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Background: Type II Diabetes Mellitus(T2DM) is the most frequent endocrin disease. Elevated HbA1c level is reported as a risk factor in cardiovascular diseases whereas cardiovascular diseases cause death and disability among diabetic patients. The aim of the study is to compare the immunoturbidimetry and high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) methods and determine the HbA1c status among patients who were admitted to our hospital and policlinics to select the best method for determining HbA1c in order to meet the needs of the patients. Materials-Methods: HbA1c levels from 20.503 patients (12288 females and 8215 males) were collected from the Laboratory Information system(LIS) retrospectively. Patients were admitted to our Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery Hospital for cardiovascular reasons and to our Internal Medicine policlinics for non-cardiovascular reasons between 2011 and 2012, whereas HbA1c levels were analyzed with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Also venous blood samples obtained in EDTA containing tubes from 237 in-and-out patients of our hospital (155 females and 82 males) were analyzed in Premier Hb 9210(Trinity Biotech -USA) and Cobas c501(Roche -Germany) using HPLC and immunoturbidimetry respectively. This two methods were compared. Results: Patients with HbA1c level ≤6 % were 47,5 %, ≤7 were 74,5 %, ≤8 were 85,2% and ≥8 were 14,8 % of all patients. After the comparison of the two methods there was found a strong correlation from all patients (n= 237)(r2=0.90) and from patients with HbA1c level ≥6.0 % (n=125) (r2=0.88). Conclusion: The importance of HbA1c in patients with cardiovascular diseases and the HbA1c levels among our patients indicate that HPLC represents a better choice to determine HbA1c in our hospital. But immunoturbidimetry can be the choice of the method in laboratories with low number of patients. Each laboratory should consider which method is the best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The effects of COVID-19 on the adrenocortical system and its hormones are not well known. Objectives. We studied serum cortisol, serum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and their ratio in hospitalized non-critically ill COVID-19 patients. Design. A prospective case-control study. Methods. The study participants were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 consisted of 74 COVID-19 patients. The second group consisted of 33 healthy persons. Early admission above hormones levels was determined and compared between the study groups. Besides that, COVID-19 patients were grouped according to their Glasgow Coma Score (GCS), CURB-65 score, and intensive care unit (ICU) requirement, and further sub-analyses were performed. Results. There were no significant differences in the mean age or gender distribution in both groups. In the patients' group, the serum ACTH concentration was lower than in the healthy group (p<0.05). On the other hand, the serum cortisol levels and cortisol/ACTH ratio of the patients' group were significantly higher than of the healthy controls (p<0.05, all). Further analyses showed that, although serum cortisol and ACTH levels were not high, the cortisol/ACTH ratio was higher in COVID-19 patients with low GCS (<15) than patients with normal GCS (=15) (p<0.05). In COVID-19 in patients with different CURB-65 scores, the cortisol/ACTH ratio was significantly different (p<0.05), while serum cortisol and ACTH were not different in groups (p>0.05). Serum cortisol levels and cortisol/ACTH ratio were higher but ACTH level was lower in the ICU needed COVID-19 patients than in patients who do not need ICU (p<0.05). Conclusion. Our pilot study results showed that the cortisol/ACTH ratio would be more useful than serum cortisol and/or ACTH levels alone in evaluating the adrenocortical system of COVID-19 patients. Still, further detailed studies are needed to confirm these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Oxytocin (OXY), a well-known nonapeptide, plays a crucial role in reproduction, and has effects on modulating the immune and inflammatory processes in living organisms as well. Recently it is also known as an antioxidant in several organs. The present study aims to demonstrate the protective effect of OXY against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in urinary bladder tissue. Abdominal aorta of rats, were clamped to perform urinary bladder ischemia. OXY (0.5μg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally before ischemia in I/R+OXY group, whereas the vehicle solution was injected to I/R group. At the end of reperfusion, tissue samples from urinary bladder were processed for histochemical, ultrastructural and biochemical analysis. Tissue sections were stained by toluidine blue for mast cell counting and hematoxylin–eosin for histopathology. In addition, malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels were determined biochemically. The results demonstrated that there was an extreme damage at urothelium, dilatation of intercellular junctions, inflammatory cell infiltration in I/R group. I/R+OXY group demonstrated a reduction in the severity of urinary bladder damage. According to mast cell counting results, both granulated and degranulated mast cells were decreased in I/R+OXY group compared to I/R group. The mean MDA level was higher in I/R group compared to control and lower in I/R+OXY group compared to I/R group. GSH level reduced in I/R group compared to the control and increased in I/R+OXY group compared to I/R group. In conclusion, oxytocin, as confirmed by histological evaluation and biochemical assays has a potential protective effect in the urinary bladder tissue against ischemia/reperfusion injury. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]