Introduction. Acute kidney injury (AKI) pathogenesis is complex. Findings of gentamicin nephrotoxicity are seen in 30% of the AKI patients. Vitamin D has proven to be effective on renin expression, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and atherosclerosis. We aimed to investigate the effect of vitamin D in an experimental rat model of gentamicin-induced AKI. Methods. Thirty nonuremic Wistar albino rats were divided into 3 groups: Control group, 1 mL saline intramuscular (im) daily; Genta group, gentamicin 100 mg/kg/day (im); Genta + vitamin D, gentamicin 100 mg/kg/day (im) in addition to 1α, 25 (OH)2D3 0.4 mcg/kg/day subcutaneously for 8 days. Blood pressures and 24-hour urine were measured. Blood urea and creatinine levels and urine tubular injury markers were measured. Renal histology was semiquantitatively assessed. Results. Urea, creatinine and urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, and kidney injury molecule-1 were all increased in Genta group indicating AKI model. Systolic blood pressure decreased, but urine volume and glutathione increased in Genta + Vit D group compared to Control group. Histological scores indicating tubular injury increased in Genta and Genta + Vit D groups. Conclusions. Vitamin D does not seem to be effective on histological findings although it has some beneficial effects via RAS system and a promising effect on antioxidant system.
Background The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic is a global health emergency that is straining health care resources. Identifying patients likely to experience severe illness would allow more targeted use of resources. This study aimed to investigate the association between the thymus index (TI) on thorax computed tomography (CT) and prognosis in patients with COVID-19. Methods A multicenter, cross-sectional, retrospective study was conducted between March 17 and June 30, 2020, in patients with confirmed COVID-19. The patients' clinical history and laboratory data were collected after receiving a signed consent form. Four experienced radiologists who were blinded to each other and patient data performed image evaluation. The appearance of the thymus was assessed in each patient using 2 published systems, including the TI and thymic morphology. Exclusion criteria were lack of initial diagnostic thoracic CT, previous sternotomy, pregnancy, and inappropriate images for thymic evaluation. A total of 2588 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and 1231 of these with appropriate thoracic CT imaging were included. Multivariable analysis was performed to predict the risk of severe disease and mortality. Results The median age was 45 (interquartile range, 33–58) years; 52.2% were male. Two hundred forty-nine (20.2%) patients had severe disease, and 60 (4.9%) patients died. Thymus index was significantly associated with mortality and severe disease (odds ratios, 0.289 [95% confidence interval, 0.141–0.588; P = 0.001]; and 0.266 [95% confidence interval, 0.075–0.932; P = 0.038]), respectively. Perithymic lymphadenopathy on CT imaging had a significantly strong association with grades of TI in patients with severe disease and death ( V = 0.413 P = 0.017; and V = 0.261 P = 0.002, respectively). A morphologically assessable thymus increased the probability of survival by 17-fold and the absence of severe disease by 12-fold. Conclusion Assessment of the thymus in patients with COVID-19 may provide useful prognostic data for both disease severity and mortality.
Background Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare autosomal dominant inherited disease characterized by recurrent angioedema episodes and classified as HAE with C1-inhibitor (C1INH) deficiency (HAE-C1INH) and HAE with normal C1-inhibitor (HAE-nlC1INH). It may involve the face, larynx, upper airways, trunk, gastrointestinal system, genital area, and extremities. The angioedema attacks are disabling, and laryngeal edema can lead to asphyxiation and death if it is not treated successfully. We aim to investigate the association between the attack localizations and complement parameters of HAE C1INH patients. Methods Patients with HAE-C1INH from Ege University Faculty of Medicine were included. Patients with HAE-nl-C1INH were excluded from the study. Data on the clinical records were obtained retrospectively. Sociodemographic data, age at disease onset, annual attack frequencies, attack localizations, and complement parameters were recorded. Results One-hundred patients were in the study group. Fifty four percent of them were female. The majority of patients were HAE-C1INH type I (87%). The mean age at disease onset was 12.01 ±7.04 years. Plasma C4 levels were normal in eight patients (8.16%). The most frequently involved localizations were extremities (91%), gastrointestinal system (89%), and genital area (85%). Having a facial attack and erythema marginatum were both found to be correlated with the occurrence of laryngeal edema. Laryngeal edema was seen in 83.8% of the patients with erythema marginatum (P=0.010), and 75.9% of the patients with facial attacks (P<0.001). Conclusion The correlation between erythema marginatum and laryngeal edema was not reported in previous studies. Due to the unpredictable and fatal nature of the laryngeal attacks, all HAE patients and physicians should be alert of the occurrence and emergency treatment of laryngeal edema. We recommend that C4 alone should not be used to exclude the diagnosis of HAE-C1INH. The laboratory work-up should also include C1 inhibitor levels and C1INH function analysis.
Hereditary angioedema (HAE) due to C1-INH deficiency (C1-INH-HAE) is an autosomal dominant inherited disease characterized by recurrent skin and mucosa swellings that commonly involve the extremities, intestines, face, genital area and upper airways. Dental procedures are important attack triggers in C1-INH-HAE patients. Attacks following dental procedures are commonly localized to the face and larynx. Laryngeal edema can cause death by asphyxiation. A 48-year-old female patient was admitted to our hospital because of the excessive accumulation of calculus on the teeth which was noticed during routine dental examination. At the oral examination calcified dental plaque, bleeding by gingival probing, and discoloration of the teeth #31-32 were detected. By radiographic and clinical findings radicular cyst pre-diagnosis was made, and it was decided to enucleate the cyst.However, the patient's medical history revealed that she was diagnosed with C1-INH-HAE at the age of 40. To prevent possible facial and laryngeal edema, 1000 units of C1 inhibitor concentration was given 1 hour before the procedure. Under local anesthesia, the lesion was totally enucleated with its capsule. The risk of having attack after tooth extraction is about 37.5% and nearly 1/3 of these attacks are associated with laryngeal edema in patients with C1-INH-HAE. However, prophylaxis with C1 inhibitor concentration led to a 44.1% reduction in angioedema attacks on a per-patient basis. With this case, we wanted to draw attention to the importance of questioning the patient and his/her family for recurrent nonpruritic skin and mucosa swelling and abdominal pain attacks before surgical interventions to the mouth, neck, and throat area.
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