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BACKGROUND Obesity has risen considerably in the Western world and the trend is increasing in non-Western, developing countries, as well. Several school screening studies showed the relation between body mass index and hypertension. In adults, obesity is associated with an increased risk of development and progression of kidney disease. However, data at the epidemiological level are limited, both for children and adults. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of obesity and evaluate its association with hypertension and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) among children in Turkey. METHODS A population-based field study in which individuals were accessed by house visits throughout Turkey has been conducted. The study sample (3622 children; 5-18 years; 49.6% female, mean age 11.88 ± 3.40 years) was selected to represent the Turkish population regarding geographical region, gender and age (5-18 years). Obesity was defined as the body mass index ≥95th percentile for age and gender. The Schwartz formula was used to estimate GFR. Blood pressure (BP) percentile was determined according to age, gender and length. RESULTS The prevalence of overweight, obesity and hypertension were 9.3, 8.9 and 6.1%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed urban area (OR 1.50; 95% CI 1.15-1.96; P = 0.003) as an independent risk for obesity and age decreased (OR 0.921; 95% CI 0.890-0.924; P < 0.001) risk for obesity. Obese children had the highest rate of hypertension (11.4 versus 5.6%; P < 0.001; OR 2.17, 95% CI 1.49-3.17; P < 0.001) and stage II hypertension (3.8 versus 0.7%; OR 6.01, 95% CI 2.93-12.33; P < 0.001). Systolic and diastolic BP z-scores were significantly higher in obese children. The mean estimated (eGFR) was lower in obese children (122.7 ± 21.6 versus 129.4 ± 23.1, P < 0.001). The rates of children with eGFR < 90 and

Objectives. Autoinflammatory diseases constitute a large spectrum of monogenic diseases like FMF or cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) and complex genetic trait diseases such as systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SoJIA). An increased rate of MEFV mutations has been shown among patients with PAN and HSP, in populations where FMF is frequent. The aim of the study is to search for MEFV mutations in our patients with SoJIA and see whether these mutations had an effect on disease course or complications. Methods. Thirty-five children with the diagnosis of SoJIA were screened for 12 MEFV mutations. The control data were obtained from a previous study of our centre determining the carrier frequency in Turkish population. Results. Two patients were homozygous and three patients were heterozygous for the M694V mutation. One patient was a compound heterozygote for the M680I/V726A mutations. Heterozygous V726A mutation was found in one patient. The overall mutation frequency of patients was 14.28%. This figure had been compared with the previously published rate of disease-causing mutations in this country, which is 5%. Disease-causing mutations were found to be significantly more frequent in the SoJIA patients than the population (P

Sir, Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an auto‐inflammatory disease with an autosomal recessive inheritance. Defects in the protein pyrin cause the characteristic attacks of the disease.1,,2 More than 20 mutations have been identified in the gene coding pyrin. Booth et al .3 recently presented their studies in an interesting mutation, the E148Q mutation, in different populations. They have commented that individuals homozygous for the pyrin Q148 mutation have not been confirmed to suffer from clinical FMF.3 We would like to present for the first time two patients who have clinical FMF who were homozygous for the pyrin Q148 mutation. The first patient presented with complaints of fever and severe abdominal …