Revista «Monumentet» organ i Institutit të Monumenteve të Kulturës / La revue «Monumentet», organe de l'Institut des Monuments de Culture

Riza Emin. Revista «Monumentet» organ i Institutit të Monumenteve të Kulturës / La revue «Monumentet», organe de l'Institut des Monuments de Culture. In: Iliria, vol. 13 n°2, 1983. pp. 271-274

Mercury levels in cord blood and meconium of healthy newborns and venous blood of their mothers: Clinical, prospective cohort study

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the chronic mercury intoxication in pregnant women and newborns living in Istanbul, Turkey

A population-based survey of Chronic REnal Disease In Turkey-the CREDIT study

Background. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing health problem worldwide that leads to end-stage kidney failure and cardiovascular complications. We aimed to determine the prevalence of CKD in Turkey, and to evaluate relationships between CKD and cardiovascular risk factors in a population-based survey

The Circulating Levels of Selenium, Zinc, Midkine, Some Inflammatory Cytokines, and Angiogenic Factors in Mitral Chordae Tendineae Rupture

Chordae tendineae rupture process is associated with increased production of inflammatory and angiogenesis mediators in connective tissues, which contributes to chronic inflammation and pathogenesis of degenerative chordae. A few trace elements are known to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiangiogenic properties. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether zinc, selenium, midkine (MK), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels are associated with inflammation and angiogenesis processes in the context of a potential etiology causing aggravation of mitral regurgitation and/or ruptured chordae tendineae. Seventy-one subjects comprising 34 patients with mitral chordae tendineae rupture (MCTR) and 37 healthy controls diagnosed on the basis of their clinical profile and transthoracic echocardiography were included in this study. The levels of GSH, MK, selenium, and zinc were found to be lower in the patients group when compared to control group. There were no significant difference in plasma TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-8, VEGF-A, and PDGF-BB levels between two groups. There were positive significant correlations between MK and GSH, MK, and selenium levels in patients with MCTR. According to our data in which selenium, zinc, MK, and GSH decreased in MCTR patients, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and trace element levels may contribute to etiopathogenesis of mitral regurgitation and/or ruptured chordae tendineae

COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients: A multicenter experience in Istanbul.

© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLCIntroduction: Management of COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients should include treatment of the infection, regulation of immunosuppression, and supportive therapy. However, there is no consensus on this issue yet. This study aimed to our experiences with kidney transplant recipients diagnosed with COVID-19. Material and Methods: Kidney transplant recipients diagnosed with COVID-19 from five major transplant centers in Istanbul, Turkey, were included in this retrospective cohort study. Patients were classified as having moderate or severe pneumonia for the analysis. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. The secondary endpoints were acute kidney injury, the average length of hospital stay, admission to intensive care, and mechanical ventilation. Results: Forty patients were reviewed retrospectively over a follow-up period of 32 days after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Cough, fever, and dyspnea were the most frequent symptoms in all patients. The frequency of previous induction and rejection therapy was significantly higher in the group with severe pneumonia compared to the moderate pneumonia group. None of the patients using cyclosporine A developed severe pneumonia. Five patients died during follow-up in the intensive care unit. None of the patients developed graft loss during follow-up. Discussion: COVID-19 has been seen to more commonly cause moderate or severe pneumonia in kidney transplant recipients. Immunosuppression should be carefully reduced in these patients. Induction therapy with lymphocyte-depleting agents should be carefully avoided in kidney transplant recipients during the pandemic period

Infectious Complications of Induction Therapies in Kidney Transplantation.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and BK virus (BKV) are post-transplant opportunistic viral infections that affect patientand graft survival. This study was designed to evaluate the risk of BKV nephropathy and CMV disease in kidneytransplant recipients who received induction therapy with ATG or basiliximab.Material/Methods: We retrospectively analyzed information on 257 adult patients who underwent kidney transplantation betweenJanuary 2007 and 2017. Patients were categorized into 3 groups according to the induction therapies. The primaryendpoint was the onset of CMV disease or biopsy-confirmed BKV nephropathy. The secondary endpointswere biopsy-proven rejection episodes, graft loss, loss to follow-up, and death.Results: We followed 257 patients for a median of 55.5 months. The incidence of CMV disease was significantly higherin the only ATG group compared to the group without induction treatment (p<0.001). There was no significantdifference in the incidence of BKV nephropathy among groups (p>0.05). The dosage of ATG (OR, 10.685; 95%CI, 1.343 5 to 85.009; P=0.025) was independent risk factor for death.Conclusions: This study demonstrated that a higher dosage of ATG in high-risk patients is associated with an increased riskof CMV disease and patient death, also, reducing the dosage may be a rational strategy for increasing graftand patient’s survival

Predicting the outcome of COVID-19 infection in kidney transplant recipients

BackgroundWe aimed to present the demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, and outcomes of our multicenter cohort of adult KTx recipients with COVID-19.MethodsWe conducted a multicenter, retrospective study using data of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 collected from 34 centers in Turkey. Demographic characteristics, clinical findings, laboratory parameters (hemogram, CRP, AST, ALT, LDH, and ferritin) at admission and follow-up, and treatment strategies were reviewed. Predictors of poor clinical outcomes were analyzed. The primary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and the need for ICU admission. The secondary outcome was composite in-hospital mortality and/or ICU admission.ResultsOne hundred nine patients (male/female: 63/46, mean age: 48.412.4years) were included in the study. Acute kidney injury (AKI) developed in 46 (42.2%) patients, and 4 (3.7%) of the patients required renal replacement therapy (RRT). A total of 22 (20.2%) patients were admitted in the ICU, and 19 (17.4%) patients required invasive mechanical ventilation. 14 (12.8%) of the patients died. Patients who were admitted in the ICU were significantly older (age over 60years) (38.1% vs 14.9%, p=0.016). 23 (21.1%) patients reached to composite outcome and these patients were significantly older (age over 60years) (39.1% vs. 13.9%; p=0.004), and had lower serum albumin (3.4g/dl [2.9-3.8] vs. 3.8g/dl [3.5-4.1], p=0.002), higher serum ferritin (679 mu g/L [184-2260] vs. 331 mu g/L [128-839], p=0.048), and lower lymphocyte counts (700/mu l [460-950] vs. 860 /mu l [545-1385], p=0.018). Multivariable analysis identified presence of ischemic heart disease and initial serum creatinine levels as independent risk factors for mortality, whereas age over 60years and initial serum creatinine levels were independently associated with ICU admission. On analysis for predicting secondary outcome, age above 60 and initial lymphocyte count were found to be independent variables in multivariable analysis.Conclusion Over the age of 60, ischemic heart disease, lymphopenia, poor graft function were independent risk factors for severe COVID-19 in this patient group. Whereas presence of ischemic heart disease and poor graft function were independently associated with mortality

The phenotypic and molecular genetic spectrum of Alstrom syndrome in 44 Turkish kindreds and a literature review of Alstrom syndrome in Turkey

Alstrom syndrome (ALMS) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by multiple organ involvement, including neurosensory vision and hearing loss, childhood obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiomyopathy, hypogonadism, and pulmonary, hepatic, renal failure and systemic fibrosis. Alstrom Syndrome is caused by mutations in ALMS1, and ALMS1 protein is thought to have a role in microtubule organization, intraflagellar transport, endosome recycling and cell cycle regulation. Here, we report extensive phenotypic and genetic analysis of a large cohort of Turkish patients with ALMS. We evaluated 61 Turkish patients, including 11 previously reported, for both clinical spectrum and mutations in ALMS1. To reveal the molecular diagnosis of the patients, different approaches were used in combination, a cohort of patients were screened by the gene array to detect the common mutations in ALMS1 gene, then in patients having any of the common ALMS1 mutations were subjected to direct DNA sequencing or next-generation sequencing for the screening of mutations in all coding regions of the gene. In total, 20 distinct disease-causing nucleotide changes in ALMS1 have been identified, eight of which are novel, thereby increasing the reported ALMS1 mutations by 6% (8/120). Five disease-causing variants were identified in more than one kindred, but most of the alleles were unique to each single patient and identified only once (16/20). So far, 16 mutations identified were specific to the Turkish population, and four have also been reported in other ethnicities. In addition, 49 variants of uncertain pathogenicity were noted, and four of these were very rare and probably or likely deleterious according to in silico mutation prediction analyses. ALMS has a relatively high incidence in Turkey and the present study shows that the ALMS1 mutations are largely heterogeneous; thus, these data from a particular population may provide a unique source for the identification of additional mutations underlying Alstrom Syndrome and contribute to genotype-phenotype correlation studies