Objective: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is an inflammatory disease of the nasal mucosa mediated by IgE after exposure to an allergen. The most well known related comorbidity of AR is asthma. This study was planned due to the need for an animal model for studies on AR-asthma coexistence. In this study, the frequency of AR accompanying in the asthma model created in mice,and the usability of the related model in AR studies will be investigated. Methods: In our study, 6-8 week-old, 18-20 g BALB/c mice were used. Chicken egg ovalbumin (OVA Grade V, Sigma) was administered through intraperitoneal (IP) route at doses of 10 μg on days 0 and 14. Mice were exposed to aerosolized 2.5% ovalbumin solution in sterile saline for 30 minutes 3 days a week for 8 weeks, starting 7 days after the last IP administration (21st day). After exposure to OVA, mice were observed for typical signs of AR including sneezing, runny nose, and nasal itching. The final diagnosis of AR was made by histopathological examination of the rhinotracheal tissues of mice. Results: In our study, all mice exposed to ovalbumin received histopathologic diagnosis of AR. Increased number of capillaries lymphocytes, polymorphonuclear leukocytes and eosinophilsper square millimetre of rhinotracheal tissues were calculated in the murine model of AR compared to the the control group. Conclusion: This study introduced a new AR model, not cited in the literature, and induced with the longest-term ovalbumin exposure in the literature. It was concluded that this model, known as the asthma model, can also be used to induce an AR model and can be used in studies investigating coexistence of allergic rhinitis and asthma.

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Objectives: Infections caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) represent a significant health problem. Co-infection with these viral agents is not uncommon as a result of the similar transmission routes. Our study was planned to investigate the prevalence of HBV and HCV infections in HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients followed up at our institution. Materials and Methods: In this study conducted in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology at Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, medical records of patients followed at the HIV/AIDS outpatient clinic between August 2002 and December 2014 were evaluated. Demographic data, main route of HIV transmission, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-hepatitis B core (HBc) immunoglobulin G (IgG), anti-HBs and anti-HCV results were evaluated. Results: A total of 157 treatment-naïve patients who were followed up at our HIV/AIDS outpatient clinic were included in this study. Four patients (2.6%), had HBsAg positivity. Anti-HBc IgG and anti-HBs positivity were detected in 34% and 28.4% of the patients, respectively. No patients had anti-HCV positivity. Conclusion: The prevalence of HBsAg in HIV-positive individuals was found to be similar to that in other population-based studies in our country. Absence of anti-HCV positivity suggests that hepatitis C infection is not a major health problem in this population.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) is an infection of the heart’s endocardial surface. In recent years, nuclear imaging methods have gained importance in the diagnosis of IE. The present study aims to investigate the imaging potential of 99mTc-labeled vancomycin ( 99mTc-Vancomycin) as a new agent that would enable the diagnosis of IE in its early stages when it is difficult to diagnose or has small vegetation, in the experimental rat model. Methods: 99mTc-Vancomycin scintigraphy was evaluated for its accumulation in IE with Staphylococcus aureus performed in an experimental rat model. Serial planar scintigraphic and biodistribution analysis of infected vegetations are compared to rats with sterile vegetations. The heart was identified as an infected organ, the liver was identified as a noninfected organ and the heart/liver uptake ratio (T / NT ratio) was compared between infective endocarditis and sterile endocarditis groups. Results: Planar scintigrams (in vivo measurements) showed more uptake in the heart of rats in the infective endocarditis group, compared to the uptake in the heart of rats in the sterile endocarditis group but this difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). From the ex vivo measurements, the 99mTc-Vancomycin heart uptake increased significantly (p = 0.016), liver uptake was significantly decreased (p = 0.045) and the T/NT ratio was significantly higher (p = 0.014) in the infective endocarditis group compared to the sterile endocarditis group. Conclusions: In this experimental study, 99mTc-Vancomycin scintigraphy ensured the detection of ex vivo infected tissue in a rat model of IE. In addition, the absence of significant 99mTc-Vancomycin uptake in the sterile endocarditis group indicates that this agent targeted the infected tissue instead of the sterile inflammatory tissue. Finally, this agent should also be evaluated with animal-specific imaging devices.

Objective: Infective endocarditis (IE) is defined as infection of the endocardial surface of the heart. Updates are needed in the diagnosis and treatment of IE, as well as in animal models of IE. Based on this need, a new model of infective endocarditis induced by S. aureus was described in our study. Methods: This study was performed on 7 Wistar albino male rats, each aged six months and weighing 250-300 g. Underwent the surgical implantation of a 20 G catheter, to gain access to right common carotid artery. Twenty-four hours after implantation, 0.5 ml 100.000 colony forming unit (cfu) of S. aureus was injected via the tail vein and 3 days later echocardiography was performed and rats subsequently sacrificed. IE was later diagnosed histopathologically. Results: Two of the rats were exitus one day after S. auerus was given. The mortality rate of the experiment was 28.5%. Histopathological examination revealed vegetations and bacterial colonization were detected in the endocardium in all rats that protruded from the endocardium to the cardiac cavity. Conclusion:Our study is the first study in the literature to identify the IE rat model using the 20 G catheter. Due to the practical application of the surgical procedure (use of 20 G catheter) in our study, we think that it will provide much convenience to the researchers in the experimental research on IE diagnosis and treatment.

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Bruselloz dünyada en sık görülen bakteriyel zoonotik enfeksiyon hastalığıdır. Çalışmamızda hastalığın endemik olarak görüldüğü Güneydoğu Anadolu bölgesinde ikinci basamak bir hastaneye başvuran ve bruselloz tanısı ile takip edilen 111 bruselloz olgusunun değerlendirilmesi amaçlandı. Yöntem: Çalışmada ikinci basamak bir hastanenin Enfeksiyon Hastalıkları ve Klinik Mikrobiyoloji polikliniğine Aralık 2018-Aralık 2019 tarihleri arasında başvuran bruselloz tanısı ile ayaktan veya yatarak takip edilen 111 olgunun demografik özellikleri, klinik bulguları, olası bulaş yolları, tedavi rejimleri, komplikasyon verileri ve relaps oranları retrospektif olarak incelendi. Bulgular: Hastaların 77'si (%69.3) kadın ve olguların yaş ortalaması 36.4 (yaş aralığı 14-94) idi. Meslek dağılımı açısından, hastaların 69'u (%62.1) ev hanımıydı, 17'si (%15.3) hayvancılıkla uğraşmaktaydı. Olguların 88'inde (%79.2) taze peynir yeme öyküsü vardı. Hastalarda en sık görülen semptomlar, halsizlik (%92.7) ve artralji (%87.3) olarak saptandı. Çalışmaya alınan hastalarda CRP yüksekliği %39.6, anemi %37.8 oranı ile en sık görülen laboratuvar bulguları olarak tespit edildi. Etkilenen organ ve sistemler incelendiğinde olguların 49'unda (%44) hematolojik tutulum, 23'ünde (%20.7) karaciğer tutulumu, 11'inde (%10) osteoartiküler tutulum görüldü. Bir (%0.9) hastada brusellozun nadir bir komplikasyonu olarak izole perikardit, bir (%0.9) hastada da brusella epididimoorşiti saptandı. Çalışmaya dahil edilen hastaların 12'sinde (%10.3) tedavileri bittikten sonraki bir yıllık izlemde relaps saptandı. Sonuç: Bruselloz birçok organ ve dokuyu etkileyebilmektedir. Bu nedenle çok değişik klinik belirti ve bulgularla ortaya çıkabilmekte ve birçok hastalıkla karışabilmektedir. Endemik bölgelerde yaşayan nonspesifik semptom ve bulgular ile başvuran hastalar mutlaka bruselloz açısından değerlendirilmelidir.

In brucellosis, pericarditis is usually a complication associated with endocarditis, and isolated pericarditis is rare. In this paper, we present a rare case of isolated pericarditis due to brucellosis without endocarditis, associated with cardiac signs and symptoms.