Evaluation of the Prognostic Importance of c-Myc and Bcl-2 Expressions and the Presence of Epstein-Barr Virus in Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

Objective: Although classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) has a relatively good prognosis, it also entails different treatment responses and involves patients who have different clinical courses. Our aim was to investigate c-Myc, Bcl-2 and EBV biomarkers in cHL and their relationship with the IPS score. Material and Method: c-Myc and Bcl-2 immunohistochemical staining with EBER in situ hybridization (EBER-ISH) was applied to the paraffin sections of 94 cases diagnosed as cHL. These cases were classified into two groups as low and high clinical symptoms according to the International Prognostic Scores (IPS). Results: Positive results were obtained in 83 (88.3%) cases with c-Myc and 39 (43.5%) cases with Bcl-2 while EBER-ISH was found positive in 42 (44.7%) cases. No difference was found between the groups of low/high IP scores with respect to the positive or negative results of EBER-ISH, Bcl-2 and c-Myc. When Bcl-2 and c-Myc positive cases were grouped together and compared to the IP scores of the remaining cHL cases, again no difference was seen. Extranodal involvement and bone marrow involvement was observed in 25 (26.5%) and 9 (9.5%) cases, respectively. Similarly, no statistically significant differences was found between these groups according to their positivity with EBER-ISH, Bcl-2 and c-Myc. Conclusion: We could not find any relationship between Bcl-2, c-Myc and EBER-ISH positivity and the low/high IPS groups in cHL. New studies with larger series are needed in which more precise cut-off values are used and clinically and biologically heterogeneous groups of cHL patients are determined more clearly

Does blood type have an effect on the course of COVID-19?

Introduction Predictive parameters that can affect the course of this infection have been the main topic of research since the beginning of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. Since the discovery of blood groups, the effect of these on infectious diseases has always been of interest. Objectives To analyze the effect of ABO blood group on mortality, hospitalization duration and hematological and cytokine storm parameters in patients with COVID-19. Patients and methods: This retrospective study was conducted on 140 patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Demographic characteristics, laboratory parameters including ABO blood group, complete blood count (CBC) parameters, biochemical tests, cytokine storm parameters, duration of hospitalization, and final status (discharge or death) were recorded. Results: The 140 patients included in the analysis comprised 72 (51.4%) males and 68 (48.6%) females with a mean age of 66.3±14.0 years. . Age and gender, hospitalization duration and mortality rates were similar in all blood group types. Only D-dimer levels were found to be higher in blood group A compared with other blood groups. Conclusion: Although no difference in mortality was determined between groups, the D-dimer level was statistically significantly higher in COVID-19 patients with A blood group. Larger studies are needed to reflect D-dimer levels on the clinical course of infection, and thus on daily practice

Comparison of success level of pharmaceuticals representatives at proficiency training and their demographic characteristics

Tıbbi mümessiller ile ilgili ulusal ve uluslararası yapılan çalışmalar incelendiğinde; çalışmaların kısıtlı sayıdaki tıbbi mümessiller ile yapıldıkları ve tıbbi mümessil profilini yeterli düzeyde yansıtmadığı görülmüştür. Türkiye’de ilaç sektöründe çalışan tıbbi mümessillerin büyük bir çoğunluğu, Ürün Tanıtım Temsilcisi Yeterlilik Eğitimine katılmıştır. Bu çalışmada, eğitime katılan tıbbi mümessillerin; cinsiyet, yaş, eğitim düzeyleri gibi bazı demografik özellikleri belirlenerek, bu bilgilerin sınavdaki başarı düzeyleri ile karşılaştırılması amaçlanmaktadır. Bu eğitim 7 modülden oluşmaktadır. Bu çalışmada “İlaç Sektöründe Tanıtım Modülü”, araştırmacının hazırlanmasında görev aldığı modül olduğundan kolayda örnekleme yöntemi ile belirlenmiştir. Çalışmada toplam 3.646 kişinin verilerine ulaşılmıştır. İlaç Sektöründe Tanıtım dersinin ön test ve son test puanlarının, ikili ve üçlü grup karşılaştırmalarında Mann-Whitney U testi ve Kruskal-Wallis non-parametrik varyans analizi kullanılmıştır. İlaç sektöründe tanıtım dersinin ön test ve son test puanlarının karşılaştırılmasında Wilcoxon İşaretli Sıra testi uygulanmıştır. İstatistiksel analizler ve hesaplamalar için IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 kullanılmış ve p<0,05 düzeyi anlamlı olarak kabul edilmiştir. Bireylerin %79,4’ünün erkek, ağırlıklı yaş ortalamasının ise (n=2.387) 30-39 yaş arası olduğu görülmüştür. Çalışmada yer alan bireylerin %73,3’ü lisans mezunudur. Kadınların sınavdaki başarı oranının daha yüksek olduğu, eğitim düzeyi ve yaş arttıkça sınavdaki başarı oranının da arttığı görülmektedir. Eğitim düzeyi ile sınav başarısı karşılaştırıldığında; eğitim düzeyi arttıkça sınavdaki başarı oranının arttığı gözlemlenmektedir. Çalışmada ön test ve son testler arasındaki farklılık ve son testlerdeki başarı oranlarının yüksek oluşu eğitimin katılımcılara katkı sağladığını göstermektedir.When examined national and international studies on pharmaceutical representatives have shown that these studies were done with a limited number of pharmaceutical representatives and do not represent pharmaceutical representatives’ profile in adequately. The vast majority of pharmaceutical representatives who have worked at pharmaceutical sector in Turkey, have joined “Proficiency Training for Medical Product Promotion Representatives”. This study aims to show some demographic data of pharmaceutical representatives in Turkey and comparing between the success level of the participants’ in proficiency exam and participants’ demographic data. This training consist of 7 modules. In this study, “Promotion Module in Pharmaceutical Sector” was determined by easy sampling. 3646 person participated in the study. For comparison group, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test and Wilcoxon signed rank test was used pre-test and post test scores of course of “Promotion Module in Pharmaceutical Sector”. IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 was used for statistical analysis and p<0.05 value was significant. 79.4% of respondents were male and weighted average age is between 30-39 rank (n=2387). 73.3% of respondents graduated from bachelor’s degree. The proficiency examination results have shown that women have a higher success rate and when the educational level and age level increases, the level of success increase. It was observed compared with the level of education and success level of exam, when the educational level increases, the level of success in proficiency exam increase. Difference between pretest and post-test in the study and the high success rate on post tests indicate that the training had contributed to participants

The impact of the IL-1 beta, IL-1Ra, IL-2, IL-6 and IL-10 gene polymorphisms on the development of Behcet's disease and their association with the phenotype

WOS: 000375243000001PubMed: 26654556Background and objective: This trial was designed to investigate the effects of the interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-1Ra, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10 gene polymorphisms on Behcet's disease (BD) occurrence and the association between the polymorphisms and the phenotype. Materials and method: The study population consisted of 71 patients and 70 age and gender-matched healthy subjects. Each of the participants had 2cc of blood withdrawn, which was placed into a whole blood tube, and the DNA was obtained using the NucleoSpin (R) Blood DNA Isolation kit. To display the band lengths, the products were amplified using the primary pairs of the interleukins investigated and developed in a 2% agarose gel. Results: There were no significant differences between the groups with respect to the IL-1Ra, IL-1 beta, IL-2, IL-6 and the IL-10 gene polymorphism distributions. In the patient group the IL-1RN2 gene polymorphism was detected to be statistically correlated with the presence of articular involvement (p = 0.0283) and the IL-1 beta gene polymorphism was statistically correlated with the presence of an ocular lesion (p = 0.0178). The evaluation of the IL-2 gene polymorphism (p = 0.0065) and IL-10 gene polymorphism (p = 0.0483) distributions with respect to age of BD onset revealed a statistically significant distribution. Conclusion: The statistical correlations between the articular involvement and IL-1RN, the ocular involvement and the IL-1 beta, and the age of disease onset and the IL-2 and IL-10 gene polymorphisms, detected for the first time in the literature, suggest that these polymorphisms could be statistically associated with the disease symptoms and used as prognostic factors. Crown Copyright (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved