Epidemiology of pemphigus in Turkey: One-year prospective study of 220 cases

Pemphigus is a group of rare and life-threatening autoimmune blistering diseases of the skin and mucous membranes. Although they occur worldwide, their incidence shows wide geographical variation, and prospective data on the epidemiology of pemphigus are very limited. Objective of this work is to evaluate the incidence and epidemiological and clinical features of patients with pemphigus in Turkey. All patients newly diagnosed with pemphigus between June 2013 and June 2014 were prospectively enrolled in 33 dermatology departments in 20 different provinces from all seven regions of Turkey. Disease parameters including demography and clinical findings were recorded. A total of 220 patients were diagnosed with pemphigus during the 1-year period, with an annual incidence of 4.7 per million people in Turkey. Patients were predominantly women, with a male to female ratio of 1:1.41. The mean age at onset was 48.9 years. Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) was the commonest clinical subtype (n=192; 87.3%), followed by pemphigus foliaceus (n=21; 9.6%). The most common clinical subtype of PV was the mucocutaneous type (n=83; 43.2%). The mean Pemphigus Disease Area Index was 28.14±22.21 (mean ± Standard Deviation).  The incidence rate of pemphigus in Turkey is similar to the countries of South-East Europe, higher than those reported for the Central and Northern European countries and lower than the countries around the Mediterranean Sea and Iran. Pemphigus is more frequent in middle-aged people and is more common in women. The most frequent subtype was PV, with a 9-fold higher incidence than pemphigus foliaceus.   </p

Synthesis of calcium carbonate microspheres via inert gas bubbling for orthopedic applications

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) microspheres consisting of vaterite polymorph have been widely used in biomedical applications. Specifically, vaterite microspheres having hollow cores showed significant potential in drug delivery, however the spontaneous transformation of vaterite to other polymorphs in aqueous environments reduced its controlled in vivo release capability. In this work, calcite and aragonite microspheres having hollow/porous inner cores were synthesized -for the first time-using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) stabilized nitrogen (N-2) bubbles as CaCO3 template in ethylene glycol (EG) solution and water as the precipitation medium. Results demonstrated that porous aragonite microspheres could be synthesized via N-2 gas incorporation, yet for the synthesis of hollow calcite microspheres, N-2 bubbles had be stabilized with SDS to be utilized as CaCO3 templates. The synthesized aragonite and calcite microspheres were found to be stable up to 5 days in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM), and thus would not allow polymorphic transformation in aqueous environments, while promoting proliferation of human bone cells (hFOB) up to 5 days of culture. These findings -for the first time-identified a viable synthesis route for hollow/porous calcite and aragonite microspheres and indicated their promising use in orthopedic applications

Clinicogenetic Study of Turkish Patients With Syndromic Craniosynostosis and Literature Review

BACKGROUND: Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 mutations have been associated with the craniosynostotic conditions of Apert, Crouzon, Pfeiffer, Saethre-Chotzen, Jackson-Weiss, Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata, and Antley-Bixler syndromes in various ethnic groups. METHODS: Thirty-three unrelated Turkish patients (12 with Apert syndrome, 14 with Crouzon syndrome, six with Pfeiffer syndrome, and one with Saethre-Chotzen syndrome) and 67 nonsyndromic craniosynostosis patients were screened for mutations in exons Ilia and IIIc of the FGFR2 gene by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and confirmed by direct sequencing. RESULTS: We detected several pathogenic mutations in 11/33 (33%) patients with Apert syndrome (four with p.Pro253Arg; seven with p.Ser252Trp) and 8/33 (24%) patients with Crouzon syndrome (three with p.Trp290Arg, one with p.Cys342Tyr, p.Cys278Phe, p.G1n289Pro, and a novel p.Tyr340Asn mutation) and five (15%) with Pfeiffer syndrome (p.Cys342Arg, p.Pro253Arg, p.Trp290Arg, and p.Ser351Cys). No FGFR2 gene mutation was detected in any of the patients with Saethre-Chotzen syndrome and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the majority of Turkish patients with syndromic craniosynostosis have detectable genetic changes with an overall frequency of 72.7%. Because this is the first molecular genetic report from a Turkish cohort, the identified spectrum profile of FGFR2 mutations of the syndromic craniosynostotic patients would be very helpful for understanding the genotype phenotype relationship and has a great value for diagnosis, prognosis, and genetic counseling

Morpho-genetic characterization of fig (Ficus carica var. rupestris (Hausskn.) Browicz) genotypes to be used as rootstock

With its enormous genetic pool, Türkiye is the homeland of the fig and many plant species. The common fig species in the country's natural population are Ficus carica var. caprificus (male figs), Ficus carica var. domestica (female figs; edible figs), and Ficus carica var. rupestris. In this study, the morphological and molecular characterization of 42 genotypes, including those obtained by selection from the Ficus carica var. rupestris (Hausskn.) Browicz population, which is naturally spread in a limited area in Tunceli province, was performed. This study evaluated the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of 23 fig genotypes. These results showed that tree growth habit, lateral shoot formation, apical dominancy, and leaf length characteristics were highly discriminant variables for phenotypic description in wild fig genotypes. The genetic relationship between the genotypes was demonstrated with 12 SRAP and 9 ISSR primers. As a result of the study, it was determined that the genetic similarity values ranged between 0.52 and 0.94. It was determined that the first five essential components (PCA) contributed 20.87%, 13.21%, 10.66%, 9.58%, and 7.11% of the total variation, respectively, and their cumulative rate corresponded to 61.43% of the total variation. Very detailed results on the genetic variation in the fig population in the region were obtained by morphological features and molecular methods. The seven genotypes selected were propagated to determine their potential for dwarf rootstocks. The results of the present study may provide significant leads for further research on this subject. The potential of dwarf rootstocks in figs can be an essential tool for modern fruit growing

Comparison of biochemical nutritional parameters and bioimpedance indexes in hemodialysis patients

44th ERA-EDTA Congress -- JUN 22-24, 2007 -- Barcelona, SPAINWOS: 000253320600414ERA-EDT