with silver (Ag) when they are active. These regions can be used to differentiate neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions. We used a new AgNOR technique to investigate FNAB of cases diagnosed as follicular adenoma and carcinoma. Fourteen cases of follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and 28 cases of thyroid follicular adenomas (FA) were stained using the silver NOR-associated protein (AgNOR) technique. One hundred nuclei per sample were examined, AgNORs were counted, and the total AgNOR area/nuclear area (TNORa/Na) ratio of each cell was calculated. We found that cases with FTC had significantly higher TNORa/Na than cases of FA. Also, cases with FTC had significantly higher AgNOR counts than cases with FA. AgNOR counting may help discriminate FTC and FA by routine cytopathology before surgery.

The Protective Effects of Erdosteine and N-acetyl Cysteine in Rats With Paracetamol Induced Hippocampal Tissue Damage

This study was designed to examine the protective effects of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and erdosteine (ERD) on hippocampal tissue damage associated with paracetamol (acetaminophen) intoxication. Thirty female Wistar Albino rats were divided randomly into six equal groups: control; paracetamol (1 g/kg); paracetamol (1 g/kg) + ERD (150 mg/kg/day); paracetamol (1 g/kg) + NAC (140 mg/kg bolus, followed by 70 mg/kg); NAC control (140 mg/kg bolus, followed by 70 mg/kg) and ERD control (150 mg/kg/day), given orally in this study. In all the experimental groups, the protective effects of NAC and ERD were investigated by analysis of histopathology measurement on hippocampal tissues. Histopathological examination was described by neuronal degeneration, edema, and vascular congestion. Neuronal degeneration (p<0.01), edema (p<0.00) and vascular congestion (p=0.006) were increased by significant in paracetamol experiment group, when compared with EDR and NAC treatment groups. The use of ERD and NAC was significantly decreased the severity of histopathological changes, such as neuronal degeneration, edema and vascular congestion, after experimentally paracetamol-induced intoxicity in rat hippocampal tissues. Also, the results of this study have been indicated that NAC is more protective against paracetamol intoxicity than ERD in the tissues.

Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Gene Polymorphisms (Promoter -786T/C, Exon 894 G/T and Intron G10T) in Unexplained Female Infertility

Background/Aims: Recent investigations in both males and females show that there may also be some genetic risk factors associated with infertility, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) has important functions in implantation. We aimed to investigate the association of three different polymorphisms of eNOS (promoter -786T/C, exon 894 G/T and intron G10T) with unexplained female infertility. Materials and Methods: Two groups of patients were included in the study: (1) women with unexplained infertility and (2) healthy, fertile women with normal menstrual cycles. eNOS polymorphisms were studied in genomic DNA of each patient by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Results: Forty-one women with unexplained infertility and 40 fertile women were included. Baseline physical characteristics and hormonal parameters of the two groups were similar. For eNOS exon 894 G/T polymorphism, the GG homozygotes were significantly lower and the heterozygotes GT were significantly higher in the infertile group than in the control group (p < 0.05). eNOS gene polymorphism both for promoter and intron were similar in the two groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Altered eNOS protein caused by eNOS exon 894 G/T polymorphism might cause implantation failure, which may be a possible cause of unexplained female infertility.

Correlation of astrocyte elevated gene-1, basic-fibroblast growth factor, beta-catenin, Ki-67, tumor necrosis factor-alfa with prognostic parameters in ductal carcinomas and ductal intraepithelial neoplasms.

BACKGROUND Breast cancer is the second most frequent cancer in the world. Although it is widely accepted that the etiology of breast cancer includes both genetic and environmental factors, the molecular mechanism of its development and progression remains poorly understood, and thus far, no specific signature of breast cancer gene expression has been reported to allow for patient-tailored therapy strategies. Hence, it is of great clinical value to further understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of breast cancer and to identify effective early markers for the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease as well as novel therapeutic targets. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was conducted on a total of 90 paraffin-embedded breast tumor samples. Immunohistochemical stains for astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1), basic-fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF), beta-catenin, Ki-67, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were performed on tissue microarray using standard procedures. Each patient age, grade, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) status, size, lymphovascular invasion, metastasis of lymph node (LNM), nipple and ductal hyperplasia areas were assessed. RESULTS We observed significant relationship between the age and LNM or FGF (P = 0.018, 0.035, respectively). The relationship between histological and nuclear grade, LNM, ER, PR, HER-2 and prognostic parameters was evaluated in cases of ductal carcinomas (DC). There was a significant positive correlation between TNF-α, size, LNM (P ≤ 0.0001, 0.002, 0.005). We found that significant relationship between AEG-1 and TNF-α. There was a significant positive correlation between FGF and Ki-67 and negative correlation AEG-1. Although, FGF, TNF-α, AEG-1 staining in DC were observed higher than ductal intraepithelial neoplasms, this observation could not statistically (P ≥ 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The present work aims to investigate the relationship between the expression of AEG-1, b-FGF, beta-catenin, Ki-67, TNF-α other prognostic parameters in DC and ductal intraepithelial neoplasm. We found a relationship between these factors.

Effect of magnetic field on in vitro seedling growth and shoot regeneration from cotyledon node explants of Lathyrus chrysanthus boiss: MF effects on tissue culture in L. chrysanthus

The stimulatory effects on germination of seeds and growth of plants of static magnetic field (MF) pre-treatments depending on MF intensity, exposure time periods, signal form, flux density, and source frequencies on plants are reported. Seed germination frequency is low due to dormancy in Lathyrus chrysanthus Boiss. from Fabaceae family, consisting of 187 taxa. Tissue culture protocol for this plant has already been optimized. This plant is also used as a model for developing alternative methods to overcome dormancy. This study was conducted to determine the effects of MF on in vitro seed germination, seedling growth, and shoot regeneration capacity of cotyledon node explants in Lathyrus chrysanthus Boiss. to obtain healthy seedlings in large quantities. The seeds of an ecotype (Diyarbakir) were subjected to 125 mT MF strength for different exposure time periods (0-untreated, 24, 48, and 72 h). Sterilized seeds were germinated on growth basal medium in Magenta vessels. Seed germination and seedling growth percentages were recorded after 7 and 14 days of culture initiation, whereas seedling and root lengths were noted 28 days after culture initiation. At the end of the culture, shoot regeneration percentage, shoot number per explant, highest shoot height per explant, and total shoot number per petri dish were recorded. According to the results, it could be concluded that MF treatment could clearly be used to improve germination by breaking dormancy not only in Lathyrus chrysanthus Boiss. but also other plant species. Bioelectromagnetics. 39:547-555, 2018.© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.