The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of hyperuricemia and its associated factors in an urban area of Izmir, located in western Turkey. Our study group was selected by computerized sampling from the participants of a larger population-based study searching for the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in Balcova and Narlidere districts of Izmir. A total of 132 subjects (69 women and 63 men) were included in this study. Serum uric acid, glucose, creatinine and lipid levels were studied. Body composition along with body fat percentage was determined anthropometrically. A total of 16 subjects had hyperuricemia (4 women and 12 men). The overall prevalence of hyperuricemia was 12.1% and the mean uric acid level was 4.9 +/- 1.3 mg/dl. Males had significantly higher uric acid levels than females (P < 0.05; 5.5 +/- 1.3 vs. 4.3 +/- 1.1 mg/dl, respectively). The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome was 24.4, 5.3, 28 and 26.5%, respectively. There was no gouty subject. Sum of skinfold thickness (SFT) measurements and creatinine levels were the independent predictors of hyperuricemia (beta = 0.45, 0.47, respectively). Uric acid measurement is important not only for inflammatory rheumatic disorders but also for predicting metabolic syndrome and related coronary artery disease. There is sex difference in uric acid levels in favor of women most probably explained by gonadal hormones. Hyperuricemia is significantly predicted by anthropometric measure of SFT which is a simple clinical screening method along with creatinine levels.

Objective: To determine and compare the clinical features and endoscopic findings of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) in elderly and younger age groups.Materials and Methods: The clinical and endoscopic features were evaluated for all patients with GERD between January 2017 and September 2020. The criteria for inclusion were being aged over 65 and under 50 years and having an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with reflux symptoms resistant to ppi theraphy. The exclusion criteria included prior surgery, age under 18 years, and pregnancy. The diagnosis of GERD was made according to the patients' symptoms. The SPSS 11.0 for Windows pocket program was used for statistical analysis.Results: Two hundred eighty-six patients aged over 65 years and 261 patients aged below 50 years were enrolled in this study. The mean age of the older group was 68.2 ± 4.5 years and the mean age of the young group was 38 ± 7.2 years. The male/female ratio was 5/3 and 2/1 in the young and older groups, respectively. The older patients had less severe and rare typical symptoms than the young patients. However, significantly more serious endoscopic findings were noted in the older patients compared with the younger patients.Conclusion: The older and young patients with GERD were predominantly male and typical reflux problems were less common in older patients with GERD. Older patients had more important endoscopic findings such as hernia, esophagitis, and cancer.

The aetiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) is still not fully understood. Infectious agents are believed to play a role in the development of this multifactorial disease. Cases in which this disease occurs after administration of both plasma-derived and recombinant hepatitis B vaccines have been reported. In this study, we compared a group of 11 MS patients who developed first clinical symptoms after hepatitis B vaccination (group I) with 71 MS patients who were never vaccinated against hepatitis B and were negative for hepatitis B serology (group II), and 20 healthy controls (group III). Mean age was 27.75 years (19-39) in group I, 30.16 years (18-50) in group II, and 34.4 years (18-50) in group III. Mean attack rate after 2 years was 1.5 in group I and 1.63 in group II. Mean Expanded Disability Status Scale score after 2 years was 1.31 in group I and 1.89 in group II. Human leucocyte antigen (HLA) typing and serology for hepatitis B surface antigen were performed in all groups. In groups I and II, HLA-DR2 was more frequent than in normal healthy subjects. This reflects the general role of HLA in the pathogenesis of MS but suggests that antigen presentation by different HLA is not involved in the development of MS after hepatitis B vaccination. Since there was no difference in the clinical features between vaccinated and nonvaccinated MS patients, this study supports recent reports that hepatitis B vaccination is safe in MS patients and that hepatitis B vaccination is not involved in the development of MS.

Significant differences found between HBeAg positive and negative patients suggest that HBeAg negative disease is different from HBeAg positive disease, and also point outs that in HBeAg negative disease, patients with nuclear HBcAg expression and increased levels of HBV DNA levels are at a higher risk of developing progressive liver disease.