It can be concluded that genital colonization with M. hominis and U. urealyticum may predispose to spontaneous abortion and low birth weight.

Aims: Serum levels of some cytokines and tumour markers are elevated in patients with chronic heart failure (HF). We aimed to investigate the relationship between circulating levels of cytokines and tumour markers in patients with HF. Methods: We included 35 HF patients and 33 normal controls. HF patients were divided into two groups: mild HF (NYHA class I/II) (n = 10) and severe HF (NYHA class III/IV) (n = 25). Serum cytokine levels (TNF-a, IL-1 h, IL-6, and IL-10) were measured by ELISA and tumour markers (CA 125, CA 19-9, CA 15-3, CEA and AFP) by chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay. Results: Serum levels of TNF-a, IL-6, and IL-10 as cytokines, and CA 125 and CA 19-9 as tumour markers were significantly higher in HF patients than in normal controls ( p < 0.0001 for all). Serum levels of TNF-a, IL-6 and IL-10 and CA 125 in the severe HF patients were significantly higher than in the mild HF patients ( p < 0.001 for all). Correlation analysis showed that CA 125 was positively related to TNF-a (r = 0.624, p < 0.001), IL-6 (r = 0.671, p < 0.001), and IL-10 (r = 0.545, p < 0.001) in HF. Conclusion: These findings show that CA 125 is markedly elevated in patients with HF, and correlates with serum TNF-a, IL-6 and IL-10 levels. Therefore, we speculate that among the tumour markers studied, only CA 125 is closely related to the cytokine system.

VEGF may participate in the course of Behçet's syndrome, especially in the active stage, and elevated levels of VEGF may be an additional risk factor for the development of ocular disease, contributing to poor visual outcome.