Sinem Akcali

Clinical significance of TT virus infection in children with chronic hepatitis B

Abstract Background : The pathogenic role of TT virus (TTV) is not clear in patients with chronic hepatitis B. The aims of the present study were to determine the frequency of TTV positivity in serum and saliva samples and the possible role of TTV in children with chronic hepatitis B.

Are Human Adenovirus-5 and 36 Associated With Obesity in Children?

Objectives The aims of this study were to determine the association between adenovirus-5– and adenovirus-36–specific antibodies and obesity in children and to investigate their relationship with serum lipid and leptin levels. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed on a total of 120 children who were divided into subgroups according to body mass index percentile as obese (≥95th percentile) or nonobese (<95th percentile). The presence of adenovirus-36 and adenovirus-5–neutralizing antibodies was investigated by using the serum neutralization assay. Serum leptin levels were determined by microenzyme immonoassay; high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, triglyceride, and cholesterol levels were measured by chemiluminescence method. Results The presence of adenovirus-5–specific antibodies was 28.3% and 6.6% in the obese children and in non–obese children, respectively (P = 0.02). The frequency of adenovirus-36–specific antibodies was significantly greater (P = 0.018) in the obese children (26.6%) than in the non–obese children (10.0%). Serum leptin level of the obese group were significantly higher than that of the non–obese group (P = 0.000). Conclusions Our data support the association between obesity and the presence of specific antibodies to adenovirus-36 and adenovirus-5 in children. Our research has the feature of being the first national study to indicate the relationship between adenovirus-36 and human obesity as well as the first international study to indicate the relationship between adenovirus-5 and human obesity.

Human Papilloma Virus Frequency and Genotype Distribution in a Turkish Population

OBJECTIVES To determine human papillomavirus (HPV) frequency, genotypes and the relation between cervical smear results, risk factors and types in women living in Manisa, Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 410 women were included in the study. Cervical specimens were obtained for linear array HPV genotyping and pathological testing. Conventional Pap test and Bethesda system were used for evaluation of cytology specimens. RESULTS A total of 410 women with a mean age of 34.9 years were tested. A positive result of any HPV was found in 35 patients (8.5%). Among them, 26 different serotypes of HPV were identified and the most frequent type was HPV 16 (28.5%) followed by type 45 and 53 (11.4%). Patients were infected by 65.7% high risk, 11.4% probable high risk and 22.9% low risk HPV types. Multiple HPV positive results were found in 13 patients (37.1%). Patients with single partner, history of abnormal smear or condyloma had positive HPV results and this was statistically significant (p<0.05). Correlation analysis showed a statistically weak relation between positive HPV and abnormal smear results (r=0.120). CONCLUSIONS Determining HPV types of genital HPV infections is important for epidemiological studies. We have found the rate of positive HPV as 8.5% which implies the need for extended screening programs in order to diagnose oncogenic HPV at an early stage.

E-Test: An Alternative Method for Susceptibility Testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the agar proportion method with the E-test method for susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.Materials and Methods: A total of 100 isolates were tested for isoniazid, rifampin, streptomycin and ethambutol susceptibility using an indirect-proportion method as well as the E-test method. Results:Categorical agreement between the methods was 100% for isoniazid, rifampin, streptomycin, and ethambutol. Conclusion: The E-test method appears to be an alternative method to agar proportion for testing the susceptibility of M. tuberculosis isolates to the first-line antituberculous agents.

Prevalence of GBV-C/hepatitis G virus viremia among chronic hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis C and hemodialysis patients in Turkey.

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