Mehmet Sami Serin

Background Chemokines and their receptors, which regulate lymphoid organ development and immune cell trafficking, are integral to the mechanisms underlying viral control, hepatic inflammation, and liver damage in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. This study explores the potential relationship between serum chemokine levels/polymorphisms and hepatitis C infection in affected individuals, with a particular focus on their utility as biomarkers across different stages of fibrosis. Methods and results Serum levels of the chemokines CXCL11, CXCL12, and CXCL16 were measured in patients with mild/moderate and advanced fibrosis due to CHC, as well as in healthy controls, using the ELISA method. The CXCL12 rs1801157 and CXCL16 rs2277680 polymorphisms were analyzed in blood samples from patients and healthy controls through RT-qPCR. Serum levels of CXCL11, CXCL12, and CXCL16 were significantly elevated in patients with advanced fibrosis compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, CXCL11 levels were markedly higher in patients with advanced fibrosis than in those with mild/moderate fibrosis. The frequency of the CXCL12 rs1801157 AA genotype was significantly higher in the advanced fibrosis group compared to the healthy control group. Similarly, the CXCL16 rs2277680 GA genotype was significantly more prevalent in the advanced fibrosis group than in the mild/moderate fibrosis group. Conclusions The current study highlights that, in addition to the potential association between chemokine levels/polymorphisms and an increased risk of disease complications and pathological progression in CHC infection, serum CXCL11 levels and the CXCL16 rs2277680 allel polymorphism may be important factors in determining the fibrosis stage of hepatitis C infection.

The expression of miR-223-3p, miR-17-5p, and miR-24-3p was evaluated in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patient serum samples, collected before DAA treatment and after a sustained virological response (SVR). Fifty HCV patients were stratified based on their liver damage stages into three different subgroups (21 with chronic hepatitis—CH, 15 with cirrhosis, and 14 with hepatocellular carcinoma—HCC). Considering the entire HCV population, the miRNA expression levels were significantly downregulated after the SVR compared to pre-treatment ones (p < 0.05). Stratifying the patients based on liver damage, the post-SVR values of the three miRNAs were significantly downregulated compared to the pre-treatment levels for both cirrhosis and HCC patients. No significant differences emerged from the analysis of the CH group. To our knowledge, this is the first study to detail the behavior of miR-223-3p, miR-17-5p, and miR-24-3p levels in patients with HCV-related CH, cirrhosis, and HCC after DAA therapy. Our findings show that HCV-infected patients have different miRNA profiles before and after treatment with DAAs, strongly suggesting that miRNAs may be involved in the pathogenesis of HCV-related damage. In this respect, the correlation observed among the three studied miRNAs could imply that they share common pathways by which they contribute the progression of HCV-induced chronic liver damage.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a life-threatening infection and early diagnosis is critical for treatment and prevention of transmission. There is evidence of correlation between miRNA expression and cytokine regulation during TB infection. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between expression levels of miRNAs in plasma and cytokine levels as a potential biomarker for genetic predisposition and/or early diagnosis of TB infection. Methodology: The expression levels of 86 miRNAs were examined in plasma samples of 44 TB patients and 44 healthy controls by qRT-PCR using BioMarkTM 96.96 Dynamic Array (Fluidigm Corporation, South San Francisco, CA, USA) system. The levels of plasma TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-12/P40 were examined with ELISA. Results: We identified dysregulation of 18 miRNAs which included upregulation of miR-1, miR-7-5p, miR-9-5p, miR-10a-5p, miR-10b-5p, miR-100-5p, miR-106b-5p, miR-128-3p, miR-133a-3p, miR-143-3p, miR-193a-5p, miR-200b-3p, miR-205-5p, miR-210-3p, and miR-296-5p, and downregulation of miR-15b-5p, miR-16-5p, and miR-25-3p in plasma samples of patients with pulmonary TB (p < 0.05). A significant correlation between the expression levels of miR-1, miR-7-5p, miR-9-5p, miR-10a-5p, miR-10b-5p, miR-15b-5p, miR-100-5p, miR-143-3p, miR-193a-5p, miR-200b-3p, miR-210-3p and cytokine levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-8 and IL-10 was identified (p < 0.05). Conclusions: We demonstrated that altered expression levels of plasma miRNAs consistent with immunological response have the potential to serve as non-invasive biomarkers for early diagnosis of pulmonary TB. Additional investigations with larger sample sizes will be required to confirm our findings and to determine if miRNAs can be possible targets for TB management strategies.

Although persistent sustained viral response rates are increased in hepatitis C infection following administration of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents, the pre-use predictive parameters of these antivirals and the clinical progression in patients post-treatment remain unknown. To obtain data pertaining to the predictive parameters prior to the use of ombitavir/paritaprevir/ritonavir + dasabuvir and the clinical progression in patients following antiviral treatment. The expression profiles of miR-223-3p, miR-17-5p, miR-24-3p, and TLR2 − 196 to − 174 del/ins polymorphisms from the blood/serum of 34 hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients pre- and post-ombitavir/paritaprevir/ritonavir + dasabuvir treatment were determined by RT-qPCR. The expression levels of miR-17-5p (P < 0.001) and miR-24-3p (P = 0.011) were significantly downregulated post-treatment as compared with those pre-treatment; however, there was no significant difference between these two groups in terms of miR-223-3p expression. In addition, there was no significant difference in TLR2 genotype or allele distribution between pre-and post-treatment (P > 0.05); nevertheless, the TLR2 del allele was decreased post-treatment (16.2%) as compared with that pre-treatment (19.1%), although the difference was not statistically significant. Moreover, a significant difference was found between the mRNA levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and HCV RNA pre-and post-treatment (P < 0.05). Further, miR-17-5p expression correlated with both ALT and AST mRNA levels post-treatment (P

Amaç: Rubella ve CMV kaynaklı viral infeksiyonlar gebelik döneminde geçirildiğinde fetüste ciddi hasarlara sebep olabilmektedir. Bu çalışmada gebelik dolayısı ile rutin takip edilen gebelerdeki anti-Rubella ve anti-CMV antikorlarının seropozitifliğini ve bunun yaşa dağılımını incelemek amaçlanmıştır. Yöntem: Çalışmada, 2018 yılı Ocak-Aralık ayları arasında Erdemli Devlet Hastanesi Mikrobiyoloji laboratuvarına gebelik takibi ile gönderilen, gebelerden alınan kan örneklerinde anti-Rubella ve anti-CMV antikorlarının varlığı hastanenin kayıtlarından elde edilerek araştırılmıştır. Bulgular: Bu çalışmada anti-Rubella IgG testi yapılan toplam 1639 serum örneğinin %91.7’si pozitif, %6.2’i negatif ve %2.1’ü sınır değer olarak tespit edildi. Anti-Rubella IgM testi yapılan 1736 toplam serum örneğinin %0.5’i pozitif, %99.3’ü negatif ve %0.2’si sınır değer olarak tespit edildi. Anti-CMV IgG testi yapılan toplam 1703 serum örneğinin %100’ü pozitif olarak tespit edildi. Anti-CMV IgM testi yapılan toplam 1728 serum örneğinin %0.3’ü pozitif, %99.4’ü negatif ve %0.3’ü sınır değer olarak tespit edildi. Sonuç: Çalışmanın sonuçlarına göre gebelerin tümü anti-CMV IgG açısından seropozitiftir. Bu veriler çalışmadaki gebe kadıların tümünün gebelik dönemine kadar CMV infeksiyonu geçirdiğini desteklemektedir. Anti-Rubella IgG seropozitifliği ise %91.7 olarak tespit edilmiştir. Bu pozitiflik yaşla beraber değişkenlik göstermektedir. Ayrıca 2006 yılından önceki ilk 10 yıllık yaş bandının riskli olabileceği sonucuna varılabilir. Bu nedenle bu yaş grubunda gebelik planlayan kadınların izleminde rubella takibi daha önem taşımaktadır.

It has been shown that host factors play an important role in the progression of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) del and interleukin 28B (IL28B) T alleles can mediate liver inflammation and pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma. In the present study, the possible relationship between the IL28B rs12979860 C/T and TLR2 -196 to -174 del/ins gene variants and different fibrosis stages and host factors in hepatitis C patients was investigated. IL28B and TLR2 polymorphisms in the blood of 50 hepatitis C patients at different stages of fibrosis (24 mild/moderate, 26 advanced) and 24 healthy controls were examined by RT-qPCR. The highest frequency of the TLR2 del (26.9%) and IL28B T (46.2%) alleles was found in hepatitis C patients with the most advanced fibrosis, and the lowest frequency was found in healthy controls. There was a statistically significant difference between hepatitis C patients with advanced fibrosis and healthy controls in terms of the TLR2 del (p = 0.0062) and IL28B T (p = 0.0017) allele frequencies. However, no statistically significant difference was found between the mild/moderate fibrosis and severe fibrosis patient groups in terms of genotype or IL28B and TLR2 polymorphisms (p > 0.05). In addition, there was a significant difference between patients with mild/moderate or advanced fibrosis who carried the TLR2 del allele together with the IL28B CT genotype and healthy controls. The present study emphasizes that the TLR2 and IL28B gene variants cannot be single biomarkers for the determination of fibrosis stage in hepatitis C infection but together can play an important role in predicting severe disease.

This study aimed to retrospectively reveal the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) in pregnant women with routine pregnancy follow-up. Anti-T. gondii IgM-IgG antibody values of pregnant women aged 16-49 years, who had routine pregnancy follow-up in January-December 2019 were analysed retrospectively. Of the 1.832 serum samples, in which the anti-T. gondii IgG test was studied, 28.7% were found to be positive, 70.4% were negative and 0.9% was found to be suspicious. For anti-T. gondii IgM, 0.7% of the 1.844 serum samples were evaluated as positive, 99.5% as negative and 0.1% as suspicious. The positivity rates was observed to increase as age decreases in anti-Toxoplasma IgM (r=0.144, p=0.001), and the positivity rates increase as the age increases in the anti-Toxoplasma IgG (r=0.061, p=0.001). In the nationality evaluation, the anti-T. gondii IgM and IgG positivity rates were observed to be higher in Syrian pregnant women compared to Turkish pregnant women. In our study, a significant portion of pregnant women were observed to be non-immune to the agent, and therefore informing these people about the protection methods from the parasite in order to prevent infection occurrence is important.

Amaç: İmmünsüprese hastalarda fırsatçı enfeksiyonun yaygın patojenleri olan İnsan Sitomegalovirüs (HCMV) ve Epstein-Barr virüsün (EBV) immünokompetan konakçıda yeniden aktivasyonu genellikle asemptomatiktir, ancak kronik hastalığa neden olan HBV gibi virüslerle koenfeksiyonu hastalığın prognozunu kötü etkileyebilir. Bu çalışmada histolojik aktivite indeksi bilinen kronik HBV hastalarında HCMV/EBV enfeksiyon prevalansının, koenfeksiyonun risk faktörlerinin ve bunların hastaların karaciğer fonksiyonlarına olası etkilerinin belirlenmesi amaçlandı. Yöntem: Çalışmaya 142 kronik HBV (KHB), 20 HBV’ye bağlı siroz ve 4 HBV’ye bağlı hepatosellüler karsinoma (HSK) tanısı alan toplam 166 hasta retrospektif olarak dâhil edildi. HCMV/EBV DNA amplifikasyonu, gerçek zamanlı kantitatif polimeraz zincir reaksiyonu (RT-qPZR) ile hasta serumlarından belirlendi. Bulgular: Çalışmaya dâhil edilen HBV hastalarının %3.01 HCMV tespit edilirken, %6.02 EBV tespit edilmiştir. HCMV ile koenfekte KHB hastalarında alanin aminotransferaz (ALT) düzeyleri koenfeksiyonu olmayan hastalara nazaran daha yüksek bulunmuşken (p<0.05), EBV ile koenfekte hastalar ile olmayanlar arasında ALT seviyesi açısından bir fark bulunamamıştır. HCMV/EBV koenfekte hastaların histolojik aktivite skorları HCMV/EBV koenfeksiyonu olmayanlardan daha yüksek olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Aynı zamanda HCMV/EBV koenfeksiyonu olan hastaların HBV DNA yükleri koenfeksiyonu olmayan hastalara kıyasla daha az bulunmuştur. Sonuç: Bu çalışma immünsüprese KHB hastalarının yanında immünkompetan KHB hastalarında da HCMV/EBV koenfeksiyonunun önemli olabileceğini göstermiştir. Kronik HBV hastalarında HCMV/EBV koenfeksiyonun düşük HBV DNA seviyelerine rağmen histolojik aktivite skorlarının yüksek bulunması karaciğer hasarını arttırdığını ve prognozu kötü etkilediğini göstermektedir. Bu yüzden KHB hastalarının HCMV/EBV enfeksiyonu için yüksek risk grupları olarak kabul edilmesi ve bu enfeksiyonlar yönünden takip edilerek tedavi edilmesi hastalığın kötü prognozunu değiştirmede kritik öneme sahip olacağı görüşündeyiz.

Background: Pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PES) is a systemic disease characterized by the aggregation of fibrillar extracellular material in intraocular and extraocular tissues with unknown etiology. Clarifying the etiopathogenesis of PES would be important for public health. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the possible role of Chlamydia in the etiology of PES. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in the ophthalmology clinic of a tertiary hospital. The study included two groups, including the patient group (PES patients with nuclear cataracts) and the control group (patients with nuclear cataracts). Patients with other ophthalmic problems and systemic diseases were excluded. Blood samples and conjunctival swabs taken from 49 patients and 42 controls were used in the study. Anti-Chlamydia trachomatis IgG and IgM, anti-C. pneumoniae IgG and IgM, Interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-20 were studied in the serum samples. The PCR study was performed with conjunctival swab samples and sequence analysis of PCR-positive samples was performed. Results: According to the results of the study, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of anti-C. trachmatis IgG, anti-C. trachmatis IgM, anti-C. pneumoniae IgM, IL-6, and PCR results. There was a statistically significant difference between patient and control groups in terms of anti-C. pneumoniae IgG and IL-20 levels. The DNA sequencing of all PCR products was found to be compatible with C. pneumoniae. Conclusions: It seems that C. pneumoniae might have an important role in the etiology and development of PES. However, further studies in larger groups are needed to clarify these results.