The association of anti-CCP antibodies with disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis

Antibodies to citrullinated proteins have been described in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and these appear to be the most specific markers of the disease. Our objective was to determine the frequency of antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptides (CCPs) in patients with RA and the association of anti-CCP antibodies with disease activity, radiological erosions and HLA DR genotype. Forty patients with RA and 38 patients with fibromyalgia were included in this study. Serum samples were collected from both patient groups with RA and fibromyalgia. Anti-CCP was measured by the corresponding enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Additionally, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), disease activity score (DAS), visual analog scala (VAS), HLA genotype and radiographic information were determined in patients with RA. The rate of sensitivity and specificity of anti-CCP reactivity for the diagnosis RA were measured (sensitivity 50%, specificity100%). There is no significant difference between anti-CCP (+) and anti-CCP (−) RA patients for DAS28, VAS, ESR, CRP, disease duration, HLA genotype, and radiological assessment of hand. However, there was a significant difference between anti-CCP (+) and anti-CCP (−) RA patients for RF and the radiological assessment of left and right wrists (respectively, P < 0.05, P = 0.04, P = 0.01). There was no significant correlation between anti-CCP antibody and ESR, CRP, VAS, DAS 28 or radiological assessment. A small but significant correlation was found between RF and anti-CCP antibody (P = 0.02, r = 0.35)

The Effects of Potato Puree and Bread Crumbs on Some Quality Characteristics of Low Fat Meatballs.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of using different amounts of potato puree (PP) (10 or 20%) and 10% bread crumbs (BC) as an extender and also control samples (C) with no added extender on chemical composition, energy values, cooking analyses, colour measurements, water holding capacity (WHC), penetration values, thiobarbituric acid value (TBA) and sensory analyses of meatballs. Meatball samples were cooked in a pre-heated 180℃ electric oven. Uncooked meatballs formulated with 20% PP had the highest moisture content. No significant differences were recorded for protein contents of uncooked samples. The highest cooking yield was found in samples extended with 10% BC. Increasing PP from 10% to 20% increased cooking yield of meatballs. 20% PP increased moisture and fat retention values and water holding capacity of meatballs. Meatballs with 10% BC had the lowest (the hardness in the texture) and meatballs with the 20% PP had the highest (the softness in the texture) penetration values. Formulating meatballs at a level of 20% resulted lower L* values. TBA values of control samples were higher than in PP added samples at the end of the storage period. Flavour scores for meatballs formulated with PP were higher than control and meatballs formulated with BC. Meatballs formulated with 10% PP had similar overall acceptability with meatballs added with 10% BC

Acute first seizures and seizure-like events in the pediatric emergency unit

Aim: We studied the etiological spectrum of children with acute first seizures and seizure-like events in the pediatric emergency unit of a tertiary care hospital. Material and Methods: Seventy-five children were related to acute first seizures and 32 children were to seizure-like events. Results: Syncope (17%) was the most common cause of seizure-like events. Epilepsy was identified for 28 (37%) children with acute first seizure. Nine children (12%) were considered as first unprovoked afebrile seizure. The remaining seven children with acute first seizure (9.3%) had acute symptomatic seizures based on the extensive metabolic screening and MRG studies. Fifteen children (20%) had seizure reoccurrence in the emergency unit. Conclusion: Status epilepticus occured in 4 patients (5.3%) and those were admitted into the intensive care unit.Amaç: Bu retrospektif çalışmada Çocuk Acil Servisine nöbet ve nöbet benzeri olaylar nedeniyle getirilen çocuklarda etyolojik nedenler araştırıldı. Yöntem ve Gereç: Yetmiş beş çocuk akut nöbet ve 32 çocuk nöbet benzeri olaylar nedeniyle çalışmaya dahil edildiler.Nöbet ve nöbet benzeri olaylar tanımlanarak etyolojik nedenler gözden geçirildi. Bulgular: Nöbet benzeri olaylar arasında senkop %17 en sık karşılan non-epileptik fenomen olarak belirlendi. Epilepsi tanısı 28 çocukta (%37 ) vardı. İlk afebril nöbet 9 çocukta (%12) tanı olarak konuldu. Akut semptomatik nöbet tanısı 7 çocukta (%9.3) metabolik tarama testleri ve kraniyal MRG incelemeleri ardından konuldu. Acil serviste nöbet rekürrensi 15 çocukta (%20) gözlendi. Sonuç: Acil servise ilk nöbet yakınması ile getirilen 4 çocukta (%5.3) status epileptikus izlendi