Summary Objectives The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of oral l -Glutamine supplementation on hospitalization time, need for intensive care unit and Coronavirus Disease-19 (Covid-19) mortality. Methods The study included 30 Covid-19 patients using l -Glutamine and 30 Covid-19 patients who did not use l -Glutamine with similar age, gender and clinical status. Diagnostic tests, laboratory examinations, clinical findings and computed thorax tomography imaging of the patients were evaluated. Results Hospitalization time was 10.4 ± 1.9 days in Covid-19 without L-Glutamine group and 8.9 ± 1.8 days in Covid-19 with L-Glutamine group (p = 0.005). In Covid-19 without the L-Glutamine group, four patients require the ICU though no one in the other group required that (p = 0.038). Only one mortality was observed in Covid-19 without the L-Glutamine group (p = 0.999). Conclusions Nutritional supplements such as L-Glutamine boost immune system especially by inhibition of inflammatory responses. Our results suggest adding enteral L-glutamine to the normal nutrition in the early period of Covid-19 infection may lead to a shortened hospital stay and lead to less need for ICU. Larger-scale studies are needed to evaluate the effect of adding enteral L-Glutamine to the currently used treatments in the infectious diseases especially like Covid-19.

The decreased levels of NOx and eNOS found in this study indicate the co-existence of endothelial dysfunction and hypertension once more. In the absence of microalbuminuria, the increased miR-21 expression in patients with iCIMT made us conclude that this miRNA might be involved in the early stages of atherosclerotic process in hypertensive patients.

White coat hypertension (WCH) is a high cardiovascular risk condition, and a fundamental understanding of the cause and pathophysiology of the disorder is still lacking. Recent studies demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in hypertension; however, the roles of miRNAs in WCH are not known.The expressions of selected 10 miRNAs were investigated independently in plasma samples from 30 hypertension (HT) patients, 30 WCH patients, and 30 normotensive (NT) subjects.MiR-21, miR-122, miR-637, and let-7e expression levels were significantly upregulated in the HT group compared with the NT groups (P = 0.017, P = 0.022, P = 0.048, and P = 0.013, respectively). MiR-122 and miR-637 expressions were also significantly upregulated in the WCH group compared with the NT group (P = 0.048 and P = 0.039, respectively). MiR-296-5p expression level was significantly downregulated in HT patients and upregulated in the WCH patients compared with the NT group (P = 0.049 and P = 0.039, respectively).Additionally, the ambulatory 24-hour and daytime systolic and diastolic blood pressures were negatively correlated with miR-296-5p. MiR-296 and miR-637 had area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.778 and 0.774, respectively, which demonstrates their sufficiency to distinguish WCH from NT individuals. MiR-296 and miR-637 had AUC values of 0.868 and 0.680, respectively, which shows their potential to distinguish WCH from HT individuals.We report for the first time a plasma miRNA profile for WCH patients and demonstrate a novel link between miRNA and WCH. These findings may reveal crucial insights into the development of WCH.

The aim of this clinical study was to evaluate the influence of aging on the levels of lipid peroxidation (quantified as thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) content), lipid hydroperoxide (LOOH), hexanoyl lysine (HEL), 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and determine their relationships to the demographic and cardiovascular risk factors in elderly hypertensive (HT) patients. This study consisted of four groups: two elderly groups with 30 HT patients (11 males, 19 females) and 30 normotensive healthy volunteers (15 males, 15 females), and two young groups with 30 HT patients (13 males, 17 females) and 30 normotensive healthy volunteers (12 males, 18 females). In the elderly control group, the TBARS, LOOH, HEL and 8-iso-PGF2α levels, and the carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) were significantly higher than in the young control group. The TBARS, LOOH, HEL and 8-iso-PGF2α levels and the CIMT measurements were significantly higher in the elderly HT group than in the young HT group. In addition, the TAC levels were significantly lower in the elderly and young HT groups than in the elderly and young control groups. The CIMT was significantly positively correlated with TBARS (r=0.40, P<0.001), HEL (r= 0.30, P=0.001), LOOH (r= 0.44, P<0.001) and 8-iso-PGF2α (r= 0.32, P<0.001) in all of the HT groups. It seems that in elderly patients, the LOOH and TBARS are better biomarkers of lipid peroxidation in hypertension in terms of sensitivity. In all of the HT groups, 8-iso-PGF2α had the highest sensitivity. Hypertension is associated with lipid peroxidation due to an impaired oxidant/antioxidant status. Increased lipid peroxidation and decreased antioxidants with aging indicate that peroxidative damage further increases with higher blood pressure and the aging process.

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Objective: Polypharmacy, quite common in elderly patients, is an important issue, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to examine polypharmacy rates and drug usage characteristics in elderly patients. Second aim of this study was to compare our results with other published studies. Methods:In a retrospective design, we reviewed hospital records of 1,205 patients (≥65 years) who presented to our geriatric clinic, which serves as a tertiary center at the University of Istanbul, Cerrahpasa School of Medicine, who were examined in detail in terms of polypharmacy between 2003 and 2012, and who had follow-up care for at least a year. Demographic characteristics, polypharmacy, drugs used at presentation and final evaluation, and comorbid conditions were recorded. The definition of ≥ 5 drugs usage for polypharmacy and ≥ 9 drugs usage for excessive polypharmacy were considered in this study.Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed for independent predictive factors.Results: Of patients, 854 were females (70%). The average age was 75.2±6.9. The number of comorbidities was 2.46±1.30. The number of drugs used at first admission and final evaluation was 3.8±2.7 and 4.3±2.8 (p<0.001), polypharmacy rates of 40% and 45% (p<0.001). Also, the rate of excessive polypharmacy was found 8% at final assessments. The rates of patients using one drug, two drugs, three drugs and four drugs were 6%, 11%, 13% and 15%, respectively. Polypharmacy rate in females was statistically significant higher than males (33% vs. 12%; p=0.026). The most common prescribed drugs were found as anti-platelet therapies (70%), calcium channel blockers (68%), anti-osteoporotic drugs (57%), statins (53%), and beta-blockers (49%) in all patients respectively. The most common five comorbidities were hypertension (67%), diabetes mellitus (27%), osteoporosis (27%), hyperlipidemia (25%), and depression (20%). Depression was an independent predictive factor for polypharmacy than other comorbid diseases in the regression analysis (odds ratio (OR): 4.5; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.2-6.5; p<0.001). Conclusions:The polypharmacy rate was found to be as high as 45% in elderly patients. Before starting an additional medication in elderly patients, particularly with depression, the indication should be clearly specified, and several aspects should be taken into consideration, including functional capacity of the patient, the drugs already used, and possible interactions of the new drug.

To recognize the period of exaggerated cytokine response in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia, and to describe the clinical outcomes of using tocilizumab as a treatment option. The data of 12 adult COVID-19 pneumonia patients who were followed in the inpatient clinics of Biruni University Medical Faculty Hospital (Istanbul, Turkey) were retrospectively analyzed. Diagnostic tests, laboratory examinations, clinical findings, and computed tomography of the thorax imaging results were evaluated. A dramatic laboratory and clinical improvement was observed in 83% (10 out of 12) of patients after tocilizumab. In 17% (2 out of 12) of our patients, short-term ventilator support was required in the intensive care unit. The longest hospital stay was 18 days. However, in the end, all of our patients were discharged home with good health. Although arterial oxygen saturations (87.58 ± 3.12%) dropped in room air in the pretocilizumab period, post-tocilizumab they normalized in all patients (94.42 ± 1%). None of them had fever after tocilizumab treatment and the levels of C-reactive protein (13.08 ± 12.89) were almost within normal limits. Eosinophil values were quite low at the time of diagnosis (10 ± 17.06), but increased significantly post-tocilizumab (155.33 ± 192.69). There is currently no proven treatment for COVID-19 induced by novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Based on our experience with twelve adult COVID-19 pneumonia patients, we can say that tocilizumab, an IL-6 inhibitor, is more beneficial in preventing the damage caused by excessive cytokine response in the body if administered at the right time and provides clinical and radiological recovery.

Increased IMA, AOPP and PAB, and decreased FRAP are likely to be results of oxidative stress, a condition in which an imbalance occurs between the production and inactivation of reactive oxygen species in AD. The IMA could be used for the better evaluation of clinical status, as well as the independent characteristic symptoms of AD, for the purposes of routine clinical laboratory analysis.