iSED sedimentation showed a poor correlation and a high bias (>10%) with the Westergren method, and Ves-Matic Cube 200 method showed a higher correlation and a lower bias than the iSED device when compared with Westergren reference method. These instruments should be carefully monitored.

Background/aim: Thiol status is a good reflector of the cellular redox and have vital roles in various cellular signaling pathways. The purpose of the study was to investigate thiol status in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.Materials and methods: A total of 587 subjects (517 patients/70 healthy controls) were enrolled in the study.The patients were categorized into the groups regarding to the severity of disease (mild, moderate, severe, and critical).Thiol status of all groups were compared. Results:The patients had significantly diminished thiol levels compared to controls. Thiol levels were gradually decreased as the severity of the disease increased. Logistic regression analyses identified that thiol concentrations were an independent risk factor for the disease severity in each phase (mild group OR 0.975, 95%CI 0.965-0.986; moderate group, OR 0.964, 95%CI 0.953-0.976; severe group OR 0.953, 95%CI 0.941-0.965; critical group OR 0.947, 95%CI 0.935-0.960).Thiol test exhibited the largest area under the curve at 0.949, with the highest sensitivity (98.6%) and specificity (80.4%).Conclusions: Depleted thiol status was observed in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Decline of the thiol levels by degrees while the severity of infection increased was closely related to the progression of the disease. This outcome highlights that thiols could be an impressible biomarker for predicting of the severity of COVID-19.

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It was aimed to evaluate the levels of maternal serum proprotein convertase subtilisin/ kexin type 9 (PCSK9) in pregnant women with a fetus diagnosed with open neural tube defects (NTDs). This case-control study included 38 pregnant women carrying fetuses with open NTDs and 44 age-matched, pregnant women with no specified risk factors.Comparisons were made of the groups in respect of demographic and clinical data and PCSK9 levels. To examine the performance of PCSK9 levels in the prediction of fetal open NTDs, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used. In the first and second trimesters, PCSK9 levels were determined to be lower in the NTD group than in the control group (p = 0.010 and p = 0.015, respectively). In the first trimester, the lower PCSK9 levels in the NTD group were not statistically significant (p = 0.575). In the second trimester, the ROC curve value with the best balance of sensitivity/specificity for PCSK9 was 71.9 ng/ml (84.6% sensitivity, 51.7% specificity) and in the first and second trimester combined, 74.4 ng/ml (81.6% sensitivity, 45.5% specificity) (p = 0.015, p = 0.036, respectively). PCSK9 may be involved in the etiopathogenesis of open NTDs at the critical steps of fetal neuronal differentiation. Although it has limitations, PCSK9 may be used as an additional biomarker for the screening of NTDs.

Background Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized with increased serum and tissue inflammatory mediators. IL‐17 is a well‐known inflammatory mediator that plays important roles in pathogenesis of inflammatory skin diseases. Previous studies reported that Th17 pathway is activated in rosacea and IL‐17, one of Th17 signature cytokines, is elevated in tissue samples of rosacea patients. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate serum IL‐17 levels in rosacea patients and to study its relationship with disease characteristics. Methods Sixty patients diagnosed with rosacea and 60 healthy controls were included in the study. Serum IL‐17 concentrations were measured using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The mean serum IL‐17 level was 8.03 pg/mL (SD = 1.47) in rosacea patients and 7.37 pg/mL (Sd = 1.19) in controls. Serum IL‐17 levels were significantly higher in rosacea (p = 0.002). Serum IL‐17 levels were similar among patients with erythematotelangiectatic (ET) and papulopustular (PP) rosacea (8.02 vs 8.06, p = 0.83). Serum IL‐17 levels did not correlate with rosacea severity (p = 0.59, r = 0.07 in ET rosacea; p = 0.88, r = 0.02 in PP rosacea), age of onset (p = 0.58, r = −0.07), and disease duration (p = 0.37, r = −0.11). Primary features and global assessments did not correlate with serum IL‐17 levels (all p > 0.05). Among secondary features, edema showed a significant negative correlation with serum IL‐17 concentrations (p = 0.037, r = −0.26). Conclusions Our study showed increased serum IL‐17 levels in rosacea patients and a significant correlation between IL‐17 concentrations and secondary features of the disease suggesting IL‐17 may contribute to pathogenesis of rosacea and may be a new target for rosacea treatment.

Introduction: Measurement of parathyroid hormone (PTH) is essential in the investigation and management of calcium metabolism disorders. To assess the significance of any assay result when clinical decision making biological variation (BV) of the measurand must be taken into consideration. The aim of the present study is determining the BV parameters for serum PTH. Materials and methods: Blood samples were taken at weekly intervals from 20 healthy subjects for ten weeks in this prospective BV study. Serum “intact PTH” concentrations were measured with electrochemiluminescence method. Biological variation parameters were estimated using the approach proposed by Fraser. Results: The values of within-subject biological variation (CVI), between-subject biological variation (CVG), analytical variation (CVA), reference change value (RCV) and individuality index (II) for serum PTH were 21.1%, 24.9%, 3.8%, 59.4% and 0.8%, respectively. Within-subject biological variation and CVG were also determined according to gender separately; 18.5% and 24.0%; 26.2% and 18.6% for male and female, respectively. Calculated desirable precision and bias goals were < 10.6% and < 6.3%, respectively. Conclusion: This study may contribute to BV data on serum PTH as it includes a sufficient number of volunteers from both genders over an acceptable period of time. We do not recommend the usage of population-based reference intervals for serum PTH concentrations. Reference change value may be helpful for the evaluation of serial serum PTH results. Nonetheless, evaluation of data according to gender is necessary when setting analytical performance specifications.

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We are grateful to Roche and Beckman Diagnostics for providing reagent kits free of charge for this study.