Can Calprotectin Show Subclinical Inflammation in Familial Mediterranean Fever Patients?

Gökmen Asan,Mehmet Emin Derin,Halef Okan Doğan,Meliha Bayram,Mehtap Şahin,Ali Şahin 대한의학회 2020 Journal of Korean medical science Vol.35 No.10

Background: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autoinflammatory disease that has self-limiting inflammatory attacks during polyserositis. Hepcidin is a protein, and interleukin-6 stimulation increases hepcidin levels. Calprotectin (CLP) is a recently defined cytokine released from monocytes and neutrophils in response to tissue trauma and inflammation. There are studies in the literature showing that it can be used as a biomarker in rheumatic diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis. Here, we compared the levels of hepcidin and CLP in healthy individuals and FMF patients during an attack-free period and show its relation to genetic mutations. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Between July 2017 and December 2017, 60 patients diagnosed with FMF an admitted to the Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine Rheumatology as well as 60 healthy volunteers without any rheumatic, systemic, or metabolic diseases were enrolled in this study. Blood was collected from a peripheral vein to measure serum CLP and hepcidin levels. Blood tests were examined by ELISA; the study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee. Results: Median serum hepcidin level was 468.1 (210.3–807.8) pg/mL in FMF group and 890.0 (495.0–1,716.9) pg/mL in the healthy control (HC) group. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.001). The median serum levels of CLP in the FMF group were measured as 1,331.4 (969.3–1,584.6 pg/mL and 73.8(45.0–147.9) pg/ mL in the HC group. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that the sensitivity was 66.7% and the specificity was 71.7% at serum hepcidin < 581.25 pg/mL (P < 0.05); the sensitivity was 96.7% and specificity was 100% at CLP > 238 pg/mL (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between serum hepcidin and CLP levels in FMF patients with M694V homozygous and M694V heterozygous (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in serum hepcidin levels between FMF patients with and without arthritis, proteinuria, and amyloidosis (P < 0.05). There was no significant correlation between laboratory findings, gender, age, and serum CLP and hepcidin levels (P > 0.05, r < 0.25). Conclusion: Serum CLP levels in FMF patients during an attack-free period are significantly higher than in the HC groups. Serum hepcidin levels in FMF patients are significantly lower than in the HC group. Low levels of hepcidin may be explained by including FMF patients during an attack-free period in the study. CLP may be an important biomarker in FMF. A better understanding of the role of these biomarkers in the diagnosis of FMF is needed to evaluate the results in a more comprehensive way.

Investigation on Wear Behavior of PETG and PLA Parts Fabricated with Fused Deposition Modelling Under Different Wear Conditions

Gökmen Atlıhan 한국고분자학회 2023 폴리머 Vol.47 No.3

Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) has been widely used in the production of industrial parts with additive manufacturing due to its high strength and temperature performance. In this study, the abrasive wear behavior of PETG specimens produced by the fused deposition modelling (FDM) method was characterized under different wear conditions (3 different sliding speeds and loads). Poly lactic acid (PLA), which is widely used in additive manufacturing with FDM, has been examined for comparison purposes. Experimental results showed that PETG specimens showed the best abrasion resistance in all abrasion conditions. Different parameters were used in wear conditions. It was determined that the wear behavior of PETG could be optimized. PETG samples had the lowest coefficient of friction. Worn surface analysis results showed that micro-cutting, abrasive wear, and delamination wear mechanisms are active wear mechanisms.

Application of unilateral rhomboid intercostal and subserratus plane block for analgesia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a quasi-experimental study

Ökmen Korgün,Gürbüz Hande,Özkan Hakan 대한마취통증의학회 2022 Korean Journal of Anesthesiology Vol.75 No.1

Background: Interfascial plane block can be used to treat postoperative pain after laparoscopic surgery. This study aimed to investigate the effect of ultrasound-guided unilateral rhomboid intercostal and subserratus plane (RISS) block after laparoscopic cholecystectomy on the amount of analgesic consumption.Methods: Fifty patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy were included in this quasi-experimental study. Patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were analyzed in two groups: RISS group (RISS block with 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine + intravenous patient-controlled analgesia [IV-PCA] tramadol [n = 25]); and Control group (IV-PCA tramadol [n = 25]). The primary outcome was the total amount of tramadol used over 24 h. Secondary outcomes included side effects, additional analgesic use, and postoperative pain (at rest and during activity) at 2, 6, 12, and 24 h according to numerical rating scale (NRS) scores.Results: Postoperative tramadol consumption at 24 h was significantly lower in the RISS group than in the Control group (P < 0.001). Resting NRS scores at 2 h and 6 h were significantly lower in the RISS group. NRS scores during movement in the RISS group were significantly lower at 2, 6, and 12 h postoperatively. There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of side effects and additional analgesic use between the groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Unilateral RISS block was an effective method for pain management after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and can be used as a part of multimodal analgesia.

Effects of a Psychobiotic Supplement on Serum Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels in Depressive Patients: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial

( Nazanin Heidarzadeh-rad ),( Hülya Gökmen-özel ),( Asma Kazemi ),( Negin Almasi ),( Kurosh Djafarian ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회(구 대한소화관운동학회) 2020 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.26 No.4

Background/Aims Psychobiotics are probiotics or prebiotics that, upon ingestion in adequate amounts, yield positive influence on mental health via microbiota-gut-brain axis regulation to modulate the circulating cytokines, chemokines, neurotransmitters, or neurotrophins levels. We have recently shown that a psychobiotic combination (Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175; CEREBIOME) significantly improved depression symptoms in patients with depression. Recent animal data suggest the influence of the gut microbiota on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which was shown to correlate with antidepressant response in depressive patients. Therefore, we conducted this exploratory post hoc analysis of BDNF levels to clarify the mechanism of action of this psychobiotic in our cohort. Methods Our study was a double-blind, randomized controlled trial of patients with low-to-moderate depression receiving either a probiotic combination, prebiotic or placebo. From the 110 patients randomized in the trial, 78 were included in this post hoc analysis (probiotic, n = 28; prebiotic and placebo, n = 25). We compared serum BDNF levels from participants at baseline and endpoint, and assessed the Pearson correlation between depression severity and BDNF levels for each intervention. Results We found that post-intervention BDNF levels were significantly different between groups (P < 0.001). Furthermore, BDNF levels increased significantly in the probiotic group compared to both the prebiotic (P < 0.001) and placebo groups (P = 0.021), which inversely correlated with depression severity compared to placebo (ANOVA/ANCOVA, P = 0.012; Pearson, r = -0.79, P < 0.001). In the prebiotic group, BDNF levels reduced but not significantly compared with placebo group (P > 0.05). Conclusion Eight-week supplementation with B. longum and L. helveticus in depressive patients improved depression symptoms, possibly by increasing BDNF levels. (J Neurogastroenterol Motil 2020;26:486-495)

Determination of optimum operation cases in electric arc welding machine using neural network

Tahir Çetin Akinci,Hidir Selçuk Noğay,Gökhan Gökmen 대한기계학회 2011 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.25 No.4

With arc welding machines, welding is only performed at optimum operating points. Determination of optimum operating points is important so as for welding machines which will be produced in future to be developed in a manner to operate in such parts. In this study,an Artificial Neutral Networks method was used in order to determine the optimum operating points of Electric Arc welding machine. For this purpose, a measurement system used to get the current measurements during the welding operation. A welding process includes some stages like initial case; transient case and operation case respectively. So as to use ANN model, a data set was established via time series. ANN is trained with 90% of data set and tested with 10% thereof. At the end of the test, a prediction of 97.49% was made according to the regression value. And according to the MSE value, it was understood that a successful prediction was made with an error of 0.00353075 values.