Management of patients with connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is similar to connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung diseases (CTD-ILD) in many aspects. However, patients with CTD-ILD have required particular attention during the pandemic since they are at high risk due to -immunosuppressive treatments. Thus, prompt decisions for diagnosis and treatment initiation have become more important than earlier for these patients during the pandemic. Radiological perspectives have become inevitable for the differential diagnosis of this group -during the pandemic, particularly to obtain rapid and accurate results that allow the physicians to start treatment immediately. However, in addition to radiological images, a definitive diagnosis also requires access to extensive information regarding patient history, including characteristics of comorbidities, and clinical and serological findings. Consequently, the differential diagnosis of COVID-19 and CTD-ILD can yield accurate treatment regimens that differ greatly between the 2 diseases, and also prevent the spread of the outbreak with COVID-19 patients treated under isolation

Serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor levels in Hashimoto's thyroiditis; a case control study

Objective: The cell-mediated immune process by CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte subsets of T-cells has a major role in the pathogenesis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). However, the exact mechanisms of initiation and progression of thyroid autoimmunity have not been completely clarified yet. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is commonly recognized as playing vital roles in various autoimmune diseases. Ee aimed to investigate serum MIF levels in subjects with HT and correlate them with the level of thyroid hormones and autoantibodies. Materials and methods: This study included 93 patients with untreated Hashimoto's thyroiditis and 53 healthy controls. We measured serum levels of TSH, free T4 (FT4), free T3 (FT3), anti-Thyroglobulin autoantibody (TGAb) and anti-Thyroid peroxidase autoantibody (TPOAb) in all patients and thyroid ultrasonography was performed. The concentration of MIF was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results: We enrolled 93 patients with HT (mean age; 31.3 ± 11.1 years), and 53 healthy control group (mean age; 29.3 ± 8.5 years) in the current study. The patient group consisted of 52 with euthyroid autoimmune thyroiditis, 31 with subclinical hypothyroidism and 10 with overt hypothyroidism. Serum levels of MIF were higher in patients with overt hypothyroidism (6300.9 ± 2504.3 pg/ml) than the euthyroid patients (3955.2 ± 3013.6 pg/ml) (p = 0.036). Conclusion: MIF increases in overt hypothyroidism due to the Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Further investigations are needed to explore the role of MIF in pathogenesis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. © 2014 Ayaz et al

Effect of infliximab against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity

cure, erkan/0000-0001-7807-135X; Cure, Medine Cumhur/0000-0001-9253-6459WOS: 000343245700003PubMed: 25228176Objectives: To investigate whether infliximab (Ib), an inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), prevents cisplatin (Cis)-induced nephrotoxicity. Methods: the study was performed in the Department of Internal Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey, between November 2012 and May 2013. Thirty male Wistar albino rats were divided into 3 groups, a control group, a Cis group, and a Cis+Ib group. the animals of the Cis group were injected with a single dose (7 mg/kg) of Cis intraperitoneally. the animals of the Cis+Ib group were injected with a single dose (7 mg/kg) of Ib 72 hours prior to Cis injection. Results: the TNF-alpha, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), nitric oxide (NO) and adenosine deaminase (ADA) levels of the Cis group were higher than both the control group TNF-alpha (p<0.001), IL-1 alpha (p<0.001), NO (p<0.001) and ADA (p<0.001), and the Cis+Ib group TNF-alpha (p<0.001), IL-1 beta (p<0.001), NO (p<0.001), and ADA (p=0.003). Histopathological examination revealed extensive damage in the Cis group, while the damage in the Cis+Ib group was lower. While the carbonic anhydrase II (CA-II) level of the Cis group was lower than both groups, it was similar in the Cis+Ib and the control groups. Conclusion: Infliximab acts against Cis-induced nephrotoxicity by a strong inhibition of TNF-alpha. Additionally, the combination of these 2 drugs does not obviously change the level of CA-II.RTEU Bilimsel Arastirmalar Proje Birimi (BAP)Recep Tayyip Erdogan University [2012.106.01.5]Disclosure. Funding for this study was received from RTEU Bilimsel Arastirmalar Proje Birimi (BAP), Project No. 2012.106.01.5