Summary: Purpo.re: To learn the prevalcnce of epilepsy in Silivri, a western town of Turkey, a randomized door-to-door wvey was conducted u\ing a standard questionnaire. The method of the study was adopted from the suggestions of the World Health Organization (WHO) for prevalence studies in developing countries, and the criteria were derived from ures at the onset or during the course of the disease, a figure that reveals the high prevalence of mystical beliefs about the disease in the study area.

Sweet taste is a powerful factor influencing food acceptance. The peripheral taste response to sugar is mediated by the TAS1R2/TAS1R3 taste receptors. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between TAS1R2 (rs35874116 or rs9701796) and/or TAS1R3 (rs307355) single nucleotide polymorphisms with dental caries experience in schoolchildren. A total of 184 schoolchildren aged between 7 and 12 years (101 girls, 83 boys) were included in the study. Genomic DNA was extracted from saliva samples and the genotypes were identified by qPCR. The genotype frequencies were as follows: 6.6% for homozygous wild type, 41.8% for heterozygous and 51.6% for homozygous polymorphic genotype carriers of TAS1R2 gene rs35874116; 27.8% for heterozygous and 72.2% for homozygous polymorphic genotype carriers of TAS1R2 gene rs9701796, and 83.1% for homozygous wild type and 16.9% for heterozygous genotype carriers of TAS1R3 gene rs307355 polymorphism. A significant association was observed between total caries experience (dft + DMFT - decayed filled primary teeth + decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth) and TAS1R2 rs35874116 (p = 0.008) and TAS1R3 rs307355 (p = 0.04) gene polymorphisms but not for TAS1R2 gene rs9701796 polymorphism. TAS1R3 gene rs307355 polymorphism has been found to be an independent risk factor for dental caries experience by logistic regression analysis and to have increased the risk of caries. Moderate caries experience (4-7 caries) was found to be associated with TAS1R3 rs307355 heterozygous genotype, whereas high-risk caries experience (>8 caries) was found to be associated with TAS1R2 rs35874116 homozygous polymorphic genotype.

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An immunohistochemical panel may provide significant hints on the differentiation of common intraepidermal malignancies, especially in problematic cases.

BACKGROUND: Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis is not a routine test in sleep laboratories due to its invasive nature. Therefore, the diagnosis of obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) is underestimated. We aimed to evaluate the differences in subjects with OHS and pure obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and to determine clinical predictors of OHS in obese subjects. METHODS: Demographics, body mass index (BMI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale score, polysomnographic data, ABG, spirometric measurements, and serum bicarbonate levels were recorded. RESULTS: Of 152 obese subjects with OSA (79 females/73 males, mean age of 50.3 ؎ 10.6 y, BMI of 40.1 ؎ 5.6 kg/m 2 , 51.9% with severe OSA), 42.1% (n ‫؍‬ 64) had OHS. Subjects with OHS had higher BMI (P ‫؍‬ .02), neck circumference (P < .001), waist circumference (P < .001), waist/hip ratio (P ‫؍‬ .02), Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores (P ‫؍‬ .036), ABG and serum bicarbonate levels (P < .001), apnea-hypopnea index (P ‫؍‬ .01), oxygen desaturation index (P < .001), and total sleep time with S pO 2 < 90% (P < .001) compared with subjects with pure OSA (n ‫؍‬ 88). They also had lower daytime P aO 2 (P < .001), sleep efficiency (P ‫؍‬ .032), mean S pO 2 (P < .001), and nadir S pO 2 (P < .001) . Serum bicarbonate levels and nadir S pO 2 were the only independent predictive factors for OHS. A serum bicarbonate level of > 27 mmol/L as the cutoff gives a satisfactory discrimination for the diagnosis of OHS (sensitivity of 76.6%, specificity of 74.6%, positive predictive value of 54.5%, negative predictive value of 88.9%). A nadir S pO 2 of < 80% as the cutoff gives a satisfactory discrimination for the diagnosis of OHS (sensitivity of 82.8%, specificity of 54.5%, positive predictive value of 56.9%, negative predictive value of 81.4%). When we used a serum bicarbonate level of > 27 mmol/L and/or a nadir S pO 2 of < 80% as a screening measure, only 3 of 64 subjects with OHS were missed. CONCLUSIONS: Serum bicarbonate level and nadir saturation were independent predictive factors for the diagnosis of OHS.

The objective of this study is to estimate the incidence of active tuberculosis in patients with inflammatory diseases receiving tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) antagonists and to figure out the characteristics of patients who develop tuberculosis. 702 patients with different inflammatory diseases receiving TNF-alpha antagonists were followed up from August 2005 to July 2008 at our department of chest disease. All patients had tuberculin skin test (TST) and postero-anterior chest radiograph (CXR) prior to anti TNF-alpha antagonist treatment. All patients with a TST result > or =5 mm or fibrotic lesions on CXR were administered chemoprophylaxis with isoniazid (INH) for 9 months. 6 (0.85%) patients developed active tuberculosis (4 pulmonary and 2 extrapulmonary) during the follow-up period. TST was found to be positive in 434 (61.8%) of the patients. Patients, who were already on immunosuppressive therapy and who were not, were compared for the difference in their TST results and no statistically significant difference was found. Chemoprophylaxis was administered overall to 583 (83.0%) patients among which 31 (5.3%) developed hepatotoxicity. Of the patients who developed active tuberculosis, all were decided to receive INH chemoprophylaxis, however, only three of them adhered proper treatment. Diagnostic accuracy of TST for detecting latent tuberculosis is high among patients with inflammatory diseases even in the setting of immunosuppression. The risk of development of active TB is increased in this group of patients despite chemoprophylaxis, but this risk remains within the acceptable limits even in a moderate-tuberculosis incidence country, if proper chemoprophylaxis regimen is adhered.

Abdominal adiposity appears to have a pivotal role in the development of IRS.

The aim of this study was to evaluate patients with Cushing's disease (CD) who had undergone transsphenoidal surgery in terms of depression, quality of life (QoL), and perception of body image in comparison to healthy controls. Forty patients with CD and 40 healthy controls matched for demographic characteristics were included in the study. The subjects were evaluated with the Beck depression inventory (BDI), the health survey-short form (SF-36) and the multidimensional body-self relations questionnaire (MBSRQ). Subgroups of the patients with CD were formed on the basis of remission status and BDI scores. In this study, QoL in the general health category and body image were lower in the patients with CD than in the healthy subjects. However, no differences in depression scores were found between the two groups. When the CD group was evaluated according to remission rate, the mean BDI score was significantly higher in the CD patients without remission than in both the CD patients with remission and the healthy subjects (p = 0.04). However, the physical functioning, bodily pain and general health scores of the CD patients without remission on the SF-36 questionnaire were lower than in the CD patients in remission and the healthy subjects (p = 0.002, p = 0.04, p = 0.002, respectively). Fitness evaluation, health evaluation and body areas satisfaction scores of the MBSRQ were significantly different in the three groups (p = 0.003, p = 0.009 and p = 0.001, respectively). In this study, patients with CD were found to have lower QoL, lower body image perception and higher levels of depression compared to healthy controls, particularly if the disease is persistant despite surgery.