Bupivacaine application is effective in decreasing postoperative pain and analgesic requirement during the hospital stay for patients with thyroidectomy.
Background: During the last decade, vitamin D (VitD) has become a topic of interest in immune regulation, especially in multiple sclerosis (MS) disease. Amongst the wide range of effects reported for this vitamin on the immune system, a regulatory role on cytokines production has been described. Our aim is to analyze the status of VitD and its correlation with the circulating inflammation and the intrathecal humoral response during MS.
Methods: We analyzed samples of 318 individuals: 108 MS patients and 210 controls. Determination of 25-(OH) VitD3 level in serum was made using electrochemiluminescence method. Circulating inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, IL12p70 andIL-1β) were investigated using Cytometer Bead Array Technology. The central humoral response was characterized using CSF isofocusing test and IgG Index calculation.
Results: As expected, mean value of VitD was significantly lower in MS group (10.4 ng/ml) than in control group (13.9 ng/ml) (p=0.002), with a severe deficiency in 67% of MS patients. Mean value of VitD was significantly lower in MS female patients. Regarding cytokines, mean value of TNFα was significantly higher in MS patients with oligoclonal bands of IgG in the CSF. IL6 was positively correlated with IgG level in serum of MS patients.
Conclusion: Our results support the association of VitD deficiency with MS, especially in female patients of our region. However, the vitamin level seems to not correlate with inflammatory cytokines nor with disability. Interestingly, TNFα and IL6 levels were correlated with the intrathecal synthesis of IgG and the circulating IgG level, respectively.
Objective
Biclonal gammopathies (BGs) are rare situations characterized by the production of 2 monoclonal proteins. There are no available data on BGs in North Africa. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of BGs in our population and describe their clinical and laboratory features.
Methods
We conducted a 31-year retrospective study including patients with persistent double monoclonal bands based on the results of immunofixation/immunoelectrophoresis.
Results
A total of 35 patients with available clinical data (sex ratio, M/F = 1.53; mean age, 70 ± 10.87 years [range, 45–90 years]) were included. The main associated conditions were multiple myeloma (MM) (40%), BG of undetermined significance (BGUS) (34%), and lymphoproliferative diseases (23%). Only one-third of the patients had 2 monoclonal spikes on serum protein electrophoresis. The most common paraprotein combinations were immunoglobulin (Ig)G-IgG (25%) and IgG-IgA (23%) with different light chains in one-half of the cases. The mean follow-up was 25.6 months (median, 12 months). No BGUS evolved into a malignant disease.
Conclusion
BGs are rare in clinical laboratory routine but must be accurately identified by the pathologist. Our cohort is characterized by a high prevalence of BGUS compared with MM.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.