Transient depletion of innate immunity in varicella infections in otherwise healthy children

Objective: Varicella is a common childhood infection and has a number of complications in the unvaccinated population. Perforin, found in natural killer cells, is important for the killing of virally infected cells. For this reason, the aim of this study was to determine natural killer cell count and activity, perforin expression, and Fas and soluble Fas ligand (sFas-L) levels in immunocompetent children with varicella infection and define any possible relations between the levels and varicella complications. Material and Methods: Forty children were analyzed at diagnosis and on the 15th day of varicella infection. There was a significant difference in hemoglobin levels and leukocyte and platelet counts between days 0 and 15.Results: Thirteen (32%) patients were found to be lymphopenic. Natural killer cell count and activity were significantly higher on day 15 when compared to values at diagnosis. The Fas-mediated apoptotic pathway was found to be active in acute varicella infection because Fas and sFas-L levels at diagnosis were higher than values on day 15. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the Fas and Fas-L apoptotic pathway is active during the acute phase of the viral infection and that it becomes inactive by day 15, paralleling the hematologic recovery

Effects of gestational and lactational exposure to low dose mercury chloride (HgCl2) on behaviour, learning and hearing thresholds in WAG/Rij rats

We investigated the effects of inorganic mercury exposure during gestational/lactational periods on the behaviour, learning and hearing functions in a total of 32, 5-week-old and 5-month-old WAG/Rij rats (equally divided into 4 groups as 5-week and 5-month control mercury exposure groups). We evaluated the rats in terms of locomotor activity (LA), the Morris-water-maze (MWM) test and the passive avoidance (PA) test to quantify learning and memory performance; we used distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) tests to evaluate hearing ability. There were no significant differences between the 5-week-old rat groups in LA, and we detected a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the HgCl2-treated group in PA, MWM and DPOAE tests compared with the control group. The HgCl2-treated 5-week-old group exhibited worse emotional memory performance in PA, worse spatial learning and memory performances in MWM. There were no significant differences between the groups of 5-month-old rats in LA, MWM or PA. However, the DPOAE tests worsened in the mid- and high-frequency hearing thresholds. The HgCl2-treated 5-month-old group exhibited the most hearing loss of all groups. Our results convey that mercury exposure in young rats may worsen learning and memory performances as well as hearing at high-frequency levels. While there was no statistically significant difference in the behavior and learning tests in adult rats, the DPOAE test produced poorer results. Early detection of effects of mercury exposure provides medicals team with an opportunity to determinate treatment regimens and mitigate ototoxicity. DPOAE test can be used in clinical and experimental research investigating heavy metal ototoxicity

Evaluation of patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease: Preliminary results from the Turk-UIP study

OBJECTIVE: Differential diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is important among fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (ILD). This study aimed to evaluate the rate of IPF in patients with fibrotic ILD and to determine the clinical-laboratory features of patients with and without IPF that would provide the differential diagnosis of IPF. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included the patients with the usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern or possible UIP pattern on thorax high-resolution computed tomography, and/or UIP pattern, probable UIP or possible UIP pattern at lung biopsy according to the 2011 ATS/ERSARS/ALAT guidelines. Demographics and clinical and radiological data of the patients were recorded. All data recorded by researchers was evaluated by radiology and the clinical decision board. RESULTS: A total of 336 patients (253 men, 83 women, age 65.8 +/- 9.0 years) were evaluated. Of the patients with sufficient data for diag-nosis (n=300), the diagnosis was IPF in 121 (40.3%), unclassified idiopathic interstitial pneumonia in 50 (16.7%), combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) in 40 (13.3%), and lung involvement of connective tissue disease (CTD) in 16 (5.3%). When 29 patients with definite IPF features were added to the patients with CPFE, the total number of IPF patients reached 150 (50%). Rate of male sex (p<0.001), smoking history (p<0.001), and the presence of clubbing (p=0.001) were significantly high in patients with IPE None of the women <50 years and none of the men <50 years of age without a smoking history were diagnosed with IPE Presence of at least 1 of the symptoms suggestive of CTD, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and antinuclear antibody (FANA) positivity rates were significantly higher in the non-IPF group (p<0.001, p=0.029, p=0.009, respectively). CONCLUSION: The rate of IPF among patients with fibrotic ILD was 50%. In the differential diagnosis of IPF, sex, smoking habits, and the presence of clubbing are important. The presence of symptoms related to CTD, ESR elevation, and EANA positivity reduce the likelihood of IPF

20. yüzyıl tarihçi ve siyasetçisi Mahmut Goloğlu'nun mektupları (inceleme-metin)

Bu tezimizde 20. yüzyıl tarihçi ve siyasetçisi Mahmut Goloğlu’nun 1938’den 1950’ye kadar yazmış olduğu 89 adet mektup incelenmiştir. Bunlardan 76 adedinde tarih bulunurken 13 adedinde tarih bulunmamaktadır. Tarihsiz mektupların 4 tanesi başka mektupların parçası olmakla birlikte, parçası olduğu mektuplar tespit edilemediğinden ayrı olarak verilmiştir. Mektuplar eşi Nezahat Goloğlu’na (85 tanesi), eşinin babası Mehmet Rahmi Eyüboğlu’na (3 tanesi) ve kızı Ayşe Goloğlu’na (1 tanesi) yazılmıştır. Toplam 215 sayfa mektup okunmuş ve incelenmiştir.Mektuplar çeviriyazı (transkripsiyon) metoduyla günümüz Türkçesine aktarılırken hiçbir değişiklik yapılmamış, yazılışa sadık kalınmıştır. Ayrıca yazım ve imlâ düzeltmeleri yapılıp telaffuz esas alınarak yeniden düzenlenmiş olarak da sunulmuştur. Mektuplar içerik ve dil özellikleri yönünden incelenmiştir. Mahmut Goloğlu’nun hayatı hakkında bilgiler verilmiştir.20.yüzyılın sonuna ait bu metinler Osmanlı Türkçesi’nin son örneklerindendir. Bize bu dönemin dil özelliklerini inceleme imkânı tanıması açısından önemli bulunmuştur. Rika hattı kullanılarak el yazısı ile yazılmıştır. Mektuplar; Mahmut Goloğlu’nun kişiliğinin, ailesinin, siyasi ilişkilerinin etkisiyle pek çok konuya kaynaklık edebilecek bilgiler içermektedir. Mahmut Goloğlu 1950-1960 yıllarında Demokrat Parti Trabzon Milletvekilliği yapmıştır. 16 tanesi tarih araştırması, 5’i deneme kitabı olmak üzere toplam 21 eser kaleme almıştır.Tezimize konu olan mektupların orijinalleri Mahmut Goloğlu’nun kızı Ayşe Goloğlu Soyer’dedir.--------------------In this thesis, 89 letters that were writen by the 20th century historian and politician Mahmut Goloğlu between 1938 and 1950 has been examined. 76 of these letters are dated and there are no dates in 13 of them. 4 of the undated letters have been presented separately because they are part of other letters that could not be identified. The letters had been written to his wife Nezahat Goloğlu (85 pieces), father-in-law Mehmet Rahmi Eyüpoğlu (3 pieces) and daughter Ayşe Goloğlu (1 piece). Totaly two hundred and fifteen pages of the letters have been read and examined.While the letters have been transferred to modern Turkish by the transcription method, no changes have been made to the written spelling.In addition, a re-edited version based on pronunciation and spelling of the letters have also been presented. Letters have been examined in terms of content and language features. Also, information on the life of Mahmut Goloğlu has been mentioned in the thesis.These texts are the last examples of Ottoman Turkish from the 20th century. It was found important in terms of giving us the opportunity to examine the language features of this period. The letters had been written in handwritten using the riqa calligraphy .The letters contain information that may be the source of many subjects with the impact of Mahmut Goloğlu's personality, family and political relations. Between 1950-1960, Mahmut Goloğlu served as deputy of the Demokrat Parti in Trabzon. He has written 21 works, 16 of which are history researches and 5 of them are essay books.Daughter of Mahmut Goloğlu, Ayşe Goloğlu Soyer has the original letters that have been examined in our thesis

Cohort Study: Central Venous Catheter-Related Complications In Children With Hematologic Diseases At A Single Center

Objective: This study aims to document and analyze the central venous catheter (CVC)-related complications in children with hematological diseases who were treated within a single institution. Materials and Methods: A retrospective investigation was conducted in 106 pediatric patients in whom 203 CVCs were inserted. A total of 175 catheter-related complications occurred in 5 years. Results: The rates of clinical catheter infections, local catheter infections, venous thromboembolism, bleeding, and mechanical complications were 2.6, 1.1, 0.2, 0.2, and 0.2 per 1000 catheter days. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis was the predominant infectious organism in blood and catheter cultures. The children with leukemia had a significantly higher frequency of clinical catheter infections (p=0.046). The children who underwent bone marrow transplantation had a significantly lower frequency of clinical catheter infections (p=0.043) and higher frequency of local catheter infections (p=0.003). The children with implanted catheters had a significantly lower frequency of clinical catheter infections (p=0.048). The children with thrombocytopenia had significantly fewer local catheter infections and significantly more clinical catheter infections and catheter-related bleeding (respectively p=0.001, p=0.042, and p=0.024). Conclusion: Leukemia, bone marrow transplantation, and thrombocytopenia are risk factors for CVC-associated complications. The relatively higher number of interventions performed via permanent catheters may be responsible for the significantly increased incidence of systemic infections and mechanical injury.PubMedWoSScopu

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, children can be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. Clinical symptoms of children with COVID from China, where the disease was first reported, generally were less severe than adults. However, at the end of April 2020 in Europe, it was observed that some children with SARS-CoV-2 infection developed fever, abdominal pain, shock, myocardial insufficiency and they needed to be taken care of in intensive care unit. This new disease has been called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Although the pathogenesis of MIS-C is unclear, it progresses with signs of multiorgan involvement as a result of uncontrolled inflammation of the immune system and even causes death. Therefore, the diagnosis and treatment of patients with MIS-C should be managed quickly. In this review, the pathophysiology, clinical and laboratory findings, diagnostic methods, and treatment regimens of MIS-C were discussed