INTRODUCTION: Fetuin-A, a glycoprotein with several functions, is also a negative acute phase reactant. The purpose of this study was to investigate levels of serum fetuin-A in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, its association with disease severity, and whether it has superiority over C-reactive protein (CRP).
METHODS: The research comprised 56 individuals with COVID-19(+) and 30 healthy controls. The COVID-19(+) patient population was split into three subgroups: mild, moderate, and severe. All participants’ serum concentrations of fetuin-A, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured using ELISA commercial test kits. In addition, CRP and other biochemical values from biochemistry laboratory data were gathered, and the CRP/fetuin-A ratio was calculated.
RESULTS: The fetuin-A concentration of the COVID-19(+) patient group was shown to be statistically lower than that of the healthy control group. TNF-α and IL-6 levels were found to be significantly different in both groups. While fetuin-A had a higher area under the curve (AUC) value than CRP (0.875 and 0.800, respectively), CRP/fetuin-A had the strongest AUC (0.933).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Low serum fetuin-A concentrations in COVID-19 patients suggest that fetuin-A is a negative acute phase reactant for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Furthermore, fetuin-A alone and CRP/fetuin-A value are both contenders for being more remarkable markers than CRP.

INTRODUCTION: Since December 2019, after the declaration of new cases regarding novel coronavirus disease, many variants have emerged as a consequence of the viral evolution. Although the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants have been studied on a molecular basis, their clinical and pathologic disparities have been understood inadequately. The aim of this research was to figure out the differences between the SARS-CoV-2 Al-pha (B1.1.7) variant and the classical Wuhan groups on the clinical basis and laboratory results of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who had a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
METHODS: The study was performed retrospectively inclusive of epidemiological, laboratory data, and clinical symptoms of patients who were admitted to the emergency service between February 15 and March 15, 2021, and had positive COVID-19 PCR test results.
RESULTS: Although there was no statistically significant difference in symptoms between the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant and classical variant (Wuhan-type [WT]) groups, C-reactive protein, lymphocyte, and leukocyte counts were statistically significantly higher in the WT group, and prothrombin time, International Normalized Ratio (INR) and serum creatinine values were statistically significantly higher in the Alpha group.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Studies such as ours that investigate both the clinical features and laboratory data of SARS-CoV-2 variants will close the knowledge gaps, so better decisions may be made by health policymakers. Additional studies in this area will increase the understanding of the topic.

INTRODUCTION: The scope of this study was to identify potential genes as a promising biomarker in diagnosing cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) or differentiating the subtypes of CCA. In this study, we used Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)-NCBI data sets as promising open sources to perform integrative analysis.
METHODS: The gene expression data sets of intrahepatic CCA (iCCA) and extrahepatic CCA (eCCA) were retrieved from GEO, and the statistical analysis of GSE45001 (iCCA), GSE76311 (iCCA), and GSE132305 (eCCA) was performed to identify significantly expressed genes. The association of listed genes with CCA was checked via text-mining approaches. For CCA, the details were provided by discussing its relations with our results. Then, the pathway analysis was performed to identify common pathways both in iCCA and eCCA.
RESULTS: The pathway analysis reveals that although there are common pathways between iCCA and eCCA, the associated genes within these pathways are different from one another. According to the results of upregulated gene sets, integrin cell surface interaction (R-HSA 216083), MET activates PTK2 signaling (R-HSA-8874081), degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) (R-HSA-1474228), nonintegrin membrane–ECM interaction (R-HSA-3000171), and assembly of collagen fibrils and other multimeric structures (R-HSA-2022090) are found as common pathways among these data sets, yet there is no reported common pathway within downregulated gene sets. A detailed study of common pathway analysis shows that COL1A1 and COL1A2 genes, whose associations with CCA have not been reported, seem promising to differentiate iCCA from eCCA. The pathway analysis also reveals that although there are common pathways between iCCA and eCCA, the associated genes within these pathways are different from one another.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Focusing on pathways rather than genes is more promising for revealing the potential biomarkers together with providing a deeper understanding by highlighting significant pathways.

INTRODUCTION: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate how thiol/disulfide homeostasis is affected in Helicobacter pylori positive and negative gastritis and the efficiency of thiol/disulfide levels in the diagnosis of chronic gastritis.

METHODS: Seventy patients with chronic gastritis (30 H. pylori negative and 40 H. pylori positive) and 20 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. An upper gastrointestinal endoscopy procedure was performed on all patients. Native and total thiol were measured using a novel automatic and spectrophotometric method developed by Erel and Neselioglu. The differences between the groups and the diagnostic efficiency of the parameters were evaluated statistically.
RESULTS: Native thiol levels decreased in the chronic gastritis group compared with the control group, whereas disulfide levels increased only in the H. pylori positive gastritis group compared with the control group. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of total thiol levels. According to the ROC analysis, the highest diagnostic efficiency in distinguishing the chronic gastritis group from the control group was calculated for native thiol with a 0.953 area under the curve value, 95% sensitivity, and 90% specificity.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It was shown that the thiol/disulfide balance was impaired in patients with chronic gastritis compared with healthy controls, and these results were interpreted as increased oxidative stress in patients with chronic gastritis. It was determined that serum native thiol levels have high diagnostic efficiency in the diagnosis of gastritis, and it can be a potential biomarker candidate for chronic gastritis.

INTRODUCTION: We primarily aimed to investigate the hematologic inflammatory parameters such as mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with acromegaly. We also aimed to reveal the importance of these parameters in determining disease activity.
METHODS: The medical data of 535 patients with acromegaly were retrospectively reviewed. The sociodemographic characteristics, presence of comorbid disease, acromegaly-related clinical and medical treatment characteristics, insulinlike growth factor-1 and growth hormone levels at diagnosis, postoperative 3rd month and last visit, and hematologic inflammatory markers and indices at last visit were obtained from the patients’ medical charts. The patients were divided into age-, sex-, and comorbid disease-matched four groups according to their last remission status: active disease, remission with only surgery, remission with medication, and discordant disease. Finally, a total of 290 patients were included.
RESULTS: We examined a total of 290 patients with acromegaly after primary therapy; 36 had active disease, 77 were in remission with only surgery, 129 were in remission with medication, and 48 had a discordant disease. When the patients were categorized by last remission status, the median MPV was higher in patients with discordant disease than in the remission group with only surgery, and there were no differences in terms of the NLR and PLR between groups. When the participants were divided into two groups according to the presence of remission at the postoperative 3rd month, patients who had remission had lower MPV levels than those who had not. However, the groups had similar features for the NLR and PLR.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our results, particularly those that reveal positive association between MPV and remission status, indicate that subclinical inflammation may play a role in increased mortality and morbidity. Therefore, in addition to patients with active disease, patients with discordant disease should be followed closely for cardiovascular risks.

INTRODUCTION: Nicotine is a substance associated with rewarding and abusive effects. The rewarding effects of nicotine are thought to be due to dopamine signaling, which is negatively controlled through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), also known as omega-3, can trigger the peroxisomal β-oxidation enzymes through PPARs. In this study, we planned to examine the effect of DHA on the rewarding properties of nicotine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in male rats.
METHODS: CPP was established by giving male rats an intraperitoneal injection of nicotine (0.5 mg/kg). The effects of PPAR agonist DHA on the rewarding properties of nicotine were evaluated with the administration of DHA (150 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg, p.o.) or saline 30 min prior to nicotine injection.
RESULTS: The present finding confirms that DHA attenuated nicotine acquisition (150 and 250 mg/kg, p<0.01) and failed to produce CPP or/and conditioned place aversion.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: These findings could be a bridge from bench to bedside as DHA may be helpful as an adjuvant for smoking cessation; however, these are the preliminary results, and further research is needed to illuminate this feature completely.

INTRODUCTION: In the context of the accreditation of medical laboratories according to the ISO 15189: 2012 standard, the optimisation of an internal quality control (IQC) schedule is an important element of analytical quality. The study focuses on an essential test for the follow-up of diabetic patients: Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c).
METHODS: The analysis was performed on three TERA® Capillarys (Sebia®) analyzers. Data were collected for 1 month calculating imprecision and analytical bias. A total error allowable (TEa) of 6% was used to calculate the Sigma metrics. A statistical quality control (SQC) procedure based on the Sigma metrics of the analytical procedure, the selected rules and numbers of control measurements were applied to determine the optimised run size and to guarantee the required quality of patient care.
RESULTS: With a mean of 5-Sigma. “Normalised Chart” showed a good/excellent performance for the HbA1c method. The SQC run size nomogram indicated a desirable event size of around 53 samples/capillary (for n=1 and 13s) and 170 samples/capillary (for n=2 and 13s).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated the usefulness of the sigma metric SQC run size nomogram to determine the control strategy for HBA1c and contributes to the quality of results rendered to patients.

Reverse cholesterol transport (RCT), which plays a critical role in the export of cholesterol from peripheral cells, is one of the processes employed in the management and treatment of atherosclerosis. RCT requires cholesterol efflux from macrophages in the subintima of the vessel wall. ATP-binding cassette transporters A1 and G1 transfer cholesterol from arterial macrophages to extracellular high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The high-density lipoprotein (HDL) then carries the esterified cholesterol to the liver, where it is eliminated. HDL is an essential element in RCT and extracellular cholesterol excretion. By modifying the processes of RCT and cholesterol efflux, it is possible to inhibit atherogenesis, which might lead to innovative treatments for cardiovascular disease. New modifying factors for RCT and cholesterol efflux must be investigated. Through study, a deeper knowledge of RCT’s molecular processes has been achieved, enabling the development of novel therapies that exploit RCT’s pharmacological potential. This review aims to stimulate discourse on the possible influence of certain flavonoids on cholesterol efflux on the evolution of atherosclerosis.