It was presented that DEX had radioprotective effect on the liver after I-131 therapy and anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities are likely to be involved in the mechanism underlying the radioprotective effects of DEX. After further studies, DEX might be used as a hepatoprotective treatment regimen before administering radioactive iodine therapy particularly in patients with hepatic disease.

Radioiodine caused cell proliferation and apoptosis as shown by immunohistochemistry.

In conclusion, possible clinical usage of medications increasing gastrin during flap surgeries can be thought as a positive contributor. In this sense, this study showed that parenteral administration of omeprazole in skin flap surgery increases flap viability possibly by increasing gastrin levels.

RAI administration causes prominent inflammatory response in lacrimal glands. Addition of CoQ10 ameliorates the oxidative damage and protects lacrimal glands both in histopathological and tissue cytokine level assessments. Protection of lacrimal glands against oxidative damage may become a new era of CoQ10 use in the future.

Objective:To investigate the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection in pre-school and school age children with C-14 urea breath test, and to explore its association with age and socioeconomic factors in Turkey.Methods:Hp infection status was determined by using Urea Breath Test (UBT). Patients who had previous gastric surgery, Hp eradication treatment or equivocal UBT results were excluded. A questionnaire was administered to elicit information on gender, age, ABO/Rh blood group type, presence of gastric disease in the family, domestic animal in the household, and treatment for idiopathic Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA).Results:This retrospective study included 500 pediatric patients (179 boys, 321 girls, mean age 10.7±4.3 years) of whom 62 (12.4%) were aged ≤6 years and 438 (87.6%) were aged 7 to 16 years. Helicobacter pylori (Hp) was positive in 245 (49%) cases. In the pre-school age group, 21/62 cases (34%) had positive UBT while in the school age group 224/438 children (51%) had positive UBT. A family history of dyspepsia and pet ownership were not associated with Hp positivity. Hp positive 76 (29.8%) children were on IDA treatment but this was not statistically significant.Conclusion:The Hp infection positivity rate was 49% in the pediatric age study group. The positivity rate was significantly lower at preschool age than school age, and it increased with age. There was no association with gender, ABO/Rh blood groups, presence of domestic pets, IDA, or history of gastric disease in the family.

The results of this study demonstrated that melatonin reduced the harmful effects of RAI treatment on the liver. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities are likely to be involved in the mechanism underlying the radio-protective effects of melatonin (Tab. 3, Fig. 1, Ref. 30).

To the editor:Molecular imaging has great potential for clinical application and for advanced scientific research. Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) is currently among the most commonly used imaging modalities for this aim. Accumulation of FDG in many malignant cells makes FDG an excellent and sensitive marker for detecting changes in glucose metabolism in cancer cell [1]. FDG PET imaging is a functional imaging technique, which is able to measure in vivo distribution and quantification of this radiotracer and is routinely performed for staging, restaging, treatment planning and follow-up of a variety of human cancers in the clinic [2,3]. Hybrid imaging modalities that combine computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with PET imaging improve the diagnostic accuracy of PET images [4]. The methodologies used in clinical settings for PET data interpretation are categorized into three groups: (a) qualitative or visual scoring; (b) regional quantitative analysis, which is currently used in daily practice of PET, ie. SUVmax , SUVpeak etc. and (c) Global disease assessment which reflects the total disease burden in the body [5]. The concept of global metabolic activity measurement was first introduced by Alavi and coworkers in the early 1990s for assessment of the whole brain metabolism in patients with AD and in age-matched controls [2,6]. This technique allows assessment of global disease burden that is especially useful for evaluation of metabolic response in cancer. Over the past two decades, quantitative PET imaging became the most optimal noninvasive approach for assessing regional and global metabolic state in clinical oncology [5]. This approach has been effectively employed in clinical practice in lung cancer [6], malignant mesothelioma [4], lymphoma [7], and benign disease such as atherosclerosis [8] and Crohn's disease [9] pioneered by Alavi and colleagues [10].Quantitative global assessment provides useful information about disease activity in malignant or benign disorders as a prognostic biomarker and monitoring response to treatment. We believe that, in the future, global quantitative approach will allow meeting the challenges faced in daily practice of medicine.

In this selected patient cohort with prior coronary revascularization, TID is an important marker of obstructive CAD and has incremental value over SPECT MPI alone.