The precise pathogenetic mechanism(s) of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease have never been defined. C-reactive protein (CRP) is increased in patients with acute rheumatic fever, but it is not known whether plasma levels increase in patients with chronic rheumatic valve disease. The aim of this study was to determine the role of inflammation detected by high sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) levels in the progression of chronic rheumatic valve disease. A total of 113 patients with chronic rheumatic valve disease (81 women, 32 men; mean age 40"14 years, range 13-70), 51 patients with prosthetic valve(s) (31 women, 20 men; mean age 48"13 years, range 21-71) and 102 healthy subjects (68 women, 34 men, mean age 41"12 years, range 25-73), as a control group, were assessed. Patients with acute rheumatic fever, acute infection, inflammatory disease, malignancy, acute myocardial infarction and trauma were excluded. hs-CRP was determined using latex-enhanced immunonephelometric assays on a BN II analyzer (Behring). Transthoracic echocardiography was performed in all patients in order to evaluate valvular disease. Levels of hs-CRP were significantly higher in patients with chronic rheumatic heart disease than in patients with prosthetic valve(s) and healthy subjects (0.62"0.64 vs. 0.35"0.41 vs. 0.24"0.18 mgyl, P-0.01 and P-0.001 respectively). No correlation was observed between CRP and age, sex or functional capacity. We found that hs-CRP is increased in chronic rheumatic heart disease; this may indicate that inflammatory response still persists in the chronic phase.

Our results have shown that the average duration of hospital stay, which is among the variables used to estimate the work burden of nurses, is associated with an increased frequency of the signs and symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency.

Combined prophylactic therapy with amiodarone and MgSO(4) at the early postoperative period without a maintenance phase is an effective, simple, well-tolerated, and possibly cost-effective regimen to prevent POAF in normomagnesemic, high-risk patients.

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Monocyte/HDL ratio is independently associated with AAA size.

vitro, the amino acids glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine, glutamine, proline, serine, and arginine induced rooting of explants in the presence of a-naphthalene acetic acid (Kamada and Harada 1979). Furthermore, it was found that while proline (10-200 mg L -1 ) increased the rooting percentage and number of roots per rooted explant of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) and sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.), the root length was reduced (Baraldi et al. 1988).The different forms of nitrogen as well as its proportion can influence a number of factors in various in vitro cultures, such as cell division, the growth and development of somatic embryos, chlorophyll content, ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activity, the electron transport rate, the photosynthetic rate, fresh mass, soluble protein concentration, and the osmotic pressure of the cell sap (Mashayekhi-Nezamabadi 2000). It has been reported that reduced nitrogen forms, particularly amides and amino acids, can improve cell proliferation, as well as regeneration in specific genotypes (Vasudevan et al. 2004).Methionine, a sulfur-containing amino acid, is a precursor of ethylene biosynthesis in plant tissues (Yang 1985). Besides its function as a protein constituent and its central role in the initiation of mRNA translation, methionine indirectly regulates a range of cellular processes as the precursor of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) (Amir et al. 2002). Not only is SAM the primary biological methyl-group donor, but it is also the precursor of plant metabolites, including ethylene, polyamines, vitamin B 1 , and the iron chelator mugineic acid (Sun Abstract: In the present study, the effects of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) alone and in combination with L-methionine were investigated on the morphogenic and biochemical responses in the shoot tip explants of the cherry rootstocks CAB-6P (Prunus cerasus L.) and Gisela 6 (Prunus cerasus × Prunus canescens). The best results for roots, regarding their number and the fresh and dry weight, were obtained with 2 mg L -1 IBA in both rootstocks. Maximum rooting percentage was with the combination of 2 mg L -1 IBA and 0.5 mg L -1 L-methionine. Root length was greatest in the control plants. L-methionine had an inhibitory effect on the leaf chlorophyll content of the CAB-6P rootstock and no effect in Gisela 6. L-methionine with the lowest IBA concentration (0.5 mg L -1 ) exhibited elevated levels of proline in the roots of the CAB-6P rootstock and depleted levels in Gisela 6. For the Gisela 6 rootstock, the leaf carbohydrate concentration was highest with 2 mg L -1 of IBA, whereas in the roots it was highest in the control. For the CAB-6P rootstock, the leaf carbohydrate concentration was not influenced by IBA with L-methionine, whereas the highest carbohydrate concentration in the roots was with the combinations of 0.5 mg L -1 IBA and 1 and 2 mg L -1 L-methionine. Taking into account the different parameters examined, it appears that chlorophyll and carbohydrates are the most accurate biochemical markers of the rooting ...

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Objective: Prosthetic vascular access is the other choice when the superficial venous system is inadequate to perform a simple radio-cephalic and brachio-cephalic fistula. Methods: This paper reports the outcomes of a prospective cohort study of 54 patients who underwent either saphenous vein (SVI Group, n=29) or PTFE graft (PTFE Group, n=25) interposition surgery for prosthetic hemodialysis access. All patients were evaluated via color Doppler ultrasonography during preoperative course and superficial venous systems of these patients were found inadequate to perform simple radial/ brachial artery-cephalic vein anastomosis. Follow-up was performed for every 6-months period. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Log Rank test was used for estimation and comparison of the patency. Results: In SVI group access failure was observed in 5 of 29 patients (17.2%). In PTFE group, access failure was observed in 13 of the 25 patients (52%). Primary patency rate was 93% in 12 th month and 82% in 24 th month in SVI group while it was 88% in 12 th month and 56% in 24 th month in PTFE group. According to the Kaplan-Meier method, mean time of primary patency was significantly higher in SVI group when compared to PTFE group (33.03±1.32 months vs. 28.16±1.91 months, Log Rank chi-square value: 7.01, df:1, p=0.008). Secondary patency rate was 96% in 12 th month and 93% in 24 th month for SVI group while 96% in 12 th month and 84% in 24 th month for PTFE group. According to the Kaplan-Meier method, mean time of secondary patency was significantly higher in SVI group when compared to PTFE group (34.27±0.95 months vs. 31.16±1.40 months, Log Rank chi-square value: 7.33, df:1, p=0.007). Conclusion: Autologous saphenous vein can be preferably chosen as a prosthetic hemodialysis access graft due its higher primary and secondary patency, lower complication rate and cost when compared with PTFE grafts. (Anadolu Kardiyol Derg 2014; 14: 542-6)